Auric Gods

The Black Library Novella Series 1 #3

by Nick Kyme

An Adeptus Custodes novella

When Shield-Captain Cartovandis receives a mysterious distress call from the planet Vorganthian, he gathers a band of Custodians to hunt down those responsible, before warp-madness has a chance to reach its true target…

READ IT BECAUSE
The superhuman heroes of the Adeptus Custodes are newly returned to the galaxy at large after millennia on Terra – how will they adapt to their new role, and can they hope to defend an Imperium on the edge of ruin?

THE STORY
For millennia the Adeptus Custodes have stayed true to their sworn duty – defend holy Terra and the God-Emperor to their very last breath. But when the Great Rift tears the Imperium apart, loosing tides of daemons upon mankind, they are faced with a dilemma. Should they continue to guard the Palace and the Golden Throne, or take to the stars to proactively root out the Ultimate Enemy? When Shield-Captain Cartovandis receives a mysterious distress call from the planet Vorganthian, he gathers a band of Custodians to investigate. When they arrive, they find a world in the grip of self-annihilation, overrun by Chaos cultists. In a race against time, the Custodians must find out what has happened, and hunt down those responsible, before the madness has a chance to reach its true target – something much closer to their hearts.

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Fiction, Novella, Short Stories, Military Fiction

151 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 10, 2018

About the author

Nick Kyme (b. 1977) writes mostly for Black Library. His credits include the popular Salamanders series and several audio dramas.

Reviews

[Michael Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

On a world at the fringe of the Sol system, peacekeeper Ursula Gedd and the shadowy Meroved – once a Shield Captain of the Adeptus Custodes, now an Eye of the Emperor – investigate worrying patterns within their city, Vorganthian. Meanwhile on Terra, three Custodians are gathered by Trajann Valoris and sent out from the Throneworld to recover a dangerous artifact, stolen from deep beneath the Imperial Palace.

There are compelling characters and a pacy, entertaining plot with short chapters cycling between different viewpoints helping to maintain momentum and keep the pages turning. It’s most effective while the two strands are separate, giving the characters chance to shine away from the usual battlefield settings and explore some of the lesser-seen corners of the Imperium. As the two collide it becomes a bit more like your typical 40k story, albeit still entertaining, as the big picture comes together and the danger being faced gradually becomes clear. All told it’s a cleverly constructed story which manages to be both an insightful exploration of one element of the ‘new’ 40k IP and a satisfying reminder that 40k is just as much fun away from the battlefield.

Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/11/...

[Alesha Montgomery · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was hard to get through. This is not accessible to those who don't know this corner of the 40k lore. I have read my fair chunk of Warhammer books and I even had to stop and do a Google search to see what they where talking about once. Hint if your subjecting yourself to this book: Read up on the history of the Grey Knights.
There was a few plot threads going on at once and while that can work really well in some stories, it didn't here. It just made me feel more lost as I was struggling to care about any of these flat characters.
The battles where well written, but the rest was a mess.

[Cloak88 · Rating 3 out of 5]

An OK story with Custodian characters.

On the planet Vorganthian strange happenings occur, and an investigation is started. Now an Eye of the Emperor on the trail has reached out for help. Now the Custodes are coming...

Overall I'm not overly enthusiastic about this novella. This is a short work of fiction with comparatively quite a few characters, multiple POV's and multiple stories converging in a single short story. It's al bit much and feels a bit scattered. But truth be told. What bothered me the most is that these "AURIC GODS, somehow felt severely under-powered, and not quite what I was expecting from other lore sources.

So yeah. Not my favorite, and rather clouded, but the story itself was inserting...

[Zare · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent novella that shows inner workings of the famed Ten Thousand and their coping with the new duties after Guilliman led them back among the stars to directly fight against mankind's enemies. And here on a very edge of Sol system ancient threat comes back to strike again at Terra.

Through four characters - Shadowkeeper, two active Aquilan Shield bearers and one "retired" warrior now acting as Eye of the emperor - we see how different they are from their cousins in Space Marines chapters. They are warriors, fiercely independent but when together they fight as one. For them duty comes first - always.

They are more individual than other gene enhanced warriors of the Imperium and always try to plan and think before any action. They suffer greatly in case of failure and second invasion of the Lion Gate shuddered them considerably. They need to put their inner doubts aside and fight to protect the mankind, Terra and the Emperor himself.

Unlike wolves (Space Marines trained to fight in groups) they are Lions, each a power beyond belief, best of the best.

Highly recommended to all fans of Wrahmmer 40000 and especially fans of Adeptus Custodes.

[Jack Volante · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Book #3 in the series is the best so far. For such a short read (even though it's the longest of the 3 books so far) it packs a lot of good story.

An 'ex' Adeptus Custodes leaves Terra to become... basically Bosley from the 1907's TV show Charlie's Angels. He runs an undercover observation & tracking cell on this imperial planet and helps a local enforcer track down the culprit behind some gruesome suicides that are not what they seem.

It also flashes-back to when he was a Custode on Terra when the Rift happened and they had to battle the huge chaos invasion.

A gripping story that I was reluctant to put down. Go read it now!

[Jodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dieses Buch liest sich wie ein Mittelding aus Age Of Sigmar und 40K. Tatsächlich musste ich mich rasch vergewissern, dass ich tatsächlich ein 40K-Buch las.

In dieser Welt hier kannte ich mich bisher absolut nicht aus und die einzelnen Begriffe waren mir oft fremd. Deshalb fühlte ich mich in der Handlung manchmal etwas desorientiert.

Dennoch war ich neugierig auf die Stadt Vorganthian und auch Sula war mir als Figur sehr sympathisch. Bewundernswert sogar. gerne lerne ich neue Welten und Aspekte dieser riesigen Welt kennen und konnte so auch hiermit gute Lesezeit verbringen.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deeper look into the Adeptus Custodes and the struggle still taking place after the daemon incursion that happened on Terra just a 100 years ago. The 10,000 are now stepping outside the palace and taking the battle to the stars in light of the newly created Rift that splits the galaxy. The universe has indeed changed as a rogue factor attempts to resurrect what they believe is the Sigilite and must be stopped at all costs. Riveting story that was non stop from the first page.

[Declan Waters · Rating 3 out of 5]

Auric Gods is a story about the Legio Custodes and their actions and operations in the Terra home system ('In the Light of Terra'). It is an interesting read, which took a few chapters to get into (being a novella, I felt it was a little slow to get started). However it does treat the Custodes in the same manner as the Space Marines with little 'humanity' to bring you to like the characters (or even dislike them). Still a good addition to the Novella series.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good story, and the first time that I've read fiction that included the Custodes. Interesting characters, good price, plot that moves well. I feel like I could have used more explanation as to what the major 'threat' was, as I'm not familiar with it, but overall, definitely worth the read.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a short and sweet read about a reuniting group of Custodes foiling a heretical plot and recapturing a cursed artifact. The characterizations, plot pace and action were all fine. It was good to see how multidimensional the Custodes are.

[Paul Sparks · Rating 5 out of 5]

custodes!!

I am fast becoming a huge fan of the adeptus custodes and this novella is a great addition to my burgeoning library at the same time increasing the lore surrounding these magnificent warriors

[JOHN MITCHELL · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Good Book, but.....

An interesting short story that seemed to leave more questions unanswered than answered. Nevertheless, enjoyable, and a bargain at the price.

[Joanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

enjoyed this short story but not familiar with all the characters- just getting to know them and it was over. if it cont prob would have given it a 4.

[Jackson James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up as I saw Games workshop started making more novels about custodes and this is awesome. Highly recommend this. Great read. Pick it up.

[Amanda]

Proofread

[Brett Buckstaff · Rating 4 out of 5]

for some reason, there's a 100% need to kill off a Custodian in any book about them. Other than that, there was some fun plot even if there was a few decisions that just seemed like plot holes

[Lensvol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, but very rough at the edges. Believable Custodes, competent villain, too much bro-energy.

[Станислав · Rating 3 out of 5]

Неплохая детективная история, но ничего особо впечатляющего. Кустодии, кроме Мероведа, слишком мало выражены, как характеры чтобы их отличать.

[Ulzeta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read.

[T R Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novella gives us a look at one of the less overt parts of the Adeptus Custodes, the Eyes of the Emperor, old and wounded Custodians who act as spies and informants for their brethren. This was a relatively entertaining story that I nonetheless felt trailed off a bit towards the end. Of the four or five main characters, I felt the Enforcer Ursula Gedd and the former Custodian Adio were the most interesting, with the others seeming rather generic. I also wasn’t a great fan of the villain, who didn’t really have much presence. The action in the series is quite good, as is some of the mystery plot and the exploration of the planet of Vorganthian. The novella also has a nice flashback to the Battle of Lion’s Gate during the Noctis Aeterna.

The novella also includes a short preview of the Horus Heresy story Spear of Ultramar, the next book in Novella Series 1.