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The Beast Arises #12
The Beheading
The war is over and mankind is saved. But when war ends, politics takes over, and one man realises that the High Lords who nearly doomed the entire Imperium must be culled. It is time for the Beheading to begin…
Across the length and breadth of the galaxy, humankind celebrates its salvation, and relishes the prospect of a return to peace. But the war against the orks has riven the political bedrock of the Imperium, exposing its rotten core. One man, one powerful man, decides he has the solution, and launches a campaign of destruction so terrible that thousands of years later his actions will still be viewed with horror.
Throughout the series, the political machinations have been as fascinating and compelling as the all-out action – and now it's time for that to take centre stage as assassination and plotting takes over from brutal combat.
Across the length and breadth of the galaxy, humankind celebrates its salvation, and relishes the prospect of a return to peace. But the war against the orks has riven the political bedrock of the Imperium, exposing its rotten core. One man, one powerful man, decides he has the solution, and launches a campaign of destruction so terrible that thousands of years later his actions will still be viewed with horror.
Throughout the series, the political machinations have been as fascinating and compelling as the all-out action – and now it's time for that to take centre stage as assassination and plotting takes over from brutal combat.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published November 19, 2016
8 people are currently reading
306 people want to read
About the author
Guy Haley
288 books718 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 37 reviews
November 21, 2016
Review also published here
All things must come to an end, and as far as endings to novel series go, The Beheading is a great, if flawed one. The big issue I take with it doesn't even have anything to do with what it says, but with what it doesn't say. Beyond that, everything that's in here felt exceptionally satisfying to me. Haley most certainly was the right person for the job of seeing this series to a close.
With the ork threat of the Beast done and dealt with in Shadow of Ullanor , this final installment had the chance to fully focus on the terran politics, culminating in the Beheading itself. Drakan Vangorich, Grand Master of the Assassinorum, finally makes his move. Characters die in droves. Everything the series' most interesting aspects have been building up to come to a climax.
For the first time in the series, the action and orks take a backseat to intrigue, intricate schemes and tragedies caused by good intentions. For the first time in TBA, I actually felt sympathy for the High Lords of Terra, and saw them as more than lying bags of incompetence, and instead as flawed people. In hindsight, I wish there had been more of this kind of attention paid to Juskina Tull, Abdulias Anwar, Helad Gibran and the rest throughout the series. Even just the short scenes they received here, when Vangorich's grand plan is set into motion, gave a lot of character to the High Lords that went beyond petty squabbling and self-service. Well, in most cases, at least.
Most importantly, the chapters dealing with the High Lords showed the degree of ruthlessness and preparedness that Drakan Vangorich has going for himself. While he only takes the life of one High Lord in person, orchestrating so much misery in such an efficient way shows him as fully deserving of his title as Grand Master of the assassins. An assassin should always know and utilize the right tool for a task if possible, and Vangorich does so magnificently.
The role of Beast Krule, Esad Wire, felt very neat to me as well. My complaint in regards to his opposition to Vangorich's plans comes down to how invested he appeared in the last couple of books; I can fully buy the seeds of doubt Haley put into his head here, and applaud them, but it came as a bit of a surprise this late in the game. But then, the results were a hugely compelling turnout for the novel that I wouldn't want to miss out on.
Maximus Thane, victorious Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists, has some very impressive scenes as well, as should be expected. However, the meat of the book occurs in his absence from Terra, reclaiming what the orks had taken from mankind. After setting Terra supposedly in order, he departs, leaving tasks for all the High Lords, and establishing Vangorich as his Lord Protector to reign in his stead. Thane gives the High Lords a big verbal thrashing aboard the Phalanx, which, at last, gets some explanations as to its whereabouts. Those notes I felt were a bit shoehorned, late justifications for a big editorial oversight, but needed either way. The way the Phalanx is described here, however, was exciting and intimidating.
Thane's decrees also include plans for Ullanor, the fate of which fans will definitely appreciate. In many ways, Thane's actions here steer the way for the future we all are aware of.
There are even more big revelations made in regards to the Inquisition, and even the Grey Knights, and the effects of it all ripple back to the Horus Heresy itself. Plenty of connective tissue here, some of which will boggle the reader's mind. I certainly didn't see it coming, but it explains a few complaints I had about earlier books away.
The Fists Exemplar / Iron Warriors plotline involving Zerberyn and Kalkator also finally gets a big payoff, and justifies further secrecy about the Imperial Fists' fate. While I am saddened at the fate of another great character who has seen little love since The Last Son of Dorn , the whole plotline gave birth to some magnificent tragedy and fall from grace. Lots of emotion here, satisfyingly presented. The dynamism presented here really puts the poor showing in the previous book when it came to this plotline into even stronger contrast.
But now to my big complaint for the book: Timeskips kinda suck.
It was inevitably going to happen here, with pre-established lore making it clear that certain events were going on for a while before being ended. However, the way it happened here felt jarring to me. That's not something Guy Haley could have changed much, however - not with a Great Crusade occuring amidst the 100 year gap. No, I blame the editorial team and series planning for it.
Up until the timeskip, everything felt like it flowed naturally, logically and satisfyingly. After the jump, things took a bit of a dive. After some readjusting the final chapters still panned out well, but were quite abrupt. Seeing that this novel is a tad longer than the average novel in the series, it seems obvious that the author managed to squeeze out as much space as he could, but the series's direction definitely backed him in a corner here, giving too much to wrap up in one volume and in the end squandering potential for a greater scope and a more definitive end.
There wasn't even room here for a short epilogue detailing the rebuilding of the High Lords after Chapter Master Agnathio of the Ultramarines and co travel to Terra to crush the prevailing anarchy on the Throneworld. There wasn't room to let the dust settle, or to show Vangorich's transition from hypocritical mastermind to dishevelled, self-serving yet somehow tragic dictator. There wasn't room for Wienand to formally establish the Ordos, nor for the rebuilding of the Imperium after the Beast's death to take place.
I cannot imagine just how much content, how many ideas and concepts, Guy Haley had to disperse of during the writing of the novel. Not because of any failings of his own, but because this book should have been two instead. He was given an impossible task to fulfill yet still excelled at showing what he did, and getting the whole thing across as a grand finale. It has got to have been a frustrating process getting there, though...
I loved the book. It was a great finale, if short in certain areas. It did more than I expected and hoped for as it stands. It took up all the pieces and lined them up in a compelling way, while adding many easter eggs for fans of the franchise. The highlight of the assassinations were exceptionally cool, especially for their believability. The Beheading was the end the series needed, and I am thankful that it is Guy Haley's name on the cover. His great attention to detail and subtlety benefitted this one greatly.
All things must come to an end, and as far as endings to novel series go, The Beheading is a great, if flawed one. The big issue I take with it doesn't even have anything to do with what it says, but with what it doesn't say. Beyond that, everything that's in here felt exceptionally satisfying to me. Haley most certainly was the right person for the job of seeing this series to a close.
With the ork threat of the Beast done and dealt with in Shadow of Ullanor , this final installment had the chance to fully focus on the terran politics, culminating in the Beheading itself. Drakan Vangorich, Grand Master of the Assassinorum, finally makes his move. Characters die in droves. Everything the series' most interesting aspects have been building up to come to a climax.
For the first time in the series, the action and orks take a backseat to intrigue, intricate schemes and tragedies caused by good intentions. For the first time in TBA, I actually felt sympathy for the High Lords of Terra, and saw them as more than lying bags of incompetence, and instead as flawed people. In hindsight, I wish there had been more of this kind of attention paid to Juskina Tull, Abdulias Anwar, Helad Gibran and the rest throughout the series. Even just the short scenes they received here, when Vangorich's grand plan is set into motion, gave a lot of character to the High Lords that went beyond petty squabbling and self-service. Well, in most cases, at least.
Most importantly, the chapters dealing with the High Lords showed the degree of ruthlessness and preparedness that Drakan Vangorich has going for himself. While he only takes the life of one High Lord in person, orchestrating so much misery in such an efficient way shows him as fully deserving of his title as Grand Master of the assassins. An assassin should always know and utilize the right tool for a task if possible, and Vangorich does so magnificently.
The role of Beast Krule, Esad Wire, felt very neat to me as well. My complaint in regards to his opposition to Vangorich's plans comes down to how invested he appeared in the last couple of books; I can fully buy the seeds of doubt Haley put into his head here, and applaud them, but it came as a bit of a surprise this late in the game. But then, the results were a hugely compelling turnout for the novel that I wouldn't want to miss out on.
Maximus Thane, victorious Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists, has some very impressive scenes as well, as should be expected. However, the meat of the book occurs in his absence from Terra, reclaiming what the orks had taken from mankind. After setting Terra supposedly in order, he departs, leaving tasks for all the High Lords, and establishing Vangorich as his Lord Protector to reign in his stead. Thane gives the High Lords a big verbal thrashing aboard the Phalanx, which, at last, gets some explanations as to its whereabouts. Those notes I felt were a bit shoehorned, late justifications for a big editorial oversight, but needed either way. The way the Phalanx is described here, however, was exciting and intimidating.
Thane's decrees also include plans for Ullanor, the fate of which fans will definitely appreciate. In many ways, Thane's actions here steer the way for the future we all are aware of.
There are even more big revelations made in regards to the Inquisition, and even the Grey Knights, and the effects of it all ripple back to the Horus Heresy itself. Plenty of connective tissue here, some of which will boggle the reader's mind. I certainly didn't see it coming, but it explains a few complaints I had about earlier books away.
The Fists Exemplar / Iron Warriors plotline involving Zerberyn and Kalkator also finally gets a big payoff, and justifies further secrecy about the Imperial Fists' fate. While I am saddened at the fate of another great character who has seen little love since The Last Son of Dorn , the whole plotline gave birth to some magnificent tragedy and fall from grace. Lots of emotion here, satisfyingly presented. The dynamism presented here really puts the poor showing in the previous book when it came to this plotline into even stronger contrast.
But now to my big complaint for the book: Timeskips kinda suck.
It was inevitably going to happen here, with pre-established lore making it clear that certain events were going on for a while before being ended. However, the way it happened here felt jarring to me. That's not something Guy Haley could have changed much, however - not with a Great Crusade occuring amidst the 100 year gap. No, I blame the editorial team and series planning for it.
Up until the timeskip, everything felt like it flowed naturally, logically and satisfyingly. After the jump, things took a bit of a dive. After some readjusting the final chapters still panned out well, but were quite abrupt. Seeing that this novel is a tad longer than the average novel in the series, it seems obvious that the author managed to squeeze out as much space as he could, but the series's direction definitely backed him in a corner here, giving too much to wrap up in one volume and in the end squandering potential for a greater scope and a more definitive end.
There wasn't even room here for a short epilogue detailing the rebuilding of the High Lords after Chapter Master Agnathio of the Ultramarines and co travel to Terra to crush the prevailing anarchy on the Throneworld. There wasn't room to let the dust settle, or to show Vangorich's transition from hypocritical mastermind to dishevelled, self-serving yet somehow tragic dictator. There wasn't room for Wienand to formally establish the Ordos, nor for the rebuilding of the Imperium after the Beast's death to take place.
I cannot imagine just how much content, how many ideas and concepts, Guy Haley had to disperse of during the writing of the novel. Not because of any failings of his own, but because this book should have been two instead. He was given an impossible task to fulfill yet still excelled at showing what he did, and getting the whole thing across as a grand finale. It has got to have been a frustrating process getting there, though...
I loved the book. It was a great finale, if short in certain areas. It did more than I expected and hoped for as it stands. It took up all the pieces and lined them up in a compelling way, while adding many easter eggs for fans of the franchise. The highlight of the assassinations were exceptionally cool, especially for their believability. The Beheading was the end the series needed, and I am thankful that it is Guy Haley's name on the cover. His great attention to detail and subtlety benefitted this one greatly.
June 13, 2017
"And so, here we are. A year and a half after the series started, and about two months after I finished reading this installment, we arrive at the last book in The Beast Arises series. I’ve been trying to formulate how to approach this last review for a while; I had hoped to do an entire new entry just on observations about this series. In the end, I can’t be bothered. Those who have been following my reviews on this series will know that pretty much each entry has been awarded a fairly high mark. However, I am beyond frustrated and disappointed with this series. How does this add up? Simple. The Black Library threw some of their best authors at these books, and each one is pretty well written.
But as for all that hype surrounding the series? What was it they said? “The most ambitious series since The Horus Heresy”? Methinks not.
The problem, in the end, with this series is that they built up lofty ideas that they simply had either no intention or foresight/ability to follow through on it.
And, sadly, perhaps no book in the series epitomizes this disappointment as thoroughly as the final installment, The Beheading.
When I had heard a while back that Haley would be penning the final book in this series, I was thrilled. BL was building the Beast up to be a villain for the ages, and, knowing his expertise in writing for greenskins, who better to write the final battle than Haley himself? Then, it became evident that the Beast would be dead by Book 12; and, while that was a disappointment, hopes were high that Haley, a fantastic all-around science fiction writer, would still give this decently written, yet inherently silly series a proper sendoff.
Then, I started seeing some reviews and observations on The Beheading. The consensus was that it starts off fantastically, and the just comes apart at the end. There were grumblings about a ‘time skip’. I hoped that that did not mean a jump to ‘modern’ 40K times. That would be disastrously incongruous to the overall narrative, if it were true.
Luckily, it wasn’t true. Well, sort of. There is a time skip. It is a necessary one. But no, it doesn’t go to ‘present’ time.
Before we start the review, I’ll just give you the short take: The Beheading is a rousing, exciting, beautifully written finale….for the first 2/3’s. After that, it goes completely off the rails.
Again, as a disclaimer – I finished this book almost two months ago, so some of my recollection might be a bit fuzzy. Also, I might go off on tangents with observations and complaints about events in the series, and the series as a whole. Please just bear with me.
The Beast is dead. The greenskin threat is no more. At the culmination of Rob Sanders’ criminally short Shadow of Ullanor, the titular Beast was beaten by Thane and his re-formed Imperial Fists. Using the pent-up psychic power of the captured Weirdboyz, all of the collective green heads on Ullanor burst like watermelons under Gallagher’s mighty hammer. And, in a true display of narrative convenience. the remaining orks aligned to the Beast’s banner (you know, orks that had been showing unnatural levels of cunning, strategy, mastery of logistics, and excellent grasp of Gothic) all reverted to snarling, in-fighting morons. Praise the Emperor!
Back to Terra. Thane is being lauded as the hero that he has proven to be. There is, to quote Monty Python, “much rejoicing”. And, everything seems to be back in order. All’s well that ends well. Yes, there will be a lot of rebuilding, but the menace is over.
However, in the aftermath of the threat of the Great Beast, and the gross displays of ineptitude that constituted the responses of the High Lords of Terra, there needs to be a definitive accounting.
Said accounting is a plan that has been germinating in the mind of Grand Master Vangorich for the past few books. Knowing who his most dependable allies are (who he will also need in the transitional period); Wienand and Thane, he sets out to punish the remaining High Lords for their scheming, conniving actions, and overall behavior detrimental to Terra and its holdings. It’s time for the beheading.
The Beheading can be broken down into three parts; this is in both content and quality. The first portion sees Haley doing what Haley does best; grand, lush world-building and descriptions. His pen creates beautiful, immersive scenes in the mind of the reader.
As good as the opening is, it is the middle portion of the book; the actual “beheading” sequence, that goes above and beyond. Look, it is no secret whatsoever at this point that Vangorich proceeds to kill the remaining High Lords. And so, we are treated to a series of assassination sequences. All are wonderfully written, but some define superb. Top among these is the assassination of Juskina Tull, whom most readers had probably begun to sympathize with to an extent, especially given her mental degradation in the wake of the utter failure that was the Proletarian Crusade. This scene is poignant, perfectly executed, and completely heartbreaking, even if it is reminiscent of a scene from Legends of the Fall.
By the time all the High Lords lay fallen, and Vangorich stood ascendant, I found it hard to believe that that final installment was anything but bulletproof. Sadly, I was wrong. It seems that with the villains that were the Beast, as well as the High Lords, all being addressed, either Haley or the Black Library at large had no idea how to tie things up. Almost as if they found themselves without a star to carry the ball into the end zone. Thane was consigned to the background for the bulk of the series. Wienand was too busy playing defense the whole time to assert herself fully. It seems the time came for the Grand Master of Assassins to step out of the shadows and carry proceedings.
Unfortunately, as both a protagonist, as well as the leader of Terra, Vangorich fails spectacularly.
Why exactly is this? Well, nobody really knows… After Thane heads out to the stars to rebuild the Legions, and Wienand heads off to Titan to see what Veritus was cooking up there (hint: it’s the Grey Knights), we fast forward a hundred-odd years. Now, Vangorich is a shriveled, somewhat loony despot. Why? We never find out for sure. There are hints that it is because Wienand continually rebuffed his advances (don’t understand why he didn’t simply order a Callidus assassin to simply imitate her, if he was that desperate). And so, it falls to Thane to make things right.
Now, at this point, you’d have reason to be excited. Before the details of the story began to emerge, there were hints on Lexicanum about the brutal, protracted battle that the Space Marines would face in trying to take out Vangorich. Entire temples of Vindicares and Eversors, plus the legendary Grand Master himself, on his own terms. Even the title of that portion of the story – Fury of the Space Marines – holds a ton of promise.
And then it just doesn’t deliver. For all the excitement, you can’t help but notice how few pages are left at this point. How could Haley possibly cram in all the information necessary to detail a battle like this? Simply, he couldn’t. And he didn’t.
The battle with the Vindcares takes place in one section of town within the continent-sized Palace on Terra. There is a lot of *pew*pew*, many Marines fall, and the Vindicares are killed. Then, Thane goes into a tower, and has a literal “Mario Moment” in which Wienand tells him “Thank you Thane, but the Grand Master is in another tower”. We then switch over to the Eversor tower, we another truncated scuffle takes place. Really, a battle with 100 Eversor assassins deserves a book of its own. There is just too much fertile ground there for gripping action. But here, it’s all wrapped up nice and quick, and Vangorich disappears from the annals of Imperium lore with one of the worst farewell lines ever.
That’s it. Sorry if it got a bit snippy there, but I cannot make heads or tails of why the series ended like this. There is so much wasted potential throughout the series; and then, in this final installment, it starts off so well, only to come crashing down.
I really wonder what happened to throw off the third act so drastically. I get the feeling that there had to be some kind of editor intervention – it has to be, because Haley is too polished a writer to let things get that sloppy. I’ll be honest; not all of his stuff grabs me by the throat, but at least all of it is cohesively written. The fact that all of this other stuff got shoehorned in – mention the Grey Knights, mention Horus, mention Curze, etc., makes me feel like the powers that be needed some compensation for a flawed project.
I mean, think of this. Between Veritus’ and Wienand’s conversation (which climaxes with a cornball, attention-seeking “big reveal”), and Wienand’s trip to Titan (which adds absolutely nothing to the narrative) we see the passing of 16 pages. 16 pages. That’s a lot of page space that Haley could’ve dedicated to either a) describing Vangorich’s downfall, or b) giving the climactic battle more of the, for lack of a better term, “umph” that it deserved.
I’m actually surprised that The Black Library missed out on the chance at an additional cash grab here. The whole conversation between the Inquisitorial higher-ups and the resultant journey to Titan could’ve been released as a companion short story. This way it would’ve gotten out there without interrupting the flow of the original storyline.
Well, that’s enough of that. It’s time to close the review, and personal observations on the series can go below. So, there you have it. The Beheading, the last book in The Beast Arises, is, at turns, good, amazing, and wretched."
You can read my full review of this final installment, as well as some observations on the series at large, here:
https://voxcastsfromthevoid.wordpress...
But as for all that hype surrounding the series? What was it they said? “The most ambitious series since The Horus Heresy”? Methinks not.
The problem, in the end, with this series is that they built up lofty ideas that they simply had either no intention or foresight/ability to follow through on it.
And, sadly, perhaps no book in the series epitomizes this disappointment as thoroughly as the final installment, The Beheading.
When I had heard a while back that Haley would be penning the final book in this series, I was thrilled. BL was building the Beast up to be a villain for the ages, and, knowing his expertise in writing for greenskins, who better to write the final battle than Haley himself? Then, it became evident that the Beast would be dead by Book 12; and, while that was a disappointment, hopes were high that Haley, a fantastic all-around science fiction writer, would still give this decently written, yet inherently silly series a proper sendoff.
Then, I started seeing some reviews and observations on The Beheading. The consensus was that it starts off fantastically, and the just comes apart at the end. There were grumblings about a ‘time skip’. I hoped that that did not mean a jump to ‘modern’ 40K times. That would be disastrously incongruous to the overall narrative, if it were true.
Luckily, it wasn’t true. Well, sort of. There is a time skip. It is a necessary one. But no, it doesn’t go to ‘present’ time.
Before we start the review, I’ll just give you the short take: The Beheading is a rousing, exciting, beautifully written finale….for the first 2/3’s. After that, it goes completely off the rails.
Again, as a disclaimer – I finished this book almost two months ago, so some of my recollection might be a bit fuzzy. Also, I might go off on tangents with observations and complaints about events in the series, and the series as a whole. Please just bear with me.
The Beast is dead. The greenskin threat is no more. At the culmination of Rob Sanders’ criminally short Shadow of Ullanor, the titular Beast was beaten by Thane and his re-formed Imperial Fists. Using the pent-up psychic power of the captured Weirdboyz, all of the collective green heads on Ullanor burst like watermelons under Gallagher’s mighty hammer. And, in a true display of narrative convenience. the remaining orks aligned to the Beast’s banner (you know, orks that had been showing unnatural levels of cunning, strategy, mastery of logistics, and excellent grasp of Gothic) all reverted to snarling, in-fighting morons. Praise the Emperor!
Back to Terra. Thane is being lauded as the hero that he has proven to be. There is, to quote Monty Python, “much rejoicing”. And, everything seems to be back in order. All’s well that ends well. Yes, there will be a lot of rebuilding, but the menace is over.
However, in the aftermath of the threat of the Great Beast, and the gross displays of ineptitude that constituted the responses of the High Lords of Terra, there needs to be a definitive accounting.
Said accounting is a plan that has been germinating in the mind of Grand Master Vangorich for the past few books. Knowing who his most dependable allies are (who he will also need in the transitional period); Wienand and Thane, he sets out to punish the remaining High Lords for their scheming, conniving actions, and overall behavior detrimental to Terra and its holdings. It’s time for the beheading.
The Beheading can be broken down into three parts; this is in both content and quality. The first portion sees Haley doing what Haley does best; grand, lush world-building and descriptions. His pen creates beautiful, immersive scenes in the mind of the reader.
As good as the opening is, it is the middle portion of the book; the actual “beheading” sequence, that goes above and beyond. Look, it is no secret whatsoever at this point that Vangorich proceeds to kill the remaining High Lords. And so, we are treated to a series of assassination sequences. All are wonderfully written, but some define superb. Top among these is the assassination of Juskina Tull, whom most readers had probably begun to sympathize with to an extent, especially given her mental degradation in the wake of the utter failure that was the Proletarian Crusade. This scene is poignant, perfectly executed, and completely heartbreaking, even if it is reminiscent of a scene from Legends of the Fall.
By the time all the High Lords lay fallen, and Vangorich stood ascendant, I found it hard to believe that that final installment was anything but bulletproof. Sadly, I was wrong. It seems that with the villains that were the Beast, as well as the High Lords, all being addressed, either Haley or the Black Library at large had no idea how to tie things up. Almost as if they found themselves without a star to carry the ball into the end zone. Thane was consigned to the background for the bulk of the series. Wienand was too busy playing defense the whole time to assert herself fully. It seems the time came for the Grand Master of Assassins to step out of the shadows and carry proceedings.
Unfortunately, as both a protagonist, as well as the leader of Terra, Vangorich fails spectacularly.
Why exactly is this? Well, nobody really knows… After Thane heads out to the stars to rebuild the Legions, and Wienand heads off to Titan to see what Veritus was cooking up there (hint: it’s the Grey Knights), we fast forward a hundred-odd years. Now, Vangorich is a shriveled, somewhat loony despot. Why? We never find out for sure. There are hints that it is because Wienand continually rebuffed his advances (don’t understand why he didn’t simply order a Callidus assassin to simply imitate her, if he was that desperate). And so, it falls to Thane to make things right.
Now, at this point, you’d have reason to be excited. Before the details of the story began to emerge, there were hints on Lexicanum about the brutal, protracted battle that the Space Marines would face in trying to take out Vangorich. Entire temples of Vindicares and Eversors, plus the legendary Grand Master himself, on his own terms. Even the title of that portion of the story – Fury of the Space Marines – holds a ton of promise.
And then it just doesn’t deliver. For all the excitement, you can’t help but notice how few pages are left at this point. How could Haley possibly cram in all the information necessary to detail a battle like this? Simply, he couldn’t. And he didn’t.
The battle with the Vindcares takes place in one section of town within the continent-sized Palace on Terra. There is a lot of *pew*pew*, many Marines fall, and the Vindicares are killed. Then, Thane goes into a tower, and has a literal “Mario Moment” in which Wienand tells him “Thank you Thane, but the Grand Master is in another tower”. We then switch over to the Eversor tower, we another truncated scuffle takes place. Really, a battle with 100 Eversor assassins deserves a book of its own. There is just too much fertile ground there for gripping action. But here, it’s all wrapped up nice and quick, and Vangorich disappears from the annals of Imperium lore with one of the worst farewell lines ever.
That’s it. Sorry if it got a bit snippy there, but I cannot make heads or tails of why the series ended like this. There is so much wasted potential throughout the series; and then, in this final installment, it starts off so well, only to come crashing down.
I really wonder what happened to throw off the third act so drastically. I get the feeling that there had to be some kind of editor intervention – it has to be, because Haley is too polished a writer to let things get that sloppy. I’ll be honest; not all of his stuff grabs me by the throat, but at least all of it is cohesively written. The fact that all of this other stuff got shoehorned in – mention the Grey Knights, mention Horus, mention Curze, etc., makes me feel like the powers that be needed some compensation for a flawed project.
I mean, think of this. Between Veritus’ and Wienand’s conversation (which climaxes with a cornball, attention-seeking “big reveal”), and Wienand’s trip to Titan (which adds absolutely nothing to the narrative) we see the passing of 16 pages. 16 pages. That’s a lot of page space that Haley could’ve dedicated to either a) describing Vangorich’s downfall, or b) giving the climactic battle more of the, for lack of a better term, “umph” that it deserved.
I’m actually surprised that The Black Library missed out on the chance at an additional cash grab here. The whole conversation between the Inquisitorial higher-ups and the resultant journey to Titan could’ve been released as a companion short story. This way it would’ve gotten out there without interrupting the flow of the original storyline.
Well, that’s enough of that. It’s time to close the review, and personal observations on the series can go below. So, there you have it. The Beheading, the last book in The Beast Arises, is, at turns, good, amazing, and wretched."
You can read my full review of this final installment, as well as some observations on the series at large, here:
https://voxcastsfromthevoid.wordpress...
September 13, 2016
There are still two months and two more entrants into the Beast Arises series to go, so there's not a lot I can write about this that won't contain spoilers.
Let's just say that your reward for sticking with the series all year awaits!
Let's just say that your reward for sticking with the series all year awaits!
February 6, 2017
Review in progress! I'm getting behind on these -_-
July 27, 2023
Cool cool coool
November 13, 2016
What a magnificent ending to series, that manages to tie up all the various plot threads from throughout whilst at the same time deliciously teasing future possibilities of the universe.
November 25, 2016
Faber est suae quisque fortunae - Appius Claudius Caecus
"Every man is the artisan of his own fortune."
And thus the 2016 running to its end. With it we said goodbye to a lovely TBA (The Beast Arises) series. Several authors spent months creating that narrative web – story to rival epic and grim dark of W40K. But today I wonna say thank you for one author in particular – Guy Haley. He has created an ending – which is truly consistent and at the same time truly amazing and sad. All things must come to an end eventually and as far as endings to TBA went – Beheading is a flawed jewel.
Being an outstanding author, who learn on his mistakes with each new book – Guy Haley has gone to the point of being of the TOP 3 Black Library authors for W40K. Beheading is one of the best books in the cycle and totally worth the ending. But it has a catch.
Narrative. To finish a long running series written by a lot of authors is definitely an Olympic feat in itself, but to finish it with an ‘epic’ moment is definitely achievement of the Gods.
Guy Haley tried and definitely won an Olympic medal for that, but still, sadly, wasn’t able to achieve the top. The story continues almost exactly from where Shadow of Ullanor left. Grand victory over the orcs was achieved. Imperium of Man is Ascendant again. Or so it seems. Throughout the series, the political machinations have been as fascinating and compelling as the all-out action – and now it's time for that to take centre stage as assassination and plotting takes over from brutal combat. As synopsis for the book describes One man, one powerful man, decides he has the solution, and launches a campaign of destruction so terrible that thousands of years later his actions will still be viewed with horror. As all who read previous 11 books could quite guess who that person would be.
What Guy Haley did amazingly here - is he finished a lot of narrow storylines. He had shown the end of the war and birth of new hope. Across the length and breadth of the galaxy, humankind celebrates its salvation, and relishes the prospect of a return to peace. He showed great triumphs and great tragedy. But the war against the orks has riven the political bedrock of the Imperium, exposing its rotten core. He added drama and a lot of human emotions into the mix. He did almost everything right. Almost. One man, one powerful man, decides he has the solution, and launches a campaign of destruction so terrible that thousands of years later his actions will still be viewed with horror. And Vangorich did it. He realized in the previous novels that the High Lords who nearly doomed the entire Imperium must be culled. It is time for the Beheading to begin. And Vangorich did it in style.
All executions has lot of meaning and planning involved. And each shows strong side of different assassin temples. Even Vangorich himself had his hands dirty going after the strongest corrupt High Lord. And how Dracan has dealt with Kubik was hilarious indeed.
Also one of the 'funniest' and ohhhh so that is what actually transpired! is the fate of Ullanor. Amazing resolution.
Characters. All the previous space marines characters are amazingly cherished and given life as in other novels. We met almost everyone who survives them. Thane, Bohemond, Isachar all blossom into integral characters with strong self-control and ambitions. Again as with everything Guy Haley – human characters blossom the most. But no one as shining – as old fella Veritas, who has shown at last his true persona. The moment we met his true self and the dialog with Wienand was beyond amazing. Same as emotions lady inquisitor had then she did know the truth behind all of the inquisition and Terra government. Also we have some epic brainstorm with Beast Krule and mister Vangorich himself.
What else Guy Haley did magnificently — he has shown totally 'human'and kind part of High Lords of Terra. I did not think it would be possible to do that after their 'moronic' plotting in the previous novels. But he did it — scenes with Anwar, Gibran and Tull were sooo human. At some point you could even think that all the actions of Vangorich by that point are totally unneccesary. Some of the High Lords truly regret their choices and prayed for forgiveness.
Everyone is truly alive and ‘real’ in ‘The Beheading’. But as with a lot of stuff – there is a catch.
The end. Almost everything went splendidly in this novel. Tis finished a lot of storylines and create a good background base for the events further on. Until the end. Here, all went totally wrong. Intended timelapse played a bad joke with a truly masterful narrative. I do understand the logic in this ‘timejump’ into the future. And I almost see how planning team for TBA thought it would work. The problem is – IT DID NOT. Before the end Dracan Vangorich was the most likeable, cherished and human person in the Imperium of Man. Later in The Beheading in two pages he has become the tyrant, despot and bloodthirsty mongrel seemingly out of the blue. All the road to damnation and tyranny, all the choices he made to become a true monster – went overboard. One moment Vangorich left to power up the Imperium of Man after a big disaster – the next 100 years later he is an insane king doing whatever he wants. This transgression would have worked out, if - the slow erosion of Dracan sanity would have been shown to us. At least in 20-30 pages author should have shown to us the bad choices that he took while trying to rebuild Imperium. Instead – it all ends up with cartoonish evil man.
There wasn't room to let the dust settle, or to show Vangorich's transition from hypocritical mastermind to dishevelled, self-serving yet somehow tragic dictator. There wasn't room for Wienand to formally establish the Ordos, or to rebuild Imperium after the Beast's death.
One wrong choice – and almost a masterpiece of a novel has gone to something not so amazing.
All that could be avoided — If The Beheading was a duology or trilogy. And it's not an author fault. He was given an impossible task — nobody could have done it better I think.
Add to that absolutely unbelievable and illogic behavior of Beast Krule in the end. One moment he was brainwashed killer – the second he (out of the blue) found himself, his identity and his own free will. After century of being brainwashed slave – really???
And, of course, Zerberyn figure. This is not Guy Haley fault - this is totally a fault of a team who intended this characters and created that additional plot into the TBA story. It doesn’t work. Zerberyn slow degradation to evil side was badly explained, shown and has absolutely no point of being shown on the main stage. Authors should better use it for the main characters building. Aforementioned pages should have been given to Vangorich downslide to evil. Instead we have predictable, unnecessary and blank additional story plot.
Yes they used Zerberyn going renegade to be a reason to exclude everything Fists Exemplar from the Imperial Archive. Cementing their evolution into Imperial Fists. But it could have been done in scope of 1-2 books – not to have it as a long standing plot for 7 books! The Fists Exemplar / Iron Warriors plotline does not have any justification for it's existence. Especially for the ending. Sad actually.
Also it's sad that book does not contain any quotes and excerpts before chapters. They were awesome in previous novels.
Let’s summarize. We have absolutely amazing story as a finishing line for TBA series. We have good story, drama, characters – everything that creates a masterpiece. But as with a long list of stories – something always gone wrong. And here it was the ending. Absolutely flat end for Vangorich ‘tyranny’ period with a lot of ‘unseen’ and ‘unexplained’ stuff, ruined Beast Krule character and another pointless part of Zerberyn storyline leaves The Beheading as simply good book from a talented author.
I’ll give The Beheading 3,9 out of 5 stars. It is well deserved and I do hope people who enjoyed TBA will read it.
As for the whole team who created TBA for us we, as fans says thank you for a year of amazing read. You rock guys and I do hope you will learn on your mistakes. And the next big series would be even more awesome, then all the previous combined.
For the Imperium. For Mankind. For the ‘Last Wall’!
All the sons and daughters, rolled down the red river.
When will they return?
When will they sing again?
December 27, 2017
I always try to keep my reviews very simple and without spoilers but some may slip through here. First I will review the book then do the series as a whole. The beheading starts out amazingly. So much of this series has been hit or miss and despite the big baddie dying in the last novel this one stakes it's claim to the story early and really gets you invested fast. Then.... something happens. Reading one or two other reviews I wasn't the only one to notice it either. Vangorich as a character is thrown away. The cool calm enjoyable character just disappears and is replaced by this... plot device wearing his clothes.
To be clear I want to say that I hated the final parts of the novel with their ultra convenient "oh terra just wants him gone" explanation for why nothing else is involved in the conclusion. Beyond that though I absolutely loathe what they did with Vangorich. His reasoning isn't hard to follow. It simply doesn't exist. This really isn't something that should fall on Guy though.
The story could have worked this way if maybe some more time was invested steering it in this direction. Instead the reader is blindsided with choices and actions that have no meaning behind them besides just tying up loose ends. I'm not even going to start on Esad Wire. So many of these characters are just mashed into endings you just want to grab someone and tell them "it's okay if there's a loose end or two".
Ultimately this was a failure and I would imagine the high rating the novel has is mostly due to audience bloat. If you don't like a long running series you're unlikely to continue to the end let alone review it so only those that enjoy it made it all the way.
The series as a whole didn't fare much better. 2/5 and that is a very generous rating. You may look at my reviews and say "that's lower than the average rating you gave the individuals" and you would be correct. Here's the thing though. Up until the very end I had hoped they were going to do something with all these great characters they made. Wienand, Koorland, Krule, the beats themselves, Lansung, Bohemond, the whole Fists exemplar group, and Vangorich were all sold short. Speaking of short these novellas are still being sold at full novel price so you will pay over 200$ for what could've fit in 6 or so books. There's something here for the big time fans of Warhammer but please consider this carefully before purchasing.
To be clear I want to say that I hated the final parts of the novel with their ultra convenient "oh terra just wants him gone" explanation for why nothing else is involved in the conclusion. Beyond that though I absolutely loathe what they did with Vangorich. His reasoning isn't hard to follow. It simply doesn't exist. This really isn't something that should fall on Guy though.
The story could have worked this way if maybe some more time was invested steering it in this direction. Instead the reader is blindsided with choices and actions that have no meaning behind them besides just tying up loose ends. I'm not even going to start on Esad Wire. So many of these characters are just mashed into endings you just want to grab someone and tell them "it's okay if there's a loose end or two".
Ultimately this was a failure and I would imagine the high rating the novel has is mostly due to audience bloat. If you don't like a long running series you're unlikely to continue to the end let alone review it so only those that enjoy it made it all the way.
The series as a whole didn't fare much better. 2/5 and that is a very generous rating. You may look at my reviews and say "that's lower than the average rating you gave the individuals" and you would be correct. Here's the thing though. Up until the very end I had hoped they were going to do something with all these great characters they made. Wienand, Koorland, Krule, the beats themselves, Lansung, Bohemond, the whole Fists exemplar group, and Vangorich were all sold short. Speaking of short these novellas are still being sold at full novel price so you will pay over 200$ for what could've fit in 6 or so books. There's something here for the big time fans of Warhammer but please consider this carefully before purchasing.
April 19, 2019
On Ullanor, the Emperor triumphed over the greenskins totally, a victory so incredible that He felt He could leave the remainder of the Great Crusade in Horus' ample hands. On Ullanor, The Beast arose to threaten all. There is something about the planet, something sacred to the existence of all greenskins. For the safety of the Imperium of Man, Maximus Thane, Chapter Master of the Imperial Fists, decrees that the entire planet of Ullanor must be destroyed... but Kubik, Fabricator-General of Mars, does not agree. Too much amazing technology lies underneath the ruins of Ullanor. Should Mars give it all up to satisfy the whims of some puffed-up space marine? Kubik does the impossible: he swaps Ullanor out with another planet. Drakan Vangorich, Grand Master of the Officio Assassinorum, disapproves of Kubik's decision. And he does what every single reader has known he would do for 11 books now.
This is the final book in the year long event known as The Beast Arises. The Beast is dead and now, at long last, it's time for a reckoning. Before this series debuted, Warhammer 40k fans knew only 2 things about the 32nd millennium:
1) The Beast was the largest greenskin waaagh in history.
2) Drakan Vangorich ruled the Imperium by himself for 100 years after killing off the High Lords of Terra.
The first 11 books covered point 1. This book covers point 2: Vangorich kills everyone. Yes, EVERYONE. Some fight back, some whine about the unfairness of it all, some try to bargain. They all die. Beast Krule tries to escape, but nope, he gets caught too.
Guy Haley is an excellent writer, and it's obvious he had lots of fun with this. There was no possible way to wrap up every single thread, but he still gave it a go. Inquisitor Veritus reveals his identity right before he dies, and his true name is the beginning and the end of this series' ties to the Horus Heresy. We learn the final fate of the Fists Exemplar who sided with the Iron Warriors... and why no one had ever heard of a space marine chapter as amazing as the Fists Exemplar until this series. Many authors struggle to end their books properly, and Haley had to end an entire series! The politics, the dialogue, the history, the fighting: everything is just so artistically done. Yeah, the ending may seem unnecessarily rushed compared to the rest of the series, but that's a tiny complaint for such a well done wrapup.
This is the final book in the year long event known as The Beast Arises. The Beast is dead and now, at long last, it's time for a reckoning. Before this series debuted, Warhammer 40k fans knew only 2 things about the 32nd millennium:
1) The Beast was the largest greenskin waaagh in history.
2) Drakan Vangorich ruled the Imperium by himself for 100 years after killing off the High Lords of Terra.
The first 11 books covered point 1. This book covers point 2: Vangorich kills everyone. Yes, EVERYONE. Some fight back, some whine about the unfairness of it all, some try to bargain. They all die. Beast Krule tries to escape, but nope, he gets caught too.
Guy Haley is an excellent writer, and it's obvious he had lots of fun with this. There was no possible way to wrap up every single thread, but he still gave it a go. Inquisitor Veritus reveals his identity right before he dies, and his true name is the beginning and the end of this series' ties to the Horus Heresy. We learn the final fate of the Fists Exemplar who sided with the Iron Warriors... and why no one had ever heard of a space marine chapter as amazing as the Fists Exemplar until this series. Many authors struggle to end their books properly, and Haley had to end an entire series! The politics, the dialogue, the history, the fighting: everything is just so artistically done. Yeah, the ending may seem unnecessarily rushed compared to the rest of the series, but that's a tiny complaint for such a well done wrapup.
December 31, 2024
Guy Haley wraps up a series that isn't really about an Ork invasion with a finale that benefits from being true to itself and not including too many unnecessary Orks and focusing instead on the High Lords of Terra.
The High Lords have been a frustrating presence throughout the series, getting in each other's way more often than not and inadvertently belittling the invasion by paying so little heed to it (imagine the Siege of Terra, except ol' Lupercal has to wait patiently for some screentime while Dorn and Sanguinius bicker endlessly over the whose armour is shiniest).
Haley joyfully pokes fun at Imperial bureaucracy - one scene pivots on a meeting's agenda items being taken out of order, another on a senior leader not having the correct building pass and being left to tailgate other people through doors. But ultimately this is the finale the series has been waiting for - the best execution of 41st Millennium Succession to date, with plenty fun secrets and reveals along the way.
The High Lords have been a frustrating presence throughout the series, getting in each other's way more often than not and inadvertently belittling the invasion by paying so little heed to it (imagine the Siege of Terra, except ol' Lupercal has to wait patiently for some screentime while Dorn and Sanguinius bicker endlessly over the whose armour is shiniest).
Haley joyfully pokes fun at Imperial bureaucracy - one scene pivots on a meeting's agenda items being taken out of order, another on a senior leader not having the correct building pass and being left to tailgate other people through doors. But ultimately this is the finale the series has been waiting for - the best execution of 41st Millennium Succession to date, with plenty fun secrets and reveals along the way.
February 2, 2018
This review is more about the series than this individual book.
I enjoyed The Beast very much. It casts lights on many aspects of Imperial life that otherwise remain oblique. Since the setting is the rather early post-Heresy Imperium, many developments leading to the grim dark galaxy of M40 are explained. (Not that M32 wasn't grim. Just, not that grim.) It features everything a good W40k series/book has to deliver on: epic, bone shattering battle, pathos, intrigue, glory.
If there is one thing to be wanting, it's the Orks. They remain pretty much faceless. Maybe Black Library/GW will surprise us with a mini-series on Orks?
Otherwise, see this forum thread for hints toW40k Ork stories: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum...
I enjoyed The Beast very much. It casts lights on many aspects of Imperial life that otherwise remain oblique. Since the setting is the rather early post-Heresy Imperium, many developments leading to the grim dark galaxy of M40 are explained. (Not that M32 wasn't grim. Just, not that grim.) It features everything a good W40k series/book has to deliver on: epic, bone shattering battle, pathos, intrigue, glory.
If there is one thing to be wanting, it's the Orks. They remain pretty much faceless. Maybe Black Library/GW will surprise us with a mini-series on Orks?
Otherwise, see this forum thread for hints toW40k Ork stories: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum...
October 27, 2019
The end of quite a good series. A decent story with some surprising revelations and set up for the future of the imperium. It wraps up some storylines of the series but clearly no real idea of where the iron warrior and fist exemplar alliance had been established as the real end doesnt mean much. The end is rushed and felt a little out of the blue.
Main issue is how it seems like the rest of the series was more a footnote. I would have liked more ork stuff rather than little notes. Political stuff still good and the descriptions of things was good.
Main issue is how it seems like the rest of the series was more a footnote. I would have liked more ork stuff rather than little notes. Political stuff still good and the descriptions of things was good.
February 11, 2025
Most of this book probably should of just been in the last book ( Shadow of Ullanor), being that the orks are beaten at this point and the whole book is just vangorich cleaning up shop with the High Lords then going insane to chaos i guess? Not sure sense the last few chapters skips 100ish years
Overall not very eventful lots of skipping around, kind of a boring way to end a book series like this.
Overall not very eventful lots of skipping around, kind of a boring way to end a book series like this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 12, 2017
Finally finished The Beast Arises series. It's been a bit of a slog and the ending was suitably grim as you would expect for 40K.
I'm not sure I'd read a similar series again as it's seemed more of a task than a fun thing to do.
I'm not sure I'd read a similar series again as it's seemed more of a task than a fun thing to do.
June 19, 2017
You can read the full review over at my blog:
https://shadowhawksshade.wordpress.co...
The final stretch of The Beast Arises has been less than satisfactory. The crowning achievement that was meant to be Rob Sanders’ Shadows of Ullanor unfortunately left me rather disillusioned and wary of where the story might go next. I had been expecting some truly huge moments in the novel, but at best we got a regurgitation of the previous two novels, with little to recommend in-between. However, with the next book in the series, the whole thing comes to a close and thankfully, the train’s changed for better tracks.
Guy Haley’s The Beheading tells a story that has been a long time coming since we meet Drakan Vangorich in the first novel of the series, I Am Slaughter. Vangorich’s reign of terror is known of for a long time and we finally see him follow-up on his threats and his well-laid plans that he’s been putting together since that first appearance in Dan Abnett’s novel. However, the really cool thing is that there is far more to the novel than just that as Guy tells a parallel story that is also about hope and defiance against adversity, which in the end makes this one of the best novels of the series.
Note: Some major spoilers from the previous novels and this novel are mentioned here.
The novel starts off with something extremely symbolic: a victory procession celebrating the death of the Beast of Ullanor and the death of that hated planet. With Chapter Master Thane leading a procession of the newly-reconstituted Imperial Fists and various other Chapters, all survivors of Ullanor, this symbology reflects something innate about the horrors of the conflict that we’ve soon far. It all began with the destruction of the Imperial Fists at Ardamantua and then various defeats one after another as the Imperium reeled from the Ork invasion. Worlds, fleets, armies, sectors were lost and for a time all hope was lost. And then, as surely as the great mechanism of Imperial governance itself grinds, the tide slowly turned. Three massive invasions of Ullanor was what it took to eliminate the threat of the Beast. And now that threat is over and done with.
I loved that Guy started the novel so. It set a positive and also a melancholic tone for the rest of the story that followed, grounding it in the victories that had come so that the horrors that were yet to come could have some context. And it wasn’t that he left it at just that however, because he also addressed much of the politics of Terra that had been such an undercurrent to the larger narrative all throughout the series. And he showed that while the war with the Orks was won and done with, something pernicious still needed to be dealt with. Really, that’s the theme of The Beheading.
https://shadowhawksshade.wordpress.co...
The final stretch of The Beast Arises has been less than satisfactory. The crowning achievement that was meant to be Rob Sanders’ Shadows of Ullanor unfortunately left me rather disillusioned and wary of where the story might go next. I had been expecting some truly huge moments in the novel, but at best we got a regurgitation of the previous two novels, with little to recommend in-between. However, with the next book in the series, the whole thing comes to a close and thankfully, the train’s changed for better tracks.
Guy Haley’s The Beheading tells a story that has been a long time coming since we meet Drakan Vangorich in the first novel of the series, I Am Slaughter. Vangorich’s reign of terror is known of for a long time and we finally see him follow-up on his threats and his well-laid plans that he’s been putting together since that first appearance in Dan Abnett’s novel. However, the really cool thing is that there is far more to the novel than just that as Guy tells a parallel story that is also about hope and defiance against adversity, which in the end makes this one of the best novels of the series.
Note: Some major spoilers from the previous novels and this novel are mentioned here.
The novel starts off with something extremely symbolic: a victory procession celebrating the death of the Beast of Ullanor and the death of that hated planet. With Chapter Master Thane leading a procession of the newly-reconstituted Imperial Fists and various other Chapters, all survivors of Ullanor, this symbology reflects something innate about the horrors of the conflict that we’ve soon far. It all began with the destruction of the Imperial Fists at Ardamantua and then various defeats one after another as the Imperium reeled from the Ork invasion. Worlds, fleets, armies, sectors were lost and for a time all hope was lost. And then, as surely as the great mechanism of Imperial governance itself grinds, the tide slowly turned. Three massive invasions of Ullanor was what it took to eliminate the threat of the Beast. And now that threat is over and done with.
I loved that Guy started the novel so. It set a positive and also a melancholic tone for the rest of the story that followed, grounding it in the victories that had come so that the horrors that were yet to come could have some context. And it wasn’t that he left it at just that however, because he also addressed much of the politics of Terra that had been such an undercurrent to the larger narrative all throughout the series. And he showed that while the war with the Orks was won and done with, something pernicious still needed to be dealt with. Really, that’s the theme of The Beheading.
January 11, 2023
This has to be the best book in the series! For a series I have struggled with and at times not enjoyed at all the ending to it was great.
If you start the series, then read all the way to the end. It will be worth it!
If you start the series, then read all the way to the end. It will be worth it!
December 12, 2017
I liked the ending of the book. It was a little unusual because there were no orks. It was more of a wrap-up of the council of Terra and the effects after the Beast.
Unusual ending but good.
Unusual ending but good.
April 2, 2018
The whole series was great, guess it gets a 5 for ending well, so much in each of these books- could re read again and againn!
January 12, 2019
Excellent story, a few wonky bits at end but not overwhelmingly so.
August 26, 2019
I enjoyed it, but the time jump was kinda jarring
October 24, 2020
The Mechanicus Richard Gere'd Ullanor!
January 10, 2021
They should have ended it with a single clean up chapter at the end of book 11. This was pretty extraneous and was a rather poor ending to a series which was otherwise pretty decent.
April 3, 2021
Strong conclusion to a good series. Some great twists - penultimate book almost made me give up but glad I didn’t. Good insight into the world of the imperium.
April 20, 2021
A fantastic series in the 40k universe, battles galore, intrigue, politics, and some truly epi characters, superb.
October 24, 2022
This book was basically just a wrapup of the series, showing all of the surviving characters and wrapping up the various plot threads. It serves that purpose perfectly fine, but that’s all.
March 5, 2024
The payoffs were great... I loved Drakan up till the last chapter when he just lost it.
March 28, 2024
Review to come 90.
March 18, 2017
Overall a solid series though it wandered a bit in the last book
May 17, 2021
So I guess the orks got beaten but I’ll be honest I stopped paying attention and spyman takes over Terra for a hundred years, then Chapter Master Thane comes back (I think he was in the other books but there were so many books and characters I can’t remember who he was) comes back and I guess things just go back to normal
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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