wittdooley
04-13-2010, 10:12 AM
I’ve always been one of those people that played the ‘good’ side of any game. When I played World of Warcraft, it was as an Alliance character. I make all the good and moral decisions in Dragon Age and Mass Effect. So it was no surprise that I was, as many are, drawn to the forces of the Imperium when I found myself diving into the Warhammer 40k universe. From the Inquisition to the Astartes and the Imperial Guardsman, there is a dearth of literature and information on the “forces of good.” And that’s really all I’ve ever read. I knew of the Word Bearers books, but much despised them due to the Blood Angels series, and never really had any interest in any of the other traitor tomes.
And then Graham McNeill’s A Thousand Sons came out.
In that book, I was first introduced to—what we now know as a traitor faction—a group of Astartes that, while in the current canon are heretical, intrigued me. Then I went to Adepticon and had the pleasure of chatting up Aaron Dembski-Bowden and his book, Soul Hunter, made its way into my luggage.
Being really unfamiliar with any of the fluff surrounding not only the Night Lords, whom Soul Hunter is about, but also the Chaos Space Marines in general, I didn’t know what to expect when I cracked open the pages and began to read. What I got was a 2-day adventure into the unknown, and hopefully the start of an intriguing series.
Soul Hunter, again, focuses on a the Astartes of the Night Lords; more specifically, it focuses on Talos, a sergeant of the much diminished Night Lords 10th company and his compatriots, as they carve our their piece of the galaxy in the face of enemies, both Imperially aligned and otherwise. More so, Soul Hunter is an exploration of the character of a traitor Astartes chapter, with Talos as the focal point.
Talos is unique for quite a few reasons. First, Talos suffers from prophetic visions, much like his martyred Primarch Konrad Curze. They are debilitating and occur randomly, but they are a great boon to the company Talos keeps and a sought after commodity to those seeking power. He is also quite unique is his viewpoints of the Chaos gods. Quite simply, Talos does not accept the Chaos gods as his own, nor does he think highly of those that accept their power. We see this exemplified in his interaction with his superior, a Chaos-mutated Astartes named the Chosen and his slavering, Khorne-worshipping comrade, and the disdain in which he approaches them. Finally, Talos’ has an affection for his serfs that is quite unexpected for a traitor Marine; his relationship with his serf Septimus is interesting and really adds to the novel’s plot.
The crux of the plot focuses on Talos’ efforts to keep his once proud, now depleted company of Astartes, from being completely annihilated and eventually return them to glory. Talos’ prophetic abilities greatly help his cause, though they are not without problem. The first major plot event finds Talos’ prophecies discovering an asteroid that is more than it seems, allowing him to acquire a slave that can benefit the chapter. Later, his abilities are sought after by the Warmaster Abbadon, to a less than harmonious result. The fractious nature and uneasy alliances of the Chaos Space Marines rears it’s head in full force here, to great effect. The plot is well focused and driven, though I’d say the real strength of the plot is in the harmonious weaving together of the characters.
Dembski-Bowden has done a marvelous job of creating Talos as a sympathetic and relatable character, despite the fact that he is not a ‘good’ character. Creating likeable bad guys is one of the hardest things to do in literature; amoral characters are by nature unlikable, so creating one such as Talos is really something. I think the real genius of the character, and the reason I found myself liking him, is the fact that he is affectionate towards Septimus and that he is opposed to the Chaos powers—the thing I find most objectionable about the Chaos Marines. Dembski-Bowden crafted a real winner with Talos.
The other facet of the novel that stood out so completely to me, and helped me to enjoy the book as thoroughly as I did, was Dembski-Bowden’s prose. It is descriptive without being overly so, and is written with purpose and clear direction. Whereas some authors in the Black Library seem to occasionally wander with their narrative, Dembski-Bowden’s is terse where it needs to be and more fully developed when appropriate. In addition, his pacing is spot on; he blends enough narrative and background information with more climactic sequences very well, and the novel reads quickly (I finished it in two days) as a result.
Because of his masterful character creation and well-paced plot, Aaron Dembski-Bowden has crafted a real winner in Soul Hunter. Talos ranks up there with my favorite Black Library characters (I’m even modeling a miniature after him!) and Soul Hunter is a great entry level novel for any Imperial fanboy that is looking to dip his toe into the heretical, and a must read for those of you already invested in the dark powers.
(8.5/10) Highly Recommended.
And then Graham McNeill’s A Thousand Sons came out.
In that book, I was first introduced to—what we now know as a traitor faction—a group of Astartes that, while in the current canon are heretical, intrigued me. Then I went to Adepticon and had the pleasure of chatting up Aaron Dembski-Bowden and his book, Soul Hunter, made its way into my luggage.
Being really unfamiliar with any of the fluff surrounding not only the Night Lords, whom Soul Hunter is about, but also the Chaos Space Marines in general, I didn’t know what to expect when I cracked open the pages and began to read. What I got was a 2-day adventure into the unknown, and hopefully the start of an intriguing series.
Soul Hunter, again, focuses on a the Astartes of the Night Lords; more specifically, it focuses on Talos, a sergeant of the much diminished Night Lords 10th company and his compatriots, as they carve our their piece of the galaxy in the face of enemies, both Imperially aligned and otherwise. More so, Soul Hunter is an exploration of the character of a traitor Astartes chapter, with Talos as the focal point.
Talos is unique for quite a few reasons. First, Talos suffers from prophetic visions, much like his martyred Primarch Konrad Curze. They are debilitating and occur randomly, but they are a great boon to the company Talos keeps and a sought after commodity to those seeking power. He is also quite unique is his viewpoints of the Chaos gods. Quite simply, Talos does not accept the Chaos gods as his own, nor does he think highly of those that accept their power. We see this exemplified in his interaction with his superior, a Chaos-mutated Astartes named the Chosen and his slavering, Khorne-worshipping comrade, and the disdain in which he approaches them. Finally, Talos’ has an affection for his serfs that is quite unexpected for a traitor Marine; his relationship with his serf Septimus is interesting and really adds to the novel’s plot.
The crux of the plot focuses on Talos’ efforts to keep his once proud, now depleted company of Astartes, from being completely annihilated and eventually return them to glory. Talos’ prophetic abilities greatly help his cause, though they are not without problem. The first major plot event finds Talos’ prophecies discovering an asteroid that is more than it seems, allowing him to acquire a slave that can benefit the chapter. Later, his abilities are sought after by the Warmaster Abbadon, to a less than harmonious result. The fractious nature and uneasy alliances of the Chaos Space Marines rears it’s head in full force here, to great effect. The plot is well focused and driven, though I’d say the real strength of the plot is in the harmonious weaving together of the characters.
Dembski-Bowden has done a marvelous job of creating Talos as a sympathetic and relatable character, despite the fact that he is not a ‘good’ character. Creating likeable bad guys is one of the hardest things to do in literature; amoral characters are by nature unlikable, so creating one such as Talos is really something. I think the real genius of the character, and the reason I found myself liking him, is the fact that he is affectionate towards Septimus and that he is opposed to the Chaos powers—the thing I find most objectionable about the Chaos Marines. Dembski-Bowden crafted a real winner with Talos.
The other facet of the novel that stood out so completely to me, and helped me to enjoy the book as thoroughly as I did, was Dembski-Bowden’s prose. It is descriptive without being overly so, and is written with purpose and clear direction. Whereas some authors in the Black Library seem to occasionally wander with their narrative, Dembski-Bowden’s is terse where it needs to be and more fully developed when appropriate. In addition, his pacing is spot on; he blends enough narrative and background information with more climactic sequences very well, and the novel reads quickly (I finished it in two days) as a result.
Because of his masterful character creation and well-paced plot, Aaron Dembski-Bowden has crafted a real winner in Soul Hunter. Talos ranks up there with my favorite Black Library characters (I’m even modeling a miniature after him!) and Soul Hunter is a great entry level novel for any Imperial fanboy that is looking to dip his toe into the heretical, and a must read for those of you already invested in the dark powers.
(8.5/10) Highly Recommended.