‘Throne of Lies’ – Aaron Dembski-Bowden (Black Library)
The other day, I remembered that I've got Audible on my phone so thought I'd revisit a book or two while I worked. It only turned out to be the one book, in the end, but it was 'Throne of Lies' so that was ok ;o) It's actually been years since I last listened to 'Throne of Lies' , long enough ago that it was on a CD, but my opinions of it are pretty much the same so I thought I'd do myself a favour and post the review that I posted back in 2010. As ever, time is at a bit of a premium, you know how it is.
I've tweaked this review a little, mostly because I'm not listening to a CD now but other little reasons as well, so if you want to, you can read the original review over Here. If that's not your thing, no worries, just keep reading... ;o)
The traitorous Night Lords Space Marines chapter strikes from the shadows, feeding on the decaying remnants of the Imperium of Mankind. They are not sworn to any one of the Chaos powers but their quest remains the same, to bring down the regime of the false emperor.
Sometimes though, even this must take a back seat to concerns that are far more pressing. The Night Lords are sworn to another crusade, one that they will sacrifice everything to complete, and it looks like Talos the ‘Soul Hunter’ has just discovered the path to it’s conclusion...
Aaron Dembski-Bowden builds upon what he began in ‘Soulhunter’ and expands his vision of a traitorous Space Marine chapter on the brink of extinction but still aiming to spit in the eye of the Imperium one more time before the inevitable occurs. As was the case with ‘Soulhunter’, I like the way that the Night Lords (while allied with their chaotic brothers) are rebelling for reasons of their own; it gives the whole scenario a little more depth and colour. The story itself does stand on it’s own but if you’ve already read ‘Soulhunter’ then I think you’ll get a lot more out of ‘Throne of Lies’. Reading ‘Soulhunter’ isn’t exactly a chore either (if you haven’t already), it’s very good indeed.
‘Throne of Lies’ was certainly a gripping tale to listen to, from the opening flight through the perils of the warp to the strangely poignant message from M’shen right at the end (with a political assassination in the middle). It does suffer though from the format that it finds itself in. There’s only so much story that you can fit in an audiobook of this length and you’re never going to be able to get all the twisty turny bits that you would find in a book... As a result, ‘Throne of Lies’ was a little more linear (in it’s plot) than I would have liked. You get to spend a little more time getting to know the characters but the story very much starts at A and ends at a slightly predictable B. It did whet my appetite for more tales of the Night Lords though, hopefully the next instalment will be a book and not an audio book...
Black Library seem to be investing a little more in the production of their audio books and this shows in what is a very atmospheric tale in terms of its sound effects. The narrator tells you what is happening but it’s all those little background noises that show you. You can almost feel the warp pressing against the hull of the ‘Covenant of Blood...
Beth Chalmers doesn’t have a lot to say but when she does step up it’s all done professionally and adds to the overall affect. John Banks has the largest chunk of narrative duties and really makes the story his own. There is one part though where he loses the voice of a character and goes back to his ‘narrating voice’. I’m surprised that didn’t get picked up actually...
'Throne of Lies' isn't without it's flaws but remains a thoroughly entertaining listen that bodes well for future Night Lords tales (but only if they're books though...)
The traitorous Night Lords Space Marines chapter strikes from the shadows, feeding on the decaying remnants of the Imperium of Mankind. They are not sworn to any one of the Chaos powers but their quest remains the same, to bring down the regime of the false emperor.
Sometimes though, even this must take a back seat to concerns that are far more pressing. The Night Lords are sworn to another crusade, one that they will sacrifice everything to complete, and it looks like Talos the ‘Soul Hunter’ has just discovered the path to it’s conclusion...
Aaron Dembski-Bowden builds upon what he began in ‘Soulhunter’ and expands his vision of a traitorous Space Marine chapter on the brink of extinction but still aiming to spit in the eye of the Imperium one more time before the inevitable occurs. As was the case with ‘Soulhunter’, I like the way that the Night Lords (while allied with their chaotic brothers) are rebelling for reasons of their own; it gives the whole scenario a little more depth and colour. The story itself does stand on it’s own but if you’ve already read ‘Soulhunter’ then I think you’ll get a lot more out of ‘Throne of Lies’. Reading ‘Soulhunter’ isn’t exactly a chore either (if you haven’t already), it’s very good indeed.
‘Throne of Lies’ was certainly a gripping tale to listen to, from the opening flight through the perils of the warp to the strangely poignant message from M’shen right at the end (with a political assassination in the middle). It does suffer though from the format that it finds itself in. There’s only so much story that you can fit in an audiobook of this length and you’re never going to be able to get all the twisty turny bits that you would find in a book... As a result, ‘Throne of Lies’ was a little more linear (in it’s plot) than I would have liked. You get to spend a little more time getting to know the characters but the story very much starts at A and ends at a slightly predictable B. It did whet my appetite for more tales of the Night Lords though, hopefully the next instalment will be a book and not an audio book...
Black Library seem to be investing a little more in the production of their audio books and this shows in what is a very atmospheric tale in terms of its sound effects. The narrator tells you what is happening but it’s all those little background noises that show you. You can almost feel the warp pressing against the hull of the ‘Covenant of Blood...
Beth Chalmers doesn’t have a lot to say but when she does step up it’s all done professionally and adds to the overall affect. John Banks has the largest chunk of narrative duties and really makes the story his own. There is one part though where he loses the voice of a character and goes back to his ‘narrating voice’. I’m surprised that didn’t get picked up actually...
'Throne of Lies' isn't without it's flaws but remains a thoroughly entertaining listen that bodes well for future Night Lords tales (but only if they're books though...)
Comments
Post a Comment