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Night Lords #1-3
Night Lords: The Omnibus
Driven by their hatred of the False Emperor, the Night Lords stalk the shadows of the galaxy, eternally seeking revenge for the death of their primarch. Guided by the visions of the prophet Talos, a warband from this sinister Legion struggles to survive in a constant war against the forces of the Imperium. But when they come into conflict with fellow renegades and are hunted by the eldar of Craftworld Ulthwé, the Night Lords find themselves returning to the scene of their greatest defeat and drawn into a battle they cannot possibly win.
Read it because
Strong characters, witty dialogue and brutal action are in evidence throughout this epic trilogy that takes a squad of Night Lords from hunted renegades to the edge of glory… then drags them right back down again.
944 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 22, 2014
720 people are currently reading
1728 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 170 reviews
March 16, 2017
Throne!!!!! Since discovering the Warhammer Universe, two years ago, I was totally hooked, imagine enhanced humans in armor, crusading in the deep space against, space orks, eldars, their opposites or chaos legion/marines and etc., imagination to the extreme, combining science and magic.........I can go on and on.................this omnibus was one of the best example of this humongous universe!!!!
Such a cast of characters, points of view, beliefs,............oh well..................
Night Lords one of the first generation Legiones Astartes, a force for good yet uses fear to achieve its end, when the betrayal came, what comes after?? Terror and death, but even as they betrayed the Emperor, they still held on to their ideals although in a skewed way.........
As the story begins, we are introduced to the 10th legion's First Claw, led by their leader Talos "the Soul Hunter" or "the Prophet" because of his ability to see some of the future, Xarl, Cyrion, Uzas, the tenth Legion's captain Vandread or "the Exalted", as the story progresses, we are treated to a fine space opera, full of danger, excitement, drama and treachery, sadly my only complaint on such a fine, fine story, must villains truly be untrust-worthy??!!!!
Truly a magnificent adventure, unfortunately He would...........Now that will be telling...........I pride myself in never giving any spoilers.....Ave Dominus!!!!
Such a cast of characters, points of view, beliefs,............oh well..................
Night Lords one of the first generation Legiones Astartes, a force for good yet uses fear to achieve its end, when the betrayal came, what comes after?? Terror and death, but even as they betrayed the Emperor, they still held on to their ideals although in a skewed way.........
As the story begins, we are introduced to the 10th legion's First Claw, led by their leader Talos "the Soul Hunter" or "the Prophet" because of his ability to see some of the future, Xarl, Cyrion, Uzas, the tenth Legion's captain Vandread or "the Exalted", as the story progresses, we are treated to a fine space opera, full of danger, excitement, drama and treachery, sadly my only complaint on such a fine, fine story, must villains truly be untrust-worthy??!!!!
Truly a magnificent adventure, unfortunately He would...........Now that will be telling...........I pride myself in never giving any spoilers.....Ave Dominus!!!!
September 2, 2015
What a blast! Maybe best Black Library omnibus ever after Eisenhorn's one. AVE DOMINUS NOX!!!
August 26, 2015
I don't always give five stars but when I do, it's to ADB (To quote a meme)
This isn't the poshest literature you can read, but it's Good. It's well written, the pace is proper, the details which some reviews here complain about are what made it work for me. It was the first book I read from the 40k lore and it's perfectly understandable.
The thing for me were the characters though. Every one of the protagonists is fleshed out and believable, and not a mere cardboard chaos marine. I loved the human characters as well, who had their own lives and weren't just there to illustrate how awesome or terrifying the Astartes were. They're all complex, relateable (in a way) and well written.
Anyhow, 10/10 would read again.
This isn't the poshest literature you can read, but it's Good. It's well written, the pace is proper, the details which some reviews here complain about are what made it work for me. It was the first book I read from the 40k lore and it's perfectly understandable.
The thing for me were the characters though. Every one of the protagonists is fleshed out and believable, and not a mere cardboard chaos marine. I loved the human characters as well, who had their own lives and weren't just there to illustrate how awesome or terrifying the Astartes were. They're all complex, relateable (in a way) and well written.
Anyhow, 10/10 would read again.
February 14, 2021
Deltrian ignored the misguided attempt at wit.
Are clichés wrong? Are they instead a shorthand way of conveying information? If you shove as many as you can into a book, does it make the occasional subversion more interesting?
"Stop calling me Lord"
"Talos," the Exalted drawled. "You are not as amusing as you think you are."
"Cyrion says the same, sir."
The Night Lords Omnibus is the kind of familiarity that breeds coziness rather than contempt. The bullet that ricochets back to its shooter. The supposed slave who leans on his everyman man status so hard his personality is indistinguishable from it. The twist as who the true psychopath is. The smart ass dialogue.
"Play this carefully," Cyrion warned. "This is a promise of our fate if we betray the Corsairs."
"If?" Talos voxed back. "They have Echo of Damnation. I'm not leaving without it."
"Very well. When we betray them."
The clichés help rather than hinder. It is grimdark universe with the Dark Lords being a particularly unsavoury and self-hating bunch. Pretences of "both-sidesm" are barely sustained for the first novel. The overarching plot veers wildly between insightful and rudderless. I need my fun, and the Night Lords omnibus has just enough characterisation to keep it interesting, with variations on the archetypes. The best character isn't even a Night Lord but the starving three eyed Navigator Octavia. If you can use the clichés well with the occasional surprise, then why not?
"You are an absolute gift to diplomacy, brother."
The Problem of Evil
"You think I do not detect the disapproval in your tone?"
"Evidently not, my lord. It is disgust, not merely disapproval."
I don't want to delve too much into inside baseball on the Warhammer 40K world. However, we get a bit of fan service where our protagonist Talos tells Abbadon, ostensibly the greatest threat to mankind, that Abbadon sucks at being said threat. It is funny to read Talos giving voice to the average reader's sardonic thoughts about how all Abbadon's previous "Black Crusades" have failed (no less than twelve at the time of the book).
"Joyless. Passionless. Lifeless"
The problem is that Talos' words are undercut (or even emphasised) by the omnibus being another series of our "bad boys" struggling. Within the fandom it has turned into a well explored, dare I say it for the tenth time:
Cliché.
Maybe that is the point of the Warhammer 40K universe. It isn't easy for anyone. I feel though it is a particular problem for the forces of evil here. We are meant to believe the forces of goo...slightly-less-evil...perhaps-just-as-evil-but-maybe-if-we-pretend-they-are-good...oh-yay-Aryan-super-soldier-Guilliman-is-back... ...are on the constant precipice of defeat. How can I believe that when the supposed opposition, blessed with 900 pages to run wild, turn out to really, really... ...suck, as they both willingly tell and demonstrate to us.
Still Fun
'I knew that warrior,' he said with solemn care. 'He was Caleus, born of Newfound, and I know he died as he lived: with courage, honour, and knowing no fear.'
Xarl swept his chainsword across the scene, gesturing at the prone forms of First Claw. 'I know all of these warriors. They are First Claw, and I know they'll die as they lived: trying to run away.'
I will live in willing ignorance. It’s fun. But the Night Lords Omnibus gives depth to the antagonists, while stretching them extremely thin. It is the cliché I think is most appropriate.
Are clichés wrong? Are they instead a shorthand way of conveying information? If you shove as many as you can into a book, does it make the occasional subversion more interesting?
"Stop calling me Lord"
"Talos," the Exalted drawled. "You are not as amusing as you think you are."
"Cyrion says the same, sir."
The Night Lords Omnibus is the kind of familiarity that breeds coziness rather than contempt. The bullet that ricochets back to its shooter. The supposed slave who leans on his everyman man status so hard his personality is indistinguishable from it. The twist as who the true psychopath is. The smart ass dialogue.
"Play this carefully," Cyrion warned. "This is a promise of our fate if we betray the Corsairs."
"If?" Talos voxed back. "They have Echo of Damnation. I'm not leaving without it."
"Very well. When we betray them."
The clichés help rather than hinder. It is grimdark universe with the Dark Lords being a particularly unsavoury and self-hating bunch. Pretences of "both-sidesm" are barely sustained for the first novel. The overarching plot veers wildly between insightful and rudderless. I need my fun, and the Night Lords omnibus has just enough characterisation to keep it interesting, with variations on the archetypes. The best character isn't even a Night Lord but the starving three eyed Navigator Octavia. If you can use the clichés well with the occasional surprise, then why not?
"You are an absolute gift to diplomacy, brother."
The Problem of Evil
"You think I do not detect the disapproval in your tone?"
"Evidently not, my lord. It is disgust, not merely disapproval."
I don't want to delve too much into inside baseball on the Warhammer 40K world. However, we get a bit of fan service where our protagonist Talos tells Abbadon, ostensibly the greatest threat to mankind, that Abbadon sucks at being said threat. It is funny to read Talos giving voice to the average reader's sardonic thoughts about how all Abbadon's previous "Black Crusades" have failed (no less than twelve at the time of the book).
"Joyless. Passionless. Lifeless"
The problem is that Talos' words are undercut (or even emphasised) by the omnibus being another series of our "bad boys" struggling. Within the fandom it has turned into a well explored, dare I say it for the tenth time:
Cliché.
Maybe that is the point of the Warhammer 40K universe. It isn't easy for anyone. I feel though it is a particular problem for the forces of evil here. We are meant to believe the forces of goo...slightly-less-evil...perhaps-just-as-evil-but-maybe-if-we-pretend-they-are-good...oh-yay-Aryan-super-soldier-Guilliman-is-back... ...are on the constant precipice of defeat. How can I believe that when the supposed opposition, blessed with 900 pages to run wild, turn out to really, really... ...suck, as they both willingly tell and demonstrate to us.
Still Fun
'I knew that warrior,' he said with solemn care. 'He was Caleus, born of Newfound, and I know he died as he lived: with courage, honour, and knowing no fear.'
Xarl swept his chainsword across the scene, gesturing at the prone forms of First Claw. 'I know all of these warriors. They are First Claw, and I know they'll die as they lived: trying to run away.'
I will live in willing ignorance. It’s fun. But the Night Lords Omnibus gives depth to the antagonists, while stretching them extremely thin. It is the cliché I think is most appropriate.
October 26, 2014
A really awesome trilogy. At least as good as the Eisenhorn trilogy. The third book was probably the best and the climax was perfectly timed and executed.
February 10, 2017
It's interesting that fans of Games Workshop/Black Library's Warhammer 40,000 universe tend to align behind the two sides in the “Horus Heresy,” the great galactic civil war that set up the status quo of the universe. So you have fans of the Emperor of Mankind and his loyalist Space Marines and forces and you have fans who root for the Space Marines who turned traitor and aligned with the forces of Chaos. Both sides have noble and ugly qualities based on your perspective, but I tend to identify and root for the Loyalist Imperium of Man forces. I tend to see them as more heroic and the Chaos forces as more petty and brutal.
So when it comes to my 40K reading I've tended to stick with novels that focus more on Loyalist Space Marines and humans aligned with forces like the Imperial Guard and the Inquisition. However I do remain a fan of crime fiction, a genre that I think provides a more nuanced version of morality and humanity by showing the best people at their worst, and the worst people at their best.
On top of that I always found the warriors of the Night Lords Space Marines Legion to be very cool looking and kind of fascinating. Essentially they're a warrior culture that was born when their founder, the godlike Primarch known as Conrad Kurze used his power and cunning to violently strike back at the criminal gangs that had taken control of the night shrouded world known as Nostromo. So essentially imagine if someone with the physical power of Hercules took up the Punisher's lethal approach to crime fighting and used Batman's tactics of spreading fear and cunning subterfuge. That's the ideas they were founded on, but many of the Legion's recruits were men with a love of violence. So some could even be described as the Joker if he used Batman's methods.
So, intrigued by those ideas I looked into giving the fiction of that particular Traitor Legion a chance. “Night Lords: The Omnibus” by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, which contains his novel trilogy “Soul Hunter,” “Blood Reaver,” and “Void Stalker” as well as three short stories featuring the members of the Tenth Company war band. These stories appeared to be widely loved by a variety of readers so I picked up and read “Night Lords: The Omnibus” to see if it lived up to the hype surrounding it. I'm happy to report that it does. Dembski-Bowden's stories are fantastic and deserved to be mentioned in the same company as Dan Abnett's Eisenhorn stories, which are some of the best Black Library stories ever (IMO), and they made me a fan of the 40K setting.
The reason why “Night Lords: The Omnibus” is so good is the fantastic job Dembski-Bowden does with his cast of characters. It's comparable to great character work in TV series like “The Shield” or movies like Rob Zombie's, “The Devil's Rejects” where you're given these deplorable, violent individuals and you suddenly find yourself rooting for them in spite of the awful acts they commit. Dembski-Bowden does not let you forget the awfulness the Night Lords are capable of, in fact there are several powerful moments where he sort of kicks the chair out from under you and reminds you these guys are killers and vicious torturers, but he also shows the nobility they're capable of. The Night Lords are also often the underdogs against more powerful and arguably even more twisted forces in several stories. So it's very easy to root for them as they devise and enact cunning and daring plans to escape, trick, or take down much tougher enemies.
The chief character of the stories in “Night Lords: The Omnibus” is Talos Valcoran, a Space Marine who was given the moniker “Soul Hunter” by his Primarch, a nickname he despises. He is also known as the Great Prophet of the Night Lords because of the often crippling prophetic visions he receives. What make Talos, especially interesting to me though is that ultimately he's a tragic figure. When we first meet him he's a very noble individual trying to stay above the moral and supernatural corruption that plagues the Night Lords in the aftermath of the Horus Heresy, a war that he and his fellow Legionaries committed to fighting thousands of years ago. Now millennia later they remain committed to fighting what seems like an unwinnable war against the forces of the Imperium of Man, because if they give up what kind of worth would their several thousand years of existence have?
Surrounding Talos are the equally flawed and fascinating members of his combat squad, First Claw. What I love about these guys is that they don't really like each other, but they would and do kill to protect each other. They're a very dysfunctional band of brothers. So they're fun and easy to root for and when their personal demons lead them into conflict against each other it makes for some powerful and haunting scenes.
Over the course of “Night Lords: The Omnibus'” three novels and three short stories Dembski-Bowden has the members of First Squad interact with and battle an eclectic cast of allies, adversaries, and some characters who are both. Some of the ones I found especially intriguing were the mutated and monstrous members of the Night Lords Raptor division, the two human slaves Talos employs, and the members of the alien race known as the Eldar. Personally I had written the Eldar off as characters that didn't really resonate with me, but in one of the novels of t“Night Lords: The Omnibus” there's an especially fascinating Eldar antagonist who tests the mettle of First Claw.
What makes Dembski-Bowden's character work even more resonant, haunting, and powerful is that the choices his characters make have very real consequences. Over the course of “Night Lords: The Omnibus” characters I liked and identified with got injured and some even died. So the stories had a thrilling almost anything can happen vibe to them.
It's hard to pick which of the stories in “Night Lords: The Omnibus” is my favorite because all are fun, powerful and exciting. Plus they're a diverse bunch of tales that feature a wide variety of locales and exciting action. If pressed though I'd have to say the second and third Novels were the ones I enjoyed the most. In the second novel “Blood Reaver” you get to see Talos and company do what they do best as they engage in a daring and cunning assault against rival Space Marines and then pull off a cunning heist. In the third novel, “Void Stalker” you get a fantastic climax that provides a ton of fulfilling and powerful payout to the storylines from the other books and short stories.
If you're a 40K fan who has yet to read “Night Lords: The Omnibus” yet you need to remedy that. It's a fantastic series of stories and I look forward to reading more of Demski-Bowden's 40K work, especially his Horus Heresy novel, “The Last Heretic,” which focuses on the Word Bearers Space Marine Legion since I think they're some of 40K's best/worst villains.
October 26, 2022
This might be the first time I've ever read a book (well, multiple books) from the point of view of the bad guys. Not just the occasional POV thrown in to see what the bad guys are up to, but presenting them as the protagonists, presumably to at least half-root for. And not just "bad guys", like antiheroes, or even antivillains, but straight up EVIL. I mean, one of them is called the Flayer. Mass torture, viciously sadistic cruelty for its own sake, and wearing other people's skin as cloaks is a normal Tuesday afternoon for these dudes.
It was quite a unique experience. The third novel, especially, doesn't hold back in making it very clear just how evil these people can get.
Unfortunately, this makes character work difficult. When almost all your POVs are ancient immortal superhuman evil space knights who relish inflicting terror and pain and act as though they have any fair claim to moral righteousness whatsoever, it's hard to have much variety. Dembski-Bowden tries, to his credit, but most of the Night Lords are kinda interchangeable, with only one or two quirks or changes in appearance to distinguish them.
There are two main POVs who aren't one of these evil space knights, both mortal slaves. Septimus I found pretty dull and lacking any real sense of personality. The other, Octavia, is probably the best character, with an actual arc, and the most important role as ship's Navigator, acting as our "everyman" view into this dark, depraved world. I also liked her assistant Hound, although he doesn't get much screentime. I am consistently finding following the perspective of "ordinary" humans in the world of 40k facing monstrous superhuman forces more engaging than following the POVs of the superhuman forces themselves - which is why desperate underdog Imperial Guard POVs are in my opinion superior to shrug-off-everything-and-kerbstop-our-enemies emotionally stunted Space Marine POVs.
The strengths of these engaging stories are mostly in the atmosphere and setting - the massive ship especially, with its beautiful midnight-blue evil-Gothic design, its lightless corridors that force mortals to carry lamps to navigate, and its degraded, warp-corrupted depths, home to thousands of extremely unlucky denizens, and where the Night Lords stalk whenever they feel like going on a casual serial killing spree.
This is definitely a good omnibus if you want to read about the perspective of the much-maligned other side; after all, there's two sides to every story... but I don't think they're going to be winning any prizes for heroes of the year anytime soon.
It was quite a unique experience. The third novel, especially, doesn't hold back in making it very clear just how evil these people can get.
Unfortunately, this makes character work difficult. When almost all your POVs are ancient immortal superhuman evil space knights who relish inflicting terror and pain and act as though they have any fair claim to moral righteousness whatsoever, it's hard to have much variety. Dembski-Bowden tries, to his credit, but most of the Night Lords are kinda interchangeable, with only one or two quirks or changes in appearance to distinguish them.
There are two main POVs who aren't one of these evil space knights, both mortal slaves. Septimus I found pretty dull and lacking any real sense of personality. The other, Octavia, is probably the best character, with an actual arc, and the most important role as ship's Navigator, acting as our "everyman" view into this dark, depraved world. I also liked her assistant Hound, although he doesn't get much screentime. I am consistently finding following the perspective of "ordinary" humans in the world of 40k facing monstrous superhuman forces more engaging than following the POVs of the superhuman forces themselves - which is why desperate underdog Imperial Guard POVs are in my opinion superior to shrug-off-everything-and-kerbstop-our-enemies emotionally stunted Space Marine POVs.
The strengths of these engaging stories are mostly in the atmosphere and setting - the massive ship especially, with its beautiful midnight-blue evil-Gothic design, its lightless corridors that force mortals to carry lamps to navigate, and its degraded, warp-corrupted depths, home to thousands of extremely unlucky denizens, and where the Night Lords stalk whenever they feel like going on a casual serial killing spree.
This is definitely a good omnibus if you want to read about the perspective of the much-maligned other side; after all, there's two sides to every story... but I don't think they're going to be winning any prizes for heroes of the year anytime soon.
August 21, 2014
ADB is a man who knows how to write a damned good story. His ability to make a damned good story is because the man knows how to make damned interesting and sympathetic characters.
Take the VIII Legion of Adeptus Astartes, for instance. They're traitors, siding with Horus during the days of myth known as the Great Heresy. They waged brutal war upon the Imperium they had once built all to prove a point to their gene grandfather, the Emperor (not yet seen as a god), about the cost of hubris. In other words, they're really big hypocrites, not to mention sadistically cruel for the sake of cruelty. And yet ADB manages to make them look like, almost, noble warriors.
The Night Lords omnibus is a collection of several short stories as well as the trilogy of novels that came out several years ago (that I missed...) featuring the members of First Claw, Tenth Company, VIII Legion-Night Lords. It's a hefty volume, clocking in at over 900 pages, with relatively small print. So you more than get your money's worth out of it. And despite its obvious heft, it's a hell of a great read.
Talos, the 'Soul Hunter' is the main character of the tale. Talos is a haunted individual. Haunted by the former greatness of his Legion, by the former greatness of a cause now long abandoned, and haunted by the ideal of the noble warrior that he truly believes the Night Lords once were and could be.
This is part of the brilliance of Aaron's writing- Talos spends so much of the series truly believing his fanciful notion that the Night Lords were noble, that they were true warriors, even if their methods of forcing compliance and submission were rather more brutal than even what the Space Wolves or World Eaters would do. This is made all the more believable by seeing Talos through the eyes of two slaves, Septimus-the 7th and Octavia-the 8th. Through the eyes of these two mortals, both of whom, in their own way, show their unwavering devotion to Talos throughout the tale, we see the true greatness within Talos as an individual. Talos' greatness, both as a warrior and even, dare I say it, as a man, is made all the more apparent by its contrast with the rest of the members of his Claw, the warband he's attached to, and the rest of the Legion as a whole.
Xarl is a warrior through and through, but he rarely has time for Talos' notions of greatness.
Cyrion is a manipulative sort who seemingly is out only for survival and the joy of battle.
Uzas is on the very verge of falling into Khornate subservience.
Mercutian might be a bit more on the noble side like Talos, but even he falls prey to the Night Lords trait of enjoying the slaughter and torture of those they've conquered or defeated.
And their warband is led by a member of the old Legion, from the Heresy days, Vandred, who is now possessed by a daemon that calls itself The Exalted. You can see why so much of Talos' own nobility and ideals are so starkly contrasted by his fellow Astartes.
Aaron shows quite a bit of the 40K universe in the course of the series that isn't very often showcased such as life within the Eye of Terror, the less then reliable promises of Abaddon, and the sheer chaotic majesty that is Huron Blackheart's domain within the Eye itself.
One thing that really stood out to me as well is the sense of decay and near hopelessness that the members of First Claw experience on a daily basis. They are fighting for...well, they don't really know what they're fighting for. They're merely fighting to survive. The nuance that Aaron brings to the members of a Chaos Space Marine Legion and their own reasoning's for carrying on the Long War is a refreshing change from the likes of the screaming sorcerers from the first Dawn of War game. (METAL BOXES!!!)
In short, without giving any of the actual story away (I really want you to read this, it's that damned good so I don't want to spoil any of it) I will say that this is a wonderful story with a refreshing twist on Chaos Astartes. While Talos, near the end, realizes the futility of his ideals and the impossibility of his dreams, he still remains as one of the best characters in any 40K story I've read thus far.
Definitely worth five stars and will definitely be read again in the future.
If you ever see this, many thanks Aaron for such a damned good story.
Take the VIII Legion of Adeptus Astartes, for instance. They're traitors, siding with Horus during the days of myth known as the Great Heresy. They waged brutal war upon the Imperium they had once built all to prove a point to their gene grandfather, the Emperor (not yet seen as a god), about the cost of hubris. In other words, they're really big hypocrites, not to mention sadistically cruel for the sake of cruelty. And yet ADB manages to make them look like, almost, noble warriors.
The Night Lords omnibus is a collection of several short stories as well as the trilogy of novels that came out several years ago (that I missed...) featuring the members of First Claw, Tenth Company, VIII Legion-Night Lords. It's a hefty volume, clocking in at over 900 pages, with relatively small print. So you more than get your money's worth out of it. And despite its obvious heft, it's a hell of a great read.
Talos, the 'Soul Hunter' is the main character of the tale. Talos is a haunted individual. Haunted by the former greatness of his Legion, by the former greatness of a cause now long abandoned, and haunted by the ideal of the noble warrior that he truly believes the Night Lords once were and could be.
This is part of the brilliance of Aaron's writing- Talos spends so much of the series truly believing his fanciful notion that the Night Lords were noble, that they were true warriors, even if their methods of forcing compliance and submission were rather more brutal than even what the Space Wolves or World Eaters would do. This is made all the more believable by seeing Talos through the eyes of two slaves, Septimus-the 7th and Octavia-the 8th. Through the eyes of these two mortals, both of whom, in their own way, show their unwavering devotion to Talos throughout the tale, we see the true greatness within Talos as an individual. Talos' greatness, both as a warrior and even, dare I say it, as a man, is made all the more apparent by its contrast with the rest of the members of his Claw, the warband he's attached to, and the rest of the Legion as a whole.
Xarl is a warrior through and through, but he rarely has time for Talos' notions of greatness.
Cyrion is a manipulative sort who seemingly is out only for survival and the joy of battle.
Uzas is on the very verge of falling into Khornate subservience.
Mercutian might be a bit more on the noble side like Talos, but even he falls prey to the Night Lords trait of enjoying the slaughter and torture of those they've conquered or defeated.
And their warband is led by a member of the old Legion, from the Heresy days, Vandred, who is now possessed by a daemon that calls itself The Exalted. You can see why so much of Talos' own nobility and ideals are so starkly contrasted by his fellow Astartes.
Aaron shows quite a bit of the 40K universe in the course of the series that isn't very often showcased such as life within the Eye of Terror, the less then reliable promises of Abaddon, and the sheer chaotic majesty that is Huron Blackheart's domain within the Eye itself.
One thing that really stood out to me as well is the sense of decay and near hopelessness that the members of First Claw experience on a daily basis. They are fighting for...well, they don't really know what they're fighting for. They're merely fighting to survive. The nuance that Aaron brings to the members of a Chaos Space Marine Legion and their own reasoning's for carrying on the Long War is a refreshing change from the likes of the screaming sorcerers from the first Dawn of War game. (METAL BOXES!!!)
In short, without giving any of the actual story away (I really want you to read this, it's that damned good so I don't want to spoil any of it) I will say that this is a wonderful story with a refreshing twist on Chaos Astartes. While Talos, near the end, realizes the futility of his ideals and the impossibility of his dreams, he still remains as one of the best characters in any 40K story I've read thus far.
Definitely worth five stars and will definitely be read again in the future.
If you ever see this, many thanks Aaron for such a damned good story.
November 26, 2024
I wish it wasn't over. About half way through the book I began to question my own morality as I cheered for the Night Lords. ADB made them so likeable and yet rotten on the inside. It was great also to see life from a traitor legions point of view. Can't recommend this book enough!
January 14, 2025
This story is told from the perspective of cruel, sadistic, traitorous, and straight-up genocidal super-soldiers with severe daddy issues. (Oh, and also through the eyes of two of their fifty-thousand slaves).
And somehow, Aaron Dembski-Bowden has managed to make (almost) all of these reprobates somewhat sympathetic and relatable characters (that I found myself rooting for a little too quickly). I mean, hell, I found myself LIKING some of them.
4 stars
P.S. The description of Konrad Curze in the Screaming Gallery will be forever etched into my mind.
And somehow, Aaron Dembski-Bowden has managed to make (almost) all of these reprobates somewhat sympathetic and relatable characters (that I found myself rooting for a little too quickly). I mean, hell, I found myself LIKING some of them.
4 stars
P.S. The description of Konrad Curze in the Screaming Gallery will be forever etched into my mind.
August 11, 2025
Amazing read!
January 11, 2015
Couldn't put it down. Brilliant trilogy and shorts. Must read for any Sci Fi fan. ADB really knows how to write Chaos Space Marines and make you very sympathetic towards what are effectively "the bad guys" in warhammer...will be reading this again sometime.
July 28, 2024
Fantastic omnibus about renegades who bow to no one. Who says you can't emotionally invest in bad guys?
April 13, 2025
4/5: A solid Warhammer 40,000 collection.
This book includes the main Night Lords trilogy along with a handful of short stories set in the same continuity. As always, I only recommend this to fans of the setting. If you're not already interested in Space Marines and Warp Daemons, turn back now.
The story follows Talos Valcorian, also known as the Soul Hunter and Prophet of the VIII Legion. Like his long-dead gene-sire, Talos is haunted by prophetic dreams. His latest visions foretell the destruction of his Company. To prevent this, he must navigate the inner workings of an army of genetically enhanced, psychotic mass murderers.
The Night Lords, or Legion VIII, are particularly compelling as they are the only one of the original twenty Legions to be utterly despised by their Primarch, Konrad Curze. Composed of the worst criminals from Terra’s prison pits and the anarchic population of Nostramo, the Night Lords spread terror as the Emperor’s shock troops during the Great Crusade. Feeling betrayed by the Imperium, they turned traitor during the Horus Heresy of the 31st millennium.
In the 10,000 years since, the Legion has lost two home worlds and its Primarch. Its forces have fractured into hundreds of disparate warbands that now survive through base piracy.
The characters were a highlight of the book. Talos is part of a squad known as First Claw, whose members each have strong, well-defined personalities—Xarl the champion, Ulzas the berserker, Cyrion with his dry wit. It’s a well-balanced group, and their banter is consistently entertaining.
Our other protagonists, Talos’ slaves Septimus and Octavia, also add depth, offering two contrasting perspectives on the Legion: one from someone who has settled into the role, and another from someone newly thrown into the chaos.
I especially enjoyed Talos’ inner monologue. While many Legions are straight forward, the Night Lords are more nuanced, shaped by self-loathing and psychological trauma. They’re painfully aware that their Primarch was so disgusted with them that he destroyed his home planet and engineered his own death. They recognize their own bloodlust and cowardice and, in some twisted way, strive to rise above their broken natures. Talos embodies this duality perfectly.
The action is well described and kept me hooked throughout the roughly 900 pages. Battles—whether between Space Marines or involving massive ships—feel visceral and intense. The descriptions of the various planets and the interiors of city-sized vessels are vivid and clear.
That said, as is often the case with Warhammer 40,000 novels, you occasionally get the sense you're reading an advertisement for a new model. The detailed descriptions of weapons and gear sometimes feel like they’re leading up to a link to the Games Workshop website.
Some of the prose can also get repetitive. I lost count of how many times I read about the mechanical grinding of ceramite joints or how bolter ammo explodes on impact.
Still, these are minor flaws in an otherwise engaging, action-packed series with an unexpected touch of soul-searching.
This book includes the main Night Lords trilogy along with a handful of short stories set in the same continuity. As always, I only recommend this to fans of the setting. If you're not already interested in Space Marines and Warp Daemons, turn back now.
The story follows Talos Valcorian, also known as the Soul Hunter and Prophet of the VIII Legion. Like his long-dead gene-sire, Talos is haunted by prophetic dreams. His latest visions foretell the destruction of his Company. To prevent this, he must navigate the inner workings of an army of genetically enhanced, psychotic mass murderers.
The Night Lords, or Legion VIII, are particularly compelling as they are the only one of the original twenty Legions to be utterly despised by their Primarch, Konrad Curze. Composed of the worst criminals from Terra’s prison pits and the anarchic population of Nostramo, the Night Lords spread terror as the Emperor’s shock troops during the Great Crusade. Feeling betrayed by the Imperium, they turned traitor during the Horus Heresy of the 31st millennium.
In the 10,000 years since, the Legion has lost two home worlds and its Primarch. Its forces have fractured into hundreds of disparate warbands that now survive through base piracy.
The characters were a highlight of the book. Talos is part of a squad known as First Claw, whose members each have strong, well-defined personalities—Xarl the champion, Ulzas the berserker, Cyrion with his dry wit. It’s a well-balanced group, and their banter is consistently entertaining.
Our other protagonists, Talos’ slaves Septimus and Octavia, also add depth, offering two contrasting perspectives on the Legion: one from someone who has settled into the role, and another from someone newly thrown into the chaos.
I especially enjoyed Talos’ inner monologue. While many Legions are straight forward, the Night Lords are more nuanced, shaped by self-loathing and psychological trauma. They’re painfully aware that their Primarch was so disgusted with them that he destroyed his home planet and engineered his own death. They recognize their own bloodlust and cowardice and, in some twisted way, strive to rise above their broken natures. Talos embodies this duality perfectly.
The action is well described and kept me hooked throughout the roughly 900 pages. Battles—whether between Space Marines or involving massive ships—feel visceral and intense. The descriptions of the various planets and the interiors of city-sized vessels are vivid and clear.
That said, as is often the case with Warhammer 40,000 novels, you occasionally get the sense you're reading an advertisement for a new model. The detailed descriptions of weapons and gear sometimes feel like they’re leading up to a link to the Games Workshop website.
Some of the prose can also get repetitive. I lost count of how many times I read about the mechanical grinding of ceramite joints or how bolter ammo explodes on impact.
Still, these are minor flaws in an otherwise engaging, action-packed series with an unexpected touch of soul-searching.
September 12, 2025
(This is a school project, which is why it may be worded strangely/state information obvious to people who already know about Warhammer 40k)
Night Lords: the Omnibus by Aaron Demski-Bowden was published on May 22nd, 2014. This book is a mix of science fiction, military fiction, fantasy, and horror. It takes place in the Warhammer 40k universe, an incredibly diverse universe with over 370 books written about it. It mixes science fiction, fantasy, and horror all into one incredibly entertaining setting that I recommend anybody with an interest in any of those genres read. The main characters of this book are Talos, Xarl, Cyrion, Uzas, Mercutian, Variel, Septimus, and Octavia. It follows a warband of Night Lords, genetically enhanced super-soldiers who have betrayed the Imperium of Man and now seek only to tear it down through terror and violence. It also follows some of the slaves of the Night Lords, so the reader can see what it’s like to live as a normal human in service to one of these superhuman warriors. Along the way, they encounter all sorts of roadblocks and difficulties that really showcase just how hard it is for these warbands to survive. Some of the central themes of this book include vengeance, betrayal, and whether or not life without meaning is life at all.
I think that this is quite possibly my favorite book of all time, although I am biased because the Night Lords were already my favorite faction in Warhammer before I read the book. It does an excellent job of showing what life is like in a warband of Chaos Space Marines, along with all the difficulties and intricacies that come along with it. I also enjoy how much it fleshes out these characters and gives layers to them, rather than making them mindless villains, making you even feel sympathetic for this gang of horrifying, superhuman, nigh-emotionless serial killers. Also, without delving too deep into spoiler territory, I enjoy how corruption by the gods of chaos is shown in this as much more subtle and insidious than it is normally thought of. All in all, this book is an 11/10, and I would recommend it to anyone who is even remotely interested in Warhammer 40k, especially the more “grimdark” aspects of it.
Night Lords: the Omnibus by Aaron Demski-Bowden was published on May 22nd, 2014. This book is a mix of science fiction, military fiction, fantasy, and horror. It takes place in the Warhammer 40k universe, an incredibly diverse universe with over 370 books written about it. It mixes science fiction, fantasy, and horror all into one incredibly entertaining setting that I recommend anybody with an interest in any of those genres read. The main characters of this book are Talos, Xarl, Cyrion, Uzas, Mercutian, Variel, Septimus, and Octavia. It follows a warband of Night Lords, genetically enhanced super-soldiers who have betrayed the Imperium of Man and now seek only to tear it down through terror and violence. It also follows some of the slaves of the Night Lords, so the reader can see what it’s like to live as a normal human in service to one of these superhuman warriors. Along the way, they encounter all sorts of roadblocks and difficulties that really showcase just how hard it is for these warbands to survive. Some of the central themes of this book include vengeance, betrayal, and whether or not life without meaning is life at all.
I think that this is quite possibly my favorite book of all time, although I am biased because the Night Lords were already my favorite faction in Warhammer before I read the book. It does an excellent job of showing what life is like in a warband of Chaos Space Marines, along with all the difficulties and intricacies that come along with it. I also enjoy how much it fleshes out these characters and gives layers to them, rather than making them mindless villains, making you even feel sympathetic for this gang of horrifying, superhuman, nigh-emotionless serial killers. Also, without delving too deep into spoiler territory, I enjoy how corruption by the gods of chaos is shown in this as much more subtle and insidious than it is normally thought of. All in all, this book is an 11/10, and I would recommend it to anyone who is even remotely interested in Warhammer 40k, especially the more “grimdark” aspects of it.
May 28, 2025
From start to finish, this omnibus has been nothing short of perfection. From the viciously cruel nature of the 8th legion mixed with their surprisingly hilarious dark humor, they are without a doubt the most fun to read that I’ve seen so far cover to cover.
The legionaries paired with their mortal counterparts start out so alien to one another but as the reader grows with Octavia and learns more about the 10th company, you begin to see the masterpiece at work. As they start off fighting mostly other traitor astartes and raiding smaller imperial targets, you learn that Talos and friends are not good men but you strangely end up sympathizing with them and even rooting for them as they scratch and claw their way to survive the galaxy. Granted, you get reminded at the end that this is the 8th legion we are talking about and they are truly horrific and evil monsters but, Emperor be damned, they are so awesome.
Learning the backstories of Talos and Xarl, the corruption of Cyron and Uzas, and the surprising loyalty of Variel and Mercution, has you locked in the entire book and seeing the end of each of their stories will hit heavy on the soul. The mortals of this book are no different with Septimus and Octavia have a surprisingly warm and welcomed love story (given the circumstances) as well as a handful of other regular people who happen to be saved by the one legion who would never consider it normally. But, without spoiling much, the absolute mvp of the mortal crew is none other than the man, the myth, the legend, Hound. All dogs go to heaven after all.
Well worth the read even if you don’t like Warhammer… just prepare for an ungodly amount of violence… you’ll get desensitized eventually.
Now can someone please make this a movie trilogy?? It’s too good to not share with the world.
The legionaries paired with their mortal counterparts start out so alien to one another but as the reader grows with Octavia and learns more about the 10th company, you begin to see the masterpiece at work. As they start off fighting mostly other traitor astartes and raiding smaller imperial targets, you learn that Talos and friends are not good men but you strangely end up sympathizing with them and even rooting for them as they scratch and claw their way to survive the galaxy. Granted, you get reminded at the end that this is the 8th legion we are talking about and they are truly horrific and evil monsters but, Emperor be damned, they are so awesome.
Learning the backstories of Talos and Xarl, the corruption of Cyron and Uzas, and the surprising loyalty of Variel and Mercution, has you locked in the entire book and seeing the end of each of their stories will hit heavy on the soul. The mortals of this book are no different with Septimus and Octavia have a surprisingly warm and welcomed love story (given the circumstances) as well as a handful of other regular people who happen to be saved by the one legion who would never consider it normally. But, without spoiling much, the absolute mvp of the mortal crew is none other than the man, the myth, the legend, Hound. All dogs go to heaven after all.
Well worth the read even if you don’t like Warhammer… just prepare for an ungodly amount of violence… you’ll get desensitized eventually.
Now can someone please make this a movie trilogy?? It’s too good to not share with the world.
August 6, 2024
i had so many issues with each one of these books, all worst than the last, but i honestly just don't want to waste any more of my time thinking about it. absolutely nothing at all to any of this: no story, no narrative, no substance, no fun.
a series that wants to be about the bad guys but is terrified of giving them actual flaws, so they just ended up feeling like fake-goth losers posting on myspace about how they totally wanna commit crimes and flay people lulz ;P!!!
like, they talk so much about how they had to recruit from murderers and rapists, and yet any *actual* bad murders occur off-screen and are barely mentioned. NONE of the night lords rape anyone. i don't even want to see it, but if you go out of your way to mention that your characters are rapists, can we actually see textual examples of that? ofc not. bc it's only mentioned to make your edgy dudes in armour more edgy. same with talos being a slaver. we see one example of him actually mistreating a slave and otherwise he's portrayed as a nice and understanding good boss to work for. BORING.
uzas was the only one who felt like an actual character who belonged in this context, and even that was ruined by the end. and why did they care so much about uzas killing people when apparently all of the night lords go on regular murder sprees anyway???
a series that wants to be about the bad guys but is terrified of giving them actual flaws, so they just ended up feeling like fake-goth losers posting on myspace about how they totally wanna commit crimes and flay people lulz ;P!!!
like, they talk so much about how they had to recruit from murderers and rapists, and yet any *actual* bad murders occur off-screen and are barely mentioned. NONE of the night lords rape anyone. i don't even want to see it, but if you go out of your way to mention that your characters are rapists, can we actually see textual examples of that? ofc not. bc it's only mentioned to make your edgy dudes in armour more edgy. same with talos being a slaver. we see one example of him actually mistreating a slave and otherwise he's portrayed as a nice and understanding good boss to work for. BORING.
uzas was the only one who felt like an actual character who belonged in this context, and even that was ruined by the end. and why did they care so much about uzas killing people when apparently all of the night lords go on regular murder sprees anyway???
January 25, 2025
I'm not going to get too into it because if I do, I'll just end up spouting spoilers or burst into uncontrollable tears again.
This series is genuinely some of the best pieces of fiction I've ever read. Not just for a Warhammer novel, but in general.
It has issues, it's not perfect, but it gripped me like few books do and made me genuinely sympathise with what are by all rights a bunch of unlikeable psycho murdergremlins.
Don't even waste time reading this review, go read the series right now.
This series is genuinely some of the best pieces of fiction I've ever read. Not just for a Warhammer novel, but in general.
It has issues, it's not perfect, but it gripped me like few books do and made me genuinely sympathise with what are by all rights a bunch of unlikeable psycho murdergremlins.
Don't even waste time reading this review, go read the series right now.
February 10, 2019
This book is very well writen but the plot takes awhile to get anywhere and doesn't really focus on telling any sort of grand narrative.
August 10, 2019
Excellent, epic and intelligent. A detailed review in Bulgarian is coming soon.
December 28, 2024
Amazing book. Just amazing.
October 28, 2025
I have reread this book incrementally so many times over the last decade; chapters here and there when the mood struck me and why not? it is such a joy to read and has a ring of the therapeutic to it. When I first read this trilogy, I was in a sorry state of mind and the struggle of Talos to find meaning for himself in a vast uncaring universe resonated with me. It helped me escape the clutches of my depression and gave me focus on building up rather then lamenting the mental devastation.
Beyond this deeply personal resonance; the books are amazing and I would say of the best black library has to offer. The characters are interesting well rounded complex entities, humanized yet still superhuman, altered, twisted in the image of a dead madman with delusions of self grandeur. This legacy, of what it meant to be a nightlord, a son of the eight legion, forms the core question of the trilogy and driving force of all character interactions that never gets old. I never thought to myself "well this is just a stupid way of looking at it;" Talos is not presented, at least not at first, of having the right answer if he does find it, it is way in the end of the third book and even then you could still argue he is as self deluded as Konrad Curze was.
If anything the book/series was to good for its source material as it has single handily pushed the nightlords up the ranks of the chaos legions towards fan respectability. Giving them a face and a feel that went beyond "batman who kills" gimmick even if that is quite spot on.
Ave dominus Nox
Beyond this deeply personal resonance; the books are amazing and I would say of the best black library has to offer. The characters are interesting well rounded complex entities, humanized yet still superhuman, altered, twisted in the image of a dead madman with delusions of self grandeur. This legacy, of what it meant to be a nightlord, a son of the eight legion, forms the core question of the trilogy and driving force of all character interactions that never gets old. I never thought to myself "well this is just a stupid way of looking at it;" Talos is not presented, at least not at first, of having the right answer if he does find it, it is way in the end of the third book and even then you could still argue he is as self deluded as Konrad Curze was.
If anything the book/series was to good for its source material as it has single handily pushed the nightlords up the ranks of the chaos legions towards fan respectability. Giving them a face and a feel that went beyond "batman who kills" gimmick even if that is quite spot on.
Ave dominus Nox
December 8, 2024
Hands down, next to the Eisenhorn/ Ravenor and the Gaunts Ghosts novels, these are the best Warhammer books out there.
Fantastically written, great world-building, amazing and memorable characters, lots of action and also lots of food for thought.
What is good? What is evil?
How is it possible that the reader will feel sympathy for the main characters, who are true monsters?
What makes even horrible villains human?
An absolutely fascinating read.
I loved these books so much, I even started painting a Night Lords army.
Ave Dominus Nox!
EDIT: Right now, I started to re-read this. Despite this being tie-in fiction, it is tie-in fiction at it's best. Featuring villain protagonists in a nightmare setting, who still have a shred of nobility left. For all the violence, blood and gore, the book is also asking some deep philosophical questions about what makes us human, what is the nature of good and evil / right and wrong and what are the moral implications of revenge and retribution.
Fantastically written, great world-building, amazing and memorable characters, lots of action and also lots of food for thought.
What is good? What is evil?
How is it possible that the reader will feel sympathy for the main characters, who are true monsters?
What makes even horrible villains human?
An absolutely fascinating read.
I loved these books so much, I even started painting a Night Lords army.
Ave Dominus Nox!
EDIT: Right now, I started to re-read this. Despite this being tie-in fiction, it is tie-in fiction at it's best. Featuring villain protagonists in a nightmare setting, who still have a shred of nobility left. For all the violence, blood and gore, the book is also asking some deep philosophical questions about what makes us human, what is the nature of good and evil / right and wrong and what are the moral implications of revenge and retribution.
Read
August 5, 2021DNF--I didn't love the writing style, and I was irritated by the 'pack of male characters and one female character' thing. Which, admittedly, is a flaw of many books, not just this one, but I see no reason to continue to inflict it upon myself. Also, none of the characters really grabbed me; they fit very clearly into certain 'types' I've seen a lot before.
More on the writing style: it struck me as very in love with its own worldbuilding. Not quite to the point of being pretentious, but, you know, nearly there. I think it's a style that was very in a while ago (1990s high fantasy comes to mind), so if that's your jam, then I don't think the prose itself will bother you.
More on the writing style: it struck me as very in love with its own worldbuilding. Not quite to the point of being pretentious, but, you know, nearly there. I think it's a style that was very in a while ago (1990s high fantasy comes to mind), so if that's your jam, then I don't think the prose itself will bother you.
June 24, 2021
Spoilers for the Night Lord series.
I just finished this book and I had a lot of problems with how this last book was done. After reading the entire seines (Massacre, Shadow Knight, Soul Hunter, Throne of Lies, Blood Reaver, The Core and Void Stalker) I really like the characters and the first 2 books are amazing.
However the third one, Void Stalker, was pretty bad imo. First of all I hated the start when Talos has that weird fever dream/vision...thing and talks to the corpse of Ruven. It was confusing and did little to serve the plot.
The next thing that I disliked was the plan Talos had. The psychic scream using a Navigator and Astropaths. Are we really meant to believe Talos, a young (like 300 years old) Chaos Marine came up with a plan to cause anarchy across dozens if not hundreds of worlds that no other Chaos Marine has ever came up with? Stupid. There are many others traitors that know more of the Warp but haven't done it on such a scale. Why? It was hardly difficult they did it in a few weeks.
Malcharions return did nothing, served no purpose and was just there to fill page space. Ignoring that, it was very stupid to have the War Sage die to protect a character (Marlonah) who has like 10 lines in this almost 400 page book.
Variel survives being stabbed with an Eldar spear despite all others who are stabbed by the same weapon dying instantly. Ugh, plot armour 🙄
Septimus and Octavia getting away with a happy ending was really boring, if there's ever a series in which no one should have had a happy ending it's the Night Lords series.
What happened to Deltrian? He's just left floating in the void without a Navigator so does he just die? Starve to death? We don't know, he vanishes from the story.
The Eldar in the book were interesting to see, I always like getting to read about Eldar ships but Jain Zar...oh my god what did they do to you?! Jain Zar gets punched, kicked and hit so much. At one point Talos tricks her into trying to block his sword and KICKS JAIN ZAR IN THE FACE! Not only that, but earlier a dying Marine was able to stab the Storm of Silence herself in the back of the leg because...apparently Jain Zar is slow and has no reflexes these days. Then Talos cuts her arm off, then she almost dies when he lets her stab him as he sets off some grenades.
After that she apparently becomes Gollum as she crawls around consonantly saying 'Jain Zar, Jain Zar' until a Dreadnought stamps on her.
Jain Zar, the Storm of Silence, the Phoenix Lord of the Howling Banshees themselves in this book was what I would expect a normal Howling Banshee Exarch to fight and act like.
The epilogue also bothered me. How is Lucoryphus alive? But I can't say what bothered me exactly about the last part it just...it bothered me.
So in conclusion this book was pretty bad. For this to be how such interesting characters end their story is just....disappointed.
I just finished this book and I had a lot of problems with how this last book was done. After reading the entire seines (Massacre, Shadow Knight, Soul Hunter, Throne of Lies, Blood Reaver, The Core and Void Stalker) I really like the characters and the first 2 books are amazing.
However the third one, Void Stalker, was pretty bad imo. First of all I hated the start when Talos has that weird fever dream/vision...thing and talks to the corpse of Ruven. It was confusing and did little to serve the plot.
The next thing that I disliked was the plan Talos had. The psychic scream using a Navigator and Astropaths. Are we really meant to believe Talos, a young (like 300 years old) Chaos Marine came up with a plan to cause anarchy across dozens if not hundreds of worlds that no other Chaos Marine has ever came up with? Stupid. There are many others traitors that know more of the Warp but haven't done it on such a scale. Why? It was hardly difficult they did it in a few weeks.
Malcharions return did nothing, served no purpose and was just there to fill page space. Ignoring that, it was very stupid to have the War Sage die to protect a character (Marlonah) who has like 10 lines in this almost 400 page book.
Variel survives being stabbed with an Eldar spear despite all others who are stabbed by the same weapon dying instantly. Ugh, plot armour 🙄
Septimus and Octavia getting away with a happy ending was really boring, if there's ever a series in which no one should have had a happy ending it's the Night Lords series.
What happened to Deltrian? He's just left floating in the void without a Navigator so does he just die? Starve to death? We don't know, he vanishes from the story.
The Eldar in the book were interesting to see, I always like getting to read about Eldar ships but Jain Zar...oh my god what did they do to you?! Jain Zar gets punched, kicked and hit so much. At one point Talos tricks her into trying to block his sword and KICKS JAIN ZAR IN THE FACE! Not only that, but earlier a dying Marine was able to stab the Storm of Silence herself in the back of the leg because...apparently Jain Zar is slow and has no reflexes these days. Then Talos cuts her arm off, then she almost dies when he lets her stab him as he sets off some grenades.
After that she apparently becomes Gollum as she crawls around consonantly saying 'Jain Zar, Jain Zar' until a Dreadnought stamps on her.
Jain Zar, the Storm of Silence, the Phoenix Lord of the Howling Banshees themselves in this book was what I would expect a normal Howling Banshee Exarch to fight and act like.
The epilogue also bothered me. How is Lucoryphus alive? But I can't say what bothered me exactly about the last part it just...it bothered me.
So in conclusion this book was pretty bad. For this to be how such interesting characters end their story is just....disappointed.
January 31, 2018
In the dark, violent Warhammer 40,000 universe, stories about loyalist Space Marines tend to be monotonously alike. They are all ridiculously over-powered and fanatically single-minded in doing the Emperor's will. The forces of Chaos are more disturbing/evil but can offer a lot more variety as protagonists, so I decided to check out this trilogy featuring a company of Chaos Space Marines (aka the bad guys).
The Night Lords are sadistic, atrocity-committing cowards almost as likely to turn on each other as they are to wreak their vengeance on the Empire. They are not so corrupted by Chaos that they are unthinking monsters, but they have become little more than scattered bands of raiders and pirates. The narration mostly follows the "prophet" Talos and his human slaves, Septimus and Octavia as Talos tries to bring some sort of unity and meaning back to the scattered VIII Legion.
As with any Warhammer 40K book, these are purely escapist stories filled with violence and gore (given the nature of our protagonists, the gore is ratcheted up a few notches), and the writing is only so-so (certain stock descriptions/phrases get overused, one seemingly important story thread just vanishes without resolution, etc.). Basically, it's about what you would expect from a series based on a tabletop game.
It was interesting reading from the "bad guys'" perspective and seeing their reasons for doing what they do. At least they're honest about being evil...I personally find the Emperor and other "good guys" to be almost as reprehensible in most stories. It was pretty much what I expected it to be, it was a good read for what it was, and I've had my fill of dark uber-violent sci-fi for a while.
The Night Lords are sadistic, atrocity-committing cowards almost as likely to turn on each other as they are to wreak their vengeance on the Empire. They are not so corrupted by Chaos that they are unthinking monsters, but they have become little more than scattered bands of raiders and pirates. The narration mostly follows the "prophet" Talos and his human slaves, Septimus and Octavia as Talos tries to bring some sort of unity and meaning back to the scattered VIII Legion.
As with any Warhammer 40K book, these are purely escapist stories filled with violence and gore (given the nature of our protagonists, the gore is ratcheted up a few notches), and the writing is only so-so (certain stock descriptions/phrases get overused, one seemingly important story thread just vanishes without resolution, etc.). Basically, it's about what you would expect from a series based on a tabletop game.
It was interesting reading from the "bad guys'" perspective and seeing their reasons for doing what they do. At least they're honest about being evil...I personally find the Emperor and other "good guys" to be almost as reprehensible in most stories. It was pretty much what I expected it to be, it was a good read for what it was, and I've had my fill of dark uber-violent sci-fi for a while.
March 19, 2024
A collection of the three Night Lords-related Warhammer 40k books written by Aaron Dembski-Bowden. This is my first dive into reading anything about the Night Lords (as of this writing their Kill Team is about to come out!) and anything written by Aaron Dembski.
I have to say I'm extremely impressed! The writing was griping and engaging that not all of the Warhammer 40k books I've read are. Despite being the 'villains' of the 40k universe you come to like the ragtag crew that you meet during these books. The book does not shy away from the fact that these post-human individuals are monsters, murderers, torturers, and more and it serves to help the book rather than hinder it. They are brutal and bloody and violent and if you are reading a Warhammer 40k book that is likely what you are here to expect. However, be ready for some surprises too! The Night Lords can be rather...creative in their race to inflict terror and fear.
I also want to shout out that the human characters across all three books took me by surprise and were wonderful additions. Coming into this book to read about Chaos Astartes I wasn't prepared to love the human characters just as much/if not more than the Legion they are enslaved to.
All-in-all a wonderful collection. I quite enjoyed the first and third books in the series. Not to say the second was bad but it definitely meandered longer than the other two.
I hope one day Aaron goes back to this slice of 40k he created and gets to play with it more. I will absolutely be looking to read more of his work.
I have to say I'm extremely impressed! The writing was griping and engaging that not all of the Warhammer 40k books I've read are. Despite being the 'villains' of the 40k universe you come to like the ragtag crew that you meet during these books. The book does not shy away from the fact that these post-human individuals are monsters, murderers, torturers, and more and it serves to help the book rather than hinder it. They are brutal and bloody and violent and if you are reading a Warhammer 40k book that is likely what you are here to expect. However, be ready for some surprises too! The Night Lords can be rather...creative in their race to inflict terror and fear.
I also want to shout out that the human characters across all three books took me by surprise and were wonderful additions. Coming into this book to read about Chaos Astartes I wasn't prepared to love the human characters just as much/if not more than the Legion they are enslaved to.
All-in-all a wonderful collection. I quite enjoyed the first and third books in the series. Not to say the second was bad but it definitely meandered longer than the other two.
I hope one day Aaron goes back to this slice of 40k he created and gets to play with it more. I will absolutely be looking to read more of his work.
June 23, 2025
Went into this completely blind, knew very little about the Night Lords as a legion other than their propensity for acts of random shocking violence and well... there are a lot of acts of random shocking violence. There is some seriously blood splattered sections, you will need a strong stomach for certain parts. This book goes a lot deeper than that though and I really like how you somehow end up rooting for a ragtag warband of murderers, it definitely gave me Joe Abercrombie vibes. I would go so far as to say anyone who enjoyed this series would likely enjoy the 1st Law series as the characters are similarly not very nice but somehow still likeable. Another thing I liked is that despite these guys being genetically enhanced super warriors they struggle. Their armour is frequently getting blown to bits, they always seem to be running out of ammo and their ship is seemingly being held together out of sheer bloody mindedness much like the warriors who call it home. They also (despite being Chaos Space Marines) seem to mostly shun the idea of the Dark Gods as much as they do the Emperor which makes for an interesting dynamic. Also as with the many of the Horus Heresy novels you get the perspectives of ordinary humans as well which adds a nice counterbalance to the Night Lords themselves, Septimus and Octavia are both interesting characters that bounce well off of their master and main character of the book Talos. Highly recommend this to any fans of 40k, Horus Heresy or good grim dark Sci-Fi in general.
March 5, 2024
Swell. Like most of the books I've read in W40k it really heats up within the last 100 pages. My eyes consume the last delectable bits faster than warp travel. Definitely needs a reread with some of the revelations that come towards the end. I'm sure ADB had it planned all along and I can catch some beautiful nuances when I go through it again.
*spoilers* (maybe)
Out of first claw Mercutian was my favorite. His entry into the series was awesome and comical. It always surprised me in the roles he played. The book always had a Night Lord prowling around and Aaron makes you guess who that is before he reveals the name or some key characteristic. I enjoyed playing that game throughout the book.
If you are wondering why I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5 it is because of Blood Reaver. On their own I'd have given Soul Hunter and Void Stalker 5/5. I might go do that individually. All the books were great and I appreciated each one I just felt like Blood Reaver lacked a little. Maybe it didn't, though, I read all of these a little spaced out and I wasn't really paying attention to what book I was in.
Hah, I'm confused about my own review. Anyways, this was a great book and I won't be selling it because it's mine for a reread and if I ever have little children who I pass on my sci-fi/40k love for I'm shoving this down their throats at some point.
*spoilers* (maybe)
Out of first claw Mercutian was my favorite. His entry into the series was awesome and comical. It always surprised me in the roles he played. The book always had a Night Lord prowling around and Aaron makes you guess who that is before he reveals the name or some key characteristic. I enjoyed playing that game throughout the book.
If you are wondering why I gave the book 4 stars instead of 5 it is because of Blood Reaver. On their own I'd have given Soul Hunter and Void Stalker 5/5. I might go do that individually. All the books were great and I appreciated each one I just felt like Blood Reaver lacked a little. Maybe it didn't, though, I read all of these a little spaced out and I wasn't really paying attention to what book I was in.
Hah, I'm confused about my own review. Anyways, this was a great book and I won't be selling it because it's mine for a reread and if I ever have little children who I pass on my sci-fi/40k love for I'm shoving this down their throats at some point.
October 13, 2024
Dembski-Bowden wrote fantastic series that is collected in the Night Lord omnibus. The stories were fantastic and the characters compelling. The author makes you feel connected to characters who are pretty much evil. The Night Lord characters are not heroes, but they acknowledge that. There are 3 novels and two short stories in the omnibus; every entry is great. I cannot praise this omnibus enough.
The series focuses on the Night Lord Talos who has has his primarch prediction ability, however it is flawed. Talos physically shuts down when he gets a prediction. Talos's warband is fairly small, but made up of veterans of the Heresy. Also we see the story from the PoV of some of the human slaves that reside on the Night Lord ship; Septimus personal slave to Talos, and Octivia a captured navigator. Through out the series we see the Night Lords encounter Abaddon and his Black Legion, the loyalist Blood Angels, the mysterious Eldar, and the pirate king Huron Blackheart.
Overall I highly recommend this collection. This book may convert some readers to the side of the traitors.
The series focuses on the Night Lord Talos who has has his primarch prediction ability, however it is flawed. Talos physically shuts down when he gets a prediction. Talos's warband is fairly small, but made up of veterans of the Heresy. Also we see the story from the PoV of some of the human slaves that reside on the Night Lord ship; Septimus personal slave to Talos, and Octivia a captured navigator. Through out the series we see the Night Lords encounter Abaddon and his Black Legion, the loyalist Blood Angels, the mysterious Eldar, and the pirate king Huron Blackheart.
Overall I highly recommend this collection. This book may convert some readers to the side of the traitors.
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