Renegades: Lord of Excess

by Rich McCormick

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Audiobook

416 pages, Paperback

Published January 28, 2025

Reviews

[Ulysses · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did I read this entire book in one day? Yes. Did I enjoy it? Definitely! Featuring both of my 40K armies, GSC and the Emperor's Children, I got to enjoy seeing both forces clash. All the characters in this book are really interesting, but the complicated relationship between Xantine and S'janth, the daemoness posessing him, is really enjoyable. I also quite liked seeing the various forms of Slaanesh's corruption throughout the book. None of the Adored are redeemable, and few of them are charismatic. But! The things they represent are what interested me most.

Generally, this book really shone with its scenes of political scheming and machination, whether between humans or Astartes, but it felt like those schemes were somehow confined. Everything was definitely brought to the conclusion, but they folded into one another in a way that left the ending feeling... lacking in a way.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

God this book is such shlock. Wild ride of sci-fi debauchery, goofiness and likeable yet absolutely intolerable characters. This is some B movie shit, and I had alot of fun with it, though I'm not gonna try and reread it any time soon, or maybe ever. Here's hoping that the new Fulgrim book by Jude Reid has a bit more depth to it, but this one is definitely a wild ride.

[Luigi Sposato · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not for me.

In a way, I understand why the book is excessive—the faction itself is branded in that. But the actual time spent on reminders that this indeed is an Emperor’s Children book can get pretty tiresome unless you love them in 40K.

[Anibal · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Black Library has been steadily improving its storytelling, particularly when it comes to chaotic characters, as seen in standout titles like the Fabius Bile trilogy or Harrowmaster. This book is no exception.

Before diving in, I highly recommend reading the short novel A More Perfect Union. It provides essential context for the relationship between the main character, Xantine—leader of the warband The Adored—and the demoness possessing him, S’janth. Their dynamic is a fascinating lens through which the story unfolds.

Slaanesh thrives on excess, and Xantine’s motivations perfectly reflect this dark deity’s allure: his obsession with creating a utopia, achieving personal perfection, and pursuing beauty and artistry. All of these elements serve as the foundation of his pact with Slaanesh and drive the plot forward.

The story begins as The Adored descend upon Serrine, a planet renowned for its rejuvenat treatments and beauty-based culture, just as a revolution is brewing. The warband is hailed as angelic saviors, but their arrival raises complex questions. Will these supposed heroes bring salvation, or will they become tyrants themselves? And the prophecy of a savior—does it speak of the Emperor’s Children, semi-divine beings from above, or the oppressed masses rising in rebellion?

In a world saturated with decadence, hubris, and brutality, new players emerge. Among them are cults whose savage rage embodies the injustices perpetuated by the Emperor’s Children’s warped society. This power struggle is steeped in themes of excess and destruction, making for a brutal display of “qualities” going wrong from the previous mentioned themes.

Spoilers Below
While the book has much to admire, its ending felt rushed and veered into *deus ex machina* territory. The idea of the warband’s voidship functioning in its near-derelict state, with a skeleton crew operating under intense pressure, stretches credibility. After so many years of decay and neglect, it’s hard to imagine the crew being capable of executing such a hasty, high-stakes withdrawal.
It also suffers from a host of characters with extremely few redeeming qualities and so uncharismatic that you actually are rooting for the Tyranids.

This book delivers a compelling exploration of Slaanesh’s themes and the excesses of the Emperor’s Children in an interesting way and exploring different kinds of obsession, but its flaws hold it back from being truly exceptional.

[Caleb Helsel · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite 40K novel so far. It’s much easier to get into than some other 40K novels and you only need to know a little bit of background lore to understand it (basically what the Emperor’s Children are, who Slaanesh is, and what [SPOILER] Genestealers are.

Xantine is a really interesting character to explore. In fact, all of the characters that we get to explore the perspective of are very interesting and have well written motivations and character arcs. Given that these characters are (as far as I know), totally original and not based on existing characters from the tabletop, this is a huge achievement by the author.

Ignore the bad reviews, I genuinely don’t know what they’re complaining about. Pick this up if you would like to feel the sensations of Slaanesh

[Xonrad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent for the faction and characters it covers, but I felt it started to unravel, structurally, by the end.

Other reviews that reference the B movie vibe... there is a point in the story where that becomes the tone... but had the story tightened its grip on the theme, this could have become one of those few 40k books to properly harness that deeper and more serious philosohical quality of the "grim dark".

In 80's movie conclusion references, this could have had the "oof" climax factor of James Cameron's Aliens... instead it turned into one of Chuck Norris's better post-'nam action films.

Still ejoyable, but so much deeper insanity of the taint of Slaanesh could have been explored, and was not.

[Joey Ramirez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good Emperor's Children novel that follows Xantine, a warband leader who orchestrates elaborate plans upon plans to ensure the means to his ends. Crash landing onto Serene, an imperial Agri world, he rescues the world from a Tyranid invasion and in turn change their fate, for better or for far worse. As time endlessly flows, the warband grows tireless as their leader rots in paradise, seeking the complete sensations that a whole planet could offer. An enjoyable dive into the inner workings of a 3rd legion's on goings.

[Connor Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like a good B movie, gave me everything I wanted but I won’t read it again.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too much Excess.

[Robert Furlong · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great look into what a Slaaneshi warband looks like. The amount of comments saying there's too much excess in the legion devoted to the god of excess is hilarious.

[Mikael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Almost as good as Eidolon but doesn't feature any known characters so you just don't care that much. It gets high mark for its story though where EVERYBODY betrays each other in some way.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have nothing but contemptuous loathing for Slaabeshi abominations

[Mykelpatrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

No way I read a Warhammer book how shocking I wonder what the next book I read will be