What Book Are You Reading?

[Hypo Lil' Leaguer Find all posts View Profile Close Hypo]

Finished:

Currently Reading:

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

Just finished:





Overall, very pleased. The first story, Cadian Blood by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, was for me the best, and I utterly blame it for getting me interested in the coolest (pre-Heresy) Legion, the Death Guard. Rob Sanders's Redemption Corps was also great, and I'll read that along with Blood again one day, though I can't say the same for the third story, Dead Men Walking by Steve Lyons (not a fan of the necrons).

For the short stories following those three:

Regicide (Aaron Dembski-Bowden) --- versus Chaos cultists, fairly good but while self-contained feels like it could have been a little longer, and the flow of it and lack of context for its historical placement makes it slightly confusing

Down Among the Dead Men (Steve Lyons) --- Krieg soldiers training on Krieg, one encounters and hunts down a tyranid Genestealer, good but that's all

Hunters (Braden Campbell) --- guerrilla snipers against advanced alien empire (the tau), actually pretty good if you're into jungle/sniper stuff

The Mouth of Chaos (Chris Dows) --- airborne troops retaking a city besieged by Chaos and the local defense has turned traitor, actually pretty good if you like small strike force tales, but feels incomplete


At 765 pages, this is a beastly collection, but it is well worth the $17.50 you'll pay for it (brand-new, no extra charges calculated).

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

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

^How is that? I've read several things on the Mercury to Apollo astronauts, but nothing on the shuttle-era.

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

It's good so far. I'm only a few chapters in so far. I'm like you, read a bunch about Mercury and Apollo, but now I'm trying to read more about the shuttle era.

Very interesting.

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

So I got in a couple of Black Library's Space Marine Battles novels today, Wrath of Iron (Iron Hands Legion vs Slaaneshi cultists) and Death of Integrity (Novamarines vs space hulk xenos).

Currently reading the latter, since I want to save Wrath for later on. I had wanted to get to reading Malodrax (Imperial Fists vs Iron Warriors) first, but that didn't arrive yet. Still, I suppose this gets me a bit more pumped for the Space Hulk video game.

So far, I'm enjoying Death of Integrity. The Novamarines have an "honor via tattooing" culture that I'm liking, where they tattoo their deeds/battles on their bodies, never stopping until they are killed in battle; they believe this flesh-record serves ultimately to aid the God-Emperor in judging their worth to fight for him in the final battle. They also have a fortress base carved inside a mountain range (nearly all of the range, actually) that honors each and every Marine that has fought and died in the Chapter's service for eight thousand years.

At this moment, they've just encountered the title entity, the space hulk "Death of Integrity."

It's 37.9 trillion tons in weight.

Seriously.

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

So Malodrax arrived today and I've begun reading it. Just past the 100 page mark and it's pretty good: returning to the world he was imprisoned upon, Darnath Lysander and the Imperial Fists fight swarms of murderous ghosts and a vortex-faced female wraith just reaching the title world.

The story alternate between the present (above) and the past, during which Lysander and his original First Company were struck low by their greatest enemies, the Iron Warriors Traitor Legion, and he was forced to escape their clutches almost defenseless.

Currently the Imperial Fists are about to smash the ever-living shit out of an entire city ruled by a minor daemon prince.

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

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

At this moment, they've just encountered the title entity, the space hulk "Death of Integrity."

It's 37.9 trillion tons in weight.

Seriously.

Is there some serious "creative physics" going on there, or is that essentially a spherical mass of compressed metal with some remaining structures near the surface? That's way more than the Moon masses, so gravity SHOULD pull it into a sphere.

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

At this moment, they've just encountered the title entity, the space hulk "Death of Integrity."

It's 37.9 trillion tons in weight.

Seriously.

Is there some serious "creative physics" going on there, or is that essentially a spherical mass of compressed metal with some remaining structures near the surface? That's way more than the Moon masses, so gravity SHOULD pull it into a sphere, and crush anything far below the surface.

[Hypo Lil' Leaguer Find all posts View Profile Close Hypo]

Finished:

Currently reading:

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

Is there some serious "creative physics" going on there, or is that essentially a spherical mass of compressed metal with some remaining structures near the surface? That's way more than the Moon masses, so gravity SHOULD pull it into a sphere.

In the Warhammer/40,000 universe, shit is big, especially 40k. Their larger starships dwarf a Star Destroyer, and space hulks dwarf them.



That's the Sin of Damnation.

No, not the little battle-barge (battle-barges are goddamn huge, by the way), the gigantic wreckage it's approaching.

The Death of Integrity is an amalgamation of dozens of those big-ass spaceships, weapons platforms, asteroids, comets, crystals, wreckage, on top of other galactic flotsam and jetsam. It's not a sphere because everything was smashed together into a maniac's design (entire portions are still largely intact, hence much of it being discernible as this or that) by the warp (the Chaos realm where daemons reside, which doesn't care how the laws of time or space work).

So, in short, fuck your gravity (actual quote by Warhammer 40,000).

[Hypo Lil' Leaguer Find all posts View Profile Close Hypo]

Finished:

Currently reading:

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

Finished




Overall, I was fairly pleased by this. It's more in-tune with the Space Marines I was originally introduced to (post-Heresy super-soldiers of the God-Emperor), and the Imperial Fists are a fairly solid lot. Ben Counter does a good job portraying each of them, the cautious oversight of Chaplain Lycaon and the single-minded revenge of Darnath Lysander (main character on cover) taking a spotlight most of the time, especially the latter.

The book chronicles Lysander's involvement with the daemon world Malodrax, both his capture by his Legion's most hated enemies, the Iron Warriors, and then his return. Every chapter alternates between the present (return to Malodrax) and the past (his capture and eventual escape). Because of the nature of both Legions (Fists being the ultimate fortress constructors and Warriors being the ultimate fortress destroyers), there's a disturbing dichotomy, a twisted parallel that makes things all the more interesting, as it becomes a matter of fighting not just their former comrades but also fighting your evil twins.

During his capture, we see just how deadly the Iron Warriors are, construction the mega-fortress of Kulgarde, churning out war engines to launch an eventual massive assault, and we realize just how difficult it will be to escape and return with enough power to smash these villains down. Later on, while journeying across Malodrax, Lysander learns that not only is he facing his old foes and the new ones populating this daemon world, but that he is also set against the planet itself: not just environmentally, Malodrax itself is actually working to destroy him in its quest to eliminate those unworthy of being there.

Perhaps worst of all is that Lysander must face his own inner horrors, that he lost many comrades to the Iron Warriors and that he must make hard choices to escape and seek revenge, choices that many would rather die than commit to. He's compromising his own morals and very much blaspheming his own beliefs in order to uphold them. This creates an interesting character flaw: rather than just be imperfect and make mistakes, he is actively working against his own identity and lifestyle so that he can one day return to it.

A running backstory is an Inquisitor's record of the world and its folk, opening at every chapter and as well repeatedly throughout the novel. The Inquisitor undergoes a harsh journey to learn the secrets of the world and its would-be lords, trading away his integrity and coming very close to being the very thing he seeks to destroy. In the end, his tale is arguably the backbone of the novel, fully addressing not just the speaking evils of the world of Malodrax but also the evil of the planet itself, that omnipresent force that is at once within reach of justice and yet untouchable.

My only regrets for the novel are that two characters (understandably) meet their own ends, as I thought the one would possibly survive a terrible fight and I had hoped to see how the other fell from grace a bit more, but those are nitpicks ultimately and do not impede on the overall quality of the book.

In summary, Malodrax is a good read if you are into Space Marines, siege warfare and deception, and quests to prove one's convictions. I had little love for the Imperial Fists or the Iron Warriors (I kind-of liked the former and their Primarch, and actively disliked the latter and theirs), but after reading this novel, I had a better appreciation of the steel-hard determination of the Fists and the cruel genius of the Warriors.

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

Finished:




And holy hell was it fantastic.

The plot begins with a Chapter of Space Marines, the Novamarines (who are descended from the Ultramarines and Guilliman) arriving to aid their cousin-Chapter, the Blood Drinkers (descended from the Blood Angels and Sanguinius) in destroying the space hulk called the Death of Integrity. As they begin to, a force of magi from the Mechanicus (machine cult of Mars) shows up, demanding they stop and manually clear the hulk so that it can be stripped of valuable ancient technology.

While the Ultramarines can (and often are) accused of being the go-to generic Space Marine model, the Novamarines are a bit more "cultural" in that they make permanent bodily record of their heroic deeds, tattooing their flesh with their battle actions so that when they die the Emperor of Mankind can judge them worthy enough to be in his army for the final battle. They also have an entire mountain range on their homeworld they are carving the interior from, transforming it into a fortress and site to honor every single fallen Marine. On top of that, they commune with the departed for guidance.

On the other side, their cousins the Blood Drinkers come across as vampiric in more ways than one: they are incredibly handsome, have prominent fangs, have a keen interest in blood ("Sanguinary Master" is a critical role for their Chapter), and turn into ferocious warriors in battle, preferring close-quarters fighting. As the novel progresses, you learn many troubling things about them that only profoundly deepens the Chapter, though some of it (namely their genetic flaws and the Black Rage that drives them to wanton slaughter) comes as no surprise if you know anything about their parent Legion, the Blood Angels. Still, this particular Chapter has a great and tragic history to it that really must be read.

Regarding the Adeptus Mechanicus of Mars, not much other than their arrogance and technological prowess (and, early on, their jealousy and penchant for deceit) is expressed to the reader; better development of their characters and beliefs is shown much later in the novel. I suppose this is partly because the Mechanicus was the focus of an entire Horus Heresy novel ("Mechanicus" is the title), but with all the focus on the Marines' clearing of the hulk and the suffering of the one Chapter, not much time could really be spent on the Machine Cult without stretching things a bit.

As for the hulk, it's something else. Just having a space station or moon base or derelict ship isn't enough: in Warhammer 40,000, you go ultra-big or not at all. A space hulk can grow to insanely huge proportions (the Death of Integrity weighs an estimated 37.9 trillion tons), made up of various debris, ships of every kind, asteroid, just about anything. It can also house a massive army, in this case the alien species known as the tyranids, specifically their genestealer forms.

The effort of killing hundreds of genestealers alone makes for a terrific read, but what awaits the Marines and Mechanicus at the heart of the hulk is what readers will truly be stunned and awed by. I did not see any of the final twists coming, even with the hints author Guy Haley dropped along the way.

Overall, Death of Integrity lives up to its ominous name. It stars a cast of heroes tasked with increasingly bad situations to overcome, already burdened by tremendous weights, and when they learn just what it is they are fighting and fighting for, they are left shaken at best and broken at worst. Not everyone fails to make it out, but those who do may wish they hadn't.

Highly recommend.

(Oh, and in case you're wondering, the figure on the front is Blood Drinkers Chapter Master Caedis, as he is made to look later in the book).