[Galahad]

Sorry for the necro, but I pre-ordered the book ages ago and it;s been sitting on my 'in' pile for ages and over the last couple days I finally sat down and devoured it.

I loved it! But them I'm used to negotiating multi-track stories with flashbacks and whatnot woven in. Seven-thousand pages of Peter F Hamilton has made it so I think it's weird when there's only one plot thread to follow.

The story was dark and twisted and chaotic, which fit the tone nicely. It was brutal and disjointed and not everything got answered to the asker's liking, but there weren't really any loose ends. It was a story about a brutal, disjointed place.

That said, it was super grimdark, chock full of grimdark, wrist-cuttingly grimdark. In short: everything I expect from 40k fiction not involving Commissar Cane or the hijkinks of Deff Skwadron.

And like LtoN, I don;t really care for non-Cain guard books, but this one was as brilliant as it was brutal.
I'd even suggest it to people I know who know very little about 40k as a great intruduction to the setting.

If anyone wants to talk about it I'm up for it.

My only complaint is that they didn't vaporize the Sea Spider's little floating empire from orbit on their way out...but then being left to rot without any fresh blood is probably a fitting fate for the sick SOB. Everything else seemed to tie up. Some concrete answers we may never get, but shady unverifiable answers will have to do...Was Reve really Lomax' daughter? Seems likely but we'll never know for sure...neither will Holt. I like that, helps me identify with him.

And then in the end where it all ended up being futile and circular...it was just the perfect expression of the nightmarish and brutal circuity of the 40k universe. no matter where you go there you are, stuck in hell because the 40k universe is a terrible, shitty place and it will never, ever have a happy ending. Every time you think you've saved the day and broken the cycle you find out it's all part of the same bloody death spiral. Raven and Cutler were trying to stop the demon that ravaged Trinity from escaping again and instead they ended up creating it. A giant kick in the balls right at the end...what else could you possibly expect in the 40k universe?

Also, was I the only one who knew Abel had to be a Tau? 'Abel' described 'Si' as being ancient...which he is, for a tau but no high-ranking human would see an octogenarian as ancient.

PS: This has me looking at guard again...can't decide if I want to do tau'd up renegades or come up with some specialty Arkan stuff (not sure how you'd do the knights though...allied marines? Sisters?)

 

[Lord of the Night]

If anyone wants to talk about it I'm up for it.

My only complaint is that they didn't vaporize the Sea Spider's little floating empire from orbit on their way out...but then being left to rot without any fresh blood is probably a fitting fate for the sick SOB. Everything else seemed to tie up. Some concrete answers we may never get, but shady unverifiable answers will have to do...Was Reve really Lomax' daughter? Seems likely but we'll never know for sure...neither will Holt. I like that, helps me identify with him.

And then in the end where it all ended up being futile and circular...it was just the perfect expression of the nightmarish and brutal circuity of the 40k universe. no matter where you go there you are, stuck in hell because the 40k universe is a terrible, shitty place and it will never, ever have a happy ending. Every time you think you've saved the day and broken the cycle you find out it's all part of the same bloody death spiral. Raven and Cutler were trying to stop the demon that ravaged Trinity from escaping again and instead they ended up creating it. A giant kick in the balls right at the end...what else could you possibly expect in the 40k universe?

Actually i've spoken, or corresponded, with the author and he has told me one or two things regarding what you've said.

The reason that Fehevari had Iverson not annihilate the Spider's web is that he wants to revisit it. He's currently working on a novella set Post-Fire Caste about Jhi'kaara, who survived, and featuring Karjalan, his daughter Natalja, the mysterious Magos Caul, Mr. Fish and Klete Modine. As to Karjalan's disease according to Fehevari he won't rot, more he'll keep growing. Much like his daughter. He says the novella will focus on the new phase of the war on Phaedra now that the Imperium and Tau do not care about it anymore and the sector-wide war they feared is happening, what will happen to those still on Phaedra that have been forgotten by both sides??

Regarding Reve I loved that mystery too. According to Fehevari there is no actual answer to it. The answer is whatever you decide is correct. I personally think Reve was an assassin sent by Karjalan to make sure Iverson never made it to Kircher. I think Lomax's death happened a bit too quickly after Iverson left and then her daughter that she didn't even hint at, and to me a Commissar having a family is odd, showing up all of a sudden is also odd. But perhaps it really was as she said and Iverson gunned down an ally in cold blood fuelled by paranoia. That's 40k for you.

In fact Fehevari told me that he created a lot of lore for Arkhan and that he used only the bare minimum of it. And if BL will let him he'd like to do a novel about Investigator Kharter hunting the Dark Man across the surface of Providence with Imperial and Chaos agents in the mix. I'd personally love to see that. A 40k detective novel with Fehevari's excellent grasp on the futility and grimdark nature of the universe?? Yes.

One of my favourite parts was definitely Mr. Fish's exit.

"For the Emperor and the Imperium."

Wow doesn't even cut it.

LotN

 

[Galahad]

Wow, I am absolutely ready for more from this guy. I want to read Outcaste but I think it's only available on itunes.

All of those things sound awesome. I'd love to see more Arkan...the whole post civil war steampunk jive is super hot right now, GW should ride that wave.

I loved the poetry, I love how it haunted the knight captain, I loved Iverson's journals and how the prose bent and twisted along with the state of his mind, I loved all the little literary touches...I even loved the little hidden Star Trek reference...which I credit long hours with Commissar Cain for allowing me to spot...just a great piece of literature. I handed it off to my dad who only has a passing familiarity with 40k and its lore, we'll see how he likes it. Pardon me for not remembering the names of everyone despite having just read it. I gave up on getting attached to anyone but the main characters pretty early on. People died too fast and miserably for me to bother learning many names.

Man, I really want to make some Arkans right now...

There's bound to be a bunch of readily available civil war minis, just swap in lasguns, or even just modify the old rifles with lasgun tips and power packs... punk up some sentinels...attached SM Captain in arty armor and a squad of marines for knights...boltguns aren't that far off from heavy stubbers. A little slower, a little shorter range but same strength and better ap, they'll do as a stand-in...and you could find some really cool steampunk minis for them...

 

[Anakwanar]

Its a very strange novel - i read it 4 times - and complete the full circle from hate to ignorance - to interest - to delight. Really waiting more from him.

 

[Hachiko]

Hi all-
Bumping this thread a bit after what, close to two years.
I just posted the first part of an interview with Peter Fehervari on my blog.

Just finished a re-read of Fire Caste recently once I had found out that his newest short, the AM story Vanguard, was going to be set on Phaedra. The book still holds up as a classic, and Vanguard is chock full of connected storylines and character updates.

Check out the interview here: http://hachisnaxreads.blogspot.com/2015/05/hachisnax-interviews-peter-fehervari.html

 

[jasonpittman]

once I had found out that his newest short, the AM story Vanguard, was going to be set on Phaedra. The book still holds up as a classic, and Vanguard is chock full of connected storylines and character updates.

Excellent I am a big fan of Fire Caste and will have to give Vanguard a read