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Scars #6
Scars: Episode VI
Of all the Legiones Astartes, the White Scars of Jaghatai Khan remain the most enigmatic and elusive. Born of a civilisation that prizes honour, speed and fearsome loyalty, their allegiance has yet remained unclear even as the galaxy is torn apart by Horus’s treachery, and both sides have apparently counted them among their potential allies in the war to come. But when the Alpha Legion launch an unexplained and simultaneous attack against the White Scars and Space Wolves, the Khan must decide once and for all whether he will stand with the Emperor or the Warmaster... or neither. The exciting story continues in the sixth eBook episode of an all-new novel by Chris Wraight.
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A serialised Horus Heresy novel by Chris Wraight. A new episode every week for twelve weeks.
41 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 10, 2013
1 person is currently reading
41 people want to read
About the author
Chris Wraight
220 books387 followersChris Wraight is a British author of fantasy and science fiction.
His first novel was published in 2008; since then, he has published books set in the Warhammer Fantasy and Stargate:Atlantis universes, and has upcoming titles in the Warhammer 40K setting.
He is based in the south-west of England.
His first novel was published in 2008; since then, he has published books set in the Warhammer Fantasy and Stargate:Atlantis universes, and has upcoming titles in the Warhammer 40K setting.
He is based in the south-west of England.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 11, 2013
So we return once again to Scars, with our story well under way. Much of the tale this time focuses on the aftermath of events from the previous episode, following through with the White Scars’ opening assault, the Space Wolves reactions to their loss and Yesugei’s reaction to being told of the Heresy.
While the story does build upon what was said before, it feels like a lull in the fighting before we move onto something more important. A sort of breather chapter despite the conflict involving the White Scars, allowing for character moments and the reintroduction of elements otherwise ignored until now. Unfortunately it feels exactly like a breather episode, getting necessary exposition and details out of the way before it can move onto something interesting. Yesugei’s reactions to the Heresy and introductions to the legionaries are more or less what you’d expect, as is the first mentioning of the lodges for the first time in several episodes.
The real high points of the book come either from the space battles or one of the quieter moments with Leman Russ which closes out the episode. The former is one of the better contrasts of the book, showing how different the White Scars are in their approaches to battle than the Space Wolves and how effective an emphasis upon speed and co-ordination truly is in astral combat. Admittedly this is against a much smaller force with a better armed fleet, but it does highlight significantly different doctrines. The latter point meanwhile is a surprisingly meaningful moment where Russ reflects upon the changing galaxy and speaks with Bjorn privately for a few pages. While he habitually seems to exaggerate chapter weaknesses in his works, Wraight definitely understands the Wolves well and that comes across here.
Unfortunately there’s very little which can be discussed without spoilers to the tale so let’s talk about something else which is becoming evident. Beyond anything else, Episode Six highlights some of the problems with the actual novel beyond just the format it is being presented in. Much of the focus is returned back to the White Scars fleet as they properly enter the fray, but a clear problem has become evident. We know about distinct aspects of the legion, its attitudes and approaches to war, yet we know little to nothing of the characters themselves. Despite a strong opening none of the characters manage to stand out at all besides possibly Yesugei and Jagatai Khan. The former thanks to being constantly surrounded by representatives of other legions or unenhanced humans and the latter only through benefit of being a primarch.
What details we do know talk far more about the legions themselves and despite some promising aspects here and there, not to mention a fantastic opening showing the apparent direction, the Legion V lacks a distinctive cast. There is no one so memorable as Loken, Torgaddon, Khan, Kargos, Demeter, Tarvitz, Garro, Maat or T’Kar to look at as a focus point of certain themes. By this point the apparent fracturing of the White Scars has been pushed so far beneath the Space Wolves’ conflict it barely qualifies as a sub-plot, and the characters involved are rarely appearing. This is in part due to having only one novel to explore the legion, but also because Khan’s lot are visibly competing for focus alongside Leman Russ.
There is far more going on with the White Scars from internal stress, intrigue and exploration of their traditions yet half the pages seem to have been given over to the Space Wolves. Describing their battles, but also featuring figures who manage to stand out more and overshadow the White Scars thanks to prior establishment in the series. This is the only real time they will get to have the limelight, and they are fighting for focus just to have the basics of their legion detailed. The only other time we might be able to see them again will be Terra, at which point they will be forced to shared page space with even greater numbers of legions.
None of this is to say that Scars is a bad tale, far from it. If anything, if the quality remains consistent throughout the latter half it will rank among the better Horus Heresy stories. Despite that however, a problem is that it’s a fantastic story but not necessarily a fantastic examination of the White Scars legion, and fails to successfully balance the two out. We’re half way through now and unless there are some major changes in the remaining episodes, we’re not going to see the characterisation and exploration needed to make them fully stand out.
We’ll just have to wait and see if things improve but until then my opinion remains the same: Wait for the full novel to be released. The serialised format just doesn’t work here.
While the story does build upon what was said before, it feels like a lull in the fighting before we move onto something more important. A sort of breather chapter despite the conflict involving the White Scars, allowing for character moments and the reintroduction of elements otherwise ignored until now. Unfortunately it feels exactly like a breather episode, getting necessary exposition and details out of the way before it can move onto something interesting. Yesugei’s reactions to the Heresy and introductions to the legionaries are more or less what you’d expect, as is the first mentioning of the lodges for the first time in several episodes.
The real high points of the book come either from the space battles or one of the quieter moments with Leman Russ which closes out the episode. The former is one of the better contrasts of the book, showing how different the White Scars are in their approaches to battle than the Space Wolves and how effective an emphasis upon speed and co-ordination truly is in astral combat. Admittedly this is against a much smaller force with a better armed fleet, but it does highlight significantly different doctrines. The latter point meanwhile is a surprisingly meaningful moment where Russ reflects upon the changing galaxy and speaks with Bjorn privately for a few pages. While he habitually seems to exaggerate chapter weaknesses in his works, Wraight definitely understands the Wolves well and that comes across here.
Unfortunately there’s very little which can be discussed without spoilers to the tale so let’s talk about something else which is becoming evident. Beyond anything else, Episode Six highlights some of the problems with the actual novel beyond just the format it is being presented in. Much of the focus is returned back to the White Scars fleet as they properly enter the fray, but a clear problem has become evident. We know about distinct aspects of the legion, its attitudes and approaches to war, yet we know little to nothing of the characters themselves. Despite a strong opening none of the characters manage to stand out at all besides possibly Yesugei and Jagatai Khan. The former thanks to being constantly surrounded by representatives of other legions or unenhanced humans and the latter only through benefit of being a primarch.
What details we do know talk far more about the legions themselves and despite some promising aspects here and there, not to mention a fantastic opening showing the apparent direction, the Legion V lacks a distinctive cast. There is no one so memorable as Loken, Torgaddon, Khan, Kargos, Demeter, Tarvitz, Garro, Maat or T’Kar to look at as a focus point of certain themes. By this point the apparent fracturing of the White Scars has been pushed so far beneath the Space Wolves’ conflict it barely qualifies as a sub-plot, and the characters involved are rarely appearing. This is in part due to having only one novel to explore the legion, but also because Khan’s lot are visibly competing for focus alongside Leman Russ.
There is far more going on with the White Scars from internal stress, intrigue and exploration of their traditions yet half the pages seem to have been given over to the Space Wolves. Describing their battles, but also featuring figures who manage to stand out more and overshadow the White Scars thanks to prior establishment in the series. This is the only real time they will get to have the limelight, and they are fighting for focus just to have the basics of their legion detailed. The only other time we might be able to see them again will be Terra, at which point they will be forced to shared page space with even greater numbers of legions.
None of this is to say that Scars is a bad tale, far from it. If anything, if the quality remains consistent throughout the latter half it will rank among the better Horus Heresy stories. Despite that however, a problem is that it’s a fantastic story but not necessarily a fantastic examination of the White Scars legion, and fails to successfully balance the two out. We’re half way through now and unless there are some major changes in the remaining episodes, we’re not going to see the characterisation and exploration needed to make them fully stand out.
We’ll just have to wait and see if things improve but until then my opinion remains the same: Wait for the full novel to be released. The serialised format just doesn’t work here.
September 14, 2013
The Review: http://thefoundingfields.com/2013/09/...
“Another excellent instalment. There hasn’t been a weak outing yet in Scars, and Episode VI is no different. Chris Wraight is on excellent form here as we reach the halfway mark – with the promise of greater things to come.” ~Bane of Kings, The Founding Fields
"Of all the Legiones Astartes, the White Scars of Jaghatai Khan remain the most enigmatic and elusive. Born of a civilisation that prizes honour, speed and fearsome loyalty, their allegiance has yet remained unclear even as the galaxy is torn apart by Horus’s treachery, and both sides have apparently counted them among their potential allies in the war to come. But when the Alpha Legion launch an unexplained and simultaneous attack against the White Scars and Space Wolves, the Khan must decide once and for all whether he will stand with the Emperor or the Warmaster… or neither.
The exciting story continues in the sixth eBook episode of an all-new novel by Chris Wraight."
The last episode left off with us eagerly awaiting more – and I couldn’t wait to get stuck into Episode VI once it arrived on my Kindle Fire. We open with where we left off – the White Scars and the Alpha Legion in the Chondax Sector, and the Space Wolves having been forced to call for aid as they are attack from another Alpha Legion force, with the Khan currently choosing a side. Does he go with the Wolves or the Alpha Legion, or just his own? It’s clear by now that the storyline is well underway, and having reached the halfway mark – I was very eager to see whether this would give us a gamechanging event that would set the stage for the second half of the book. Whilst there may not be any mind-blowing revelations, there didn’t really need to be – the book moves along at a satisfying pace, delivering a consistently strong narrative and some perfectly timed breaks to switch from one character to the next.
Scars_Chris_WraightThere are several awesome scenes in this Episode however – highlights include the space battles, which really had me on the edge of my seat looking to find out more. There isn’t really much that I can cover without spoiling it, and besides – chances are, if you’re picking up each instalment by now I think this review will have little impact on whether you want to buy the next instalment anyway – as, Wrath of Iron aside – I’ve rarely seen negative critisism for Chris Wraight’s works and he’s really proving himself here as an exceptional author who is quite clearly one to watch – I know I say this pretty in pretty much every review, but my belief hasn’t changed – Wraight is among my Top 3 Black Library authors at the moment, Aaron Dembski-Bowden and Dan Abnett of course being the other two. The various plot threads in Scars that are evolving here really allow for an exciting read – and the best part is that we still have plenty of the episode left to go in order to find out what happens next, and the book remains as unpredictable as ever – despite focusing on characters that have been established in the wider lore of the Horus Heresy.
The only thing that’s stopping Scars from being completely unpredictable is the fact that fans of the tabletop game and the wider lore will no doubt be aware the eventual decision made by the White Scars, but because they have so little lore about them (I think this might just be one of their first novels dedicated to their Chapter – certainly their first Horus Heresy book) watching them being thrust into one problem after the next is fun to read about – and I’m loving how Wraight weaves the instalments together even if you will probably gain more enjoyment out of them as a collective whole as opposed to waiting for each issue. Nevertheless, if you’re one of the people who can’t wait for the end result, then you should find yourself satisfied by each Episode, with the wait in-between being one problem that the instalment has had to endure.
The other problem that Scars has faced, and I stress that this is the only other problem that I’ve encountered, is that the White Scars lack any distinctive characters inside their ranks, a problem that Bellarius also had with the book in his review. There’s nobody (aside from the already established Khan) as memorable as the likes of Gavriel Loken, Nathaniel Garro or Argel Tal. The dramatis personae is simply too packed, especially when you consider that we have to deal with the Space Wolves as well – to really flesh out individual members of the cast.
But apart from that, Scars: Episode VI is a solid read, and continues the fine form that this book has been in since the start. Readers of the previous five Episodes won’t need this review to convince them to buy this one, but if you’re still unsure – then this is another strong read that comes with a strong recommendation.
VERDICT: 4/5
“Another excellent instalment. There hasn’t been a weak outing yet in Scars, and Episode VI is no different. Chris Wraight is on excellent form here as we reach the halfway mark – with the promise of greater things to come.” ~Bane of Kings, The Founding Fields
"Of all the Legiones Astartes, the White Scars of Jaghatai Khan remain the most enigmatic and elusive. Born of a civilisation that prizes honour, speed and fearsome loyalty, their allegiance has yet remained unclear even as the galaxy is torn apart by Horus’s treachery, and both sides have apparently counted them among their potential allies in the war to come. But when the Alpha Legion launch an unexplained and simultaneous attack against the White Scars and Space Wolves, the Khan must decide once and for all whether he will stand with the Emperor or the Warmaster… or neither.
The exciting story continues in the sixth eBook episode of an all-new novel by Chris Wraight."
The last episode left off with us eagerly awaiting more – and I couldn’t wait to get stuck into Episode VI once it arrived on my Kindle Fire. We open with where we left off – the White Scars and the Alpha Legion in the Chondax Sector, and the Space Wolves having been forced to call for aid as they are attack from another Alpha Legion force, with the Khan currently choosing a side. Does he go with the Wolves or the Alpha Legion, or just his own? It’s clear by now that the storyline is well underway, and having reached the halfway mark – I was very eager to see whether this would give us a gamechanging event that would set the stage for the second half of the book. Whilst there may not be any mind-blowing revelations, there didn’t really need to be – the book moves along at a satisfying pace, delivering a consistently strong narrative and some perfectly timed breaks to switch from one character to the next.
Scars_Chris_WraightThere are several awesome scenes in this Episode however – highlights include the space battles, which really had me on the edge of my seat looking to find out more. There isn’t really much that I can cover without spoiling it, and besides – chances are, if you’re picking up each instalment by now I think this review will have little impact on whether you want to buy the next instalment anyway – as, Wrath of Iron aside – I’ve rarely seen negative critisism for Chris Wraight’s works and he’s really proving himself here as an exceptional author who is quite clearly one to watch – I know I say this pretty in pretty much every review, but my belief hasn’t changed – Wraight is among my Top 3 Black Library authors at the moment, Aaron Dembski-Bowden and Dan Abnett of course being the other two. The various plot threads in Scars that are evolving here really allow for an exciting read – and the best part is that we still have plenty of the episode left to go in order to find out what happens next, and the book remains as unpredictable as ever – despite focusing on characters that have been established in the wider lore of the Horus Heresy.
The only thing that’s stopping Scars from being completely unpredictable is the fact that fans of the tabletop game and the wider lore will no doubt be aware the eventual decision made by the White Scars, but because they have so little lore about them (I think this might just be one of their first novels dedicated to their Chapter – certainly their first Horus Heresy book) watching them being thrust into one problem after the next is fun to read about – and I’m loving how Wraight weaves the instalments together even if you will probably gain more enjoyment out of them as a collective whole as opposed to waiting for each issue. Nevertheless, if you’re one of the people who can’t wait for the end result, then you should find yourself satisfied by each Episode, with the wait in-between being one problem that the instalment has had to endure.
The other problem that Scars has faced, and I stress that this is the only other problem that I’ve encountered, is that the White Scars lack any distinctive characters inside their ranks, a problem that Bellarius also had with the book in his review. There’s nobody (aside from the already established Khan) as memorable as the likes of Gavriel Loken, Nathaniel Garro or Argel Tal. The dramatis personae is simply too packed, especially when you consider that we have to deal with the Space Wolves as well – to really flesh out individual members of the cast.
But apart from that, Scars: Episode VI is a solid read, and continues the fine form that this book has been in since the start. Readers of the previous five Episodes won’t need this review to convince them to buy this one, but if you’re still unsure – then this is another strong read that comes with a strong recommendation.
VERDICT: 4/5
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews