Ahriman: Exile by John French

[schmoozies]

Still haven't been able to download it myself. Keep getting an error.

[shadowhawk2008]

Still haven't been able to download it myself. Keep getting an error.

Appears to be a widespread problem. Best thing is to email them.

[Damien 1427]

So, how about that new book by John French.

I'm enjoying it, for the most part. Those who are waiting for the meatspace dead tree edition can take heart in the fact that with any luck proofing errors will be yanked out of it by then, because I'm finding more than I really should and I'm a little miffed by them. But if you're not an OCD-crippled pedant, the actual story seems interesting enough, with Ahriman on the run and hiding out from the wrath of those who didn't think the Rubric was a resounding success. Seeing John play around with a whole novel is a lot of fun, and I think he'll be a man to watch.

[blackcherry]

I'm enjoying it, for the most part. Those who are waiting for the meatspace dead tree edition can take heart in the fact that with any luck proofing errors will be yanked out of it by then, because I'm finding more than I really should and I'm a little miffed by them. But if you're not an OCD-crippled pedant, the actual story seems interesting enough, with Ahriman on the run and hiding out from the wrath of those who didn't think the Rubric was a resounding success. Seeing John play around with a whole novel is a lot of fun, and I think he'll be a man to watch.

How bad are the errors Damien1427? I'm not a professional proof reader like yourself, but I've done enough of it in the past that any errors do irk me and can even take me out of the story if if its horrendous, like missing words or sentences that aren't given the correct grammar (not that mine is exactly brilliant ).

[Damien 1427]

So far, maybe a word or two without gap between them or the wrong punctuation mark. Nothing earth-shatteringly awful that'll yank you out of the story.

[blackcherry]

Ok. Thanks for letting me know . I may buy this to read on my Kindle then.

[DDM]

Just finished the story.

It's enjoyable. I liked French's portrayal of Ahriman as a man haunted by the daemons of his past and the consequences of the choices he has made. He constantly struggles against what he perceives as "fate" in the hopes of saving his legion and his brothers.

That's not to say that I didn't have my quibbles. There are a few plot points I felt were handled poorly, and some of the supporting cast felt weak. Perhaps my biggest gripe revolves around some of the "hard choices" characters make; I did not feel that French fully conveyed the necessity of these decisions.

Overall, though, I like the book. If you're looking for more of Ahriman's Wacky Adventures, look no further.

[Soul Hunter]

Ahriman: Exile.

I'm reading it right now and I am quite enjoying it. French does visuals and narrative really well, it's very immersive and I am really enjoying the look at Ahriman as he was Post-Rubric. Not at all what I expected and that is how I like it. More thoughts once I finish.


SH

[cornonthecob]

More spoilers please

[Soul Hunter]

More spoilers please

About what? Anything in particular or just general spoilers??


SH

[malika]

About the characters, story, erm...any spoilers about Great Crusade and Heresy related stuff?

[Soul Hunter]

About the characters, story, erm...any spoilers about Great Crusade and Heresy related stuff?

Just finished it now and it's a damn good novel. It's not perfect and there are some unanswered questions but as this is a trilogy those things can be forgiven.

The story is basically Ahriman finding himself. After the Rubric he is a shell of what he once was, destroyed by the knowledge of what he has done to his brothers. He is serving a no-name Chaos Lord Gzrel and the Harrowing warband under a false name. And he is playing second-fiddle to a weak coven of Sorcerers with minor talents at an exaggerated best. That changes when a Thousand Son arrives looking for him, and Ahriman is forced to kill them all. He then takes over the ship Titan Child that was recently hijacked by the warband and allies with a group of 3 Space Marines from a dead chapter that isn't revealed in the book. Their leader, a Librarian named Astreos, is compelled to give an oath of service to Ahriman after he helps them escape.

The story follows Ahriman as he searches for answers as to what is happening, why the members of his Coven are being abducted or killed, and eventually after finding the last member besides himself that has not disappeared, learns that Amon is behind it. Magnus's old equerry was a member of the Coven and according to Ahriman was the hardest to convince. Ahriman narrowly escapes a trap that Amon leaves for him in a space station where Ahriman looks for answers to finding Amon, one of the renegade marines stays behind to cover their escape and another is mentally wounded and emerges as a different man, and then realises that he has no choice but to confront Amon and learn why he is being hunted. But their navigator has been killed and they are forced to raid an Inquisitorial ship and steal theres, and while there Ahriman sees that the ship was a scout ship for data on the Eye of Terror and sees what they saw. The Planet of the Sorcerers was destroyed.

He realises that Amon did it but learns that because of the time distortions in the Warp that it has not occured yet. But it will unless Ahriman stops him. He and his renegades travel to Amon's growing fleet but they are betrayed by Carmenta, the mistress of the Titan Child, when she tires of Ahriman putting her ship at risk. Ahriman is captured by Amon and learns that Amon has given into despair, planning to kill the Thousand Sons to spare them the horrific fate that Ahriman put onto them. Ahriman, after some convincing, shares his knowledge of the Rubric with Amon so that he can undo it. Astreos and the renegades, using a Daemonhost created by the sole survivor of Gzrel's coven, assault Amon's ship, Sycorax, and rescue Ahriman who after journying into his memories and conversing with his brother Ohrmuzd realises that fate is what you make it, decides that he cannot allow Amon to destroy the XVth Legion. He uses his powers to usurp the Rubric Marines aboard the ship and confronts Amon, telling him that he has given into despair and has forgotten hope. The two fight and Ahriman uses the Rubric to turn Amon to dust, and then takes his armour which is Ahriman's signature armor.

He tells his brothers that he is sorry, and that they can now begin again. The epilogue shows that Ahriman has taken control of Amon's warband, has come to terms with what he did and is determined to start over and has forgiven Carmenta, who is now the mistress of the Sycorax, and that Astreos has become Ahriman's apprentice. It also reveals that the Daemonhost that the surviving Sorcerer Maroth bound is more intelligent than it appears, and that it and Maroth are playing a behind the scenes game and wanted all of this to happen. The book ends here.

I don't know what era this story is set in however, but there is a hint that it's very early after the Heresy. Ahriman at one point sees the symbol for the Inquisition and doesn't recognize it.


SH

[Sqallum]

Thanks for the spoilers. Sounds like a really good book

[Scammel]

How is Ahriman himself portrayed? Regret at the Rubric is understandable, but I hope it's not overdone; I felt the tone at the end of ATS was perfect. Still far, far away from the moustache-twirler of the 'current' setting, but resigned, determined and angry, on the verge of outright ruthlessness.

[Soul Hunter]

How is Ahriman himself portrayed? Regret at the Rubric is understandable, but I hope it's not overdone; I felt the tone at the end of ATS was perfect. Still far, far away from the moustache-twirler of the 'current' setting, but resigned, determined and angry, on the verge of outright ruthlessness.

Well considering that he has doomed his brothers to a horrific eternity as shades with only the tiniest fragments of who they were remaining with the alternative option being letting them become insane monsters, betrayed his father's trust who then cast him out of the Legion he loved for trying to save it, and was faced with the fact that he completely and 100% failed and was wrong, just plain wrong which was a massive blow to his confidence and his ego... his being broken up really badly is understandable. He spends a lot of the novel trying to run away from who he was, believing that Ahriman failed and that failure cost everybody he cared about, but him, everything. He looks for answers mainly because he feels he must, not because he really cares about surviving or anything else like that.

So the regret is played on pretty heavily through the novel but it's fitting when you consider everything that Ahriman has done and the scope of his failure.


SH

[Scammel]

The impression I got from the end of ATS and his codex entries is that by the time he cast the Rubric he was pretty bloody-minded about it; his hatred of the corruption and his 'end justifies the means' mindset eclipsed his actual care for the legion. I'm sure it's done perfectly well, I just wouldn't want him to become something of a sop.

[Nineswords]

Just finished it now and it's a damn good novel. It's not perfect and there are some unanswered questions but as this is a trilogy those things can be forgiven.

The story is basically Ahriman finding himself. After the Rubric he is a shell of what he once was, destroyed by the knowledge of what he has done to his brothers. He is serving a no-name Chaos Lord Gzrel and the Harrowing warband under a false name. And he is playing second-fiddle to a weak coven of Sorcerers with minor talents at an exaggerated best. That changes when a Thousand Son arrives looking for him, and Ahriman is forced to kill them all. He then takes over the ship Titan Child that was recently hijacked by the warband and allies with a group of 3 Space Marines from a dead chapter that isn't revealed in the book. Their leader, a Librarian named Astreos, is compelled to give an oath of service to Ahriman after he helps them escape.

The story follows Ahriman as he searches for answers as to what is happening, why the members of his Coven are being abducted or killed, and eventually after finding the last member besides himself that has not disappeared, learns that Amon is behind it. Magnus's old equerry was a member of the Coven and according to Ahriman was the hardest to convince. Ahriman narrowly escapes a trap that Amon leaves for him in a space station where Ahriman looks for answers to finding Amon, one of the renegade marines stays behind to cover their escape and another is mentally wounded and emerges as a different man, and then realises that he has no choice but to confront Amon and learn why he is being hunted. But their navigator has been killed and they are forced to raid an Inquisitorial ship and steal theres, and while there Ahriman sees that the ship was a scout ship for data on the Eye of Terror and sees what they saw. The Planet of the Sorcerers was destroyed.

He realises that Amon did it but learns that because of the time distortions in the Warp that it has not occured yet. But it will unless Ahriman stops him. He and his renegades travel to Amon's growing fleet but they are betrayed by Carmenta, the mistress of the Titan Child, when she tires of Ahriman putting her ship at risk. Ahriman is captured by Amon and learns that Amon has given into despair, planning to kill the Thousand Sons to spare them the horrific fate that Ahriman put onto them. Ahriman, after some convincing, shares his knowledge of the Rubric with Amon so that he can undo it. Astreos and the renegades, using a Daemonhost created by the sole survivor of Gzrel's coven, assault Amon's ship, Sycorax, and rescue Ahriman who after journying into his memories and conversing with his brother Ohrmuzd realises that fate is what you make it, decides that he cannot allow Amon to destroy the XVth Legion. He uses his powers to usurp the Rubric Marines aboard the ship and confronts Amon, telling him that he has given into despair and has forgotten hope. The two fight and Ahriman uses the Rubric to turn Amon to dust, and then takes his armour which is Ahriman's signature armor.

He tells his brothers that he is sorry, and that they can now begin again. The epilogue shows that Ahriman has taken control of Amon's warband, has come to terms with what he did and is determined to start over and has forgiven Carmenta, who is now the mistress of the Sycorax, and that Astreos has become Ahriman's apprentice. It also reveals that the Daemonhost that the surviving Sorcerer Maroth bound is more intelligent than it appears, and that it and Maroth are playing a behind the scenes game and wanted all of this to happen. The book ends here.

I don't know what era this story is set in however, but there is a hint that it's very early after the Heresy. Ahriman at one point sees the symbol for the Inquisition and doesn't recognize it.


SH

Thanks for the spoilers. I really can't wait to read this.

[DDM]

The impression I got from the end of ATS and his codex entries is that by the time he cast the Rubric he was pretty bloody-minded about it; his hatred of the corruption and his 'end justifies the means' mindset eclipsed his actual care for the legion. I'm sure it's done perfectly well, I just wouldn't want him to become something of a sop.

Definitely not a sop. Ahriman's defining flaw is his arrogance; this is shown time and time again. Other characters call him out on it repeatedly. He is always so convinced that he, and he alone, has the knowledge, the plan, and the mandate to do what must be done. If Magnus wasn't going to intervene, then HE, Ahriman, would have to step in. No one else could. When he created the Rubric, he was absolutely sure that it was the perfect cure.

Obviously, that wasn't the case, and it rattled him to his core. As such, it is not entirely surprising that a huge part of Exile is Ahriman dealing with his guilt and his own failings. By the end of the book, he has largely come to grips with his choices and is beginning to forge a new path.

Of course, Ahriman is still Ahriman, and we haven't seen the last of his mistakes....

[Soul Hunter]

Definitely not a sop. Ahriman's defining flaw is his arrogance; this is shown time and time again. Other characters call him out on it repeatedly. He is always so convinced that he, and he alone, has the knowledge, the plan, and the mandate to do what must be done. If Magnus wasn't going to intervene, then HE, Ahriman, would have to step in. No one else could. When he created the Rubric, he was absolutely sure that it was the perfect cure.

Obviously, that wasn't the case, and it rattled him to his core. As such, it is not entirely surprising that a huge part of Exile is Ahriman dealing with his guilt and his own failings. By the end of the book, he has largely come to grips with his choices and is beginning to forge a new path.

DDM is right about the ego. Ahriman was convinced that the Rubric was the correct course of action, and he failed spectacularly. It's hard to feel confident after such a failure and that is why Ahriman has such a hard time moving on, that and the fact that part of him still feels that the Rubric was the best of two bad choices. As such he's rattled by his failure and is afraid that if he becomes Ahriman again he will fail as he did before and cause even more damage.


SH

[Codsticker]

I have removed a large number of posts that were off topic (and edited those that referenced them for the sake of continuity).

Costicker

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