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Pandorax and Trials of Azrael by CZ Dunn

22K views 86 replies 29 participants last post by  Phoebus 
#1 ·
#4 ·
The smilie says you'll be getting the ebook version, so I look forward to hearing what your thoughts are on it.


LotN
 
#6 ·
The video on the Pandorax page explains it. There are three products. The first is what you just described, the Apocalypse Warzone book based on Pandorax for the game. The second is what I posted here and is a novelization based around that battle by Christian Dunn, similar to the SMB books. And the third is an audio containing a side story to the main one, about Azrael fighting Kharn.


LotN
 
#9 · (Edited)
2/3rds through Pandorax. A pretty interesting read so far.
A few teasing bits.


Edit:
Finished it, a very good read with some terrific lore suprises and a very grimdark true conclusion.
 
#14 ·
Like the sound of the audio, as I am a big fan of the DA and Kharn the Betrayer, when is that out?
Copies of these two will start shipping out Nov 2nd.


LotN
 
#16 · (Edited)
Things I dislike so far

 
#19 ·
Things I dislike so far

Ok my rebuttal,




LotN
 
#17 ·
that indeed does not sound great,
for point (2), if a squad of BA can get killed standing together because the tesla coil of their plasma gun get hit by a cunning NL, I do not see the problem,
especially (4) seems strange, could you elaborate on this ?
(3) indeed seems very very strange, I know finally understand why the Navier stokes equations are invariant for time transformations
 
#20 ·
There was a short story where a tech priest was visitted by visions that led him to create a new version of the life eater virus, which a space marine team used to perform exterminatus with. It turned out to work all too well, turning the errant planet in question to a world filled with plague zombies.
 
#21 · (Edited)
That wasn't really a rebuttal LoTn more like an acceptance of new lore.

Plague Marines are slower than other Astartes but not humans.

In Asaheim, a Plague Marine keeps up easily with an enraged Space Wolf, arguably one of the fastest of the legions.

Stasis fields are immune to external trauma. The text we're talking about even mentions it:



What the traitor Inquisitor says regarding stasis fields


lewl
 
#22 ·
That wasn't really a rebuttal LoTn more like an acceptance of new lore.

Plague Marines are slower than other Astartes but not humans.

In Asaheim, a Plague Marine keeps up easily with an enraged Space Wolf, arguably one of the fastest of the legions.
Fine whatever it is. I can understand not liking the Plague marine scenes but I don't see why you dislike the stasis field parts. They make sense, the book even gives an explanation.

Interpretation, it's all down to interpretation. I like what Dunn has chosen to do here, the Astartes are dangerous but can be brought down with tactics, skill and luck. Others prefer it when no mortal can kill an Astartes but that is their choice, I like it when a skilled mortal brings down an Astartes because it makes for awesome scenes and because the authors usually put a lot of thought into it and make the fights more elaborate than simply two guys hacking at each other.

What the traitor Inquisitor says regarding stasis fields


lewl
I don't get your problem with this. It makes sense considering the standard of Imperial technology and the likely degrading of the field over 10k years.


LotN
 
#26 ·
#28 ·
I'm not surprised at the ability of the Imperial Guard to do what they did. How they did it is kind of sketchy, however the availability of anti-armor weapons in the Imperial Guard arsenal along with their vast numbers I'm surprised novels haven't focussed on that. I've read too many events where Imperial Guard are trying to bring down Traitor Astartes with lasguns. There comes a point where you wonder if the commanders don't understand its not working. Of course one can always claim they use their heavy weaponry against the mass amounts of cultists. But even thats kind of sketchy.
 
#32 ·
It was a somewhat OK read, but nothing spectacular. There were plenty of big lore revelations that somewhat make it worth reading, but the writing is rather meh and the book is so inconsistent with both itself and established lore that it detracts from the enjoyment.
 
#37 ·
A stasis field either works, trapping its contents within an unchanging moment in time or it doesn't. An energy field that's a permeable barrier and allows entry of molecules, radiation and energy isn't a stasis field. It might be a form of sus-an, but it's not a stasis field.

If GW want to redefine what a stasis field is they can, but its like saying gravity in the 40k world is actually water pressure, not an attracting force. None of the other authors seem to want to redefine basic terms.
 
#38 ·
So machines don't degrade over time?? A machine that is in constant operation over 10,000 years would not degrade and would require no maintenance to continue working at full function?? Likely it stopped ceasing the flow of time entirely and instead slowed it to a crawl, seconds passing every century and the like.

That argument is facaetious. 40k is a universe where ancient gods born of our emotions scheme to destroy us all, as do green skinned fungus people and space elves, oh and robots that have souls. I'm not going to debate it's sense of physics with you.


LotN
 
#39 ·
Yeah but the cultist doesn't hold up the vial of life-eater virus and say I've noticed this is an old defective machine and as a result it has a permeable field and doesn't actually stop time but slows it down, Dunn implies all stasis fields are permeable, which is completely at odds with all other descriptions of stasis fields in other 40k fluff.

Bad editing that's all.

The rest of the novel is excellent.
 
#40 ·
Yeah but the cultist doesn't hold up the vial of life-eater virus and say I've noticed this is an old defective machine and as a result it has a permeable field and doesn't actually stop time but slows it down, Dunn implies all stasis fields are permeable, which is completely at odds with all other descriptions of stasis fields in other 40k fluff.
I can only think of one other description and that's the machine Guilliman is in. And exactly how that works and functions, in full detail, has never been described to the best of my knowledge. As far as I see, what Dunn has written syncs up fine, and even if it is at odds with that one other description, who cares. Just because one writer says a piece of esoteric 40k technology works that way doesn't mean it's true universally, other Forge Worlds may build it a different way or not have access to as good schematics.


LotN
 
#42 ·
"Just because one writer says a piece of esoteric 40k technology works that way doesn't mean it's true universally, other Forge Worlds may build it a different way or not have access to as good schematics."

So basically all established lore is subject to change based on the whims of future authors.

LoTn. There are certain writers whose contributions they've made to WH40k's lore is just garbage. You need to accept that fact of life rather than agree every single time established lore gets massacred. The bigger question is why GW/BL/editors let them get away with it.
 
#45 · (Edited)
LoTn. There are certain writers whose contributions they've made to WH40k's lore is just garbage.
True. However...

You need to accept that fact of life rather than agree every single time established lore gets massacred. The bigger question is why GW/BL/editors let them get away with it.
...in reality, there is no such thing as established lore in 40k. The entire setting, absolutely everything, gets interpreted differently. Compound that with the fact that dozens of authors, writers and games developers contribute to the setting in various ways (codices, novels, articles, magazines, games, comics, forums etc) and (quite often due to a lack of organisation) inevitably are not on the same page as each other. That is the nature of 40k: inconsistency. That's why Jim Swallow thinks the Sons of Horus armour is metallic coloured and everyone else thinks its pale green. That's why Mcneill fucked up the timeline of the Isstvan expedition. That's why the 28th Expeditionary Fleet was commanded by both Fulgrim and Magnus. It's why Qurze was simultaneously both Terran and Cthothian. It's why stasis fields appear differently across publications. It's why no one knew just how big the Legions were. You get my point.

The quicker one accepts the inconsistency the better it will be, it has certainly helped me recently. If you simply ignore what lore you don't like (such as Dunn's take on stasis fields) - problem solved.

What bugs me is that every time a book, codex or novel is released people whine and moan about a certain aspect of the plot not fitting in with either their own interpretations or that of another author or contributor. Yes I get it, this inconsistency can be annoying at times, especially when you think the latest way item X is portrayed is stupid or when you know such issues could have been avoided with better organisation. But you have to accept it as inevitable given how the setting is.

I haven't read the books that this thread are talking about, but spitting into a stasis field and a virus spreading throughout one seems a bit daft to me. Oh well, it doesn't bother me. :laugh:
 
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