Should BL do a HH novel about the Emperor?

[Carlosophy]

Would it be such a bad thing if BL got someome (ADB?) to write a novel all about the Emperor? It wouldn't have to go into origin details, more reveal how he conquered Terra, found the Primarchs and things like Ullanor and Nikaea.

[Gingerwerewolf]

I kinda like it when the Emperor is left in the background and doesnt directly interfere. Though with ADB being one of my favourites I wouldnt complain too much.

I would like to know more about how he conquered Terra, but I think Id like to hear about it as a set of stories from the Troops, rather than the Emperors biography so to speak. In fact a set of short stories in an anthology would be ace. One story from a Basic trooper, one from a Thunder Warrior, one from a fighter pilot / drop ship pilot etc. At most have the Emperor appear in it, so as to maintain his semi "Divinity"

[witchunter180]

The first of the DA HH books does kinda skim in that area, as does one of the short stories from Tales of Heresy regarding Angron. However, that's part of what makes the overall story intriguing is that the Emperor is this mysterious, aloff figure and his, as Gingerwereolf puts it "semi 'Divinity,'" would be diminished by having a mere human try to write in omniscience about a godlike being (sorry Dan!). it could be, for that reason, they're waiting till they've fleshed out the other primarchs/factions so as not to diminish the reaction to the Emperor having a more direct spotlight.

[DEADMARSH]

I think you'd end up in the Superman conundrum* trying to write a whole novel about the Emperor. Short stories and brief involvement are good enough in my opinion.

*Superman conundrum- my own personal reason on why Superman movies/ stories/ etc. generally suck; the dude really has only a single weakness, so it's difficult to conjure up any kind of real drama being as how he essentially can't lose unless that one weakness is involved. Batman's just some guy with no special powers. You can beat him up, you can screw with him by screwing with his friends, etc.- at the end of the day, he's a man and being just a man opens up all kinds of avenues for drama and things that need to be overcome. Superman has none of that. I mean, he hangs out in a Fortress of Solitude, so don't give me some "Oh, he cares about Lois Lane" crap.

[MajorWesJanson]

I like the Emperor as we see him in Outcast Dead and Deliverance Lost. I think the authors are working up to using the Emperor more and more, especially in the Siege of Terra section of the Heresy.

[andrewm9]

I think you'd end up in the Superman conundrum* trying to write a whole novel about the Emperor. Short stories and brief involvement are good enough in my opinion.

*Superman conundrum- my own personal reason on why Superman movies/ stories/ etc. generally suck; the dude really has only a single weakness, so it's difficult to conjure up any kind of real drama being as how he essentially can't lose unless that one weakness is involved. Batman's just some guy with no special powers. You can beat him up, you can screw with him by screwing with his friends, etc.- at the end of the day, he's a man and being just a man opens up all kinds of avenues for drama and things that need to be overcome. Superman has none of that. I mean, he hangs out in a Fortress of Solitude, so don't give me some "Oh, he cares about Lois Lane" crap.

Superman is (or was during the 90's and early 2000's) very human in his feelings and motivations. He was raised by humans and lived among them without powers (mostly) until his late teens early 20's. He didn't even know he was an alien until his senior year of high school.

[Vaktathi]

I'd really rather they didn't do a novel about the Emperor, it'd take wayyyy too much out of the mystery and character of the universe. The Emperor is always a distant and mysterious figure. It'd be very difficult to do such a figure proper justice and even if done would take too much of the "untouchably distant" feel of the character.

Personally, as good as most of the books have been, I feel the Horus Heresy series has taken a lot out of the "shrouded myth" aura that made the whole thing sound so cool in the first place. It's too...clear, too explained. It's also heavily overfocused on a single game faction.

[DEADMARSH]

Superman is (or was during the 90's and early 2000's) very human in his feelings and motivations. He was raised by humans and lived among them without powers (mostly) until his late teens early 20's. He didn't even know he was an alien until his senior year of high school.

Fair enough, I was never a big fan of Superman.

Do you see what I'm saying though? If the Emperor has no real weaknesses because he's like this super-genius, master tactician, it's hard to have him fail, so it's hard to create drama with the character.

[Wintermute]

I've moved this thread to the Black Library General Discussion forum

Wintermute

[Xisor]

No.

Well, not quite.

I'm of the thought that the only 'Emperor's PoV' piece should be the Bill King piece which we already have. I think it's...suitable. That's not to say "a moratorium on good ideas", as I'd be happy for my opinion to be shown to be utterly terrible, but I think it'd be...nicer if we never again get a look in his head, except on what King's already given us.

Mainly because he's more than Superman. He's more than DEADMARSH describes him. He's been alive for millennia, he's seen and done a million impossible things, he's quite possibly so far 'beyond' human that even the Primarchs pale in comparison. He's the conjoined souls of the shamans bound to a singular, eternal body with one (fractured?) mind...

The Bill King piece is suitably...contrary to the above. It disregards it all and focuses on the sheer, personal emotion of it.

===

Conversely

I adored the Emperor's scene in Deliverance Lost, I enjoyed him (in sentiment and attitude, if not in the quality of his arguments [nor the implication of those: changing his attitude from goading to childishly spiteful]) in The Last Church, I love the idea of him presented by Realm of Chaos and am fascinated by the implications backwardly suggested by the Thorian (etc) modern 40k factions.

So, what should we do?

More stories closer to the Emperor. I'm still holding out for a trilogy focussing on the Emperor's extended entourage - His 'circle' who're 'in on the game' sort of: they know bits about the Thrones, they work on His errands across the galaxy, they return to Terra with Him after Ullanor to work on the Golden Throne and so forth. I think getting 'closer' to the Emperor that way would be utterly delightful, setting out from Terra, flashbacks to being at His side and coordinating with Malcador early on Terra, being present at the initial talks between Mars & Terra, escapades across an uncovered, united galaxy pursuing artefacts and chasing hidden knowledge that the Emperor needs, knowledge of god-like species and impossible histories...

Yes, I think novels focussed on near the Emperor would offer a lot, without such a severe likelihood of 'getting it wrong' as you'd get with portraying the Man Himself.

[sweave]

that and stories set in a way that involves people finding out about things he has done such as was done in mechanicum with the visions except a bit less oblique.

a malcador story might work nicely to fufill this.

[stormblade]

The best portrayal of Big E in heresy books is, in my opinion, in The Outcast Dead; it's somewhat refreshing to see him talk with a normal (more or less) human without the all melodrama that seems to follow the primarchs.

Just for the record I haven't read the last church but judging by the comments people left here it doesn't seem that good either.

[Cryptic]

I'd like to just read short stories and have the true emperor talk in the last trilogy that will see the closure of the HH series. the siege.

[LeftHandTwin]

I love the Emperor, infact he is possibly my favourite character within wh40k. His depth and culture as a character in my opinion makes him great for storytelling...however.

I fear he like the Primarch suffer from a rather unfortunate trait that makes stories written from their point of view rather difficult to write. You see, they are described as being so far above humanity they think on a different level. This to me makes it hard to write a book about them as the writers think on a human level. So the author's could never fully grasp or actualise the character's motivations or thought processes without making it look too generic or too hard to believe.

I am all for some more lore for the Emperor but just enough to kind of progress our understanding of his activities during the Crusade rather than character development.

[Londinium]

While I don't think there should be a novel based upon the Emperor coming to power and I certainly don't think we should have an Emperor focused novel, for a long time I've been wanting an Emperor-Horus duology or trilogy set in the long period from when the Emperor found Horus until the 2nd Primarch was found.

It should be from Horus' perspective though, that way you can get plenty on the Emperor and his background without giving too much away, nor demythologising the guy too much. It'd also provide a lot of emotional underpinning for what happens in Horus Rising onwards. As it is now and especially in the opening trilogy we're constantly smacked over the head about how close the Emperor and Horus were and what a great treachery it was; yet we never actually see the Big E and Horus together or interacting. Having a trilogy set during those early days would not just give us a glimpse into the past but also as a side effect benefit Horus' future appearances. Plus it'd be great to see how Horus reacts to the #2 Primarch throwing a spanner in the works and changing the Emperor-Horus relationship, which was the closest thing to a father/son relationship between the Emperor and the Primarchs.

[Lars Porsenna]

IMHO, while I would love to see a nove about the Emperor, I would NOT want it to be from the Emperor's POV. Something about the Emperor but from the POV of one of his inner circle, or such, would work much better. It could potentially provide revelations, without making the Emperor too familiar a character. That would be the best way to handle it IMHO...

Damon.

[Cryptic]

I'd agree to what Londinium said however i'd say it wouldn't need a duology. just the 1 novel. before the 2nd primarch was found.

[Rob]

IMO I'm hoping they do a book about the attack on Earth and the Emperor's role in it all all the way to the final battle. If they don't it'll all be a big waste of my personal time reading 20+ books with no damn ending. Regardless if we all know how it ends.

[Londinium]

IMO I'm hoping they do a book about the attack on Earth and the Emperor's role in it all all the way to the final battle. If they don't it'll all be a big waste of my personal time reading 20+ books with no damn ending. Regardless if we all know how it ends.

Well we know that there is going to be a trilogy bookending the series based on the Siege of Terra, so I think that's fairly likely. Although personally I suspect it might morph into more than a trilogy given how much has to be written; I magine there might be a central trilogy and then offshoots much like we have with Istvaan V.

[Rob]

Well we know that there is going to be a trilogy bookending the series based on the Siege of Terra, so I think that's fairly likely. Although personally I suspect it might morph into more than a trilogy given how much has to be written; I magine there might be a central trilogy and then offshoots much like we have with Istvaan V.

I didn't know about the trilogy. Thanx for the heads up!