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Rob Sanders (1)

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Image credit: Rob Sanders

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Tekijän teokset

Legion of the Damned (2012) 67 kappaletta
Redemption Corps (2010) 48 kappaletta
Predator, Prey (2015) 45 kappaletta
Sons of the Hydra (2018) 25 kappaletta
The Beast Arises: Volume 1 (2018) — Tekijä — 23 kappaletta
The Honoured (2015) 15 kappaletta
Renegades of the Long War (2023) — Tekijä — 13 kappaletta
Adeptus Mechanicus: Skitarius (2015) 11 kappaletta
Cybernetica (2015) 10 kappaletta
Adeptus Mechanicus: Tech-Priest (2016) 10 kappaletta
Army of One (2012) 8 kappaletta
Archaon: Everchosen (Warhammer) (2015) 7 kappaletta
Spirit War (2013) 6 kappaletta
Call of Archaon (2016) 6 kappaletta
Distant Echoes of Old Night (2012) 5 kappaletta
Hammer and Bolter: Issue 5 (2011) — Avustaja — 5 kappaletta
The Iron Within (2011) 4 kappaletta
The Ember Wolves (2017) 4 kappaletta
Ironfire - The Horus Heresy (2015) 3 kappaletta
Cold Light of Day 3 kappaletta
Czevak to the Dark Tower Came (2012) 3 kappaletta
Bring the Night (2014) 3 kappaletta
By the Horns (Call of Chaos) (2015) 3 kappaletta
The Splintered 2 kappaletta
Soulfuel (Warhammer 40,000) (2017) 2 kappaletta
Myriad (2016) 2 kappaletta
Bastions (Angels of Death) (2013) 2 kappaletta
The Dread Sentinels of Dorn (2014) 1 kappale
Shadow Play (2012) 1 kappale
The Xenos Audio Collection (2020) — Avustaja — 1 kappale
Unearthed (2016) 1 kappale
Clade (Warhammer 40,000) (2015) 1 kappale
The Path Forsaken (2013) 1 kappale

Associated Works

Age of Darkness (2011) — Avustaja — 242 kappaletta
The Primarchs (2012) — Avustaja — 188 kappaletta
Mark of Calth (2013) — Avustaja — 128 kappaletta
Victories of the Space Marines (2011) — Avustaja — 69 kappaletta
War Without End (2016) — Avustaja — 69 kappaletta
The Silent War (2016) — Author - Army of One, Distant Echoes of Old Night — 68 kappaletta
Eye of Terra (2016) — Avustaja — 64 kappaletta
Heralds of the Siege (2018) — Avustaja — 57 kappaletta
The Burden of Loyalty (2018) — Tekijä — 54 kappaletta
Deathwatch: Xenos Hunters (2014) — Avustaja — 24 kappaletta
Lords and Tyrants (2019) — Avustaja — 23 kappaletta
There Is Only War (Warhammer 40,000) (2013) — Avustaja — 19 kappaletta
Lupercal's War (The Horus Heresy) (2022) — Avustaja — 12 kappaletta
Space Wolves (5) (Legends of the Dark Millennium) (2017) — Avustaja — 12 kappaletta
The Imperial Truth (2013) — Avustaja — 8 kappaletta
Black Library 15th Birthday Collection (2012) — Avustaja — 6 kappaletta
Renegades of the Dark Millennium (2014) — Avustaja — 5 kappaletta
Hammer and Bolter: Issue 3 (2010) — Avustaja, eräät painokset5 kappaletta
Sedition's Gate (2014) — Avustaja — 5 kappaletta
Space Marines: Angels of Death (2013) — Avustaja — 2 kappaletta
The Omnissiah's Chosen (Warhammer 40,000) (2015) — Avustaja — 2 kappaletta
Tales of the Tech-Priests (2017) — Avustaja — 1 kappale
The Realmgate Wars, Vol. I-X — Avustaja — 1 kappale
Black Library Weekender: Volume Two (2012) — Avustaja — 1 kappale
The Horus Heresy Starter Collection 2 (2023) — Avustaja — 1 kappale
Harlequins ebook collection (Warhammer 40,000) (2015) — Avustaja — 1 kappale
Astra Militarum eBundle (Warhammer 40,000) (2014) — Avustaja — 1 kappale
Inferno! Issue #40; January/February 2004 (2004) — Writer — 1 kappale
Nine Traitor Primarchs (The Horus Heresy) (2017) — Avustaja — 1 kappale

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First time reading February 2024 as part of a Heresy Omnibus Project+ complete readthrough of the Horus Heresy series, as part of the Shadow Crusade II The Underworld War Omnibus (https://www.heresyomnibus.com/omnibus/vi-shadow-crusade-ii-underworld-war):

It's never a good sign when you feel a palpable sense of relief, like the weight of ceramite-clad razorwing lifted from your shoulders, when a book is finished...

Following the Battle of Calth, as illuminated wonderfully by Dan Abnett and Graham McNeill's in Know No Fear and Calth That Was (in Mark of Calth), The Honoured follows survivors of the initial devastation and attack by the Word Bearers as they race to escape the scouring solar flares from Viridian (caused by the XVII's infernal rites) within the underground arcologies. The safety of the subterranean network is relative for the Ultramarines as the Sons of Lorgar lurk in the dark. The Honoured Captain Aethon is particularly conflicted about the atrocity that has be fallen one of the beacons of the Five Hundred Worlds, as at one time he had a friend in the Word Bearers Chaplain, Kurtha Sedd.

I really don't want to be too disparaging of Sanders' novella, it's certainly not as actually offensive and disturbing to see published by Black Library like Illyrium by Darius Hinks, which has no redeeming qualities in my opinion, it doesn't have the casual, at times pointed and upsetting misogyny of a number of Dan Abnett's otherwise brilliant books, and it doesn't get into some really weird bioessentialist and worrying sexism and misogyny, particularly in Fulgrim, of the otherwise great Graham McNeil. (My calling Abnett otherwise brilliant and McNeil otherwise great in no way condones or excuses the harmful aspects of some of their writing, which I will always call out in reviews. It is simply making the point that when they aren't doing that I thoroughly enjoy their writing, so I have to suffer through that unacceptable bullshit it I want to be able to read the Horus Heresy, cool stories about the Inquisition, etc.)

What The Honoured does do is fundamentally not reach anywhere near the bottom of the bar for the Horus Heresy series in my personal opinion. On the rare occasion this happens I always point out just how much I love this series and that reading the opening quadrilogy again recently, after getting back into reading...everything in the last year, after lacking the capacity and drive for a long time, made me realise just how good this series is, not 'for Warhammer books', which I otherwise grade on a curve, but without qualifier. They are at least as good, if not better (if such a thing can actually be quantified when discussing art) than many well-respected and classic books, in general literature as well as within fantasy and science fiction. They set themselves standards in the work and established expectations in their readers, so I do my best to meet each one, at least the books (I am sometimes swayed by just having a lot of fun with a short story or audio drama) with this in mind.

I feel like this could be a fault that should be laid at Black Library's feet, rather than Sanders', as I am not sure I believe this novella, released alongside David Annandale's The Unburdened, collected together at Betrayal at Calth, were ever planned to be a part of the Horus Heresy series. I believe their primary intent was to be supporting stories for and including the characters seen in the Horus Heresy: Betrayal at Calth box set that marked the first release of plastic Heresy Era models, which was a huge deal in the hobby side of things as previously these kinda of models had only been available as premium resin releases through Forge World, making them prohibitively expensive for many. But they were released as officially part of the Horus Heresy series, despite not being collected into any anthology, as all previous novellas and stories only available in limited edition and/ or event only releases.

I haven't read a huge amount of the specific release tie-in books, after finding the Assault on Black Reach novel by Nick Kyme that accompanied the 5th edition Warhammer 40K starter set of the same name, although I do remember Ascension of Balthasar audio drama by C.Z. Dunn, a tie in to the Dark Vengeance starter set that was used for both the 6th and 7th editions of 40k was pretty good. I think it's fair to say, at least historically, that the tie in stories haven't been viewed or received with the same expectations and praise as the other Black Library releases. With this in mind, if The Honoured were to be released as purely a box set tie in that just happened to take place during the Horus Heresy, I would view it much more positively, as I would, as I have mentioned before when works haven't achieved the Heresy standard, if it had been released under the Space Marine Battles title, which is a huge, mostly very loosely connected, series that tells the stories of significant battles and events previously only referred to in the lore and background books that has a greater variance in quality in my personal opinion.

I hate to say it, but I really struggled with this book and, if I wasn't the autistic completionist I am and hadn't caved and bought the Betrayal at Calth the audiobooks yesterday, I don't think I would have gotten through it. Jonathan Keeble's narration and his unique ability to embue the narration of action with such energy made a huge difference, but, even with that, by the end I was checked out and running down the clock. I dislike using a term that is used to diminish Warhammer 40K stories, but here it seems apropos. This novella is largely 'bolter porn', meaning that it almost entirely over the top action and violence, things you absolutely do want and have to expect in stories in the 31st and 41st Millennia, but the term makes sense in that pretty much being all that this is.

As a Horus Heresy book it seems to miss the essence that has charged the Heresy isn't simply that many of the Legions fought and lived and died together, but rather it's the emotional weight of relationships established within these testing crucbles of war--the substantiated, variously intense and interwoven relationships between Loken, Tarvitz, and Garro in the opening books being a perfect example--and the intensity of pain and grief felt by personal perfidy of former friends turning on each other and aligning themselves with regimes neither one can understand as a thing but wrong and evil. The purported friendship between Aethon and Kurtha Sedd is referenced a bunch and the Ultramarines Captain has a memory of battling Orks alongside Sedd and the Word Bearer saving his life, but there is not deeper connection beyond us being told there is, and even when we are in Aethon's thoughts there isn't any significant sorrow or heartache expressed in a meaningful way. This relationship is a step up from referencing bringing a nest of gundarks to Compliance (my go to Star Wars reference for making the mistake of telling, not showing), but as presented it is barely warmer than the scene Lorgar receiving Illuminarum from Ferrus Mannus as "thanks for the “reinforcement”" (he refuses to call it a "rescue") in The First Heretic by Aaron Dembski-Bowden.

Ultimately, this came across like a brilliant write up on a Zone Mortalis narrative campaign of the tabletop wargame, rather than a Horus Heresy novella. I can't in good faith recommend it to anyone beyond the absolute completionist, someone so in love with Cobalt Bois from Imperium Secundus who has consumed everything else, or simply someone looking for some decent enough action and inspiration for their Betrayal at Calth box set, ignoring the Horus Heresy branding.

Honestly, if I was a touch less neurodivergent and didn't want to maintain the integrity of my almost complete Horus Heresy Collection on Audible, I would ask for my credit back. But, again, that's purely from my perspective at wanting and expecting more from a Horus Heresy title.

I have enjoyed David Annandale's work in the past, so I am truly hoping The Unburdened will have some more meat on its bolter.

This quote blew my mind and made me exclaim, What in the Ignace Karkasy would never is this?!

"Urcus slows. His plate is giving him away...he hears the Dreadnought searching chambers and forking tunnels...It can smell him – it can smell the honour of his plate, the nobility of his primarch’s blood, his loyalty and his genic fortitude"

What does honour on ceramite, nobility in blood and loyalty and fortitude in genes smell like, is ask you?

This was the Remembrancer, Ignace Karkasy's olfactory response to coming into contact with Astartes for the first time in Horus Rising by Dan Abnett:

"The Astartes save us from the brink, the brink, but oh my life how they stink, they stink" -

I was starting to lose my mind towards the end and I was daydreaming about some 'who's on first?' stuff with Kurtha's confusing name:

Aethon: Kurtha said what?
Dardanus: ...K-Kurtha Sedd
Urcus: DUDE, WHAT DOES MINE SAY?!
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
RatGrrrl | Feb 6, 2024 |
This was a very interesting read on so many levels. I have to admit I went into it without expecting much but author manages to create so vividly world of warriors without home, unable to trust anyone, anywhere and only capable to create schemes and more schemes and wrap them into more schemes. And all along, at the core, there is always this desire, a yearning of sorts, to serve something other than crazed up and completely useless warlords that pop up right and left like mushrooms after rain near the Maelstrom.

We follow Occam The Untrue, strike master of the relatively small Alpha Legion war-band called The Redacted. Redacted are special in a way that makes them pariahs in eyes of their greater war party, Sons of Hydra. Redacted are mixture of legionnaires from various other legions - both traitors and loyal ones - only their strike master originating from the Alpha Legion. As such they are never fully trusted by other although they seem to have integrated very well indeed with core values and methods of Alpha Legion.

Through the manipulations of third party, Redacted will be put to test - they will need to chose whom they serve and whom do they trust (if any Alpha legionnaire is capable of such a feat). This will push them to the maximum, from fighting against the Imperium, against their own warlord master, to entering hellish nightmare of Maelstrom in order to obtain a key that will lead them to the center of the galaxy and potentially answer to the question of purpose of Alpha Legion.

I wont go into any more details because I dont want to spoil anything to other readers.

What several books I read in last couple of months (Harrowmaster, Shroud of Night, Alpharius) taught me is that Alpha Legion was never meant to be a legion in standard sense. It was meant to be amalgamation of independent troops striking at the enemy, where each troop does not necessarily know about the others nor their role. Alpha Legion reminds me of those weird contraptions (imagine them made of various war-bands and troops connected in unexpected ways) where you put the marble at the top and then watch what happens as it comes to exit at the bottom. They are all very eccentric but definitely tailored for a specific need. Everything seems too complex but at the end entire setup is done with purpose known only to those at the top. What makes Alpha Legion especially dangerous is their ability to train an work with both human and alien agents, using weird mixes of mercenaries as a main [distraction?] force to wage war and collect information and plan their actions (usually mix of terror attacks, assassinations, sabotages and, when numerical superiority can be attained, seek-and-destroy missions against Imperium). All of this helps spread rumours, doubts and make sure nobody knows what actually happened.

They are masters of shadow, underhand war, capable to do so much with truly so little. Author's description of Redacted conducting their missions, moving through enemy lines, changing their colors and posing as local forces, use of drones for attacks and reconnaissance, sniping and attacking using the silenced and sniper weapons, conducting space operations ...... if you ever watched that fan movie Astartes, everything looks and feels exactly like that. Their human operatives are also no joke, from pirate star-ship captain to the assassin(s).

But their beliefs (marking Redacted as outcasts from their brethren) is what makes Redacted stand out, and will test them in a very difficult way - one of the most powerful scenes in the book is scene when Occam is tested on the "wheel" in what must be the weirdest place in Maelstrom.

At the end question remains - what is the actual goal and purpose of Alpha Legion? What did Alpharius and Omegon actually wanted to setup and accomplish? Because at the moment it seems like they have created quite a mess - lots of highly trained and professional troops that just cannot trust anyone, anywhere, including their own.

Book ends on a note that indicates that search for meaning continues. Hopefully a novel with some more information will come up and shed light on Alpha Legion primarchs and their intentions.

Very exciting read, lots of action (and to be honest very plausible, from planning to hard decision Redacted and their strike master make) and lots of twist and new findings (at least for me :)) about the Alpha Legion and their view of the world in which they operate.

One of the other reviewers mentioned Shroud of Night and that it needs to be read first. I can say that for me it did not make much of a difference when it comes to order of reading the novels and stories of Alpha Legion. I would suggest you start with Alpharius (this sets the tone of complete what-is-going-here mentality that will become Alpha Legion's signature, where 3D chess seems like simple tic-tac-toe game) then move to Sons of Hydra, Shroud of Night and Harrowmaster and other short stories in any order you like. As I said Alpha Legion does not seem to be as cohesive as others, its more like modular troop that can be combined and reconfigured at the whim, without any of the modules knowing about the others. These books and stories will shed light on the various different ways Alpha Legion actually operates. So if you like spy/action thrillers there is one more reason to read about Alpha Legion.

Highly recommended.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
Zare | Jan 23, 2024 |
Started Strong, But Became Bland

I was really enjoying the rare look at the Skitari and Mechanicus operations, their details and politicking and thought I was in for a real treat, especially with the conceit being an interesting use of tech and lore. But once the main mission and action started it became rather a dirge of uninspired or interesting describe 'bolter porn' (or the appropriate Skitari Ordinance).

Longworth is always a great Warhammer narrator.
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
RatGrrrl | Dec 20, 2023 |
This is less of a review than a bunch of thoughts and reactions I had while reading the rather good Horus Heresy story.

Cool stalegtite fortress on a ridiculously deadly planet or moon, but it could have been described with more epicness and character, while still in keeping with the pre-heresy Iron Warriors mien. The sheer ridiculousness of it and its location making it such a ludicrous target is gloriously Warhammer.

When the lake of raw promethium it hangs precariously over was mentioned, which is so perfectly incredulous, I knew I recognised this as one of the stories originally contained in Age of Darkness, the 16th Horus Heresy book and its second short story collection. This story being included in the Lupercal's War collection is even more bizarre, being that it's not an audio drama or not readily available story, especially as there is an audiobook for Age of Darkness.

Space Marines being total bitches to each other is always so amusing to me, especially when written and performed with the tone of amateur Shakespeareans with mouths full of scenery. Speaking of scenery, stealth dreadnought hastily painted black is hilarious. This is not the only time Astartes use blending in with sculptures to get the drop on people. I'm pretty sure it's Little Horus who does it in another short story.

The Imperium is a fascist nightmare, but I really do have a soft spot for the orphaned loyalists from the traitor legions.

The overview of the large battle is described nicely, evoking 300 and Blade Runner's Tears in the rain, and makes me think this short story would have actually been a great novel with more time with the loyalist and traitor Iron Warriors, seeing what actually went down to bring shame on the Warsmith, and the immediate horrors of siege. Narratives and vignettes from these conflicts have been effective from Galaxy in Flames to Know No Fear, Betrayer and beyond. It could even show more of Perturabo, foreshadowing and building to the events of Angel Exterminatus.

The action is rather exciting and bloody, particularly with Sanders' brutal descriptions of violence elevated by the kinetic narration of Armstrong. As a Horus Heresy/ Black Library staple and one of their finest, Armstrong adds weight and vitality to any story they narrate.

Description of the dreadnought exhuming himself wonderfully disgusting with glorious body horror and confronting the reader with just how nightmarish dreadnoughts are. However "wrinkled and pruned" is redundant, but "womb tomb" is either the best of the worst phrase I've ever read.

The overwrought bookend speeches performed with a seriously hoarse voice in the audiobook were a bit too epic intensity for the quality of the writing.

Ultimately, tragedy, entertaining violence, a sliver of doomed hope, fellowship, and perfidy (and satire, but sadly no one seems to care about that anymore) are the heart of Warhammer 40K and the Horus Heresy, and The Iron Within has all of these elements in varying degrees. It's not in the absolute top tier of tales, but it towers over a lot of stories as a space marine does over a mortal.
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
RatGrrrl | Dec 20, 2023 |

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