The Monthly 40k Book Club!

[ArlethVann]

I just finished reading Dark apostle by Anthony Reynolds. It has an intresting plot, and I would recommend to anyone who wants a look into the Word Bearers minds.

[darkreever]

Thats good to hear ArlethVann, I to found Dark Apostle to be a very good read.

Now, its the first of April and yet no one has said anything for Flight of the Eisenstein.

Author:
When I first read Swallow's work, I found him to be beyond awful; the blood angel novels were poorly written and filled with so many marines getting killed that it did not feel real at all. My opinion of him changed dramatically for his third novel, Faith and Fire; his departure from the astartes to a more human military organization of the Imperium was key to his improvement. With his fourth novel, Flight of the Eisenstein, I must say that I feel his skill has improved exponentially since Faith and Fire, as Swallow has been able to bring about a more human astartes than in his first two stories.

Plot:
Where the first three Heresy novels introduce us to the characters and focus on the initial major events of the Heresy, and Fulgrim focuses on the gradual fall of a legion, Flight focused more on a handful of astartes who were forced to watch as everything they held dear was destroyed by those they called warmaster, leader, and father. From this the main character, Nathaniel Garro of the Death Guard, takes it upon himself and his remaining Emperor loyal brothers to bring a warning to Terra of the betrayal committed by Horus and four of the legions astartes. Flight takes a radical turn as Garro and his men take on their perilous mission, and as those men must come to grips with having lost their primarch and their legion when they stayed loyal to their oaths.

Overall:
Overall, I find that Flight makes for an excellent departure from the first three Heresy novels. Unlike many of the current Heresy novels, the cast of astartes in this one are without legion or primarch and must forge a new beacon of faith to look to for strength and just cause. The story of how the warning makes it to Terra is one of the most crucial in the events of the Heresy, and Swallows work goes beyond remarkable in his delivery. Swallow depiction of a 30k astartes is spot on and the way he describes the few primarchs in the novel is spectacular. As is the original fate of Garro and his men, Swallow has made sure to keep their fates a mystery; hinting ever so slightly that Garro and many of the characters are to make up the foundation of one of the most powerful Imperial organizations. Flight of the Eisenstein gets a 10/10 from me.

[Da Mighty Camel]

I saddly have not had the chance to read it last month. It (as always) collided with my English course and the fact that I had to read a book during last month for it. I read Dracula (and I love it!), if you wondered.

It is either my Swedish or English courses that hinder me reading any on my own.

[Coltsven]

I'm new to LO, but I love and have loved all of the 40k fluff. Just recently have I started to play the game, but I've been reading the books for some time. Are you guys still doing the monthly book read? If so, I'm sure you're coming to the end of the read.

[Helbrecht]

Its mostly on and off, but feel free to post about any BL books yo have read set in the 40k universe.

[Coltsven]

That's rather unfortunate, hmm last thing i read was Eldar Prophecy.

[KOS-MOS]

Finished Rebel Winter. Good read if a little short for my tastes. After Death World i would have read all the guard books currently released untill the new Cain book comes out but thats all the way in October

Finished Dune also which i gave up on in my teens. Excellent read though they gloss over the battles almost completely.

[hotspike18]

Perhaps we could try out Legion for next month? We just got the book this month in the US.

Also for those of you who enjoyed Dark Apostle - it seems to be confirmed that a sequel is on the way. I wasn't sure, but surmised so when I heard Anthony Reynolds is releasing a book in December titled "Dark Disciple". On a hunch I checked the BL website and I think we can safely say that we will be rewarded for out patience.

Check it out!

[xaivis]

The title of the book I recommend is Dark Imperium which is a compilation of short stories from 'Inferno!(I think)' edited by Marc Gascoigne and Andy Jones.

I suggest this novel because it has, in my opinion, the best 40k short stories ever written, including a great apothecary one if I remember correctly. Also, another great compilation by the same guys(once again, I think) is 'Into the Maelstrom.'

[darkreever]

I've read those compilations xaivis and they are very good; however I would suggest not doing compilations because if you were to score the book you would have to do it for each story, which would create very long posts that would be harder to read through. A full novel would generally be of one story, and is much easier to give a score to because of that.