What Book Are You Reading?

[Lantern A-train Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Lantern A-train]

I loved every fucking syllable in this book. Such a great read and I cannot wait for the film.

[Mister Ed Horse of a Different Color Find all posts View Profile Close Mister Ed]

I loved every fucking syllable in this book. Such a great read and I cannot wait for the film.

I agree, though my only worry is that copyright issues over much of the popular culture stuff used in the book might end up making the movie more...generic, which would be a shame, since for me part of the fun of the book came from all the references.

I'm looking forward to his next book, due in July. Sounds like kind of a cross between The Last Starfighter and Ender's Game.

[Lantern A-train Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Lantern A-train]

Yeah I agree with what you are saying about all the references. I do hope they keep them all as well. I will definitely be picking up his next book

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

Given that Swallow wrote one of my favorite WH/40k books of all time (Flight of the Eisenstein), I had to read this after checking out some more info on it; not so much a fan of the Blood Angels or Sanguinius, but damn am I glad I got this (and for only five bucks with free shipping!).

Story starts off with the Blood Angels and Luna Wolves (and their primarchs Horus Lupercal and Sanguinius) battling an alien species called the nephilim (they stole the name from Earth mythology) who brainwash/mind control their followers and drain the life from them by feeding on adulation.

Story then proceeds to the "present" of the Horus Heresy's start, when the Blood Angels are wrapping up a campaign with the Alpha Legion against a force of orkz and receive a message from Horus, now Warmaster: the nephilim survived extermination from their battle and being hunted by a third Legion and have taken over an entire solar system. Incredulous and furious, the Blood Angels muster damn near every Space Marine they have (nearly 120,000 Marines alone) and head to the Signus Cluster...only to find it totally dead. No traces of anything alive, anywhere.

And then they come under attack.

This book is incredible, and is really making me a fan of the Legion and its primarch. Swallow only gave one pre-Heresy battle for the Death Guard in Flight, but here he gives two (the nephilim and the orkz; on a side note, the Alpha Legion barely have a presence in this novel, so if you were hoping for some of their action you will have to re-/read the novel Legion).

Once they arrive in the Signus Cluster, things are a mix of action and horror as unexpected and inexplicable attack after attack comes at them, chipping away at their forces and support crew, causing the most horrific and unimaginable events to happen.

Just a quick warning: read this before reading Vengeful Spirit, because of some character events that happen in Tread that resurface with critical importance in Spirit.

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

Finished Fear to Tread last night.


Coming from someone who did not particularly like Sanguinius or the Blood Angels Legion, I went into this book with only my great liking of the author's storytelling skills to drive me along.

James Swallow did not fail to impress me again.

The story starts off with a critical partnership, Sanguinius and his Blood Angels teaming up with Horus Lupercal and his Luna Wolves to defeat a race of aliens and liberate their followers. From there, we learn a dark and horrific secret of the Blood Angels, but so does Horus, and many years later after he has been corrupted to the service of Chaos, the Warmaster uses this hidden truth to test the Blood Angels as never before. That test is the majority of the story, a mission from Horus for Sanguinius and his sons to eradicate the last surviving aliens they'd once defeated, who have allegedly taken over a far-off star system.

But when the Blood Angels arrive, they find almost no trace of human or alien at all, only world after world slaughtered of all life, and the trap around them is then sprung.

At roughly five hundred pages, Fear to Tread covers a substantial amount of ground, detailing a huge roster of characters as they attempt to make sense of a dead cluster of worlds. Because this is the start of the Horus Heresy (yes, this is book 21 in the saga, but it is early in the timeline), and because of how the Imperial Truth and the Emperor shun all religion and superstition, the idea of demons (in this franchise called "daemons" ) is totally unacceptable, and magic/sorcery worthy only of dismissal. As such, the majority of the characters refuse to believe that evil spirits and not aliens have butchered entire worlds, even when an entire city literally comes alive to fight them.

And there is plenty of fighting to be had. The last time I read Swallow, it was book four of the saga, The Flight of the Eisenstein, and he has outdone himself this time around. In Flight, the Death Guard only had one big battle as loyalists before the Horus Heresy began, but the Blood Angels are given two: one against the nephilim (the aliens I mentioned previously) and another against the orkz. In the second one, you are introduced to a pivotal character, Kano, who possesses psychic powers, and see how important psykers are to the Imperium especially in the face of daemons (though this effect is only realized later in the timeline and book).

Conversely, an element present in Flight but not in Fear is the angle of the cult that worships the Emperor as a living god. Far be it to repeat and rehash plot elements, which is why I think Swallow did not include that angle here aside from a small nod late in the book, which keen-eyed readers will immediately pick up.

While the meat of the story is about a force of Space Marines encountering and doing battle against demons, the spirit of the story is actually about trust and betrayal. Horus, manipulating events to his liking that he may murder his own father, preys upon the trust of his closest brother and sends him on a suicide mission that he intends will either kill or corrupt well over a hundred thousand men. Sanguinius, believing the best of his brother and not flinching in the face of duty, finds everything he believed in is false and must forge ahead for the sake of the Imperium. In the end, the fate of the galaxy in its entirety is changed by the changes of ideology and allegiance experienced by a handful of its denizens.

If you want a primer for the Heresy and an introduction to the Warhammer 40,000 universe, or just want a book about Space Marines fighting hideous monsters, do yourself a favor and pick this novel up. You will not regret it.

[Tazer That Evil, Yellow Bastiche Find all posts View Profile Close Tazer]

Yo.

I loved every fucking syllable in this book. Such a great read and I cannot wait for the film.

there were a number of ppl I know (on here and elsewhere) who've read this and came away with a positive review of this book, but I finally decided to give it a try after: 1) Atrain brought it to my attention for the 2nd time, and 2) I came across an audio copy.........

I can honestly say I was already highly enjoying this book, but I *just now* found myself cackling like an idiot @work when I got to the part where Wade's 2nd Gate Challenge turned out to be a game Id spent TOO FUCKING MANY QUARTERS ON when I was about 15-16yo (), and I now must tip my hat to Cline for his choice of obscure arcade games!

so yea, if yur like me & can look back on that time period with relative fondness AND geek glasses......I do recommend this book.




Tazer

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

Finished Wrath of Iron (Chris Wraight, Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine Battles novel line).

Wrath of Iron makes a good case for the Iron Hands being a likeable Legion. With their focus on being more machine than man, holding a general disgust for mortal flesh and working in such utter lockstep that they may as well be drones, it can be hard to find much within them to sympathize.

Chris Wraight does a good job of exploring the Iron Hands, looking at how they are viewed as incredibly ruthless and with an utter disregard for the casualties suffered by their allies. They know they are monstrous, but firmly believe that they do these things because they must, that it is their duty to do the worst fighting because they are the only ones who can.

At the same time, Wraight looks at the Legion's allies, specifically General Nethata, who constantly raises issue with the losses his men suffer and how Rauth, the Iron Hands commander, refuses to give him rhyme or reason, always pushing for more attacks and never lending any of his Space Marines to aid the Imperial Guard. Those readers with backgrounds of authority, especially military officers who had to send subordinates into hazardous situations, can connect with Nethata's reluctance to sacrifice his troops for no clear reason; it's hard to march someone to their death for something you don't understand.

The villains they face are their oldest and deadliest foes, at first traitors believing their cause just, and then bizarre mutants, and finally the twisted and endless daemons of Chaos itself. And through it all, in spite of the misguided beliefs or freakish bodies or horrific monsters, the Iron Hands push onward, an unceasing and merciless tide of steel and willpower.

Overall, I found the book to be quite likeable, especially for a Legion that is difficult to make sympathetic to the reader (the opening pages, relating an insight into the Legion's primarch Ferrus Manus's thoughts towards his sons, goes a long way to drawing you in). While I didn't love this the way I loved Death of Integrity (a must read for any sci-fi fans), this is a solid and touching novel, at times saddening, at times astonishing, but very much memorable.

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination (1956)


Only read the prologue so far. A friend from church has been urging me to read this, even more since I made the mistake of telling him I found a copy at a library sale.

[myuserid Lantern Hex Find all posts View Profile Close myuserid]

[Tazer That Evil, Yellow Bastiche Find all posts View Profile Close Tazer]

Yo.

only a few chapters left to go on this:



and then I can dig into THIS:








Tazer

[myuserid Lantern Hex Find all posts View Profile Close myuserid]

[buffalorock Star Sapphire's Love Slave Find all posts View Profile Close buffalorock]

Used to read this series back in the day in middle and high school. I found out the author died a few years ago and I started picking up ones I missed. Even though I'm older now, I still enjoyed the heck out of them. I keep a book in my car for my lunch breaks at work so I am always reading something.

Alfred Bester's The Stars My Destination (1956)

That looks awesome, I love old sci-fi. I'll keep a look out for it.

[Space Cop The Dandy Find all posts View Profile Close Space Cop]

That looks awesome, I love old sci-fi. I'll keep a look out for it.

An older friend of mine kept explaining how foundational Bester was to classic sci-fi, so I caved. I had to put it down for a week for G-Fest, but I'm halfway through now. It's not quite what I was expecting. It's a revenge story in a future with space travel and personal teleportation. Somewhat like Herbert or Burgess (but less pervasive), it requires a bit slower pace since much of the lingo and culture is assumed, not explained.

[Agent Purple The Illustrated Man Find all posts View Profile Close Agent Purple]

Finished:





Overall, it was pretty good. Annandale is very good with battle descriptions, with some grisly clashes between members of the Raven Guard, Iron Hands, and Salamanders versus the wildlife of the planet Pythos (mostly dinosaur-like creatures, though the forest literally comes alive to attack them at one point).

That touches upon part of the underlying genre of the book: it's not so much science-fantasy as it is science-fantasy/horror. The planet in its entirety is the Legionnaries' enemy, from the animals (all of which are predatory, not a grass-muncher anywhere) to the forest; even the night air is working against them.

As the book is primarily from the viewpoint of the Iron Hands' Sergeant Galba and his serf Jerune Kanshell, the idea of anything outside of the real world is unacceptable: there is no such thing as magic, nor gods, nor the divine or infernal. When they encounter something they don't fully understand, they write it off as a xenos (alien) issue or something from the warp (alternate dimension, the Immaterium, in which daemons reside, though the Legions largely at this point don't accept that daemons are real).

This "only the real" ideology finds its focal point in Iron Hands Captain Atticus, who is a brutally strict and efficient commander. He tolerates no deviation from his orders because that interferes with the efficiency of the Legion's war efforts, and the Iron Hands are nothing if not systematic in their efficiency.

Pinch-hitting from the other corner (on the heroic side, anyway) are Ptero of the Raven Guard and Khi'dem of the Salamanders. The pair are generally given the cold shoulder by Atticus and a number of the other Iron Hands due to their not charging to Ferrus Manus's aid during the Drop Site Massacre of Isstvan V (detailed in the novel Fulgrim). The loss of the Iron Hands' primarch leaves a bitter wound in his Legion and some view the two other Legions as somewhat responsible, and so Ptero and Khi'dem must deal with a degree of loathing from their cousins. As the story progresses and Atticus commits certain actions with certain claims of validation, we see things from their perspective and how they see folly where he sees wisdom.

It should be noted that although there is a good deal of characterization, it's hard to swallow. Annandale isn't a bad writer by any means, but it can be profoundly difficult to write the Iron Hands in a way that connects them to the reader due to how cold and almost anti-human they can be, embracing the mechanical and shunning the flesh. Chris Wraight's "Wrath of Iron" novel has a bit of the same problem, though I think Wraight did a better job owing to not having to write horror elements into the story, though by no means are those poorly done. The closest the Legion comes to being human (other than a few of the serfs, such as Kanshell and his fellow serf Tanaura) is through Galba, who has not yet converted himself so much as others to a mechanical form. Through Galba we get a meeting ground of the flesh and the machine, especially as he tries to describe his interpretation of Pythos to Atticus.

There is a heavy element of mystery throughout the novel, to discover the secrets of Pythos and of the pilgrim fleet that the Iron Hands encounter there later on. While much is revealed by the story's end, not everything is concluded (the Space Marines Battles novel "Pandorax" touches upon some leftover threads, for one), leaving as many questions as there are answers.

This is not a bad book by any stretch of the word, go into Damnation with a grain of salt. The Iron Hands are tricky to be sympathetic towards, and Annandale has a time balancing clashing ideologies (machine vs flesh) and genres (mystery, military action, science-fantasy, and horror), and the ending will feel like a vicious cliffhanger, but overall this is worth picking up for rare insight into the twilight days of a legendary army.

[Lantern A-train Guardian of the Universe Find all posts View Profile Close Lantern A-train]