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Word Bearers #3
Dark Creed
Dark Apostle Marduk faces challenges from within his own Legion as he wages war with the White Consuls. Harnessing the power of the Nexus Arrangement, a powerful Necron device, Marduk can turn the tide in the Word Bearer's favour. But just as the White Consuls are on the verge of defeat, an old enemy returns to throw the entire dark crusade into ruin. If Marduk is to survive and fulfil his ambition, he must defy an onslaught from the necrons, White Consuls and his own Legion.
Read it because
It's the dramatic conclusion to the trilogy and everything Marduk has worked, schemed and killed for is on the line...
420 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 29, 2009
7 people are currently reading
279 people want to read
About the author
Anthony Reynolds
93 books168 followersAnthony Reynolds was a Games Developer and manager at Games Workshop in the UK. Since then he's written freelance for a number of companies, including Black Library Publishing, Mantic Games, THQ, Bandai-Namco, Behaviour Interactive, and River Horse Games. He currently lives in California.
Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Anthony^Reynolds
Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Anthony^Reynolds
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 21, 2018
This was my second time reading this book, though I remembered nothing from the first time as it had been a number of years.
Reynolds does a good job finishing off this trilogy. Everything that had been set up in the previous two novels comes to a wonderfully done conclusion in this book, which was nice to see. As with the previous two novels, his writing is fairly well done. We still see him moving between different points of view, but it works really well in this novel. With the differing points of view, we get a bigger picture about what is going on, and in many ways, the exposition is handled well this way.
That said, a couple of the characters, such as the Necrons, didn't really seem like they needed to have a point of view in the story. Sure, it added a fair bit of exposition yet what it added could have easily been done with either the Space Marines or the Chaos Marines. (though certain elements, like the device being pulled through the starship would have to be reworked, and would lose some of their impact)
It was also interesting to see certain elements, such as the Word Bearers having infighting just like the other chapters. I don't mean the character to character infighting, but rather larger movements among the members. This is something that doesn't come up a lot in World Bearer fiction, so I am glad that Reynolds took this step.
All in all, this was a pleasant end to the trilogy and I was glad to see Reynolds' writing hold up to the end of the tale. Marduk was an interesting character who's character arch through all three novels was fun to watch play out. Sure, as a character he didn't change that much, but he still learned from his experiences and due to a fair amount of agency, helped pull the story along to all the places it needed to be. Overall, anyone who has held off on this series should pick it up, especially if you are a fan of chaos marines.
Reynolds does a good job finishing off this trilogy. Everything that had been set up in the previous two novels comes to a wonderfully done conclusion in this book, which was nice to see. As with the previous two novels, his writing is fairly well done. We still see him moving between different points of view, but it works really well in this novel. With the differing points of view, we get a bigger picture about what is going on, and in many ways, the exposition is handled well this way.
That said, a couple of the characters, such as the Necrons, didn't really seem like they needed to have a point of view in the story. Sure, it added a fair bit of exposition yet what it added could have easily been done with either the Space Marines or the Chaos Marines. (though certain elements, like the device being pulled through the starship would have to be reworked, and would lose some of their impact)
It was also interesting to see certain elements, such as the Word Bearers having infighting just like the other chapters. I don't mean the character to character infighting, but rather larger movements among the members. This is something that doesn't come up a lot in World Bearer fiction, so I am glad that Reynolds took this step.
All in all, this was a pleasant end to the trilogy and I was glad to see Reynolds' writing hold up to the end of the tale. Marduk was an interesting character who's character arch through all three novels was fun to watch play out. Sure, as a character he didn't change that much, but he still learned from his experiences and due to a fair amount of agency, helped pull the story along to all the places it needed to be. Overall, anyone who has held off on this series should pick it up, especially if you are a fan of chaos marines.
August 18, 2022
Wow.. Review to come soon
February 17, 2012
Shadowhawk reviews the third and final novel in the Word Bearers series by Anthony Reynolds.
“Back-stabbing, betrayals, heroism, loyalty, faith and games played in the shadows all come to a head once again for Dark Apostle Marduk.” ~ The Founding Fields
Purely because of a lack of interest, the Word Bearer novels by Anthony Reynolds never really held any fascination for me. Even after I went out and bought the first two novels all those years ago and read through them, my interest in them never really took off. Don’t get me wrong, the first two novels are quite excellent in all respects, its just that I was never actually attracted to the Word Bearers in the first place.
That all changed recently however, for reasons related to my renewed attempts at writing tie-in fiction. This led to an interest in the Word Bearers and in the end, I finally went and got the eBook for Dark Creed.
Dark Creed is the culmination of a meta-plot spread out over three novels in very distinct stages. The first one is First Acolyte Marduk discovering the existence of the Nexus Arrangement, an alien construct we can easily infer as belonging to the Necrons, on the Imperial world of Tanakreg and recovering it for his own ends. This is the story for Dark Apostle. The second stage is Dark Apostle Marduk now finding out just how to use this alien construct for his own ends. This is the story for Dark Disciple. And the last stage is Marduk now using the construct on a campaign, alongside some of his peers, for the good of the legion and to the detriment of the Imperium. That is the story of Dark Creed in a nutshell.
Of course, things are never that easy and in a legion so devoted to scheming and back-stabbing and power-jostling, things are also never quite as they seem either.
The Word Bearers are quite a different legion than the Night Lords who have devolved since the end of the Horus Heresy into a bunch of loose alliances between warbands and companies who no longer fight as a legion anymore unless the stakes are really, really high. Such as the plot for Aaron’s audio drama Throne of Lies for example but that’s a review for another time. The warbands of the Word Bearers, known as Hosts, have a central leadership in the form of the Dark Council which rules from the daemon-world Sicarus in the Eye of Terror. It is the Dark Council which decides the fates of the Hosts, appointing Dark Apostles and Acolytes to them as they see fit. The Word Bearers are also a very scheming bunch, much more so than the Night Lords in that the former rely on internal politicking rather than obvious displays of force.
Note: Keep in mind that my comparison is based on the Night Lords novels by Aaron and my understanding of them. I am told things are different in Si Spurrier’s Lord of the Night but as I have never read it I cannot comment in that regard.
And that is at the heart of Dark Creed. Anthony Reynolds performs fabulously in that regard as, for the first time, we see where the power of Marduk’s Host really stands in comparison to that of his fellow Dark Apostles. With the Nexus Arrangement in his possession, his Host has a key role to play in a campaign to destablise the balance of power near the Eye of Terror and establish a foothold for Chaos in one of the subsectors around the warp-phenomenon. So Marduk is thrust into an alliance of sorts with four other Dark Apostles, and this at the request of none other than First Chaplain Erebus himself.
Straightaway, we get into the heart of things as the politicking and intrigue start off with Erebus’s charge to Marduk. It continues all the way to Marduk’s meeting with the other Apostles and then on till right to the very end of the novel when it all comes together. Anthony really reinforces throughout the novel that while outwardly the Word Bearers are a united legion they are not above scheming and lying to get the best of each other. And that would be one reason why the followers of Chaos do not rule the galaxy as yet, because they can’t maintain their alliances long enough to destroy the Imperium. This is particularly relevant in the novel when a certain event happens to the detriment of the Word Bearers and potentially hampers their plans, even though it was, in effect, a waste, all to satisfy the greed of the few.
Another big standout part of the novel is its action sequences. No punches are pulled when the battles begin and you are taken, not on a roller coaster which would mean that the actions yo-yos up and down, but on a straight uphill ride in every single battle. The stakes keep getting bigger and bigger for the characters, whether it is a case of the Apostles meeting together before their attack, the White Consuls preparing to meet the attack of the traitors, the reinforcements being sent to Boros Gate (the subsector in question), the space battles or the ground assaults.
Anthony’s prose is also quite punishing for the reader, which is both a good and bad thing. Good in that you really get a sense that you reading about Space Marines, near-immortal demi-gods of war, fighting each other and against trained Imperial Guard troops. The scale is perfect, the scenes are laid out nicely, the element of surprise and twists and turns are all there. But, by its own nature, the punishing pace can distract you from your reading and actually pull you out of the experience as well. My one complaint about the action scenes is that there is so little dialogue in them.
I like my dialogue. Irrespective of how much dialogue a writer puts in non-action scenes, I believe that action scenes deserve a good, healthy amount of dialogue. Its all about show and tell and balancing that tightrope between the two. Some people think you should show, show, show and then just tell. Others believe you should show, show and then tell, tell. And all other myriad combinations. No one approach is particularly correct mind you, they just have different situations in which they work.
For Dark Creed, I think having more dialogue would definitely have made the experience that much better. I finished the novel quite fast, thanks to my iPad, but there was always that very real danger of putting the novel down because the relentless action was a little too much for me at times.
On the whole however, the action scenes are well done, whether it is the Word Bearers fighting against the White Consuls and their allies in space or on the ground. The epic feel is very much there and there is just the right amount of references in the scene that hint at the larger campaign since its not just Marduk and his Host attack the Boros Gate, but the entire Hosts of four other Dark Apostles and associated cultist hordes and even a Titan legio!
On the character front, it was nice to see all the characters large and small from the previous novels return, particularly Burias-Drak’shal, Kol Badar, Sabtec and all the others, although I wish there had been a larger variety of sergeants/champions shown. A returning cast is all well and good but if your Host is larger than an entire chapter of loyalist Space Marines, that variety would definitely not hurt. We do get some additions in the form of Marduk’s Acolyte Ashkanez and the Black Legion sorcerer Inshabael, but there contribution to the plot and the scheming within the Word Bearers task force is significant mostly off-screen. Which is a real shame since they were quite interesting from the get go and I was looking forward to reading more about them than we got.
Another highlight of the novel is that Anthony can, at a whim, knock your socks right off. Particularly relevant scenes, which I found the most intriguing and most fun are three. The first is that one event I sort of mentioned above re: scheming. The second was the final clash between Marduk’s legionnaires versus the White Consuls on the latter’s strike cruiser. And then finally, the big twist of the novel which is intrinsically tied to the Nexus Arrangement itself, particularly its creators.
Like I said before, the stakes kept getting bigger and bigger for all concerned.
One of the small niggly little complaints I have about the novel relate to the actual function of the Nexus Arrangement and a certain transportation choice made by Marduk and his cohort in the latter third of the novel. Given what it is supposed to do, the Apostle’s choice didn’t really make sense to me. So I am hoping to see what the internet world is speculating about it and see if I can get some clarification from Anthony himself.
Lastly, as a fan of the little touches and what not, especially since Anthony’s portrayal of Space Marines of both stripes was very realistic for me, I loved his emergency council scene between the Astartes Praeses. The Astartes Praeses, for those who don’t know, are a group of twenty chapters dedicated to combating any and all incursions around and out of the Eye of the Terror. To see the variety of the chapters and the strict, business-like attitude of their commanders, and their readiness to put aside whatever differences there may have been otherwise was a nice enough treat for a minor lore nerd like me.
And the same for the White Consul hero who goes on to become a key player in the defense of the Boros Gate and around whom part of the ground assault revolves. Through him, I think took some great steps in showing how much of a difference a single, inspirational icon can make during war-time. It was reflected in the adoration of the Imperial Guard on the planet and in all the references that Anthony packed in. One man in the right place and the right time and all that!
That’s all that really. In closing, I definitely enjoyed this novel a great deal. It avoided the slow moments from the previous novels such as the scenes on Tanakreg involving the locals in Dark Apostle and the early ones involving the moon-colony and Dark Eldar in Dark Disciple. No lows in the novel really, just highs and highs one after the other.
I will definitely be picking up the Word Bearers omnibus in the future!
I rate the novel 8/10 for being a very entertaining read, for having the right scale of battles, visceral combat, lots of politicking and intrigue, somewhat over-relentless combat, under-using some characters who would have been a joy to read and lastly, for a slight lack of variety in villainous characters.
However, I do recommend the novel highly because the mentality of the Word Bearers as they are in M41 is very much at the heart of the novel and that is something very enjoyable.
“Back-stabbing, betrayals, heroism, loyalty, faith and games played in the shadows all come to a head once again for Dark Apostle Marduk.” ~ The Founding Fields
Purely because of a lack of interest, the Word Bearer novels by Anthony Reynolds never really held any fascination for me. Even after I went out and bought the first two novels all those years ago and read through them, my interest in them never really took off. Don’t get me wrong, the first two novels are quite excellent in all respects, its just that I was never actually attracted to the Word Bearers in the first place.
That all changed recently however, for reasons related to my renewed attempts at writing tie-in fiction. This led to an interest in the Word Bearers and in the end, I finally went and got the eBook for Dark Creed.
Dark Creed is the culmination of a meta-plot spread out over three novels in very distinct stages. The first one is First Acolyte Marduk discovering the existence of the Nexus Arrangement, an alien construct we can easily infer as belonging to the Necrons, on the Imperial world of Tanakreg and recovering it for his own ends. This is the story for Dark Apostle. The second stage is Dark Apostle Marduk now finding out just how to use this alien construct for his own ends. This is the story for Dark Disciple. And the last stage is Marduk now using the construct on a campaign, alongside some of his peers, for the good of the legion and to the detriment of the Imperium. That is the story of Dark Creed in a nutshell.
Of course, things are never that easy and in a legion so devoted to scheming and back-stabbing and power-jostling, things are also never quite as they seem either.
The Word Bearers are quite a different legion than the Night Lords who have devolved since the end of the Horus Heresy into a bunch of loose alliances between warbands and companies who no longer fight as a legion anymore unless the stakes are really, really high. Such as the plot for Aaron’s audio drama Throne of Lies for example but that’s a review for another time. The warbands of the Word Bearers, known as Hosts, have a central leadership in the form of the Dark Council which rules from the daemon-world Sicarus in the Eye of Terror. It is the Dark Council which decides the fates of the Hosts, appointing Dark Apostles and Acolytes to them as they see fit. The Word Bearers are also a very scheming bunch, much more so than the Night Lords in that the former rely on internal politicking rather than obvious displays of force.
Note: Keep in mind that my comparison is based on the Night Lords novels by Aaron and my understanding of them. I am told things are different in Si Spurrier’s Lord of the Night but as I have never read it I cannot comment in that regard.
And that is at the heart of Dark Creed. Anthony Reynolds performs fabulously in that regard as, for the first time, we see where the power of Marduk’s Host really stands in comparison to that of his fellow Dark Apostles. With the Nexus Arrangement in his possession, his Host has a key role to play in a campaign to destablise the balance of power near the Eye of Terror and establish a foothold for Chaos in one of the subsectors around the warp-phenomenon. So Marduk is thrust into an alliance of sorts with four other Dark Apostles, and this at the request of none other than First Chaplain Erebus himself.
Straightaway, we get into the heart of things as the politicking and intrigue start off with Erebus’s charge to Marduk. It continues all the way to Marduk’s meeting with the other Apostles and then on till right to the very end of the novel when it all comes together. Anthony really reinforces throughout the novel that while outwardly the Word Bearers are a united legion they are not above scheming and lying to get the best of each other. And that would be one reason why the followers of Chaos do not rule the galaxy as yet, because they can’t maintain their alliances long enough to destroy the Imperium. This is particularly relevant in the novel when a certain event happens to the detriment of the Word Bearers and potentially hampers their plans, even though it was, in effect, a waste, all to satisfy the greed of the few.
Another big standout part of the novel is its action sequences. No punches are pulled when the battles begin and you are taken, not on a roller coaster which would mean that the actions yo-yos up and down, but on a straight uphill ride in every single battle. The stakes keep getting bigger and bigger for the characters, whether it is a case of the Apostles meeting together before their attack, the White Consuls preparing to meet the attack of the traitors, the reinforcements being sent to Boros Gate (the subsector in question), the space battles or the ground assaults.
Anthony’s prose is also quite punishing for the reader, which is both a good and bad thing. Good in that you really get a sense that you reading about Space Marines, near-immortal demi-gods of war, fighting each other and against trained Imperial Guard troops. The scale is perfect, the scenes are laid out nicely, the element of surprise and twists and turns are all there. But, by its own nature, the punishing pace can distract you from your reading and actually pull you out of the experience as well. My one complaint about the action scenes is that there is so little dialogue in them.
I like my dialogue. Irrespective of how much dialogue a writer puts in non-action scenes, I believe that action scenes deserve a good, healthy amount of dialogue. Its all about show and tell and balancing that tightrope between the two. Some people think you should show, show, show and then just tell. Others believe you should show, show and then tell, tell. And all other myriad combinations. No one approach is particularly correct mind you, they just have different situations in which they work.
For Dark Creed, I think having more dialogue would definitely have made the experience that much better. I finished the novel quite fast, thanks to my iPad, but there was always that very real danger of putting the novel down because the relentless action was a little too much for me at times.
On the whole however, the action scenes are well done, whether it is the Word Bearers fighting against the White Consuls and their allies in space or on the ground. The epic feel is very much there and there is just the right amount of references in the scene that hint at the larger campaign since its not just Marduk and his Host attack the Boros Gate, but the entire Hosts of four other Dark Apostles and associated cultist hordes and even a Titan legio!
On the character front, it was nice to see all the characters large and small from the previous novels return, particularly Burias-Drak’shal, Kol Badar, Sabtec and all the others, although I wish there had been a larger variety of sergeants/champions shown. A returning cast is all well and good but if your Host is larger than an entire chapter of loyalist Space Marines, that variety would definitely not hurt. We do get some additions in the form of Marduk’s Acolyte Ashkanez and the Black Legion sorcerer Inshabael, but there contribution to the plot and the scheming within the Word Bearers task force is significant mostly off-screen. Which is a real shame since they were quite interesting from the get go and I was looking forward to reading more about them than we got.
Another highlight of the novel is that Anthony can, at a whim, knock your socks right off. Particularly relevant scenes, which I found the most intriguing and most fun are three. The first is that one event I sort of mentioned above re: scheming. The second was the final clash between Marduk’s legionnaires versus the White Consuls on the latter’s strike cruiser. And then finally, the big twist of the novel which is intrinsically tied to the Nexus Arrangement itself, particularly its creators.
Like I said before, the stakes kept getting bigger and bigger for all concerned.
One of the small niggly little complaints I have about the novel relate to the actual function of the Nexus Arrangement and a certain transportation choice made by Marduk and his cohort in the latter third of the novel. Given what it is supposed to do, the Apostle’s choice didn’t really make sense to me. So I am hoping to see what the internet world is speculating about it and see if I can get some clarification from Anthony himself.
Lastly, as a fan of the little touches and what not, especially since Anthony’s portrayal of Space Marines of both stripes was very realistic for me, I loved his emergency council scene between the Astartes Praeses. The Astartes Praeses, for those who don’t know, are a group of twenty chapters dedicated to combating any and all incursions around and out of the Eye of the Terror. To see the variety of the chapters and the strict, business-like attitude of their commanders, and their readiness to put aside whatever differences there may have been otherwise was a nice enough treat for a minor lore nerd like me.
And the same for the White Consul hero who goes on to become a key player in the defense of the Boros Gate and around whom part of the ground assault revolves. Through him, I think took some great steps in showing how much of a difference a single, inspirational icon can make during war-time. It was reflected in the adoration of the Imperial Guard on the planet and in all the references that Anthony packed in. One man in the right place and the right time and all that!
That’s all that really. In closing, I definitely enjoyed this novel a great deal. It avoided the slow moments from the previous novels such as the scenes on Tanakreg involving the locals in Dark Apostle and the early ones involving the moon-colony and Dark Eldar in Dark Disciple. No lows in the novel really, just highs and highs one after the other.
I will definitely be picking up the Word Bearers omnibus in the future!
I rate the novel 8/10 for being a very entertaining read, for having the right scale of battles, visceral combat, lots of politicking and intrigue, somewhat over-relentless combat, under-using some characters who would have been a joy to read and lastly, for a slight lack of variety in villainous characters.
However, I do recommend the novel highly because the mentality of the Word Bearers as they are in M41 is very much at the heart of the novel and that is something very enjoyable.
July 7, 2014
The final book of the Word Bearers omnibus brings the tale to an explosively blood-soaked end. After two novels spent gathering the knowledge and xenos artefacts, the 34th Host is ready to begin their new crusade against the Imperium of man. Their target: The Boros system, the home of the White Consuls chapter and location of ancient Warp gateways. These massive constructs allow rapid transition of craft through the Warp, allowing immediately reinforcing the position against all attacks. Yet despite this, Marduk may now hold the key to their victory.
Along with several other venerated Hosts of Lorgar, Marduk’s forces are honoured with conquering this system in the name of the Warmaster and beginning the first step towards true victory. However, all is not well among the sons of Lorgar. Someone with the legion is vying for power, determined to make them the sole leader of their venerated church, and they will happily slaughter countless brothers to achieve it. Even as they begin their assault, Marduk cannot be sure if the more pressing enemy is the brothers before him or the men who fight at his side.
After the experimenting done with Dark Disciple’s events, it seems that Reynolds recognised some of the failings of that release. This final book of the trilogy returns to war on a massive scale and is all the stronger for it, avoiding the characterisation problems mentioned last time. With the more pressing threat of betrayal added into the mix, it achieves a perfect balance of action, character progression and drama which never makes the book drag. While hardly rushing into this final conflict with no set up, from the outset the reader is given high quality action and internal politics which puts the likes of Fall of Damnos to shame.
Along with answering a few long-standing questions, such as why the Word Bearers are all unified in service to undivided worship rather than falling into sects following other gods, the book also delivers some great depictions of both sides. Showing how far the loyalties of some Word Bearers will go in the name of their faith, while at the same time doing the White Consuls justice. The latter in particular deserves praise as it’s one of the best examples of a humanised chapter to date.
Unlike Uriel Ventris, who too often came across as a human in power armour, the astartes here are clearly post-human killers but remain surprisingly humane. It makes a fair degree of sense given their positioning and the fact that, despite being a stone’s throw from the Eye of Terror, the system itself thematically emulates Ultramar. This allows for the Word Bearers to have a finale similar to storming the stronghold of their old enemy; yet it doesn’t make the mistake of Death of Integrity by turning the Consuls into Macragge worshipping fanboys with no identity of their own. Plus it also permits an obvious divide to exist, clearly separating the Chaos worshippers and loyalists rather than making the two sides too similar. A problem which has shown up in more than a few books at times, especially with some authors trying to remove all differences between psychic powers and Chaos sorcery.
The writing itself is extremely tight throughout, never staying on a scene longer than it needs to and retaining a careful balance between focusing upon each character on every side. It proves to be even better in this regard than Dark Apostle, as it works with a far wider array of characters and a more complex plot but manages to keep the reader completely up to speed at every turn. You never feel as if there is too much going on or far too much to keep track of, and the novel offers every character at least one moment in the limelight. The Warmonger in particular, side-lined throughout all of Dark Disciple, is given some of the best moments and Reynolds has clearly thought about what part each character will play. While I will personally still argue that the characters better represent archetypes or ideas on both sides of the war, the way the action is staged prevents this from ever seeming like a shortcoming.
Now, this isn’t to say the book is without its problems. Reynolds displays some clear issues when it comes to his vocabulary, and while it has improved since Dark Apostle he does resort to certain choice words far too often. This isn’t helped by some very strange choices of terminology, such as describing an efficient warrior as having an “economy of movement” in order to emphasise his skill. These bits can easily take you out of the moment and leave you shaking your head.
Furthermore, Reynolds lacks some of the grandiose descriptions of battlefields and huge conflicts of pure carnage that other authors have, which can make some moments of the war feel surprisingly small at times. Notably when one battle barge is taken down, it fails to give the impact a millennia old vessel being gutted should. This also isn’t helped at times by the fact certain elements feel as if they should be far better established, such as the villains on the Word Bearers side who lack a truly memorable introduction. They make up for it later on certainly, but it’s not that initially impact a great villain should have. Oh, and the book’s also infamous for getting one particularly big thing wrong about how Imperial made teleporters work.
To be honest though, none of these elements truly detract from its quality and it sends off the omnibus on a high note. It shows respect to every side involved, delivers conflict on a scale worthy of a small Black Crusade, brings major character arcs to a close and concludes the trilogy on a fantastically dark note. Even if you’re not a fan of the second instalment, it’s more than worth soldiering through to get to this final battle and enjoy the carnage within.
Along with several other venerated Hosts of Lorgar, Marduk’s forces are honoured with conquering this system in the name of the Warmaster and beginning the first step towards true victory. However, all is not well among the sons of Lorgar. Someone with the legion is vying for power, determined to make them the sole leader of their venerated church, and they will happily slaughter countless brothers to achieve it. Even as they begin their assault, Marduk cannot be sure if the more pressing enemy is the brothers before him or the men who fight at his side.
After the experimenting done with Dark Disciple’s events, it seems that Reynolds recognised some of the failings of that release. This final book of the trilogy returns to war on a massive scale and is all the stronger for it, avoiding the characterisation problems mentioned last time. With the more pressing threat of betrayal added into the mix, it achieves a perfect balance of action, character progression and drama which never makes the book drag. While hardly rushing into this final conflict with no set up, from the outset the reader is given high quality action and internal politics which puts the likes of Fall of Damnos to shame.
Along with answering a few long-standing questions, such as why the Word Bearers are all unified in service to undivided worship rather than falling into sects following other gods, the book also delivers some great depictions of both sides. Showing how far the loyalties of some Word Bearers will go in the name of their faith, while at the same time doing the White Consuls justice. The latter in particular deserves praise as it’s one of the best examples of a humanised chapter to date.
Unlike Uriel Ventris, who too often came across as a human in power armour, the astartes here are clearly post-human killers but remain surprisingly humane. It makes a fair degree of sense given their positioning and the fact that, despite being a stone’s throw from the Eye of Terror, the system itself thematically emulates Ultramar. This allows for the Word Bearers to have a finale similar to storming the stronghold of their old enemy; yet it doesn’t make the mistake of Death of Integrity by turning the Consuls into Macragge worshipping fanboys with no identity of their own. Plus it also permits an obvious divide to exist, clearly separating the Chaos worshippers and loyalists rather than making the two sides too similar. A problem which has shown up in more than a few books at times, especially with some authors trying to remove all differences between psychic powers and Chaos sorcery.
The writing itself is extremely tight throughout, never staying on a scene longer than it needs to and retaining a careful balance between focusing upon each character on every side. It proves to be even better in this regard than Dark Apostle, as it works with a far wider array of characters and a more complex plot but manages to keep the reader completely up to speed at every turn. You never feel as if there is too much going on or far too much to keep track of, and the novel offers every character at least one moment in the limelight. The Warmonger in particular, side-lined throughout all of Dark Disciple, is given some of the best moments and Reynolds has clearly thought about what part each character will play. While I will personally still argue that the characters better represent archetypes or ideas on both sides of the war, the way the action is staged prevents this from ever seeming like a shortcoming.
Now, this isn’t to say the book is without its problems. Reynolds displays some clear issues when it comes to his vocabulary, and while it has improved since Dark Apostle he does resort to certain choice words far too often. This isn’t helped by some very strange choices of terminology, such as describing an efficient warrior as having an “economy of movement” in order to emphasise his skill. These bits can easily take you out of the moment and leave you shaking your head.
Furthermore, Reynolds lacks some of the grandiose descriptions of battlefields and huge conflicts of pure carnage that other authors have, which can make some moments of the war feel surprisingly small at times. Notably when one battle barge is taken down, it fails to give the impact a millennia old vessel being gutted should. This also isn’t helped at times by the fact certain elements feel as if they should be far better established, such as the villains on the Word Bearers side who lack a truly memorable introduction. They make up for it later on certainly, but it’s not that initially impact a great villain should have. Oh, and the book’s also infamous for getting one particularly big thing wrong about how Imperial made teleporters work.
To be honest though, none of these elements truly detract from its quality and it sends off the omnibus on a high note. It shows respect to every side involved, delivers conflict on a scale worthy of a small Black Crusade, brings major character arcs to a close and concludes the trilogy on a fantastically dark note. Even if you’re not a fan of the second instalment, it’s more than worth soldiering through to get to this final battle and enjoy the carnage within.
March 25, 2019
Oh man, what a novel! The twists and turns it took (while not 100% unexpected) were an absolute joy to read. The action was intense and kept me on the edge of my seat, and the whole War for the Boros Gate was a spectacularly grand engagement that really struck home with what only 40K can bring to the table.
Our cast of characters continue to evolve, and their relationships took quite a few turns I wasn't expecting. Dark Apostle Marduk really is a devious bastard, and I can't wait to see what he gets up to in the future. Kol Badar and Burias were a blast as usual, Sabtec really shone through in this one(and I hope we see them all return if the 34th ever gets more fiction released).
I really loved the novel, and I think Anthony Reynolds really found his feet on this one. The action was fantastic, the scale is just what I was wanting, and the pacing/twists were awesomely done. I really hope we see Reynolds come back to the Word!
Our cast of characters continue to evolve, and their relationships took quite a few turns I wasn't expecting. Dark Apostle Marduk really is a devious bastard, and I can't wait to see what he gets up to in the future. Kol Badar and Burias were a blast as usual, Sabtec really shone through in this one(and I hope we see them all return if the 34th ever gets more fiction released).
I really loved the novel, and I think Anthony Reynolds really found his feet on this one. The action was fantastic, the scale is just what I was wanting, and the pacing/twists were awesomely done. I really hope we see Reynolds come back to the Word!
May 22, 2025
Bounced between 3 and 4 stars throughout but a fitting end to the trilogy, and far better than book #2 in my opinion (which felt more like a sidequest or a filler episode than anything else).
Here, we have a three-book-long story come to an end, with boiling tensions, multiple enemies, plenty of infighting, and a decent amount of Word Bearer worldbuilding. Like the first, we started off with a character-on-the-ground but the first book pulled it off (and kept him around) way longer. Seeing the impacts of this cult outside of the legion is really damn cool.
Additionally, I preferred the imbalanced power dynamic of the first book compared to the Astartes vs Word Bearers in this BUT still very cool, very epic, and very fitting that they saved it for the third. Some of the battles felt dull, but they almost ALWAYS ended with something insane and memorable.
Book #1 - five starts
Book #2 - DNF, can't rate
Book #3 - 3.5-4 stars
Here, we have a three-book-long story come to an end, with boiling tensions, multiple enemies, plenty of infighting, and a decent amount of Word Bearer worldbuilding. Like the first, we started off with a character-on-the-ground but the first book pulled it off (and kept him around) way longer. Seeing the impacts of this cult outside of the legion is really damn cool.
Additionally, I preferred the imbalanced power dynamic of the first book compared to the Astartes vs Word Bearers in this BUT still very cool, very epic, and very fitting that they saved it for the third. Some of the battles felt dull, but they almost ALWAYS ended with something insane and memorable.
Book #1 - five starts
Book #2 - DNF, can't rate
Book #3 - 3.5-4 stars
December 18, 2018
A satisfying end to this trilogy. Marduk and the Word Bearers take their fight to a whole planet as rival factions in their chapter vie for power.
Plenty of action in space and on-planet, facing off against White Consuls space marines and the Necrons who come looking to take their Nexus device back.
The interaction between the Word Bearers is done well, showing how they've been fighting together for thousands of years, and how the power plays going on could tear them apart.
Plenty of action in space and on-planet, facing off against White Consuls space marines and the Necrons who come looking to take their Nexus device back.
The interaction between the Word Bearers is done well, showing how they've been fighting together for thousands of years, and how the power plays going on could tear them apart.
February 15, 2021
I read Warhammer 40,000 books. This is one of them, there will be more. Third book in a fairly average Chaos-focused trilogy. Entire tril. has some interesting stuff but never really gets good. Lots of 40K stuff out there; this was just okay.
August 12, 2022
More or less acceptable conclusion to the series. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/201...
August 18, 2023
Really enjoyed the political intrigue of the legion in this one, still had a lot of action.
January 15, 2025
Quite boring.
November 11, 2025
I have enjoyed the entire Word Bearers omnibus and this was a good end and wrap on the story and invasion of Boros Prime. Worth reading as part of the set.
November 14, 2025
A very strong end to the trilogy. The word bearers continue to be evil, treacherous bastards and the plot has some really fun twists and turns. A good end to the story for Marduk.
March 20, 2017
This was a very satisfying conclusion to the story started in Dark Apostle. The surprisingly 'root-able' Marduk is involved in 17th Legion politics (backstabbing) even as the Legion launches a massive attack on an important Imperium fortress world. The scale and action are absolutely glorious and rightfully belong to the genre of space epic. The good guys are fairly portrayed and Reynolds pulls off the trick of writing about terrible, evil characters without violently repulsing the reader. I heartily look forward to seeing future stories with these characters and my respect for the Word Bearers has grown considerably. To me, Reynolds is a revelation and I will look forward to his writing in the same way I look forward to the writing of Abnett, DB and Wraight.
January 5, 2010
Dark Apostle is the third in the Word Bearers series and the culmination of a massive plot. Of course when you consider that the Word Bearers and other Traitor Legions are over 10,000 years old and their schemes stretch over millennia it's hard to grasp the scope of such a "plot". Wheels within wheels and the Word Bearers are plotters in the extreme.
The story of Dark Apostle Marduk continues and his goal of using the ancient Necron technology to essentially propel himself higher up the food chain and bring as much chaos to the Imperium as possible is fought with peril from within and without.
As any reader vaguely familiar with the material can surmise, Chaos Space Marines, while disciplined are still suffering from some serious testosterone poisoning. They're all plotting and scheming to be the Alpha Male. That mush is established. Unlike say the World Eaters, the Word Bearer Legion has their own way of pursuing personal goals (vendettas?) and Anthony Reynolds does a great job of breaking it all down so we as readers can follow these spider-web plots (without dumbing it down too much).
Seriously...I have to commend Mr. Reynolds for his deft handling of the story. He gives good insight to the inner workings of the Word Bearers as well as the White Consuls Space Marines (and many others) who are working in opposition to Marduk's plans. Without spoiling anything let it suffice to say that the scale of the novel is pretty ginormous. Epic. Sector fleets, multiple hosts of the Word Bearers, several chapters of Astartes as well as innumerable Imperial Guardsmen and the various Titan Legions. (Most of this is inferred or happens "off-camera")
This is a novel with a lot of moving parts. Tons going on. Anthony Reynolds does a really good job of keeping it manageable for the reader. The battles range from naval engagements to gritty melee.
I've always found it difficult to get in to reading the Chaos-side of Warhammer novels. They seem so unbelievably over the top that I have a hard time suspending disbelief. Often with Space Marines as well...they seem too perfect. Chaos Space Marines in contrast become the most heinous thing ever. It's too...black and white.
Anthony Reynolds does an admirable job in keeping things believable. Granted, there are still moments where the Astartes are perfectly heroic and the Chaos Marines are perfectly heinous. Still...my spidey-sense wasn't going off and telling me to glaze over pages due to *yawn* more nail a baby to your forehead moments.
I think Mr. Reynolds does however have an excellent grasp on the dark, hopelessness of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It's a messed up place where a human is one among untold bajillions and nobody will miss your passing. The author definitely has this DOWN.
One think I do appreciate in this novel is that there appears to be very real peril around all the characters, including Marduk. Nobody is safe. Any of them can be crushed by falling beams, have their head blown off or simply die an ignoble death (which is SUCH an appropriate 40k thing).
My only complaint would be that due to the massive scope of the plot, there's a lot of interesting things going on, and it's easy to get lost. Granted Mr. Reynolds does a great job in showing us one scene, then shifting the camera elsewhere to see a scene...sometimes it's easy to start wondering "Hey, what happened to Brother Bob?" Largely the author does a great job in keeping the suspense going. Still, there are some parts that I personally would have loved to see more of...but that's really just a personal quibble. I think in reading we gravitate towards some characters more than others...and sometimes those characters aren't really the focus of the story. Meh, it happens. Still a damn good book!
Rating:Overall it's a fitting ending (?) to the Word Bearer series.
A very good read whether a part of the series or as a stand-alone novel.
4/5
The story of Dark Apostle Marduk continues and his goal of using the ancient Necron technology to essentially propel himself higher up the food chain and bring as much chaos to the Imperium as possible is fought with peril from within and without.
As any reader vaguely familiar with the material can surmise, Chaos Space Marines, while disciplined are still suffering from some serious testosterone poisoning. They're all plotting and scheming to be the Alpha Male. That mush is established. Unlike say the World Eaters, the Word Bearer Legion has their own way of pursuing personal goals (vendettas?) and Anthony Reynolds does a great job of breaking it all down so we as readers can follow these spider-web plots (without dumbing it down too much).
Seriously...I have to commend Mr. Reynolds for his deft handling of the story. He gives good insight to the inner workings of the Word Bearers as well as the White Consuls Space Marines (and many others) who are working in opposition to Marduk's plans. Without spoiling anything let it suffice to say that the scale of the novel is pretty ginormous. Epic. Sector fleets, multiple hosts of the Word Bearers, several chapters of Astartes as well as innumerable Imperial Guardsmen and the various Titan Legions. (Most of this is inferred or happens "off-camera")
This is a novel with a lot of moving parts. Tons going on. Anthony Reynolds does a really good job of keeping it manageable for the reader. The battles range from naval engagements to gritty melee.
I've always found it difficult to get in to reading the Chaos-side of Warhammer novels. They seem so unbelievably over the top that I have a hard time suspending disbelief. Often with Space Marines as well...they seem too perfect. Chaos Space Marines in contrast become the most heinous thing ever. It's too...black and white.
Anthony Reynolds does an admirable job in keeping things believable. Granted, there are still moments where the Astartes are perfectly heroic and the Chaos Marines are perfectly heinous. Still...my spidey-sense wasn't going off and telling me to glaze over pages due to *yawn* more nail a baby to your forehead moments.
I think Mr. Reynolds does however have an excellent grasp on the dark, hopelessness of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. It's a messed up place where a human is one among untold bajillions and nobody will miss your passing. The author definitely has this DOWN.
One think I do appreciate in this novel is that there appears to be very real peril around all the characters, including Marduk. Nobody is safe. Any of them can be crushed by falling beams, have their head blown off or simply die an ignoble death (which is SUCH an appropriate 40k thing).
My only complaint would be that due to the massive scope of the plot, there's a lot of interesting things going on, and it's easy to get lost. Granted Mr. Reynolds does a great job in showing us one scene, then shifting the camera elsewhere to see a scene...sometimes it's easy to start wondering "Hey, what happened to Brother Bob?" Largely the author does a great job in keeping the suspense going. Still, there are some parts that I personally would have loved to see more of...but that's really just a personal quibble. I think in reading we gravitate towards some characters more than others...and sometimes those characters aren't really the focus of the story. Meh, it happens. Still a damn good book!
Rating:Overall it's a fitting ending (?) to the Word Bearer series.
A very good read whether a part of the series or as a stand-alone novel.
4/5
November 1, 2011
Dark creed
The book where everything comes together.
It's probably the most satisfying of the 3 books in the series because it wraps up the story arcs running from book one and it feels like it's running at a higher level within the Word Bearers and the 40K background in general. Even though it wraps up the current story arc the ground is set nicely for another story arc if Black Library ever feel the need to return.If they don't then it's a great set of story hooks for budding word bearer players to grab and play with.
For the book well it is truly epic in scale. It introduces the White Consuls chapter and builds a very detailed section of universe for them to exist in. I think this is one of the strongest aspects of this book. Both the imperial and chaos sides in the conflict get a lot of face time and the author is able to build and animate some very good characters, then kill them. In this book no one is safe. Characters I never expected to die, do. Enough of the cast of characters die that those are left standing at the end to make you feel like they have earned it.
The pacing of the book is occasionally a bit frantic with the viewpoint jumping away from one story thread to another. The author manages to keep everything rolling along and make the fairly sprawling story hang together and unfold at a pace where you don't get swamped or bored. I did have a moment or two of "hey, were did character x get to?" but in the end the characters feel like they are exactly where the author wanted them to be. Usually standing on a pile of their enemies bodies it has to be said but hey it is the Grim Dark :)
This book makes me glad I stuck with the series to the end and if you do decide to read it I would recommend you read it as an omnibus in one go.
From my current vantage point where the new Necron codex has just hit pre release it has me looking forward eagerly to seeing if the novels and the codex have the same background flavour. It would be fantastic to see the undying as a Necron special character but I'll be happy as long as I could build something similar.
The book where everything comes together.
It's probably the most satisfying of the 3 books in the series because it wraps up the story arcs running from book one and it feels like it's running at a higher level within the Word Bearers and the 40K background in general. Even though it wraps up the current story arc the ground is set nicely for another story arc if Black Library ever feel the need to return.If they don't then it's a great set of story hooks for budding word bearer players to grab and play with.
For the book well it is truly epic in scale. It introduces the White Consuls chapter and builds a very detailed section of universe for them to exist in. I think this is one of the strongest aspects of this book. Both the imperial and chaos sides in the conflict get a lot of face time and the author is able to build and animate some very good characters, then kill them. In this book no one is safe. Characters I never expected to die, do. Enough of the cast of characters die that those are left standing at the end to make you feel like they have earned it.
The pacing of the book is occasionally a bit frantic with the viewpoint jumping away from one story thread to another. The author manages to keep everything rolling along and make the fairly sprawling story hang together and unfold at a pace where you don't get swamped or bored. I did have a moment or two of "hey, were did character x get to?" but in the end the characters feel like they are exactly where the author wanted them to be. Usually standing on a pile of their enemies bodies it has to be said but hey it is the Grim Dark :)
This book makes me glad I stuck with the series to the end and if you do decide to read it I would recommend you read it as an omnibus in one go.
From my current vantage point where the new Necron codex has just hit pre release it has me looking forward eagerly to seeing if the novels and the codex have the same background flavour. It would be fantastic to see the undying as a Necron special character but I'll be happy as long as I could build something similar.
August 13, 2010
Very surprised by the ending of this one. The twisted internal politics of the Word Bearers Legion in stark counterpoint to the nobility displayed by the loyal Astartes, and enough cataclysmic action for a half-dozen books.
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