Lucius: The Faultless Blade

Warhammer 40,000

by Ian St. Martin

He is Fulgrim's champion, the Soulthief, and the Scion of Chemos. His name is whispered and cursed across both time and space, a peerless blademaster who even death cannot threaten. He is Lucius the Eternal, blessed by Slaanesh and the greatest swordsman of all the fell Legions imprisoned within the Eye of Terror. With his armies exhausted by unending war and consumed by their own twisted iniquities, Lucius turns to an erstwhile brother of the Emperor's Children to rebuild his strength. Faced with betrayal from without and even from within his own flesh, will Lucius discover something that even one who cannot know death should fear?

Genres: Science Fiction, 40k, Novels

368 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 2017

Reviews

[Sud666 · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I enjoy any stories about the Astartes, I find the stories of the Traitor Legions to be amongst the most entertaining. With the exception of Abbadon's Black Legion, who serve Chaos undivided, the rest of the Traitor Legions serve individual gods. Often these gods don't like each other.

This is the background for the story of Lucius the Eternal. Lucius was once a gifted swordsman from the Emperor's Children, now he is blessed by Slaneesh. He is called the Eternal due to the fact that, even if he is defeated and "killed", if the victor feels even a second of pleasure at the act-his soul is forfeit and his body will become Lucius reincarnated. Nice trick eh?

Without going into the details- this is a story about games within games. The remnants of the Emperor's Children and their conflicts with the World Eaters (servants of Khorne), the other factions of the Emperor's Children (including the infamous Fabius Bile) and even a dust-up with the Dark Eldar make for a very entertaining story. The hidden moves underlying everything make for a great subplot. If you wish to know more about the stories of Heretic Legions then this is a great book.

[Marc Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ian St Martin has a gift.

Where other authors have gave us Traitor characters with understandable, if not entirely relatable, motivations (Ahriman's quest for redemption/vindication, Abaddon's drive for brotherhood-in-revenge, Fabius' ambition to build a better humanity), he succeeds in making The Faultless Blade into a compelling read, while never shying away from Lucius' inherent odiousness. Indeed, it is the visceral inhumanity of the Cohors Nasicae that keeps us watching, transfixed as though by a car wreck.

The book is a study in contradictions; immediately wrong-footing our plot from what we expected to happen, and the roles we expected certain characters to play. With tedious and obvious plotlines thus eviscerated, it moves on to an entirely new narrative. Aided by beginning almost in-media-res, the book allows for these shifts to seem like natural consequences of life in Eyespace. The lack of cohesion, which would be a negative to some books, only seems to strengthen this novel.

The cast we are introduced to beyond Lucius are compelling individuals in their own right. From Apothecary Cesare and his drugs, to The Composer and his obsession with the music of the warp, through to Vispyrtilo the Last Eagle King of the Rypax. Each of them embodies another facet of the Legion in its disintegration, a new form of excess. All of this is relayed through Direnc, a menial slave brought into their service who allows us an outsiders view of the madness.

And at the heart of it is Lucius. Unapologetically himself, unashamedly monstrous. The pithy remarks flow from him as easy as bladework, and he is a joy to read. Some lines brought a grin to my face, even in the direst circumstances. The plunge into his psychology and the reality of his state is an interesting read and one which is set up to have far greater significance going ahead.

Where this novel shines is in the interlocking setting-building that it achieves with other Traitor novels; notably Josh Reynolds' Fabius Bile books. The narrative overlap with those books, as well as references to the Abaddon books and the Kharn novels, create a compelling timeline and sense of shared reality. This is helped by truly inspired terms such as "the Cthonian Failure" as an alternative title for the Heresy.

Another thing this novel achieved is to make the words "Auspex Lock" make me smile.

I would highly recommend this novel as an exploration of mad psyches and madder beings. Full of brilliant set pieces, wry banter and insane introspection, it is a fine addition to the canon from an author with great potential, a fantastic mind, and a more-than-routine fascination with fantasy narcotics.

[Kdawg91 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am still exploring my current fascination with Warhammer and jumping deep into the chaos(bad guy) side of things. Without getting too far into lore, each of the legions of space marines that joined and went over to the bad side of things follow various evil deities, and Lucius and his faction serve a being who is into extreme sensations, indulgence in pain and pleasure. These guys have overdone it to a point that their bodies don't feel anything so their search for sensation has moved to a sadistic and horrifying level.

I really dug this book, rarely in my view can you enjoy a tale with no "good guy" Lucius and his band are HORRIBLE beings. Murderers who visit mass destruction on people just because they can. But this tale is a super fast paced gore fest of Warhammer violence. Very well written look into the legion of the Emperor's Children and the horrors within. If you are squeamish..go the other way, if you want a fast paced look into the chaos space marines, come on in, if you dare.

[Michael Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set at an unspecified point pre-Gathering Storm, this sees Lucius and his dwindling warband at low ebb, much reduced from their glory days. Lucius himself is plagued by the voices of those whose bodies he’s usurped after having perished at their hands, struggling to maintain a grip on his mind and his warband.

While the concept of how an immortal, genetically-engineered monster might cope with increasing mental degradation and growing schizophrenia is explored in interesting ways, Lucius is only one of a rather large cast of characters, many of whom are heavily involved in the story.

There’s perhaps one character arc too many, but despite a slight sense of over-complication everything comes together nicely in the end. Meanwhile St. Martin’s take on Slaaneshi excess, likening it to the psychological burden of substance addiction, is probably the most interesting and well thought-out depiction yet.

Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2017/09/...

[Tarl · Rating 4 out of 5]

There was a lot to like about this book.

First off, the side characters are far more interesting than Lucius, who quickly gets repetitive. Each one is a unique being with their own goals and personal values, and as the story progresses, you can see the slight evolution of them as people rather than simply being cut outs. From the ship's captain (who I loved), to the sorcerer responsible for guiding the ship, to the leader of the raptors, each one has a reason for being there. The reason I love this is that in most 40k books, the side characters feel hollow, which I am thankful was not the case for this story.

Lucius on the other hand almost felt like a stereotype. Sure, he had some depth to him, but there was nothing new. And this felt odd since he was the protagonist in this story and was in the middle of most of the big scenes in the story. But more often than not, he had the scene stolen from him by the other characters around him as their goals were far more complex than Lucius'. Lucius felt like he lacked agency and was just pulled from event to event, never really doing things for himself.

The combat in this book was handled really well, and there was a lot of it. Looking back, it almost feels as if half the book was fighting, which normally would become stale and boring, but Martin did a fantastic job keeping each scene flowing and interesting. Anyone who loves combat in the 40k universe will love this book just for that.

Lastly, to anyone who has read Fabius Bile: Primogenitor, Fabius is going to feel off in this book. Martin doesn't quite write the character with the same flare as he was written in that book, and quite frankly I thought Fabius felt completely wrong in this novel having read Primogenitor. Others may not feel the same way, so take this part with a grain of salt.

So in the end, this was an enjoyable book and probably one of the best ones depicting the Emperor's Children in action and what they have become. The action was handled really well and the side characters alone are worth reading this novel for. Very much recommended for any fan of chaos marines or anything to do with Slaanesh.

[Lymotheus · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Dylan Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review in Progress!

[Matt TB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun tale about everyone’s favourite swordsman.

[Pavle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Preface: This book brought about mixed emotions for me. The first 40k book that drew me into the Lore was the Primarch Novel: Fulgrim, The Palatine Phoenix. I immediately fell in love with the Emperors III. However, as I soon discovered what befell then at the onset of the Horus Heresy. I decided to look elsewhere for a Legion to call my own. That being said, this novel gave me hope.

Ian St. Martin took a different approach to the Emperors Children than Josh Reynolds had done. I rather enjoyed this take on the Chaos Marines of the now heretical 3rd. This book is a roller coaster of emotion as it is supposedly intend on being. It provides wonderful insight upon the current state of the remnants of the legion following one of my favorite characters, Lucius and his war band of less than welcoming demi-god Space Marines. The entire narrative is expansive and honestly offers a breathe of fresh air for the chaos marines. Lucius is much more of a dynamic character than originally thought as, and really does show some humanity even as influenced as he has become to Chaos. That being said, I highly recommend this novel for any 40k fan. Although it may be heretical at times. Lucius:L The Faultless Blade does miss on some much needed points regarding his primogenitor and that of the rest of his legion. Regardless, definitely worth the read and gave me a sense of hope for the Emperors Children.
Best.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucius The Faultless Blade is another book about the bad guys in the 40k universe. The first third of the book is fast paced and packed with actions but strangely it had little story progression; it was mostly for character and world building. The actual story began in the middle of the book and it was quite good. If Chris Wraight's The Lords of Silence is Warhammer 40k with the vibe of Event Horizon, then Lucius Faultless Blade is Warhammer 40k with a Hellraiser-like feel. Some scenes in this book are reminiscent of cult classic Horrors such as From Beyond and Hellraiser, and I liked it.

The book features many characters and they are mostly interesting, but some of them felt undeveloped. I think the book would have benefitted from having a smaller cast of characters. Lucius is the main character and he is intriguing. The most fascinating character in the book, in my opinion, is Fabius Bile. I believe there is a trilogy dedicated to Fabius and I would like to read it. Overall, despite some minor shortcomings in the character developments, Lucius The Faultless Blade is an entertaining read and it is a good introduction to the 40k universe.

[Simon Mee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The bad boys get to ride – Lucius is relatively unpopular, but there’s a limited pool of evil characters that can do anything other than scream curses, so he gets his own book. And I’m pretty happy about it.

I think (about my fan theories way too much), therefore I am (a slave to my own conceptions)

I am Perfection.

I have seen a fan theory than Lucius’ form of resurrection through the body of anyone who took pride in killing him is some form of punishment – the backhanded gift of a Chaos god that means he will forever feel unfulfilled.

I have sympathy for fan theories that add layers to characters, even when I don’t fully get how that theory works. However, in The Faultless Blade, Lucius really really likes having resurrection as a professional skill:

‘You have no idea what you have unleashed upon yourself. I relish death. It holds no power over me, eldar, because it holds no mystery. I have drunk from the well of oblivion, time and again. I have bathed in chemical fire within the shattering bones of a warship as its reactor split and gave birth to a momentary star. I have felt the edges of fourteen blades as they sundered my hearts. I have drowned at the bottom of a world of endless ocean. I have tasted the most potent poisons this reality and the ones beyond can produce. I have been executed, assassinated, vaporised and ground to mulch.
‘Yet here I stand . Against the very forces that set and order reality , here I stand. Undefeated. Unbowed. Eternal. What can you possibly offer, to threaten me?’

I can write screeds setting out why this is the right perspective and good for the wider universe that there’s a bad guy who loves his powers and pushing himself. Really though, it would just be a self-justification to avoid cognitive dissonance. It works for the plotline of The Faultless Blade and makes Lucius a cool, if not overly engaging character – a true threat to the Dark Eldar torture merchants. Maybe he will be a totally different guy next time he features.

While we can probably say the fan theory is wrong in respect of The Faultless Blade, we should be careful about making definitive statements in a literary universe with a revolving carousel of authors and a predilection for retcons. It is easier to view the characters as amorphous, swapping personalities as may suit a particular author’s demands (or limitations). Even the major characters of the first three books of the Horus Heresy, where the authors collaborated relatively closely, are vastly different between each book. I was mostly fine with that, because how those characters were portrayed and used suited each author’s goals and the books worked.

I guess what I am saying is never treat something as set in stone or needing to be accommodated with conflicting works. Is a character good within the confines of the book? Perhaps something I should have considered more with Fulgrim (though I still consider it did not work – it’s fine to criticise!).

Chaos Rising

‘We used to hold this galaxy in our hands,’ said Cesare, his voice dropping to a whisper. ‘What are we now?’

While a relatively “inconsequential” book focussed on building up Lucius and his supporting band, he does achieve quite alot, particularly if you’re a Khornite or Dark Elf. Hardly Chaos Undivided but there are interesting lore aspects along with the creation of a potentially dangerous force to the Imperium (albeit this was published seven years ago, so I do need to catch up).

The Faultless Blade isn’t really a four star book from anything approaching an objective perspective. The dialogue is pretty marginal and the development uneven. Some of the side characters come along well, others are just presumed to be interesting by their very existence, such as the daemon in the child’s body. But Chaos does well and it’s competent action – good enough for me.

[La librairie de Charron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aaahhh, le fameux Lucius, l'ancien champion de Fulgrim, épéiste de renom et le plus grand épéiste des Emperor's Chidren. Le plus grand de tous les épéistes ? Je ne pense pas car il a de nombreux adversaires car lors d'une discussion, Lucius se voit offrir une question à laquelle il ne répond qu'avec un grognement : « As-tu déjà affronté Sigismund ? ».

Bref, l'histoire se concentre donc sur notre cher épéiste, bien des années et des années après le siège de Terra. Nous retrouvons Lucius à bord de son vaisseau où il est engagé dans un combat dans l'Oeil de la Terreur contre un vaisseau des Word Eaters. Le combat est assez engagé, des cris et hurlements sont poussés, des abordages sont menés, bref, c'est la bagarre générale et les Word Eaters ont un net avantage. Alors que Lucius va sauver ses frères sur une planète qui sortie de nulle part et apparue suite au choc des combats, il se rend compte qu'ils (Lucius et ses frères) doivent se battre au corps à corps sans « beauté » et qu'ils doivent se comporter comme les World Eaters au corps à corps, ce qui ne lui plaît guère car les Word Eaters sont tout de même plus doués que les Emperor's Children pour leur férocité au corps à corps, en plus des griffes du boucher.

Après ce long combat, la bande dirigée par Lucius est exsangue, les glandes progénoïdes sont souvent perdues ou perverties au point de non retour par le chaos. Lucius est décrié par ses pairs parce que tout est quasi foutu, les ressources, le manque de Space Marines, l'équipement en mauvais état ... C'est la panique ! Pour la troisième partie du roman, notre cher épéiste reçoit un message d'une personne qu'il ne pensait pas retrouver de sitôt, ou du moins revoir de sitôt : Fabius Bile, le primogénitor. Son message ? Une invitation à le rejoindre pour palier à son manque d'hommes et une proposition qui le fera réfléchir longuement.

En conclusion, ce fut un ouvrage assez intéressant, consacré à un personnage que je connaissais peu pour tout vous dire. Après avoir vu l'une ou l'autre vidéo, j'avais appris que Lucius était surnommé Lucius, la lame éternelle car il avait reçu cette « bénédiction » du dieu Slaanesh dans le sens où si un bretteur arrive à battre Lucius et que ce bretteur ressent la fierté ou l'exaltation du fait qu'il ait battu Lucius ou un sentiment assez proche de cela, il commencera doucement (et violemment) à se transformer, son visage défiguré, des cicatrices apparaîtront et Lucius renaîtra à travers le bretteur donc éternel ... Enfin, un roman intéressant comme je le disais, très sympa à lire et rempli d'informations ici et là ! Un vrai petit plaisir.

[Thomas Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent story overall however the constant switching between the various settings/plots was slightly jarring but overall flowed well. However I do wish there was more exploration into the mind of Lucius not only being the titular character but also incredibly unique within the setting in how he is constantly under attack from the souls in his armour.

The main issue I suppose would be that the nature of Lucius' curse, I liked that there was no exposition dump that just explained the entire thing in one go but the hints to it were so subtle that I feel that I wouldn't recomend this as a read to someone who doesn't already know Lucius

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Martin pulls off the trick of writing about villains without the reader either identifying with or reviling them. Lucius is portrayed as an egotistical psychopath but in an almost clinical detached sense. His warband being whittled down because of constant battles, Lucius tries to bargain for more martial resources. There is an interesting 'guest star' and several turns later a jailbreak from Commoragh. It was an interesting read that continued to both define the Emperor's Children as well as to differentiate them within their own ranks.

[Tepintzin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave it a 3, but it's a solid 3, maybe a 3.5. Ian St Martin is a good writer, but Lucius isn't someone whose point of view is really worth following. I picked up this book because Fabius Bile was in it, and Josh Reynolds writes him so deliciously well. There is a lot of action but there can't be any character building in a Legion that has become stagnant in its quest for perfect pleasure, especially not when their main pastime is fighting while high on drugs.

[Conall Crowley · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit of a slog. Some great Emperor's Children lore, some good atmosphere building, and some interesting side characters. But ultimately there's too much going on, the prose is a bit purple, and the interesting narrative threads developed at the start aren't fully developed. Nothing really changes between the start and the end of the book. Which is probably appropriate considering the main character.

[Max Falcon · Rating 3 out of 5]

First chaos focused story I've read and it was a fun read! It's an interesting setting and some fun faction surprises mainly held back by how simple it is overall. Nothing truly changed despite the epilogues implication but lucius is fun enough to carry the story without it.

[Patrick Correal-Winters · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little Slaaneshi adventure with fun characters and very solid writing. The plot isn't as engaging as the prior Black Library novels I've reviewed, but it was a nice little self-indulgent sci-fi adventure.
3.5/5

[Bastiaan Vergoossen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining Lucius character, as always. Nice depictions about the slaanesi influence on both astartes and mortals. Entertaining book.

[Kerry B Boner Jr · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely loved this book!

I definitely recommend this for fans of chaos! Lucius was amazing and seeing the emperors children at work was just incredible

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great in some sections, but in most cases these highs did not involve the main character.

[William Parker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book. Well written and good characters.

Only issue is there are no real noise marines.

[Francesco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid book

Lucie is obscured by other characters, read the book for the other characters

Lucie is a loser, Vyspirtilio we love u

[Russell Tassicker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe a little harsh. There are hints of interesting characters but every chance to explore them is quickly overwhelmed with another stake-less fight scene. Disappointing but not without merit.

[Thomas Hewitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first 40k book and was so good.. Absolutely horrific as your first 40k book but super entertaining :)

[Andrew Peel · Rating 2 out of 5]

In a word a dreadful slog

[Bea O · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe I am biased as an Emperors Children lover, but this story was brilliant. Very engaging characters, wonderful twisty story and a feel good finish.

[Kraki Alackin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, dark romp in the ever grimdark universe of WH40K!

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun deluge of Emperor Children unhinged madness.

[Austin Rearick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid read. Good for anyone who has any interest in the character of Lucius, or who has an interest in exploring the presentation of the different chaos gods and this devoted legions in 40k