Better than the original version

For those of you who didn’t buy it the first time around, Black Library put out another version of this months ago narrated by a different reader. Though Mark Elstob is a fine narrator when he’s in his element, the man simply couldn’t do Space Marines, and his rendition of Roboute Guilliman, who is described as having a ‘beautiful’ voice, falls flat on its face. My guess is that the backlash from the first version was so bad that BL conceded and brought in John Banks for an emergency re-reading, and are probably going to have him reading the rest of the series too. I won’t say that this new version is completely worth having to buy a second time, but it is a marked improvement over the original, somehow even managing to cut the reading time down a couple hours. Definitely worth reconsideration.

17 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Now it's fixed, it's amazing!

I listened to the first variation of the book and wrote a terrible review, based on the voice acting, it completely ruined in. I believe I quoted "has the potential to be amazing, but the voice acting killed it". Guilliman legit had the worst impression of any character I've ever heard. I imagined him wearing a top hat and monocle. Terrible.

Flash forward to this iteration! The Black Library remade this audio book after all the complaints. The legendary John Banks voiced it this time, and it's absolutely amazing. I highly recommend it, it's a home run this time around!

10 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Best introduction to Era Indomitus

After reading the Dark Imperium and Watcher of the Throne, among others. I found that this book stands as the best introduction of Guilliman's return, the great rift, the Primarus marines, and the beginning of the Indomitus Crusade. it does a good job of setting the stage. if you're looking for a good introduction to the most current events in W40k events, this is a good place to start.

3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Great start to the Indomitus Crusade

If you're looking for a place on where to get started with the current lore of Warhammer 40000 this book is the place to begin. For newcomers, this book is going to have everything from where primaris space marines came from, the inner workings of the imperium ands logistical nightmares and religious zealotry, introduction to the inquisition and finally how the world interacts with the Primarchs.

The narration by John Banks is superb and I found myself not wanting to stop listening.

If you're looking for a place to get started in the Warhammer 40000 universe but the Horus Heresy seems too daunting, this is where you should start.

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

30 minutes left, couldn't bring myself to finish

This is the first time a book by Guy Haley has made me bored. He's one of my favorite authors, yet this was a slog to the point that I gave up when the finish line was in sight. Do yourself a favor and read the Plague War trilogy instead.

2 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

The Era Indomitus begins with a bang

After the less than stellar story of Gathering Storm I feared that Avenging Som would be a let down. Fortunately I was very wrong. In this story we follow multiple characters who’s stories mostly connect by tales end with one notable exception. Guy Haley once again impressed me with spectacular writing, world building and a fantastic understanding of the grim dark future. My only complaint would be the story at times seemed a tad to hopeful for Warhammer. It still has some great grim dark moments and the situation is as dire as ever but also with the introduction of the Primaris marines, The Primarch himself making grand plans and the crusades beginning it felt closer to the great crusade in tone than 40k. That said it still makes sense considering the context and really does nothing to take away from the book. The characters are well written, the story scale is perfect and John Banks performance is masterclass. Overall I recommend this to any 40k fan who is looking to understand the developments to the story that have taken place in the last few years.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

There's an alien on the loose!

I don't know why, but Chilche as a character was just...strange? I don't get it, but oh well. Grimderp

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Some good Universe Building, Good enough Story

Mostly worth it for the 40k universe-building. Guilliman, Primaris, Admiral Van Leskus & some well detailed bits & pieces.

The story is nothing special. Not bad, just standard 40k fair. A lil back-ended, not much action at the start, in the middle. Could have done without 90% of the Scribum's story but otherwise an entertaining listen.

As the intro to 9th edition's time/storyline, going back to the start of the Indomitus Crusade, it sets the table well.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

An Honest Review

-Key Positives-
-most of the characters are very relatable, and you really get drawed into their world. be it the man who dreams of being a historian. a new space Marine coming to terms to his new reality... are you in the sad tale of a simple cog in the machine that helped to fulfill a Grammy purpose.

-I was surprised to find that the Primark, despite the goody two shoes reputation I had heard about him up until now, was surprisingly down to earth and thought pragmatically.

-this book really gets you into the feeling that this is the beginning of something truly Grand.

-the pessimistic xenos was an absolute delight.

-Key Negatives-

-the battle seems whenever they did pop up or excruciatingly long... especially any battle doing with ship to ship combat. this may come down to personal preferences I prefer the more individual stories of the characters. but I just found anytime a battle came about I was hoping it to pass quickly.

-there was one character in particular that I will not spoil, but needless to say their journey seemed somewhat pointless by the end. I do hold out hope that in further books to come they will rectify this.

-Additional Notes-
from what I understand this story can be a bit redundant to some people who have read more deeply into the lore. but to me being fairly new to 40K overall, found it to be overall enjoyable. the only really redundancy was one offhand mention about a world from the previous book that I already knew kick the bucket. but this was quick and didn't impair the story at all.

Great read!

Guy Haley is amazing and John Banks narration is always fantastic. Great insight into the start of the Indomitus Crusade.