I've been on a Black Library tear lately. I find myself drawn to stories that give more detail and background about the villains in the 40K universe. i want to know about their motivations. I want to see that they are more than cardboard characters who curse and rage at the world and only serve to show how awesome and righteous the "good guys" are in the story.
This isn't a book review post. I'm not going to talk about the plots in any of the books. I want to talk about the villains.
I just finished Blood Pact by the best Black Library author, Dan Abnett. It's the first book in Abnett's new story arc about Kommisar Ibrahim Gaunt and his Ghosts. Interestingly enough, I found the latest installment to be boring. The book is really a deadly game of hide-and-seek with a tinge of intrigue thrown in. Forget the intrigue. Anytime a person is revealed to be a bad guy - BLAM! Oh ho, that character is working for his own purposes - BLAM!
I wished the Blood Pact could be "fleshed" out more. I wanted to know more about their command structure, their training, how they are chosen, and what life is like serving the Arch Enemy. I know they are an elite squad and the equivalent of the Ghosts.
The story was over before their background story. I urge Abnett to forsake the Imperium and write a story about the "other side". He created and added to the 40K universe with his Sabbat World series. He can and could do the same for villains.
Okay, I'm about 100 pages into the Omnibus. Thus far the Word Bearers scream and shout and kill. Standard Chaos Space Marine modus operandi. I'm hoping I learn more about their motivations that goes beyond screaming, shouting and killing.
Marduk, the Dark Alcolyte, is boring. I like the Dreadnought, the Warmonger. A philosophical dreadnought? Sign me up!
There's another 700+ pages left in the omnibus so we'll see how things develop.
This book started s-l-o-w-l-y. I have 200+ pages left and it's the best part of the book. Wanna know why? The bad guys!
The bad guys just broke out of that big, prison mountain beneath the palace or near the palace or whatever, I don't know. The Crusader Host - the champions of the various legions. Who do they lock up because Horus went bad? The 1000 Son guy, the 3 Worldeaters (they're crazy and I'd lock them up out of principal too), the Sons of Horus, the Emperor's Children and the guy with the Primarch that begins with M and isn't Magnus.
The most interesting of these gents is the 1000 Sons. He's called a warrior-scholar. How cool is that? The escape wouldn't succeed without him. He uses what the miliary would call the "indirect method" to get things done. The raw power of the Worldeaters is important too, but this 1000 Sons character is just great. If a new Chaos SM book is out, I may have to get a look at these guys because of this one character.
I know they are all likely to die horrible deaths. Here is to hoping they look cool doing stuff while dying.
Until next time...
