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Farsight #2

Empire of Lies

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Book 2 in the Farsight series

The T'au Empire has long been plagued by the brutal orks – and Commander Farsight will see them destroyed. As his obsessive war against the greenskins escalates, other forces are at work, driving Farsight to an encounter that will change his view of the universe, the T'au Empire… and himself.

READ IT BECAUSE

Discover the real story behind the defining moment of Commander Farsight's life – and witness his struggles as he is torn between the Greater Good and the hideous truth about the nature of the galaxy.

THE STORY

High Commander Farsight, fresh from his victory against the Imperium over the Damocles Gulf, looks to his borders and finds his old enemies – the savage and warlike orks – assailing his worlds and threatening to ravage the heart of the T’au Empire. Farsight’s obsessive crusade will see him locked in an escalating conflict with the greenskins, and he will stop at nothing until their infestation is purged. In the background, foul forces are at work, however – forces that will do whatever they can to see the military genius of Farsight fall on the daemon-haunted world of Arthas Moloch. Can Farsight stand in the face of new truths, and will the T’au Empire stand with him?

Written by Phil Kelly

366 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 15, 2020

54 people are currently reading
271 people want to read

About the author

Phil Kelly

86 books57 followers
Phil Kelly (born 1977) is the Creative Lead for 'Warhammer: Age of Sigmar' in the Games Workshop design studio.

He has written over 60 gaming books in the last twenty years.

He has also written several Warhammer 40,000, Age of Sigmar and Warhammer Horror books and audio dramas for Black Library.



Librarian Note: there is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

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5 stars
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
1,370 reviews23 followers
March 20, 2023
I gotta say I dont read many books that are not related to Horus Heresy timeline. After reading this book I have to say that is my big mistake and will work to remedy that.

Farsight is T'au Fire Caste commander trying his best to destroy the Orks threatening both T'au core colonies and what will become later known as Farsight Enclaves. This will put him into multiple crosshairs (from his own side and aliens).

Story is told over the long period of time. Farsight's conflict with Orks backfiring on occasion in such a spectacular way that Ethereals get mobilized to chastise the commander (his successes forgotten in a heartbeat). He loses people, he is forced to enforce very strange decisions by the Ethereals and have advices overruled by the powers to be. He does enjoy autonomy and is unorthodox when it comes to combat operations, but again his very pragmatic approach to war (even consulting with the very interesting Inquisitor acting as Kindred Spirit with T'au) brings him into constant conflict with his superiors. He witnesses his support just disappearing without trace and witnesses. He even gets scolded by his mentor, now "alive" as AI imprint on a engram chip (if you played Cyberpunk 2077 game you know what I am talking about) and sent to physical and mental recovery because he is considered wanting. And constantly in the background there is an ominous presence that tries to claim him, and almost succeeds (this part of story is done beautifully, true first contact).

Excellent book about space faring race that is very reliant on technology and AI but is newcomer onto the great stage in almost every other way. With their mysterious caste organization where mixing of ones skills (and knowledge) is not allowed, makes them a very ripe fruit for the forces from the Warp. Secrets piling up one onto another will prove to be something that Farsight just cannot live with.

Highly recommended, I have to admit I enjoyed it much more than I expected.
Profile Image for Mitchell.
120 reviews1 follower
July 30, 2022
A disappointing sequel compared with the first book, feels like two books were crammed into one with both ending being rushed.

The best bits of the book involve the Orks but these are very brief with a final battle told as a quick 2 page summarisation.

Wouldn't recommend really unless you are a Tau player who wants to know every bit of lore.
Profile Image for Johan Maxén.
79 reviews1 follower
June 14, 2023
This review could just be copy pasted from the one I wrote for the first book. This one has ”more” characterisation than the last one. In heavy quotation because it dosn’t build on the characters more than the first book, it simply has the benefits of not having to start from skratch.
Profile Image for Skywatcher Adept.
50 reviews2 followers
July 25, 2022
Farsight has a terryfying vision of the future:

"He watched layered reality, white and chrome and beautiful on the outside, slough away like melting wax. It revealed a twisted, skeletal wasteland beneath. He saw hundreds of thousands of t’au slaves, all smiling so hard they bled at the corners of their mouths and stained their teeth with gore. They were bound in glowing chains to the hands of heedless giants, massive robed behemoths several hundred metres in height, who dragged their slaves like rag dolls through a wilderness of broken glass and grasping, snarling horrors.
Hundreds of smiling t’au died with each giant step, but always there were more to replace them, pushed out from tube-ridged carousels that protruded from the ground. Each infant was pre-packaged and shrink-wrapped, its birth-caul somewhere between a shark’s egg purse and a rations packet. The tiny t’au within struggled to get out, ripping their cauls with shaking fingers. As soon as they shucked off their translucent coverings and stood up, a beam of harsh light burned down at them, its intensity peeling back their eyelids to force itself into their minds. Getting larger and older by the moment, the t’au youngsters drooled, then grinned. They picked up the chains from the corpses trailing in the dust and unclasped them, only to close the collars around their own necks.
In the middle distance, vassal races of all shapes and sizes were branded like cattle by empty battlesuits whose gaping control cocoons dripped with blood. Those of the slave races that dared break free from the processing lines were blasted in the back by killing plasma, each double beam shooting out not from weaponry but the sensor optics of the battlesuits that herded them into the throng.
Farsight blinked, his mind reeling.
The capital world, T’au, was beset by the ravages of outright war, its elegant towers toppling into a red-lit fug of smoke and flame as crimson skimmers and battlesuits rained down fire from above. The skyline faded away to reveal an endless plain of hot brass shot with bubbling rivers of blood. The spires of t’au civilisation crumbled like dry Dal’ythan clay to reveal vast towers of bone and pillars of stacked skulls. Some were so high they disappeared from sight above clouds of soot and pollution.
The roar of distant battle clamoured on the edge of hearing. In the foreground were wargroups of t’au, divided by caste as in the time of the Mont’au, each group clad in the colours and raiment of their original tribes. They no longer stood united by the Greater Good, but as deadly rivals, shrieking their hatred at each other as if possessed by a mania ten times worse than that of the Time of Terror.
Blood ran on the dry earth in rivulets. As Farsight watched, the little streams rose into the air, funnelling themselves into the mouths and eyes of the t’au fire caste to drive them into apoplectic frenzies of killing violence. Farsight saw himself amongst them. He was clad as a warrior king, a crown of bones protruding from his brow, screaming in triumph as he throttled O’Shaserra with one hand and O’Kais with the other.
He blinked again.
The vastness of space glittered, cold and uncaring, broken only by an impossibly vast hexagonal structure around a hole in space. On the sleek arcology before him a crowd of t’au cried out in pain and terror as some manner of grotesque fungus burst from their limbs, then torsos, then mouths and eyes, the odd growths stretching up to intertwine into a throbbing, pulsating mass of plague-ravaged flesh that leered down at him. Rancid fat and toxic phlegm poured down like rain, rivers of infected drool gushing from its blubbery lips as the creature grew vaster still. It reached up to the hexagonal structure and hauled itself upwards, blotting out a hundred thousand suns with its flabby immensity as it squeezed its way into the portal-like hole in space. Somehow Farsight knew that on the other side of that hole was the cradle of t’au civilisation, and that the godlike creature pushing its way through there could no more be stopped with military power than a creeping, invisible plague could be stopped by a balled fist.
Another blink.
A landscape of tortured, inflamed flesh stretched out into the distance. Stumbling blindly on bloodied feet were aliens of a hundred different species, naked and confused. Towering bipedal ballistics suits the size of skyscrapers stalked amongst them, their elegant lines and clean sept heraldry obscured by the corpses tied like ablative armour to their limbs. They were piloted by nothing more than necklaces of brains held in strange glowing spheres. The giant machines called out fragments of phrases that Farsight recognised as the invective of the water caste, each carefully crafted sentiment and cunning entreaty punctuated at random by the same bellowed refrain – ‘JOIN OR DIE!’
Where the aliens ran from them, the ballistics suits opened fire, obliterating those who rejected them in sudden firestorms that turned them to ash on the wind. Where the inductees simply cowered, the t’au giants would catch them up in clawed hands, then hold them close to their anatomy where they were bound by living chains to form another layer of fleshy armour over the pristine alloy of the suit itself. The screaming of the victims bound to the titanic battlesuits clawed at Farsight’s mind, a symphony of pain that pushed itself into his soul.
Blink.
Peace on Dal’yth. The aun caste were massing to hear the words of the Supreme Ethereal, walking through twilit gardens towards the vast spires of a crystalline fortress. They blurred and shifted as he watched, splitting into two, then combining, then splitting again as they talked animatedly about the wisdom they were about to receive.
The crystal fortress shimmered in the evening light, unfolding so that its panels of reflective material sent a kaleidoscope of images glinting in the air. Each showed the crux point of a new war being declared, a new atrocity being committed, a new act of treachery or manipulation that would see coiuntless lives changed for the worse.
As the ethereals gathered, joining hands in a great circle of supplicants around the towering edifice, the last of the crystal fell away to expose a vast abomination, blue and pink and burning with warp fire all at the same time, the flaming eye sockets and gibbering maw set into its chest recounting words of madness in a hundred thousand languages. The ethereals took up the chant, blending and blurring into one another to become a set of reflections so fractal and complex that they showed a thousand warzones, a trillion deaths, all somehow forcing itself into Farsight’s consciousness at once.
Blink.
The galaxy screamed, and ripped along its length. The works of those long-fallen empires that had held back the dimension beyond reality had been purposefully shattered, hunted down and cast into the dust. The fabric of real space had weakened, thinned, and – like a dam broken apart by ceaseless impacts across its length – finally burst.
The terrifying truth of the hellish dimension was writ large, scarring the heavens with a lurid weal of purple, pink and blue. The disc-portal of Arthas Moloch was a single drop of poison in comparison to this ocean of toxic damnation, a rising tide of anarchy that would turn the history of the galaxy on its head.
A dread certainty slithered within Farsight’s mind, a serpent slick with blood wrapping itself around his frontal lobe. This was no threat, no awful spectre of that which might come to pass should the evils of the galaxy be allowed to triumph.
This was the truth, and it was inevitable."

- from "Empire of Lies" by Phil Kelly
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Sontaranpr.
242 reviews3 followers
September 11, 2020
From here our story continues after the conquering of the Farsight Septs (soon to be Enclave), through the Ork invasion and repelling of there of on Atari Vo, the subsequent sneaky invasion of the before mentioned Farsight Septs, Farsight having a crisis of faith and then recapturing all the Septs, all the messy bits on Arthas Moloch (also known as - Oops, There Go All Our Ethereals), and ends with Farsight exiling himself into the desert as it's been a hard few years for him.

Not a great book by any means as you'd expect from W40K but certainly fun enough to wizz through the pages. The Tau happily keep picking up the Idiot Ball while at the same time an annoying Tzeentch daemon keeps claiming to have their hand/wing/claw in everything which kind of gets dull.

Tau combat technology gets to do a few things which is always nice with drone intelligence nets actually doing real time recon and even Pathfinders playing markerlight fetch with their drones. You also get to experience what happens when a daemon possessed psyker willingly puts on a Collar of Khorne just to piss off her stowaway presence. Good times were had by all.

Read it if you want, ignore it if you don't as you already known the overall details from previous codex releases. There aren't any great revelations of Tau society other than the immediate effects and after effects of the previously mentioned Oops, There Go All Our Ethereals.
138 reviews3 followers
December 11, 2022
It jumps around a little too much for large parts of it, at least for my taste. Jumps around, as in, takes you from different wars on different battles. It gets too confusing, maybe that’s better in the written book than in the audio. The battles aren’t exactly when the writer is at his best either.

The underlying story is pretty solid though. I guess Farsight has a little Horus Heresy in him, but written better. Much better.

The ORK bits aren’t great. The Chaos bits are. Over all you should probably only read it if you like the Tau.
Profile Image for Benjamin Ho.
41 reviews
September 10, 2024
Brilliant

There are times the proverbs in this book hits deeper than I would’ve anticipated, particularly for a Warhammer novel that I usually read like pulp fiction. Farsight lives up to his name and I wish more leaders were like him; brilliant and bold, yet humble enough to know his own limitations and step aside when he deems himself unfit to lead properly. Had me searching online for the next book, which there isn’t; I need more!!!
Profile Image for Dennis A Wilson.
1 review
February 24, 2023
Fun, pulpy fare

Farsight continues to blend together the best of T'au worldbuilding with fun guest starring roles from the Inquisition, Orks, and Chaos. Pacing is a little uneven - first half is too much politics, second half is one somewhat repetitive battle scene, but the action packed twists therein hold the heart of this book.
Profile Image for Sebastiaan Vanbesien.
126 reviews4 followers
February 23, 2025
Compared to the the first book, this took me a while longer to get into. But once I got there, I was in all the way. Phil Kelly again manages to build up a functioning, believable and yet very alien society and culture. Watching that society and culture struggle to come to grips with horrors from beyond the cosmos was great! 3,5 stars
Profile Image for Pavle.
69 reviews4 followers
December 20, 2020
I really appreciated this book. Though for most T’au players, the story is relatively known. However, someone getting into the hobby or exploring the T’au side of things. This is a must read.
Phil Kelly killed it.
5 reviews
October 7, 2022
A great sequel to Crisis of Faith. I have the same issues that I had with the first book (a lot of terms and references that would be lost on a reader that wasn't already engaged in the surrounding lore of the 40K universe and specifically T'au lore), but I'm more used to it now.
Profile Image for Harry.
15 reviews
December 29, 2020
Fun, light read if you’re interested in the lore and characters.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Stefan Koepeknie.
509 reviews1 follower
March 16, 2024
Cant go wrong with Tau vs Orks and (later in book) Demons.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
21 reviews
April 30, 2025
It was more exciting than the first book, but it definitely took its time to get going
Profile Image for Ethan Jarmush.
162 reviews1 follower
August 10, 2024
For a guy named Farsight. He doesn’t really see that far. Though the empire is full of lies, they got that pretty accurate.
2 reviews
November 18, 2021
The story takes place shortly after the events of the last novel, with Farsight still leading the expedition. Farsight must deal with the secret invasion of the enclaves after going on a "trial by fire" to find himself again. The novel's description of Farsight repelling the Orks is almost montage like as it shows him go from planet to planet. The story is not too engaging until the Arthas Moloch part happens, where those who play/ know T'au lore know what happens.

This is a more light hearted novel from the 40k universe, the setting is small and located within T'au space.
Profile Image for Normkompatibel.
40 reviews7 followers
March 16, 2023
Read crisis of faith first! This book digs deeper into the hole prepared by crisis of faith and boy does it digg deep. Excellent insight in how T'au society works and I was amazed by how dark it actually is. Great description of both protagonists, I love both of them now and absolutely despise ethereals. Also one of the best descriptions of the warp and demons in a long time. Everyone that likes AND dislikes T'au should read this series, it's truly very well written.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
421 reviews2 followers
August 15, 2021
With this one had to keep telling myself that the graphic violence (definitely amped up from previous book, which wasn’t a surprise given Khorne Daemon finale) was more than offset by the fascinating discussions on political science and identity that the book catalyze between my son and myself. Farsight remains a favorite for him, so seeing him struggle, make mistakes, fail, deal with the consequences and try again, trying better by learning from his mistakes, was also a definite boon.
Profile Image for Christian.
716 reviews
March 9, 2020
This was an interesting narrative formulation of the dry history section of the Farsight Enclaves Codex from a few years ago. It connects from the previous novel in the series and ends with Farsight’s self exile; the events get closer to the present. The Farsight expedition encounter and battle Orks and have their fateful full on meeting with Daemons. There is good action but even better character introspection and development from Farsight. The novel also highlights the positive and negative aspects of the Greater Good. I eagerly look forward to more Farsight as he is easily my favorite Tau character BUT I need much more action!
Profile Image for Oliver Eike.
327 reviews18 followers
May 25, 2020
I really enjoyed the first book of this series and this book delivers as well.

It is the story that is the start of it all, where Farsight gets his sword and how the Enclaves are put on the path of separation.

While the combat descriptors of the Tau books are a bit less interesting than most others, the characters and plot in this series at least keeps things interesting. Can recommend this book if you find the Tau even remotely interesting.
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews

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