Hammer of the Gods

Some projects take longer than others. This is one of those. Back at the beginning of March I sat down at the drawing table and in about 2 hours I had gone from online photos to drafting, cutting and assembly. Not a bad start. This is that start. The problem is the project has been sitting in the paint booth collecting dust for the past 2 months. Well it is time to pull it out and get it back on track. So lets bring you back up to speed and show you the project as it stand now.

Next time you see this project it will be out of the paint and another step closer to completion. Stay tuned.

Promethean Sun Review

I just finished reading Promethean Sun this morning and I am really liking what Kyme is doing with the Salamanders. The battle scenes are grand with great combat descriptions so you feel the heat of the jungle and strength of each hammer blow. He sets up a rather stark contrast between Vulkan and the other 2 primarchs in the book. Each has their own distinct identity and he shows you the differences between their styles of saving a planet. 

The thing that you really walk away form this story understanding is Vulkan is a life saver and not a life taker. He for lack of a better term is the most "human" of the primarchs. He is sort of the proof of nature vs nurture. He has great power and is a strong leader but not a tyrant because of it.

All in all it is a good story with some very enlightening moments about Vulkan's past and has enough twist to keep you interested throughout the book.

I give it a 3.5 out of 5

Book Review - Firedrake

I just finished the second book in the Tome of Fire trilogy, Firedrake. This book takes place some time after the first with quite a few shakeups in the Salamander 3rd Company. If you have listened and read the connecting stories for the trilogy this isn't a big of a shock and even it you didn't allot of it was predictable. This time we are given 3 intertwines stories that dive deeper into the mystery posed in the first book. There is Dak'ir ascension and first trials, Elysius's capture/escape and the appearance of Vulkan He'Stan in a quest to recover an artifact. This is a lot of ground to cover in a short time and I have to give credit to Nick Kyme he does a good job tying them together.

His style compared to the other Black Library writers is a little heavy handed with not a lot of foreshadowing or hiding of purpose. Each character plays their part and though they grow throughout the book the growth  isn't in dramatic changes. It feels more like I am playing the cards I am dealt. This does lead to a few characters ending up in predictable situations with the classic saved at the last minute solutions.The pacing on this one is better than the first book with each segment moving forward to a logical breaking point before the next story arc takes over.

The biggest change is the detail level he gives in this book. 40K authors are know for creating lavish worlds full of little details and that is the shining point of this book. There are no blank walls or empty battlefields. You are given everything from the scale of the room to the dust floating in the air. If you are into building terrain and looking for ideas this book is great for that. I am already picturing a couple of custom tables from the book.

Over all I liked the book and it is pretty fast read with only a few gripes. The gripes being the same ones I have with all the 40K book where once an objective is reached the story ends with a short hop back to their ship/home world to await the next mission. Just once I want to see a real fighting escape. The other issue is the epilogue feels more important than the rest of the book. This could be due to it being a middle book in the trilogy. They normally server as a place holder for what is next. On the plus side it answers almost all the questions asked in the first book Salamander even if we were about 80% of the way to the answers already.

Is it worth reading, yes. Though not the best Black Library book it has more than enough to hold its own and is an enjoyable read. If you read the first or any of the connecting stories then you have to continue. There is nothing worse than stopping in the middle. If for anything then to find out if Dak'ir and Tsu'gan kill each other before the series ends.

3 blotter rounds out of 5.

Review: Fireborn

The world of Sepulchre IV stands on the brink of destruction. From the stars the Red Rage decends, intent on murder and massacre. Into the fray are thrust the Firedrakes, peerless champions of the Salamanders. Their mission: retrieve the 'holy relic' of Sepulchre and prevent it falling to the enemy. Tsu'gan, latest recruit to the vaunted order, must learn to temper his inner anger if he is to succeed in the First Company.

Facing an indestructible foe, the Firedrakes will be tested as never before. Victory is possible against the Red Rage, but only if Tsu'gan can master his wrath and even then the sacrifice will be great ...

I just finished listening to Fireborn for the 5th time because I am too lazy to change the CD. Fireborn is an offshoot story from the Salamander books by Nick Kyme. This time we are following Tsu'gan as he takes up the mantle of a first company Terminator. The story is your standard fare with gory battles and paper thin characters that you expect. The final ending is more of a diversion and caps the story off but still feels a little stunted. Like the were pushing hard to get the story done before they ran out of audio space.

What makes this a decent buy is the production value, if you are not an audio book person. This is not an audio book it is a 1930's radio drama with all the over the top voices, sound effects and transitions that set the mood and pace of the story. From the footsteps on the cold marble floors of the Sisters bastion to the roaring sounds of battle and the grinding of the tank treads on the Rhinos it is all there and extremely well done. You get a chance to put voices to the words and get a taste of what the Salamanders are hearing over their com channels. This is a great intro for anyone new to the grim dark world of 40k. There were a few times where twist and turns when thrown at you and punctuated with just the right sound or in a couple of places silence to drive the meaning home. The sounds really bring a fairly weak story to life.

The only issue I have with it really is if you are an audio book person skip it. I love audio books and wish the Black Library would team up with Audible so some their stuff could be accessible. So what is the difference between this and most other audio books, the words. Having the sounds and voices is a bit of a crutch and hides allot of the wordplay and detail that their books are known for. Hearing the voices of the troops muffled by scratch voxcasters or echoed from speakers pulls the attention from what they are saying and really makes it secondary. There were several times where it also pulls back the impact of some of the statements and setups because the sounds hide any foreshadowing.

So what does all this leave me with as a rating. I have a split on this one. Looking at it as a radio play I give it a 4+. The story is a little predictable really predictable. The characters have very little depth and the overall outcome is to a little Disney/pop corn movie for my taste with final resolution coming too easily. As an audio book it is easier to rate with a solid 5+. The story is weak and rushed for what feels like no good reason. What makes it worse is I know Kyme is a better writer than this. It just felt like they forced him to write this one. There was nothing here that needed to be set as part of the Salamander books.

Black Library, call the guys at Audible and give use a real audio book. It is not like you don't have an audience for the material. I already own all the books from the Horus Heresy series and would gladly repurchase them as audio books if you offered them.