Monday, December 19, 2011

5 Books I read in 2011

As the new year approaches I find I am feeling a bit reflective. Despite some relative slow painting, I did get a lot of reading done this year. I thought it would be fun to pick out the five most awesome Warhammer 40k books released this year that I read. The plan is to post one book per day from now until Christmas. We'll see if I can do it. Oh yeah, and one disclaimer: I haven't read Salvation's Reach yet. I still have some catching up to do in the Gaunt's Ghosts series. Anywho, away we go...

Number 5 Age of Darkness Edited By Christian Dunn (May 2011)
Last winter, shortly after the release of Prospero Burns, word came from Black Library that the Horus Heresy would be shifting gears away from books focusing on the treachery at Istvaan and moving into a new thematic arc that would be focusing on the events that transpired in the 7 years between the Istvaan massacre and the Battle for Terra; The Age of Darkness. Despite some early misgivings about The Age of Darkness simply being a ploy to milk more cash by prolonging the heresy, I couldn’t help but get excited as word began to leak on some of the online forums regarding the stories and their authors. Early on, it was confirmed that Dan Abnett, ADB, Jim Swallow and Graham Macneil as well as Gav Thrope would all be contributing to this anthology. Black Library released a trailer for the book that contained short interviews with the authors involved as well as shots from a secret retreat in which the top Heresy authors got together and planned this whole phase out ala Marvel Comics. That was it, not only was I sold on the concept but I was absolutely foaming at the mouth to get my hands on the Age of Darkness Anthology.
Overall, the book delivered. Abnett’s “Little Horus” story was particularly chilling while ADB’s Savage Weapons gave the Dark Angels a much needed injection of interesting while at the same time delivering on some standard Night Lords baddassery. When ADB introduced a character named Sevatar as the first captain of the Night Lords in The First Heretic, some fans felt cheated that Zso Sahaal had been robbed of an appearance. This short story however, leaves no doubt as to the shear awesomeness of Sevatar and I for one, can't wait for more from him. James Swallow's Liar's Due was a particularly strong offering as well, providing some much needed perspective to the Heresy from the point of view of the common man. The story gives context to the fact that the galaxy really has been flipped on its side and people are panicking. What was really great about Age of Darkness though, was some particularly good showings by less known Black Library authors such as John French, Chris Wraight, and Rob Sanders. Sanders story on the Iron Warriors particularly stands out and Chris Wraight's linked the enigmatic Blood Ravens Chapter to the fall of The Thousand Sons which answered the age old speculation that the Blood Ravens really were left over from the Thousand Sons.
Black Library anthologies usually don’t get me very excited however, this little baby managed to raise a lively debate as to the character of Roboute Guilliman (see any online forum regarding Rules of Engagement or Iron Within), provided the origin for the Blood Ravens chapter, and seemingly redeemed Lion El’ Johnson. Not too shabby for a book of short stories.

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