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.

12 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!

6 personnes ont 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

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.

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.

great for people new to the universe

great job introducing the world of 40k and the new status quo that exists now.

Good beginning for a new series

The performance shines in this entry. The story covers a bit of politics, ground and fleet battles from diverse perspectives, Cawl’s big reveal of the primaris marines, and even some Adeptus Administratum intrigue. It drops a lot of lore for digging deeper if you are interested in the setting

Guy solved "Space marines are boring" for me

How do you avoid getting mired in "bolter porn" when making a Warhammer 40k novel involving space marines? Well, Guy did it by putting multiple disparate story lines with drastically different characters in it, and I couldn't thank him more for it.

The narrator did very well, and had sufficiently differing voices for characters that it was clear who was talking, and didn't take me out of the story.

Great intro to Indomitus

Book shows the beginning of the Indomitus Crusade. Follows after Carrion Throne, and Emperors Legion. This book is just before Regents Shadow.

Surprisingly good

I didn’t think I would enjoy this as much as I did. GW seems to have toned down the “write books to sell models” vibe with this one, and John Banks is, as always, amazing.