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Warhammer 40,000
Valedor
Long ago defiled by the Imperium of Man, the eldar maiden world of Dûriel was once a glittering jewel in the crown of the Valedor System. As the tyranids of Hive Fleet Leviathan sweep through the sector consuming everything in their path, wayward Prince Yriel of Iyanden discovers that the farseers have inadvertently brought a greater threat to bear – a fragment of Hive Fleet Kraken, hurled into the warp in order to save the craftworld, has returned. The tyranid fleets cannot be allowed to combine, or their genetic legacies will merge into something even more terrible. Alongside allied forces from Craftworld Biel-Tan and even the dark eldar of Commorragh, Yriel has no choice but to fight on to the bitter end...
A 334 page hardback Apocalypse novel by Guy Haley. Includes internal colour section featuring maps, character profiles and more.
A 334 page hardback Apocalypse novel by Guy Haley. Includes internal colour section featuring maps, character profiles and more.
334 pages, Hardcover
First published May 17, 2014
59 people are currently reading
383 people want to read
About the author
Guy Haley
171 books733 followersGuy Haley is the author of over 50 novels and novellas. His original fiction includes Crash, Champion of Mars, and the Richards and Klein, Dreaming Cities, and the Gates of the World series (as K M McKinley). However, he is best known as a prolific contributor to Games Workshop's Black Library imprint.
When not writing, he'll be out doing something dangerous in the wild, learning languages or gaming.
When not writing, he'll be out doing something dangerous in the wild, learning languages or gaming.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
January 24, 2015
Prince Yriel and the Lance of Twilight are bad copies of Moorcock's Elric and Stormbringer, but the story is so cool that you can forgive it. Great novel.
May 1, 2015
Valedor is a surprise success more than anything else. To me personally, this was most certainly not a good combination. It tied together the utterly atrocious lore of Codex: Iyanden with a writer who seemed to both avidly stick with the most current lore no matter how well it fitted the army, and whose previous effort was considerably less than stellar. However, while he certainly has his problems when it comes to astartes, it seems that Guy Haley has a serious talent when it comes to depicting the Craftworld Eldar in all their inhumanity.
The war to save Iyanden is over. While many of its populace lie dead, its towers ruined and Yriel having all but sold his soul to ensure victory, it still stands. There is now time for rebuilding, yet the bedraggled warhost soon finds that their campaign against the Tyranid Hive Fleets are not yet done. On the world of Valedor there will be a meeting. The remaining forces of Kraken are soon to meet with a newly arrived splinter of Hive Fleet Leviathan, and should they be allowed to join information on countless races within the galaxy will be known. Should the Tyranids merge, a power beyond reckoning will stride forth and bathe the galaxy in blood. Unable to stop this threat alone, Iyanden’s ruling elite petition the assistance of their former ally Biel-Tan and even their dark kin to halt this joining. Should they fail, then the galaxy itself will be utterly doomed…
Carrying on directly after the end of a far greater conflict is an odd starting point to say the least, and it does leave the book with an oddly disjointed feeling. Beyond a very brief couple of pages used to set the scene, we see very little of the conflict and most of the information is directly told to the reader surrounding it. In all honesty, this leads to a start which seems very reliant upon the foreknowledge of the war from readers, yet at the same time it quickly establishes some surprising qualities. The main failing of Gav Thrope’s own Path of the Eldar series was, above all else, making the aliens far too human and knowable. Here this is sidestepped in a truly ingenious way, by utterly embracing the overt and theatrical nature of the race. Everything here seems oddly exaggerated, never so much as to be hammy or cliched, but enough to give it an oddly Frank Herbert-esque quality and an atmosphere of mysticism. This remains evident throughout and it’s one of the best aspects to make the race feel alien without having the characters be utterly unrepeatable.
The actual language used to describe the battles emphasises oddly poetic and half-hidden details here you are only seeing part of the true war, yet it’s enough to use that sense of atmosphere to sidestep the usually punchy details one would expect. It’s a vision of war which seems truly alien, and ultimately that is what works in this book’s favour. Despite it however, it remains strong thanks to a constant sense of momentum. There’s never a moment once the battle joins where the book seems to slack off, and it’s constantly cutting between engagements or ongoing battles, with frequent updates and graphic moments of annihilation picked out to give a palpable sense of rapid conflict.
The characters themselves have been selected to primarily cover all the bases in terms of Iyanden and Biel-Tan’s society, along with that of Commorragh. Farseers, Autarchs, Knights and Corsairs all stand out as individuals, with some forced onto their path out of necessity in this desperate time, others facing their end and some even reveling in their time in the case of the Dark Eldar. Many serve as a niche example of their society and ultimately help to show as broad a depiction of the race as possible, but sadly not all are a notable success. While a number of characters do have a broad arc which fully fleshes out their tale to the end, others ultimately seem extremely bereft of character or meaning to the plot. Their presence is fleeting and you would be forgiven for forgetting their involvement, as they truly seem to serve no true role significant enough to warrant their direct involvement. This is especially true of Iyanna, who sadly takes a backseat role in the book and only one or two scenes truly warrant any vale to the tale. For the rest she seems simply tacked on.
The character problems are only further hindered by some severe issues when it comes to depicting certain events and the lack of beats with in the tale. All too often certain cataclysmic conflicts seem far too subdued or lack any true impact. The sudden revelation of Ynnead’s possible victory, the loss of Iyanden and Biel-Tan suddenly being on friendly terms all are dealt with far too easily and almost shrugged off by the characters. A few less focus figures and more presence of certain individuals would have likely remedied this, but sadly as it stands all too often certain elements feel brushed under the rug. This is only made worse when, rather than reserving them for the ending of a chapter or somewhere where it could deliver the most impact, certain shocking swerves are dropped mid-chapter, but then almost immediately brushed past without incident.
The fact so many elements are underplayed and left without true impact seriously hampers the book’s first half, and it’s only toward the midway point that the narrative seriously starts to pick up steam. As a result it can be a chore to get through,and readers hoping to pick up on certain fascinating points will ultimately be left wanting. It also doesn’t help that, unlike Gav Thrope’s own efforts, while the focus here is to cover as much of a Craftworld’s society as possible, it’s focused almost purely upon its military and nothing beyond this detail. The few times the book does delve into any relative ideas relating to civilian Paths or roles are quickly brushed aside as the bigger campaign looms forth, sadly leaving some fairly big issues unresolved. While it means the book is streamlined and focused, it also means that some all too often overlooked aspects are missed.
Valedor is far from perfect and there are many areas which it truly should have directly dealt with or far more deftly handled, and so much here seems like it would have been better as the middle book of a greater trilogy. For all its failings however, by the time you finish the last page, it’s hard not to appreciate its values and how it finally, truly, finds and approach with the race to make them fully alien without going too far. Well, that and it all but completely ignored Codex: Iyanden’s rampant stupidity, and the few moments it was required to include were substantially changed or altered. It’s hard not to appreciate a work which puts quality first and fixes old mistakes when it comes to Games Workshop, after all.
The war to save Iyanden is over. While many of its populace lie dead, its towers ruined and Yriel having all but sold his soul to ensure victory, it still stands. There is now time for rebuilding, yet the bedraggled warhost soon finds that their campaign against the Tyranid Hive Fleets are not yet done. On the world of Valedor there will be a meeting. The remaining forces of Kraken are soon to meet with a newly arrived splinter of Hive Fleet Leviathan, and should they be allowed to join information on countless races within the galaxy will be known. Should the Tyranids merge, a power beyond reckoning will stride forth and bathe the galaxy in blood. Unable to stop this threat alone, Iyanden’s ruling elite petition the assistance of their former ally Biel-Tan and even their dark kin to halt this joining. Should they fail, then the galaxy itself will be utterly doomed…
Carrying on directly after the end of a far greater conflict is an odd starting point to say the least, and it does leave the book with an oddly disjointed feeling. Beyond a very brief couple of pages used to set the scene, we see very little of the conflict and most of the information is directly told to the reader surrounding it. In all honesty, this leads to a start which seems very reliant upon the foreknowledge of the war from readers, yet at the same time it quickly establishes some surprising qualities. The main failing of Gav Thrope’s own Path of the Eldar series was, above all else, making the aliens far too human and knowable. Here this is sidestepped in a truly ingenious way, by utterly embracing the overt and theatrical nature of the race. Everything here seems oddly exaggerated, never so much as to be hammy or cliched, but enough to give it an oddly Frank Herbert-esque quality and an atmosphere of mysticism. This remains evident throughout and it’s one of the best aspects to make the race feel alien without having the characters be utterly unrepeatable.
The actual language used to describe the battles emphasises oddly poetic and half-hidden details here you are only seeing part of the true war, yet it’s enough to use that sense of atmosphere to sidestep the usually punchy details one would expect. It’s a vision of war which seems truly alien, and ultimately that is what works in this book’s favour. Despite it however, it remains strong thanks to a constant sense of momentum. There’s never a moment once the battle joins where the book seems to slack off, and it’s constantly cutting between engagements or ongoing battles, with frequent updates and graphic moments of annihilation picked out to give a palpable sense of rapid conflict.
The characters themselves have been selected to primarily cover all the bases in terms of Iyanden and Biel-Tan’s society, along with that of Commorragh. Farseers, Autarchs, Knights and Corsairs all stand out as individuals, with some forced onto their path out of necessity in this desperate time, others facing their end and some even reveling in their time in the case of the Dark Eldar. Many serve as a niche example of their society and ultimately help to show as broad a depiction of the race as possible, but sadly not all are a notable success. While a number of characters do have a broad arc which fully fleshes out their tale to the end, others ultimately seem extremely bereft of character or meaning to the plot. Their presence is fleeting and you would be forgiven for forgetting their involvement, as they truly seem to serve no true role significant enough to warrant their direct involvement. This is especially true of Iyanna, who sadly takes a backseat role in the book and only one or two scenes truly warrant any vale to the tale. For the rest she seems simply tacked on.
The character problems are only further hindered by some severe issues when it comes to depicting certain events and the lack of beats with in the tale. All too often certain cataclysmic conflicts seem far too subdued or lack any true impact. The sudden revelation of Ynnead’s possible victory, the loss of Iyanden and Biel-Tan suddenly being on friendly terms all are dealt with far too easily and almost shrugged off by the characters. A few less focus figures and more presence of certain individuals would have likely remedied this, but sadly as it stands all too often certain elements feel brushed under the rug. This is only made worse when, rather than reserving them for the ending of a chapter or somewhere where it could deliver the most impact, certain shocking swerves are dropped mid-chapter, but then almost immediately brushed past without incident.
The fact so many elements are underplayed and left without true impact seriously hampers the book’s first half, and it’s only toward the midway point that the narrative seriously starts to pick up steam. As a result it can be a chore to get through,and readers hoping to pick up on certain fascinating points will ultimately be left wanting. It also doesn’t help that, unlike Gav Thrope’s own efforts, while the focus here is to cover as much of a Craftworld’s society as possible, it’s focused almost purely upon its military and nothing beyond this detail. The few times the book does delve into any relative ideas relating to civilian Paths or roles are quickly brushed aside as the bigger campaign looms forth, sadly leaving some fairly big issues unresolved. While it means the book is streamlined and focused, it also means that some all too often overlooked aspects are missed.
Valedor is far from perfect and there are many areas which it truly should have directly dealt with or far more deftly handled, and so much here seems like it would have been better as the middle book of a greater trilogy. For all its failings however, by the time you finish the last page, it’s hard not to appreciate its values and how it finally, truly, finds and approach with the race to make them fully alien without going too far. Well, that and it all but completely ignored Codex: Iyanden’s rampant stupidity, and the few moments it was required to include were substantially changed or altered. It’s hard not to appreciate a work which puts quality first and fixes old mistakes when it comes to Games Workshop, after all.
April 6, 2017
First of, this book took me quite a while to get through, cuase there was a lot going on, a lot in the sence of Eldar workings and their way of going through everyday survival, the different paths, the different ways in how they fought alongside their fellow Biel-Tanians and Dark Eldar.
This has been my first poke into the 40K universe with the view point from a different race as opposed to the space marines and all their diff chapters. I have learned alot about a different culture and it took me some getting used too.
Ultimately this book is about a dying race (eldar) going head to head with two Tyranid Hive fleets: The Kraken and Leviathan, who are trying to get it on so as to become even more stronger than they already are.
We have an exhiled prince that wields the Spear of Twilight( nothing much was elaborated on where the spear is from or what it should rightly be used for, appart from it feeding of of Yriel and whoever he kills)
We have a " beautifull" spiritseer who had to lead an attack using all her strength and psycic abilities towards guiding the dead to fight on the eldar'd behalf(cuase if your race is already been wiped out, how else are you gonna break teeth of if not fighting alongside your dead comrads?)
There is a twin brother and sister that fight as wraithlords: the "Sound of Sunlight" and "Silent Scream" I enjoyed parts of their story imencly seeing as the sister wanted to be a poet rather than a fighter. I rember one of my favorite lines being: " Can a Poet not be brave ? To write the heart's desires and present them raw and bloody to an uncaring audience is more terrifying than war..."
Teac Silvereye : a gifted seer, sees his own death more than once, yet still decides to fight on.
These characters are who stood out for me.
I wouldve liked to read more of battles against the tyranids, but understand that part of it took place in space and the other part on a dying world, so there was alot to cover. Valedor had some very nice sentances in between the fighting and politics going on. I particularly found;" This feeling of inadequacy growing from a seed into a tree of despair, the tree growing in the sunlight of his anxiety," very appealing. Guy Haley surely has moments of briliance in his prose.
I enjoyed this read alot and will be looking for more eldar novels in future.
This has been my first poke into the 40K universe with the view point from a different race as opposed to the space marines and all their diff chapters. I have learned alot about a different culture and it took me some getting used too.
Ultimately this book is about a dying race (eldar) going head to head with two Tyranid Hive fleets: The Kraken and Leviathan, who are trying to get it on so as to become even more stronger than they already are.
We have an exhiled prince that wields the Spear of Twilight( nothing much was elaborated on where the spear is from or what it should rightly be used for, appart from it feeding of of Yriel and whoever he kills)
We have a " beautifull" spiritseer who had to lead an attack using all her strength and psycic abilities towards guiding the dead to fight on the eldar'd behalf(cuase if your race is already been wiped out, how else are you gonna break teeth of if not fighting alongside your dead comrads?)
There is a twin brother and sister that fight as wraithlords: the "Sound of Sunlight" and "Silent Scream" I enjoyed parts of their story imencly seeing as the sister wanted to be a poet rather than a fighter. I rember one of my favorite lines being: " Can a Poet not be brave ? To write the heart's desires and present them raw and bloody to an uncaring audience is more terrifying than war..."
Teac Silvereye : a gifted seer, sees his own death more than once, yet still decides to fight on.
These characters are who stood out for me.
I wouldve liked to read more of battles against the tyranids, but understand that part of it took place in space and the other part on a dying world, so there was alot to cover. Valedor had some very nice sentances in between the fighting and politics going on. I particularly found;" This feeling of inadequacy growing from a seed into a tree of despair, the tree growing in the sunlight of his anxiety," very appealing. Guy Haley surely has moments of briliance in his prose.
I enjoyed this read alot and will be looking for more eldar novels in future.
March 16, 2021
Read this! This is the BEST Eldar book out there. Not only does it do a fantastic job at showing what life is like on a Craftworld, it also shows you what the day to day life of an Eldar is, you get an amazing insight into the different Paths they walk from Farseer to Spiritseer to TITAN PILOT! I've never read an Eldar book that follows their titan pilots.
The action is uncommon but good. It's intense and shows the horror of the Tyranids. In addition you get to see how the Eldar do space battles which is also rare.
Seeing how those of the Dark City and the Craftworlds get on when working together is interesting and getting to see what the Craftworlds think of eachother is nice.
Finally Yriel is a fascinating character who needs more books and stories. By far my fav Eldar.
I truly did not want this to end as I was reading it. It's been a long time since I've read a book that I wanted to keep going.
The action is uncommon but good. It's intense and shows the horror of the Tyranids. In addition you get to see how the Eldar do space battles which is also rare.
Seeing how those of the Dark City and the Craftworlds get on when working together is interesting and getting to see what the Craftworlds think of eachother is nice.
Finally Yriel is a fascinating character who needs more books and stories. By far my fav Eldar.
I truly did not want this to end as I was reading it. It's been a long time since I've read a book that I wanted to keep going.
July 4, 2023
In a battle to avert genocide, all the branches of the Eldar race have to unite in order to prevent the merging of hive fleets Kraken and Leviathan.
And yet, I wasn't very impressed. Perhaps I don't like the Aeldari overly much, perhaps the story is indeed rather mediocre. We learn a lot of their struggling and their different ways to handle their race's fall, but I feel ashamed to confess the Necrons deal livelier with their curse than this mournful bunch is dealing with theirs.
Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for reading this book.
I'm keeping this review pretty personal because, all things considered, this should be a blast. It got all the things I usually like about 40k: action, drama, comedy, philosophy and the ever present invitation to look for more between the lines than just the entertainment. They even got necromancy, which usually never fails to enthrall me! For once, I didn't enjoy it. So I suppose the Aeldari are the one race that are truly alien to me: their thought-making incompatible with mine, their feelings hard to grasp.
And yet, I wasn't very impressed. Perhaps I don't like the Aeldari overly much, perhaps the story is indeed rather mediocre. We learn a lot of their struggling and their different ways to handle their race's fall, but I feel ashamed to confess the Necrons deal livelier with their curse than this mournful bunch is dealing with theirs.
Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for reading this book.
I'm keeping this review pretty personal because, all things considered, this should be a blast. It got all the things I usually like about 40k: action, drama, comedy, philosophy and the ever present invitation to look for more between the lines than just the entertainment. They even got necromancy, which usually never fails to enthrall me! For once, I didn't enjoy it. So I suppose the Aeldari are the one race that are truly alien to me: their thought-making incompatible with mine, their feelings hard to grasp.
October 3, 2023
Book takes a while to get into as there is a lot of Eldar terminology and their ways are a lot different. We focus on Craftword Eldar mostly, but due Tyranid threat they join forces with their other brethren. A lot of Eldar lore, including some parts on Webway travel.
June 19, 2020
Out of my mountain of unread Warhammer 40K books, I picked one at random and landed on this one. Fairly new to the 40K world, a book centred solely on the Eldar race looked like a change of pace from the legions of Space Marines and would give me a deeper look into a different aspect of this universe.
After reading…that was different alright. Confusing. Not for newbies.
The Eldar of the craftworld Iyanden (a craftworld is a artificial construct, like a city or small country in space) are a shattered people after centuries of wars.
However, they’ve heard the Tyrannid fleet Starving Dragon, located on the former Eldar world Duriel is about to combine its harvested genetic material with the much bigger Tyrannid fleet Ranging Hunger, which had almost laid waste to Iyanden. A situation that would be devastating for the galaxy and could make the Tyrannids unstoppable. (I get this is all confusing to anyone not familiar with even the smallest 40K knowledge). Yriel, Prince of Iyanden, has returned from being a space pirate to lead the shattered forces of the craft world, and a mixed alliance of other Eldar factions, to attack the Tyrannids on Duriel and prevent the two monstrous forces combing.
There are 40k books and then there are 40k books. This is deep 40k and it doesn't give you any help about it either. Words are thrown in without any context or explanation. I mean what is the 'skein'? I searched online and couldn't find it. I was trying to piece it together from little bits here and there and from Warhammer websites (I think it’s a psychic dimension for communicating but that’s just from me trying to understand the book gives nothing).
My enjoyment of the book fluctuated; I was lost, got a handle on kinda what was happening then something new and unexplained was thrown in. This happened throughout while I was reading. This really drained and made reading it a drag and made it just a chore to plod through.
I enjoyed the overall plot and it did have some good action set pieces and interesting characters, and seeing parts of the 40K universe from a different angle was a bit refreshing. However, I think you've got to be at least a 15 year veteran of Warhammer 40K whose faction is an Eldar unit to really get what the hell is happening in this book.
After reading…that was different alright. Confusing. Not for newbies.
The Eldar of the craftworld Iyanden (a craftworld is a artificial construct, like a city or small country in space) are a shattered people after centuries of wars.
However, they’ve heard the Tyrannid fleet Starving Dragon, located on the former Eldar world Duriel is about to combine its harvested genetic material with the much bigger Tyrannid fleet Ranging Hunger, which had almost laid waste to Iyanden. A situation that would be devastating for the galaxy and could make the Tyrannids unstoppable. (I get this is all confusing to anyone not familiar with even the smallest 40K knowledge). Yriel, Prince of Iyanden, has returned from being a space pirate to lead the shattered forces of the craft world, and a mixed alliance of other Eldar factions, to attack the Tyrannids on Duriel and prevent the two monstrous forces combing.
There are 40k books and then there are 40k books. This is deep 40k and it doesn't give you any help about it either. Words are thrown in without any context or explanation. I mean what is the 'skein'? I searched online and couldn't find it. I was trying to piece it together from little bits here and there and from Warhammer websites (I think it’s a psychic dimension for communicating but that’s just from me trying to understand the book gives nothing).
My enjoyment of the book fluctuated; I was lost, got a handle on kinda what was happening then something new and unexplained was thrown in. This happened throughout while I was reading. This really drained and made reading it a drag and made it just a chore to plod through.
I enjoyed the overall plot and it did have some good action set pieces and interesting characters, and seeing parts of the 40K universe from a different angle was a bit refreshing. However, I think you've got to be at least a 15 year veteran of Warhammer 40K whose faction is an Eldar unit to really get what the hell is happening in this book.
September 27, 2021
I liked this one! It showcases a lot of what cool about the Eldar as a race and as a faction, with glimpses of the politics, craftworld life, and a whole lot of them at war. Characters were introduced from a lot of different factions and paths so it was nice to see so much diversity of the Eldar experience. The plot was fairly compact and the writing kept it going at a good pace, though toward the end it started to feel like the author ran out of ways of saying "and then things continued to go to shit." A few conversations seemed to happen several times as characters debated courses of action and their various fates, which just ended up revealing that not much actually HAPPENED in the book. Everything was extremely straightforward, the characters were all fairly one note, and they and the plot all wrapped up exactly as you'd expect. Which is fine, it just kept me from loving it fully.
Overall I'd say it was much better than the Path of the Eldar books, but I wouldn't recommend reading Valedor as a first introduction to the Eldar, as Valedor depends a LOT on the reader being at least familiar with them before hand. There are a lot of references to events that took place before hand, and a lengthy epilogue that hints at things to come, though I'm honestly not sure if those threads are picked up in other books? Navigating Warhammer canon is like that sometimes! I'd recommend at least knowing who Yriel, Iyanna, and Ynnead are before starting this book, as well as how the aspect shrines and exarchs operate.
I was also personally a little put out by the fact that the book is called "Valedor" when no one in the book refers to the planet by that name, other than in the very beginning. Shouldn't it be called Duriel? Just saying, lol.
But so, all in all, it was a good, actiony book with some decent characters worth rooting for, even if it doesn't leave the strongest impression.
Overall I'd say it was much better than the Path of the Eldar books, but I wouldn't recommend reading Valedor as a first introduction to the Eldar, as Valedor depends a LOT on the reader being at least familiar with them before hand. There are a lot of references to events that took place before hand, and a lengthy epilogue that hints at things to come, though I'm honestly not sure if those threads are picked up in other books? Navigating Warhammer canon is like that sometimes! I'd recommend at least knowing who Yriel, Iyanna, and Ynnead are before starting this book, as well as how the aspect shrines and exarchs operate.
I was also personally a little put out by the fact that the book is called "Valedor" when no one in the book refers to the planet by that name, other than in the very beginning. Shouldn't it be called Duriel? Just saying, lol.
But so, all in all, it was a good, actiony book with some decent characters worth rooting for, even if it doesn't leave the strongest impression.
August 12, 2024
I'm going through trying to learn 40k lore by reading books and this was my first Eldar book. Somehow I got to near 50% before giving up.
This book gave me nothing. The characters were cardboard, it gave me no reason to care about the action and in the end I wasn't interested in what happened.
Sure it wasn't kind on the lore front and expected me to know a lot already, but I can cope with that if there's enough of a shell of a story to hang off. This, unfortunately had nothing.
This book gave me nothing. The characters were cardboard, it gave me no reason to care about the action and in the end I wasn't interested in what happened.
Sure it wasn't kind on the lore front and expected me to know a lot already, but I can cope with that if there's enough of a shell of a story to hang off. This, unfortunately had nothing.
January 6, 2023
It was a bit difficult to get into at first as in the 40k I'm not familiar with the Eldar but once I had gotten used to their culture, history and fighting tactics. It much improved the story as well as several characters takes on how they were fighting the Tyranids who remind me of a even more aggressive version of the arachnids from starship troopers.
Overall an action packed read.
Overall an action packed read.
June 26, 2025
Novelization of a Wikipedia article. Character arcs are a foreign concept. Stuff happens because the Lexicanium said so. Zero attempts to make the Eldar sympathetic or understandable. And for some reason, the only outcome to any plot by the author is one in which the galaxy ends. Sigh. That's not how tension is created.
July 9, 2025
I thought that for what it is, it’s quite good! It’s mostly focused on fighting and the Aeldari’s struggles around that, but there are some very good lines, especially from the Harlequins. I appreciate the inclusion of many different types of Eldar, and references to other Aeldari lore taking place in the wider universe.
February 18, 2026
Incredibly written with some truly surprising/heartbreaking moments, but a little complex to follow at times and assumes you're already very familiar with eldar lore. Both read the ebook and listened as an audiobook - the audiobook's narration was fantastically done.
July 26, 2021
I enjoyed this great insight into the Eldar culture. In particular the Bel-Tan and Iyanden craftworlds. Their fight against the two tyranid hive fleets was epic.
November 23, 2021
Great book, I enjoy reading about the Eldar and their Dark Kin!
August 6, 2024
This story, overall, had interesting characters and plots to go with them. However, the similarity in names, and the quantity of new names to learn, made this at times hard to follow.
November 11, 2024
This was very interesting to read. I knew nothing about Warhammer 40K going into it, I did have to do quite a bit of googling since the author assumes you know about the universe.
July 1, 2025
Craftworld Eldar, Drukhari, and Harlequins versus Tyranids. If you are a fan of the Warhammer setting, and in particular the Eldar factions, this is the book for you.
August 29, 2025
dnf 25% ... agonising
January 7, 2026
a nice insight into aeldari culture, but overall pretty boring.
April 15, 2023
Solid enough book. Can be kind of hard to track at times with the names and titles. Dark eldar were my favorite part, their characters seemed most interesting by far.
June 26, 2024
Probably one of the biggest bunch of dogwater I have ever tried to read. Didn't even care to finish it, as it just is one of the worst type of characters to follow in a story I was personally excited about to begin.
January 19, 2015
With a few notable exceptions the Warhammer 40k universe is largely shown to us through the eyes of the Imperium, lending it (not inappropriately) a very human perspective. Occasionally though, Black Library releases something which shows a different side to 40k, in this instance Guy Haley’s Valedor which follows in the footsteps of Gav Thorpe’s Path of the Eldar series to look through the eyes of this ancient, dwindling race. We see the eldar of Iyanden, still reeling from the latest in their string of disasters, as they set out to prevent the merging of two tyranid hive fleets; in order to avert a disaster that would have terrible consequences for their entire race, they are forced to ally with not only the eldar of another craftworld but also their dark kin.
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/20...
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/20...
June 29, 2016
I think I would have liked this book better if I had a better understanding of Warhammer lore. The little I did know was enough to grasp some of what was mentioned but not enough to really understand the meanings behind it (had to ask my boyfriend for fact checks, and since he's the one who wanted me to read it he loved being able to teach me more of the Eldar and their culture and heroes!)
I was also informed that the Eldar are a very poetic race, which the author does capture well. The dialog, interaction, and way the characters viewed their surroundings all had a touch of poetic flare to it.
It was an alright read, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was more familiar with Warhammer. Thanks to this book (and boyfriend) I've gained a lot of new insight aswell as finding parallells to other things that I am familiar with, which I really like!
I was also informed that the Eldar are a very poetic race, which the author does capture well. The dialog, interaction, and way the characters viewed their surroundings all had a touch of poetic flare to it.
It was an alright read, but I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was more familiar with Warhammer. Thanks to this book (and boyfriend) I've gained a lot of new insight aswell as finding parallells to other things that I am familiar with, which I really like!
May 24, 2017
A very beautiful and well written book. I've longed for a good Eldar novel for quite some time and this one is probably the best so far.
The Craftworlds of Iyanden and Biel-Tan join forces with the Dark kin in order to stop two tyranid hive fleets from merging.
There's lots of action, interesting characters and for once I feel that both the Eldar of the craftworlds and Commorragh are well represented.
There are a few things that annoyed me: The Phoenix lords show up, everybody goes ooooh! and then they're gone... Without ever being mentioned again. Also there are a few spelling errors and units who get their names mixed up.
Still an awesome read!
The Craftworlds of Iyanden and Biel-Tan join forces with the Dark kin in order to stop two tyranid hive fleets from merging.
There's lots of action, interesting characters and for once I feel that both the Eldar of the craftworlds and Commorragh are well represented.
There are a few things that annoyed me: The Phoenix lords show up, everybody goes ooooh! and then they're gone... Without ever being mentioned again. Also there are a few spelling errors and units who get their names mixed up.
Still an awesome read!
May 21, 2014
I've enjoyed the various Gav Thorpe novels, and Valedor is another good examination of the Eldar and their Dark Kin, and also a good look at how they make war. The implications for the Eldar race as a whole heightened the drama, and also how the stakes would affect the Imperium gave it even more weight. If I had a complaint, it's that the latter half felt too rushed, which is the sign of a good story; I wanted to spend more time with Sarnak, Ariadien, Taer, and Iyanna. It could have done with another 50 to 100 pages and I'd have been happy.
March 7, 2015
Valedor is about battle for survival of galaxy as whole. (D)Eldar are desperatly trying to stop Tyranids from merging with each other.
Battles are reasonably described (but only from Eldar point of view). Its kind of epic to see 2 craftworld, Harlequins and Deldar to fight together.
This book also brings few interesting characters in. Also we have opportunity to see Prince Yriel as wreck, while the spear is sucking his soul.
This book brings nice addition to fluff, Guy Haley is moving whole Ynnead idea forvard.
Battles are reasonably described (but only from Eldar point of view). Its kind of epic to see 2 craftworld, Harlequins and Deldar to fight together.
This book also brings few interesting characters in. Also we have opportunity to see Prince Yriel as wreck, while the spear is sucking his soul.
This book brings nice addition to fluff, Guy Haley is moving whole Ynnead idea forvard.
February 19, 2015
This is a novelization of a huge space and planetside battle of Valedor between the Eldar of Iyanden and Beil-Tan supported by the Dark Eldar against elements of Hive Fleets Kraken and Leviathan. It took a long while to get set up but, in the end, it was a fun read. I wish there had been more of a general's eye view to give the reader a better sense of the scale of the fighting. The book does a great job in depicting how sad and faltering Eldar society is and I particularly enjoyed the aftermath of the battle as the characters wrestle with their doubts.
June 6, 2014
A multi-front attack from a unified Eldar race in a battle of epic proportions against a horrific occurance that must be stopped. The joining of two Tyranid fleets. Not one but three Craftworlds join forces to stop the annilation of thier species in an all out fight that will cost the galaxy the fall of a planet.
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