Hand of Abaddon
Dawn of Fire: Warhammer 40,000, Book 8
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Hand of Abaddon
Narrated by:
John Banks
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Narrated by:
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John Banks
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By:
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Nick Kyme
About this listen
Book 8 in the Dawn of Fire Series
As the Indomitus Crusade rages on, Inquisitor Rostov discovers vital intelligence that could reveal the plan of the notorious Hand of Abaddon, and hastily gathers together those loyal to his cause.
LISTEN TO IT BECAUSE
The dark schemes of the Hand of Abaddon near fruition. Can the already stretched forces of the Imperium manage to hunt down and prevent this new threat?
THE STORY
Defending the Anaxian Line, Ultramarines Lieutenant Ferren Areios uncovers a dread vision that has ties to the mission of an old ally. Meanwhile, Magda Kesh campaigns alongside the 84th Mordian. Though she refutes her fate as something more than a mere soldier, is she truly touched by the Emperor?
Despite a fractious alliance, the Hand’s scheme is reaching culmination. Amidst the infighting, Tharador Yheng yearns to be free of her master Tenebrus’ shadow and claim her destiny. But another acolyte has embarked on his own path, the Red Corsair Graeyl Herek. Both vie for the favour of the Dark Gods, and the means to harness an ancient evil that could reshape the war between the Imperium and Chaos.
Written by Nick Kyme. Narrated by John Banks. Runtime 13 hours and 4 minutes approx.
©2024 Games Workshop Limited (P)2024 Games Workshop LimitedListeners also enjoyed...
This reminds me of Nick Kyme's work in the Heresy Series. Nobody's farvorite but keeping the story moving.
Nick Kyme classic
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Only the Red Corsairs warband were interesting to follow, and that's partially because they break from the stereotypical backstabbing of the Chaos aligned. Even then the conclusion of that narrative thread is unsatisfying, feeling anticlimactic rather than the gut-punch it was intended to be. Even John Bank's usually solid narration feels a bit flat here. Servicable, rather than good. There's a lot of scenes that might have landed better if it didn't sound like he was just trying to get through the text.
It's a real disappointment after the Iron Kingdom, where the author portrayed the Imperial forces as fractious and divided by flawed leadership, and Sea of Souls, which was also about moving a piece of the metaplot into place but used the opportunity to tell an excellent self contained story.
Dull
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Better than reviews mention
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Just not that good really
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Good character development.
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The book itself is fine, a bit convoluded and contains characters that are not very interesting. Also the current trend of simplifying the astartes' personalities makes for low quality and generic astartes storylines.
"gun metal gray"
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In another sense, this book is a bit like that episode of the Simpsons where the Itchy and Scratchy Show gets a new character. The Simpson kids sit down to watch the latest installment of their favourite cartoon cat and mouse hyperviolence, only to witness the two sworn enemies lay down their weapons and say 'Hey look it's our friend Poochie!" The kids watch in bewilderment, then growing dismay as a dog wearing shades proceeds to skateboard, rap and mouth meaningless slogans. Then the episode ends. The cat and mouse are relegated to minor characters in their own show, their role now nothing more than to inform the audience how awesome Poochie is. Needless to say,it's a ratings disaster—everyone hates Poochie.
When Inquisitor Rostov reappears early on in Hand of Abaddon, it feels as though we might finally be back on track with the series' main plot. But we quickly learn that this isn't the Rostov we knew from the previous books. He's a broken man. A physical and psychical mess. it's implied this decline has been a growing problem for him since the earlier books, but this is just Nick Kymne rewriting past events to recast Rostov as a weak man. In earlier Dawn of Fire novels, Rostov was depicted as a ruthless, iron-willed inquisitor who would torture Chaos marines to death and psychically absorb their pain in order to get what he needed. That's tough. Yet, suddenly he's now a physically incapable man plagued by doubt. Now treated more carefully, this could be a challenge for Rostov - to come to terms with and succeed despite his limitations, as part of a satisfying character arc, but no: everything that happens to every character in Hand of Abbadon is done with a clumsy crashingly obvious agenda driving it.
Rostov is now a weakling because his new feeble persona is needed to cast his companions in a better light - his brand new companions. For reasons that Nick Kymne doesn't expend any energy on explaining convincingly, Rostov's retinue of Antonio, Lecrante and Chilka, a rather endearing and likeable gang from the previous books, are left behind as Rostov goes off pursuing the Hand. It makes absolutely no sense—until with a sinking heart the reader feels the heavy hand of the author pushing them onward, while whispering in their ear: "Forget about those old characters, here's your new characters — better characters!"
"Who are these incredible bad-asses?" I do not hear anyone saying. No of course not, because you've already guessed who they are. Yep — a series of utterly unloveable girl bosses: Inquisitor Greyfax, the appalling Helwinter rogue trader woman who showed up like two books ago and does nothing but whine and complain and criticize everyone (and comes from Fenris which makes no sense at all), The Sister of Silence from the Kymne novel which was so forgettable I'd forgotten about her, the leader of a bunch of squats, and Mordean sergeant Kes, who at least came in during Gate of Bones but who is now space jesus (as if a character being gifted utterly unearned superpowers is somehow going to make them likeable). "Deus Ex Machina! It's a miracle, Emperor be praised, we're saved!" is now how every book in this series seems to end, and by the end of this I couldn't have cared less.
It's like the early books in the series served no purpose at all. There's no Antonio, Lecrante or Chilka and their oddly endearing spiky relationship, there's no Fabien Guelphrain and Sergeant Lucerne whose unlikely friendship is a joy to behold, there's no Guilliman and Moldovar Colquan—another intriguing love-hate relationship. The early books set this series up with great characters, who have all been summarily dropped in favour of unloveable, paper thin characters for painfully obvious reasons that are nothing to do with telling good stories or providing readers with rounded, likeable characters.
Like the kids in the Simpsons, we can spot a cheap switcheroo when it's being pulled on us before our eyes. And to be frank, Nick Kyme is not a good enough writer to pull this off. When the introduction of new characters to a book or series is done well, you don't notice it, it happens invisibly. I don't recall anybody having any beef with Dan Abnett's Beta Bequin, and she got introduced to the reader with huge fan favourites Inquisitors Eisenhorn and Ravenor reduced to secondary characters in her story. But who cares when the writing is as good as Dan Abnett's is in Pariah and Penitent? Go listen to them instead of this nonsense.
Clumsily written with an obvious agenda
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The obvious pandering.
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