Book review: The Lion: Son of the Forest
Book: The Lion: Son of the Forest
As my Space Marines favourite chapter (and most miniatures) are Dark Angels, I picked The Lion: Son of the Forest out of curiosity to learn about the return of their primarch. I also have the miniature pending assembly and painting, but that's another story, let's focus on the novel.
One remark that I want to do is that I haven't read Arks of Omen: The Lion, but as far as I understood, the Son of the Forest novel happens before. The Lion awakes at The Rock, it is transported to the place where Son of the Forest begins, and I'm guessing that where the novel ends is more or less where the Lion "officially" reappears.
I also did not know about the Imperium Nihilus/Dark Imperium, caused by the Great Rift. It is a good trick by Games Workshop to make things advance at a different pace, by having half of the galaxy now blind to the Astronomican light.
With that out of the way, let's go with a small, spoiler-light review.
The Lion is back! I'm happy to see my beloved Dark Angels have their lore finally advance, both regarding having the primarch again, and his attitude towards The Fallen.
The novel is a decent read, with good amounts of action, and entertaining enough that I read it quickly. It didn't felt boring at any point, opens the right amount of plot threads and gracefully closes them (except a main question, as I'll mention), and it mostly feels appropriate of what you would expect from a super-human being that it's still disoriented after so much time "out".
Two points felt unsatisfactory to me. First, we are given zero reasoning as for why the Lion awakes, when it does and where it does - it simply happens, and it is what it is. And the second one is that I feel that the author went too far in giving so distinctive personalities to some of the fallen characters. I'm sorry but I don't buy the image of a Space Marine becoming a peaceful hermit, chasen by Dark Angels or not.
All in all, not a bad return, although neither a grandiose one. And the multiple open questions, like how he'll reintegrate in the Imperium, or what will happen regarding Luther or the mysterious Cypher, leave the door open for multiple future novels, which is always good.
Book review: Silo - The Wool Trilogy
Book: Silo - The Wool Trilogy
I did not know about this trilogy until I saw the first season of Apple TV's show, Silo, more than a year ago. After watching it, I got interested and picked up the book. I don't want to undervalue the show, as the first season is really good, but as it very often happens, the book is richer, slightly different, and I'd recommend starting with it instead of the series. I also stopped watching it midway through the second season, so I don't know if the divergences from the book become more accused, or stays mostly faithful to the source material.
With that out of the way, here comes the review itself. I really enjoyed this book. The apocalyptic, maybe sci-fi but not unsure if really so, setting; unsettling and cruel at times but not in excess (as could have very easily been the case). With well defined characters, who, for the most part, fit nicely in the story, and at times surprisingly leave it. With a narrative that dares to be different in the second book (I won't say why to avoid spoilers) to then come back with a vengeance in the final book. With sub-stories and variety, but not too much that you get lost on the main one.
If I had to mention something to improve, I have two tiny points: - A few characters feel like they are going to have more weight, and then they fade out into a very secondary role. This is one point that the TV show seemed to want to address differently (again, no spoiling). - The ending felt a bit abrupt: So much happens before, and then it ends a bit suddenly... too quickly without much detail.
In summary, a ~1300 pages great science-fiction tale, apt even for non sci-fi fans.
Book review: Children of Dune
Book: Children of Dune
Note: I can't write about this title without spoilers from the previous ones, so jump directly to the last paragraph if you wish to avoid them.
The third book of the Dune series, Children of Dune happens 9 years after Dune: Messiah. Blind and no longer with premonition powers, Paul went to the desert to die. His sister Alia is now in command, but something is not going well, both inside her and in the imperium. Plots and conspirators are everywhere. Dune is now advanced in the terraforming efforts, with some areas quite green, rains, and Fremen are starting to become used to water no longer being a scarce resource.
Paul and Chani twins, Leto II and Ghanima are 9-year-olds with an incredible intelligence, fully aware that something is amiss with Alia, and that they must do something to regarding their aunt, the Atreides empire, and maybe even Arrakis.
This book switches the main protagonist obviously from Paul to his family. We will learn about Alia's "issues", but the real main characters are the twins. This book also departs a lot from a "mild" sci-fi setting (worms, ghoulas and prescient powers aside), to fully embrace the fiction part. Without spoiling much, the premonition and inner voices powers that both Alia and Paul's children have go way further than the powers that Paul had, and there will be other plot twists and events that will surprise you.
The first half of the book is relatively calm, pretty much focused on politics, conspiracies and developing the characters. But, once you pass the first, half it jumps into a series of events that made me spend some long night sessions reading on and on, wanting to know what would happen next. Definitely more science-fiction than the previous titles, and, in my opinion, highly recommended.
Comic Book review: Dune: The Graphic Novel books 1 & 2
Books: Dune: The Graphic Novel Book 1 & Dune: The Graphic Novel Book 2
Continuing my desire for more Dune content, after the first two books and watching the movies (and now going to watch 2024's Dune Part Two), I recently discovered that there were some graphic novels based on the books; Two already published, and a third one coming mid 2024. What I did not know is that each graphic novel covers one third of the book... so be aware of that detail.
The writing is mostly directly taken from the book, so many dialogues are 1:1 matches. It sticks very close to the original content, so excepting a tiny change here and there, most of it has been ported entirely. Brian Herbert is listed as one of the authors, so that's probably why it is so accurate.
Where you will see some differences is in the visual style. After having two movies, many videogames and concept art/drawings, I at least have my image formed of certain aspects, like the Ornithopters, the Harvesters, even how the Harkonnen look (pale, bigger than normal humans, with dark clothing...). The style adopted by the illustrators is not bad, but reminds me more of the 1984 David Lynch's film than the other pre-existing materials, and sometimes feels not too elaborated; for example the Harkonnens look the same as the Atreides, and even the Baron is not very imposing. Don't get me wrong, it is not bad, just that the visual style didn't click with me.
Interesting additional material, but I'd go read the book instead. In any case, I will grab the third and last graphic novel book when comes out, and see how the more action-packed part is depicted.
Book review: Dune Messiah
Book: Frank Herbert's Dune Messiah
The first Dune book got me even more interested in Frank Herbert's universe, so I had to keep reading. I recently finished the second physical title (according to the "internal" numeration, it would be the fourth book), so here comes a small review.
Again, the first half of the book was very slow-paced. There are many moving pieces, at times unclear exactly to what purpose, and very detailed conversations and explanations of the state of things (12 years have passed since the first book's events). But then, everything begins to connect; events, plots, and characters advance.
It is a different book, not a mere continuation. The main character, Paul, feels tormented by his foresight; his close friends doubt him, and people question his decisions or directly conspire against him. And some new characters are disturbing, specially the "gholas", clones of deceased humans with metallic eyes and reprogrammed memory (but recalling most of their past).
You won't find here the same positive and encouraging story of the rising of a hero against oppressors. But it gets fascinating, with a thrilling "last act" finishing with an ending that makes you want more.
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