Void Stalker in review (mild spoilers), 4.5 Skulls out of 5 for the eighth legion!

[Wyrmwood]

I've not finished the second story (about Ferrus Manus by Nick Kyme) yet, but it's typical Kyme fare... in other words I'm not a fan... I'm only about thirty pages into it but I've had to take a break as my eyes are bleeding.

Disappointing, but not entirely unexpected. Salamander wasn't abysmal for a first novel, and Fall of Damnos (though flawed on many levels) was a better take on the Ultramarines than Graham's series. Although, Nick Kyme's former position at the Black Library may have had a hand in seeing his work published and/or his knowledge of the new toys in Salamander and Fall of Damnos (both published before the 5th edition printings of Codex: Space Marines and Codex: Necrons, respectively)

[shadowhawk2008]

Nick Kyme's former position? He is still an editor. And as for previous knowledge, I don't see how that would affect things. Jim Swallow had advanced knowledge of Necron stuff for his Hammer & Anvil. People don't seem to be raining on that one, not that I want to see people doing that.

And really, I'd just say that people shouldn't drag what position Nick does or does not hold with either GW or BL when evaluating his work. That is a very slippery slope that can turn pretty nasty pretty quick. I'd advise against that and evaluating an author's work without having read it yourself first. A passing single-line mention should not affect people's decision.

[Longstrider]

Bah. eBooks are the future; all you luddites can still access them, you just don't want to. :P

I kid, mostly. I get the irritation with the eBook model they have of coming out earlier. But it's FAR less troublesome to me than the practice of Limited Edition stuff and event-only stories. At least with ebooks they ARE accessible to basically everyone who can afford the print version.

[Dead.Blue.Clown]

Nick Kyme's former position? He is still an editor. And as for previous knowledge, I don't see how that would affect things. Jim Swallow had advanced knowledge of Necron stuff for his Hammer & Anvil. People don't seem to be raining on that one, not that I want to see people doing that.

As an interesting note of curiosity, this kind of thing can vary from project to project. Nick's obviously very lucky in that he's aware of releases and details 1-2 years before they come out, and he has a buffer zone to plan accordingly. Just looking at his novels shows he does that jazz very well. Jim got the necron info early, but as far as I know, the first time he saw the Blood Angel codex was when it was already printed. Similarly, it took an epoch to get hold of the Grey Knight codex for The Emperor's Gift, but I've also had info on X, Y or Z months or years in advance, too.

Weird how it can vary, but it's just the nature of the game.

[shadowhawk2008]

Yeah I can accept that. My only problem is when people say that Nick is getting his work published because he is one of the editors and is in a position to get advance info about new releases for the tabletop range. I see that as a very blinkered and unfair approach in evaluating any writer's work.

[Wyrmwood]

Nick Kyme's former position? He is still an editor. And as for previous knowledge, I don't see how that would affect things. Jim Swallow had advanced knowledge of Necron stuff for his Hammer & Anvil. People don't seem to be raining on that one, not that I want to see people doing that.

And really, I'd just say that people shouldn't drag what position Nick does or does not hold with either GW or BL when evaluating his work. That is a very slippery slope that can turn pretty nasty pretty quick. I'd advise against that and evaluating an author's work without having read it yourself first. A passing single-line mention should not affect people's decision.

Thanks for the clarification on Nick's position at the Black Library. Just so we're clear, I'm not hating on Nick Kyme or insinuating that his job title definitely does have a hand in seeing his gubbins published (if so it would be very unprofessional, and if not it'd be insulting) but it almost certainly does where his knowledge of releases are concerned.

[Xisor]

Just finished Void Stalker. Decidedly excellent novel.

To enhance what SunTzu said:

There is a scene in the novel wherein Deltrian has been attempting to resurrect Malcharion. Talos eventually decides enough is enough, he means to kill Malcharion and do things properly.

He arrives in Deltrian's chamber to find Uzas already sitting about being concerned/interested. Deltrian proceeds to have a long argument with Talos as Talos tries to determine exactly what Deltrian's been doing and why it isn't working. Eventually Talos & Uzas go off on a (seeming) tangent about Talos once having had a dog.

It's one of the most deeply resonant bits of a novel I can recall ever reading. Perhaps because of the inherent inhumanity of everyone involved, the overt machinisms afoot, the fact that it's the backdrop to a massive event. It's difficult to point my finger at any one piece of the scene (and it's impact/role within the wider novel), but I've a sneaking suspicion very many essays could be written on the topic.

It's a tremendous scene, I very much look forward to returning to it the series further down the line and giving them a proper re-read.

In other news, however and relating to Lord of the Night by Spurrier,

There's a rather endearing little snippet of dialogue early on when First Claw are bickering about why the Legion's such a mess and why the Atraemantar dispersed. They end up discussing Sahaal. Quite a lovely little bit, affectionate but also underlined the 'different ideas' being explored in the series.

Yep, thoroughly enjoyed the book. Highly recommended. Possibly even my singular (well, triangular[?]) recommendation to people who don't read 40k too. Though that might just be a perverse curiosity to see how far people get with them...

[Sqallum]

Pre-ordered from Amazon.. will arive in 14th of May...damn... really looking forward to it. I really like how Mercutian is so polite in the previous books, and in Blood Reaver (?) he is writing a document when he is called to battle. Funny
Sqallum

[auchatos001]

I finished reading Void stalker in a span of a single day. The only question that surged after the lecture was that why was the latest prophet of the Eight Legion named Decimus. The question does not come from doubts concerning the new prophets origin, since his (Decimus) name suggests that he is the descendant of Talos' slaves Septimus and Octavia. But respecting the numerical order of his mortal progenitors, his name should have been Novenus. Or maybe Marlonah (the woman Malcharion saved in the last chapter) was named Novenus by Variel after escaping Tsagualsa. Any ideas?

[mistercactus]

Nonus (the ninth) appears in Blood Reaver.

[Poncho160]

Didnt know you could get the e-version now! Cheers guys. I've just downloaded it along with Phalanx and the Gotrek and Felix anthology. I'll start reading it tonight.

[auchatos001]

Thanks man. I have totally forgotten about that geezer.

[McNs]

Just got done reading the eBook. Wow - this was a great book in its own right and a great capstone to the Triology ABD started ~3 years ago.

There's a lot I could write about this; more than enough to exceed a single post's character limit, but I'll keep this relatively brief.

The Good

The prose is great and very much in line with the rest of ABD's writing.

The plotting is excellent. ABD managed to avoid two tropes I was really worried about going into this book: He managed to close story arcs in unexpected ways (characters die who you don't expect to die; some characters you expect to die live) for a final book in a Triology. He also reinforced that Night Lords are not "good guys", despite being protagonists.

ABD skirts the line on this a little with Talos, who has twinges of not being a Bad Guy (in the conventional sense of the word). That said, the thrust of this book is resolving what exactly Talos is fighting for. I won't spoil it all of it, but suffice to say by the end of the book, Talos has done some terrible, terrible things but avoids doing pointless "bad things" because they don't fit his raison d'tere (e.g. - he spares the leader of a human settlement on Tsagualsa because killing him wouldn't mean anything... and he was more worried about the Genesis Chapter boarding his ship).

ABD also subtely hammers home what makes Talos likable to the reader, a decent leader in a pinch, and something of a joke to his fellow Night Lords: Talos is sentimental. He keeps slaves alive where others in the first claw would have killed them. He lets Octavia chastise him when he was within his right to slap her head off (OK, she was also something of a necessity, but still). Talos needs to personally "bury" an old friend when he dies, despite it not being a prudent move for his long term out look. Its this that sets him apart, but its a character trait that feels 3 dimensional.

The Not-as-Good:

Not a whole lot to nit pick here. A few plot points stick out as not quite explained well enough, for instance

I had to look at a map to see why Newfoundland was near Tsagualsa. I know that makes a horrible 40k fan, but that felt odd and slightly interupted the pacing for me.

But really these are minor, minor complaints. If I was going to give ABD some constructive criticism, it'd be:

I felt like the phrase "the silence was pregnant" got used too much (i.e. - more than once).

I felt like the discussion of where Malek and Garadon were between books 2 and 3 was a little too ham-handed in the way it opens up to a novella. That said, I'm prepared to be totally wrong on that front. Again, very minor criticism.

I'm excited that there's a lot of space open for future tales with these characters. In fact, there's 3 big questions I'd love to see explored in future stories:

Where Malek and Garadon were between books 2 and 3.

What happen with Talos and Variel on Fryga.

Its hinted that Decimus is the son of Octavia and Septimus. What happened to Nonus/Nona? Is Decimus really their son?

I'd give this 39,500 out 40,000 warhammers.

- McNs

[shadowhawk2008]

Nonus is dead isn't he? He died somewhere near the climax of Blood Reaver IIRC. He was a slave from that Marines Errant orbital base that the Tenth attacked in the novel's opening.

[McNs]

Its sad that I already forgot about the bloke. That does make sense then.

[bound for glory]

what are the books, and in what order, in this series? thanks!

[Freak Ona Leash]

what are the books, and in what order, in this series? thanks!

Soul Hunter is the first, Blood Reaver the second, and Void Stalker the third. The audio drama Throne of Lies occurs before Soul Hunter, the short story Shadow Knight happens between Soul Hunter and Blood Reaver, and the short story The Core happens between Blood Reaver and Void Stalker

[Anomandaris]

Soul Hunter is the first, Blood Reaver the second, and Void Stalker the third. The audio drama Throne of Lies occurs before Soul Hunter, the short story Shadow Knight happens between Soul Hunter and Blood Reaver, and the short story The Core happens between Blood Reaver and Void Stalker

You got Throne of Lies and Shadow Knight mixed up; Shadow Knight is the one that occurs just before Soul Hunter.

[shadowhawk2008]

Throne of Lies has Octavia in it, so can't be before Soul Hunter :-)

[Dragannia]

Just finished the book. Good stuff! Though knowing the results of the 13th Crusade and Ulthwe's role in it, what does that say about the prophet's plan in the end?