27. The Outcast Dead, Graham McNeill
I was tired of waiting for someone else to buy the Horus Heresy novels that came out after Prospero Burns, so I bought the next three (The Outcast Dead, Deliverance Lost, and Know No Fear) all at once. My challenge then was not to read them all in one big sci-fi swallow - because I like spacing series out so that I don't overload myself on one kind of story, and because I don't know when the next volume is coming out and these books are like crack to me. Seriously, I know the idea of books based off a game property sounds like the end products will be pulpy and bad, but if you're a fan AT ALL of space opera, politics, or robot suits, please read these books. The Outcast Dead is a really interesting addition to the series, since it shows the reader the fall-out from a specific event that happened a couple of books ago (specifically, you get to see what the astropaths on Terra experience after Magnus pulls his shit in the Golden Throne room). There's also a ballsy revelation that re-contextualizes large swathes of the whole 40K universe. In short: shit gets SO REAL. Also ILU Graham McNeill.
28. Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir, Jenny Lawrence
The funniest book I have ever read. No, seriously. I couldn't read this book in public places because parts of it (especially the chapter on Jenny's adventures with exterminators who don't know what chupacabras are) had me HOWLING with laughter. If you're a fan of her blog, thebloggess.com, this is a must-read. If you're not, I don't even know you.
KNOCK KNOCK, MOTHERFUCKER
29. Deliverance Lost, Gav Thorpe
Oh, Gav. There's something undeniably cruel about putting a Thorpe book, the weakest of the 40K authors, in between McNeill and Dan Abnett, who are clearly the strongest. It's a good way to get me to read the damn book, though, especially since the Raven Guard are not really a legion I have much interest in (WHEREFORE ART MY SALAMANDERS, GAMES WORKSHOP?). But Deliverance Lost has some good story elements in it, and even when I was beating my head against the wall due to stilted dialogue and really bad pacing (it's really bad, you guys) there were still interesting revelations happening. I'm not sure I really believe the plot point that the book is predicated on, but I have pretty much given up hope on completely logical plot choices in all of the Horus Heresy novels. I get that there's already an event structure in place that the authors have to adhere to, I do.
(Deliverance Lost starts immediately after the Dropsite Massacre and chronicles Corax's efforts to rebuild his Raven Guard Legion, with a little help from the Emperor [AND NO HELP FROM YOU, ROGAL DORN, GOSH]. Also the Alpha Legion shows up for a while and I vomit a bit in my mouth. There is some weird Chaos shit that happens, though, and I do love those bits.)
I was tired of waiting for someone else to buy the Horus Heresy novels that came out after Prospero Burns, so I bought the next three (The Outcast Dead, Deliverance Lost, and Know No Fear) all at once. My challenge then was not to read them all in one big sci-fi swallow - because I like spacing series out so that I don't overload myself on one kind of story, and because I don't know when the next volume is coming out and these books are like crack to me. Seriously, I know the idea of books based off a game property sounds like the end products will be pulpy and bad, but if you're a fan AT ALL of space opera, politics, or robot suits, please read these books. The Outcast Dead is a really interesting addition to the series, since it shows the reader the fall-out from a specific event that happened a couple of books ago (specifically, you get to see what the astropaths on Terra experience after Magnus pulls his shit in the Golden Throne room). There's also a ballsy revelation that re-contextualizes large swathes of the whole 40K universe. In short: shit gets SO REAL. Also ILU Graham McNeill.
28. Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir, Jenny Lawrence
The funniest book I have ever read. No, seriously. I couldn't read this book in public places because parts of it (especially the chapter on Jenny's adventures with exterminators who don't know what chupacabras are) had me HOWLING with laughter. If you're a fan of her blog, thebloggess.com, this is a must-read. If you're not, I don't even know you.
KNOCK KNOCK, MOTHERFUCKER
29. Deliverance Lost, Gav Thorpe
Oh, Gav. There's something undeniably cruel about putting a Thorpe book, the weakest of the 40K authors, in between McNeill and Dan Abnett, who are clearly the strongest. It's a good way to get me to read the damn book, though, especially since the Raven Guard are not really a legion I have much interest in (WHEREFORE ART MY SALAMANDERS, GAMES WORKSHOP?). But Deliverance Lost has some good story elements in it, and even when I was beating my head against the wall due to stilted dialogue and really bad pacing (it's really bad, you guys) there were still interesting revelations happening. I'm not sure I really believe the plot point that the book is predicated on, but I have pretty much given up hope on completely logical plot choices in all of the Horus Heresy novels. I get that there's already an event structure in place that the authors have to adhere to, I do.
(Deliverance Lost starts immediately after the Dropsite Massacre and chronicles Corax's efforts to rebuild his Raven Guard Legion, with a little help from the Emperor [AND NO HELP FROM YOU, ROGAL DORN, GOSH]. Also the Alpha Legion shows up for a while and I vomit a bit in my mouth. There is some weird Chaos shit that happens, though, and I do love those bits.)
2 comments:
Outcast Dead was interesting since it did give you that different perspective. I agree about Deliverance Lost. Gav just needs to stop writing. Not allow him anything. What he writes is sort of would potentially tip the scales of the war and not just a bit but full blown.
When is Graham going to write more Arkham Horror is my question.
The problem I had with that last little bit of Deliverance Lost (not going into specifics because Billy hasn't read it yet and he could conceivably read these comments, but you know what I mean) is that we KNOW how the war ends. So dangling that loose bit of plot doesn't really mean anything. Unless something happens with the Alpha Legion later in the canon that I don't know about yet. Whatev, after Goliath I'm reading Know No Fear and then everything will be right in my world again.
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