Hi Graham,

Have finished Mechanicum, will outline the review and fill in the blanks over the next week or so.

Just a small thing Graham, Nikki came down from Newcastle, but i'm officially a southern softie, so had to come up to see you, twas all in all a good day.

Enjoy your jaunt to Oz, hopefully you'll have a review to read.

Yes, 'twas only me that sent just over three hours on a train doing my damnest to push Defenders into my very eyeballs so that I would have it finished....and then fox you by not removing my bookmark/bus ticket.

Muahahahahahahahahahahaha!

I'm not so far through Mechanicum.....it's going to take a little while....and I'll have to write up and post a review of Defenders since I generally fail at life and talk to much about crap.

Just a quick heads up to say details for Melb sent mate and so should be floating around in the inbox somewhere, apologies for the lateness!

~Stephen

On Defenders of Ulthuan review for you Mr. McNeill, since I didn't really give you a decent one during the signing because I talk WAAAAAAAAY too much.


Possible mild spoilers for anyone who hasn't read it......avert your eyes now!





I often feel that I read this book at exactly the wrong time, that I should have read it before I went anywhere near Malus Darkblade, but as fate with have it I didn’t. I pick it up after I’d put Lord of Ruin down and started it almost straight away….which I still don’t think was even close to the right thing to do, simply because, having read all the Malus books back to back, and so spent five weeks in the realm of the Dark Elves, I was still pretty much in that dark and moody mindset when I delved into much less dark and brooding world of the High Elves.

On the flip side, the question that follows would be, would I have read Defenders of Ulthuan had I not read Malus before? The answer would probably have been yes anyway, but I might have started the book in a much more favourable light.

I can’t say I’ve ever had any real love the of the High Elves in Warhammer, despite not knowing a great deal about them….but I’ve always had the sense of their aloofness dances over the borders into arrogance, and arrogance is rarely an endearing characteristic…..so there was always a slight sense that I didn’t really want to like the High Elves all that much because of their perceived arrogance….though I have to admit, by the end of the book, I had softened a little towards some of the High Elf characters….and there was were, namely Glorien Truecrown that held up the arrogant elf banner with pride.

Over all, character-wise, there was a pretty alright mix of characters, with one or two standing out for me which made quite like them. Namely Cerion Goldwing (the personable, seasoned old solider who only wants what’s best for his men and the protection of his home and general all around nice guy) and Elthorian the Grim (so much hidden depth and melancholy portrayed in only a short time….and not a happy guy). However, I felt the Dark Elves were a little flat in characterisation….but I put that down to being stuck in Malus mode, since the book isn’t really about them, they’re pretty much supporting characters at best

Storyline……at first I thought I wasn’t going to be all that thrilled with it, just with the way that it’s technically about three or four stories woven together, but each necessary and all connected, despite the fact each part is distinct and separate from the rest. I’m not a fan of ‘jumpy’ stories with multiple things all going on at the same time, but Mr. McNeill chose his changes of pace and storyline brilliantly, making each section nice and tight before moving on to the next piece of the story so I never felt like I was just reading pieces to get back to what had happened 20 pages ago with someone else. It flowed well, despite the fact the story meandered in the sense that there’s so much going on, and over a great distance (not as bad as it sounds)…..but which gave the book a pace that suited the High Elves well….purposeful, but in a roundabout way.

Pace, as I said before as spot on for the Elves, a bit wishy-washy but this book is a build up/foundation laying book, and the subject matter at hand dictated a not so three-feet-from-the-edge-of-your-seat-fist-in-your-mouth-oh-my-god sort of way….that’s for book two. Though that’s not to say that the book was slow or dull…just more a book of two halves, after page 200, the quiet sense of threat that had been brewing in the back of my mind started to make its presence known to all and sundry and the build up really began over the last 200 pages to finish with a cliff-hanger and a half!
And as usual, Mr. McNeill got out the big brush and painted a wonderful landscape that even through my Dark Elf bitterness, towards the end, I couldn’t help but think ‘You know what, I wouldn’t mind living in Ulthuan….and I can see what the Dark Elves hate the High Elves so much.’ I especially liked the descriptions of Tor Yvresse and found myself feeling quite sad while reading that part of the book.

But overall, a fairly enjoyable book, it had its good points (Malekith and the dragon), it had it’s bad points (Morathi and that Chaos guy who’s name I can’t remember), it had it’s creepy, pervy High Elf bits (the travellers watching Caelir and Lilani going at it like rabbits), it had is ok bits (pretty much Eldain and Rhianna) and it had its cliff hanger ending that made me want to punch a certain character for being a spineless swine but I do look forward to the next one.

I can't review Mechanicum because it made me sad.

I haven't finished Mechanicum. I am savouring it (me, who can read a 600-page book in six hours... forcing myself to read slowly...), and taking a select time a day for it, making sure the candle burns down so I cannot read all night.

But regardless of how it continues, and how it ends... by the Emperor. I had to read the prologue-thingie thrice before I could get on with the ordinary story. And every time, I had to take fifteen minutes to pause, stare dreamily into space, and just... savour it.
Well, you managed to write it in a way that really, really had me go "bookgasm". Perfect. Thank you.

I fear I'm going to be in a minority here.

Woo hoo!

Got Issue 2 and 3 of Fire and Honour this morning.

YAY!

Graham,

thank you for your kind comments about those of us who came for the signing. A quick observation from mechanicus. Some charachters use teh word 'throne' as an expletive. what throne would they be refering too as the golden one was not yet in operation?

thank you

richard

Richard, it's happened a few times over the course of the Heresy books, the other times it's been Astartes that have said it.

Personally, I put it down to it being something of an ironic phrase dating back to when Terra was split into the different factions and were probably ruled by kings, which would have sat upon thrones, which are a symbolism of power at the time....and now, since all that has been cast aside, the phrase 'throne' is a curse to mean something stupid.

True, I have no physical/written evidence to back up that theory, but that's just may take on the use of the word in that context....which is different from that used during the 41st Millennium.

Looking forward to lay my hands on 'Defenders of Ultramar' comic book!!