A whole lot of arm chair writers here I see. Post a few links to your own literary master pieces? no? stfu. most of these writers are doing what they love and who are you to shit on them? really? And to be very honest I got the chance to meet a bunch of them and they are pretty freaking nice people, cant say the same about some folks here. There are hits and misses at BL, I am sure at ANY publisher. And lets keep it real here folks, this is science fiction and personal taste at that.
The problem as I see it isn't really with the writers. I think due to the length of the book, 1 a month releases, and probably being forced to write from a point of view they normally wouldn't that most of their talent is being wasted. I really enjoy Dan Abbnett's work, but the first book in this series is about something he probably wouldn't have chosen for himself. The stories just don't feel right coming from the authors that are working on them. The beast arises series comes across as a GW promotional tool or even just a quick cash grab. As a fan of the ork faction it is a huge disappointment to not get ANY ork perspective or even description really. And yes it is possible to do ork perspective. Plus they do that typical GW space marine measuring stick tactic of killing of a bunch of imperial fists so that other groups can look more impressive. Unfortunately the biggest problem with a bunch of different authors working a project at rapid pace is a weird plot and character development. If I remeber right a lot of readers had the same problem with the horus heresy series and how some characters would change drastically for no apparent reason other than the authors take on said character. Edit: speaking of good ol Mr Abnett where is the rest of gaunt's ghosts and the bequin trilogy!?
Oh that I can honestly agree. Despite enjoying a few ideas in the opening book, and the subjects it delved into, there was no denying the rushed feeling of the work. Given how little closure we saw and the fact the entire thing seemed to have been written largely as a first act, it lacked a lot of the more well rounded themes and ideas we have seen in other books, or the ability to stand on its own. If one were to compare Horus Rising with this one, even ignoring the significance of one compared to the next, the simple presentation, depth and ability to exist as a relatively isolated work would still see it beat out I Am Slaughter. It doesn't, of course, helps that these new books are incredibly short for what they are, and the lack of a soft cover option seems like a money grabbing angle. That said, the reason I spoke out is that I do disagree that all Black Library works are terrible these days. The last two Horus Heresy releases have been excellent, even in the wake of Nick Kyme's atrocious works, and one of those was a collection of short stories. The problem is that so much else seems to be extremely flawed, lacking depth to balance out the action scenes, and an ever greater focus upon marines. An issue hardly helped by the company's refusal to truly communicate with fans. That and, well, the massive sequence of disasters and lawsuits hasn't helped.
really? I disliked Mr. Wards fluff more than most I think, being an avid GK player at the time, but unlike most trolls I wasnt calling for his head. his keyboard maybe.
Classic response to criticism. You don't need to be better at something than the person you are critiquing in order to be justified in doing so. Experience is a subjective matter and one which each person has the right to express as they so wish. For the record, some of the earlier 40k novels are really good. Presumably they were given the time to actually craft them properly and they didn't read like YA fanfiction as a result.
Also @SockMonkey it is the job of a fanbase to provide critique of an artists work and constructive feedback. If we just midlessly accept every authors or artists work as is because they put a lot of effort into it we would never see an improvement in that persons work or the genre in general. If people become complacent then the results are lack luster writings that are writen simply for the sake of writing it and earning money; not for the sake of improving or entertaining people with their best possible effort. No I am not a professional writer. That doesn't mean I don't understand good plot, character development, or good pacing of a story. I didn't say omgwtf is this I hate it. I was speaking more from disappointment of wasted potential. This series could have been incredible instead it just comes of as rushed. I do enjoy some parts of it. I wish they had just made an entire book or series for the Vangorich character and Krul the beast those characters are awesome.
ugh.. of course.. despite the fact that attacking the palace makes no sense from an eldar perspective. i guess this treatment is to be expected at this point.
