#2lim3rz book ramble

[2lim3rz]

Lord of the Night, Why I Love It And Why I Connect To It [Super Long]

To Preface This: Spoilers. So much spoilers. Also rambling tangents.

Aka oops, 1441 words lol

You’re first started off with the image if a primal man. A feral man. Zso Sahaal is hardly human in the first chapter as he goes buckass wild on the thieves that stole the Corona Nox. Already, I was sucked into a new world. A world about a man who just wants his inheritance. Who lives in the past even when he knows he’s in the future. The world of Zso Sahaal, brutal, cunning, and merciless in his killings. All you know is that someone close to him was dead and that xenos took the Corona Nox from him.

And then you get to Mita Ashlyn, a psyker meditating in her cell where she foresees [well, really sees the past 2 hours] of some vague vision. You learn she’s pretty stalwart in her ways from the get-go and had a very accomplished, daresay even comfortable for an interrogator, with her previous master before she was and Mita was picked up by Inquisitor Kaustus. An Ordo Xenos Inquisitor with a very good reputation who seems to had odd mood swings. Chillingly cold one moment and smiling the next. His soul, to Mita’s pov, is a locked off and cold lantern

She assumes it’s just because of tricks the Ordo has taught him, despite the odd flashes of thought and emotion she gains sometimes. Of course, Mita doesn’t get along with Kaustus too well. She’s mocked by him even and her only closest companion is an Abhuman named Cog. Cog reminds me a lot of Lonnie from Of Mice and Men, simple and just wanting to live his best life. I love Cog. And though Mita treats him almost like a dog, she cares about him.

Of course, the story goes on and I’ma talk about Zso Sahaal first. Zso Sahaal meets Pahvulti [Love the lil shit] and eventually meets a sort of clan of VERY devout to the Emperor people called the Shadowkin after he destroys the Glacier Rats’ hideaway. They’re sneaky and not very well liked in the Underhive, but they don’t quite care. Of course, they see Zso as the Emperor’s angel and, after unwittingly killing their leader, Zso meets a woman named Chianni who’s their newfound leader

Following Zso was a confusing aspect. Well, not really, but it was surprising to see his reasoning. His methods were brutal, but.. well he does know of other ways, but in a way, it’s all he knows. It’s all he remembers from Konrad Curze. The scant moments he lets himself slip to memory even. And then he’s grappling with, unwittingly, his own fall into Chaos. At least, until he’s reawoken in a sense. Having broken free of it.

With a much clearly mind, Zso starts achieving his plans, unwittingly playing into his enemies’s hands. Unwittingly, his closest companion of his ‘empire’ is one of his betrayers. He even grows attatched to his ‘empire’ before realizing he has to cut himself off of it.

It all comes to one big culmination when he’s finally rams into the Governor’s like.. collection area to get the Corona Nox when it’s revealed that Kaustus is controlled by Eldar, Eldar shows up, but I think the most profound thing happens when Mita and him are in Zso’s.. mind..?

“I hate a being so sick, so certain of his own brilliance, so twisted by the call of glory, that he repays the greatest sacrifice of all with betrayal!” and ”He sacrificed his humanity, child.” And suddenly his voice was so melancholic, so deep and so calm, so bloated by sadness” juST Zso Sahaal hurts, he hurts and he finally releases it all to Mita. The truth of himself, in a way, even. And then when he sees what has truly happened to the Legion he once.. I wanna say loved. The battle-brothers he once knew and cared for, and the ones he scorned like Krieg, he’s hurt. I can’t remember if he even cries but either way, Zso grieves, even as his arm is torn off and Krieg tells him how Konrad fell to chaos before his focus

His focus, the only thing Zso had faith in. Focus. Discipline. Controlling himself. And that’s maybe why I relate to him so much. Because, and I know this is stupid to say, but its all too easy to find yourself slipping to emotion. Being happy and excitable is fun until your all too scatter brained to even drive straight. Focus. Something that’s easy to tell yourself but hard to execute. Focus. A thing that even Zso Sahaal struggled with, even though it’s his biggest strength. Even when all has fallen from his hands and he has.. honestly, not much to live for, he rescues the only one that has been true to him, even if she was his enemy. Mita Ashlyn.

-

Which leads me to my next topic, Mita! You’re introduced to her and, honestly, I thought she was bullied throughout the book. Kaustrus is downright rude to her most times and so is his retinue, in fact, everyone’s kinda putting her down just because she’s a psyker. Maybe not the strongest, but certainly of some note. In my opinion, Mita is explosive. She has a temper, and quick to anger. She’s dead set on eliminating Zso Sahaal, wisely, because of the threat he brings to them all.

She’s focused and determined on her goals and willing to see them through even if it kills her. Going so far as to go renegade against the Inquisition for this threat. And then she realizes something throughout the book.

She’s looking in a mirror.

Power, ambition, the fortitude to survive and thrive, the anger and sadness.

She and Zso Sahaal are one in the same. Even down to their goals, opposite as they are.

They want the best for the Imperium. They want the best for humankind.

And I just, just absolutely LOVE how Mita’s crisis of Faith went. Her one thing tying her to the Imperium this entire time was the hope, just the barest thread of hope that maybe just maybe the Emperor loves her. That someone in the entire galaxy cares about her [though this is mainly prevalent after Cog’s death, someone who did genuinely care about her even if it was mostly a literal feral brain going !! pretty woman! Wonderful mom of possible children!] that would actually give a single damn if she died fulfilling her duty

Until Zso reveals the truth. That the Emperor doesn’t care. That he only cared about the whole of the Imperium and not one single fuck is given to the little people. The only ones he cared about was if they were doing their job right. Zso tells it to her brutally straight.

And Mita realizes he’s right. And that brings me to my final statement;

Both of them let go and free themselves. Both of them only save each other through each other. 

Both Zso and Mita had something quite literally holding them back. For Zso Sahaal, it was the warp’s touch and then it was his cracking hope that maybe his Legion is alright; when he lets go of that when he finally gets the truth that his Legion is as damned as the rest, instead of joining he fights to the end for his beliefs. For Mita Ashlyn, it was that the thought that someone loved her, even if it was their God. Her faight was her chains shackling her power.

“The Emperor does not give me my power. My tutors lied! It is my own!”

And that is how I relate to Mita. Instead of religious faith pulling her down, for me it was my own belief that my own happiness only stemmed from others. If someone else was happy, then I was! It was not until recent that I realized no. I can bring my own happiness. I can let go and be free to be happy.

Lord of the Night taught me that sometimes, you need to let go of the thing you hold onto most. The thing that anchors you so tightly to something you didn’t even know.

And THAT is what I love the most. That even though Zso Sahaal curses and seethes at the thought of Mita Ashlyn [as she does likewise], they both are such a wonderful mirror of each other in different ways. Two sides of the same coin. That, even though they were mortal enemies, they found [in a way] solace and freedom with each other.

And that is why I recommend Lord of the Night by Simon Spurrier. A wonderful book!

Ave Dominus Nox and Ave Imperator!

[2lim3rz]

Last Chancers Spoilers With A Side of Tau

I.. love this book? So m uch? If I had to make a top 10 list of favorite books, this one’s on there even though it’s technically 2 or 3 

Overall, READ these books! I so recommend the Last Chancers by Gav Thorpe like- Holy shit it’s so good

ANYWAYS! Onto the T’au stuff first!

>There’s some sort of Fire Caste bonding ceremony thing for brothers at arms called ta’lissera,

>Fire castes have ritual combats where death is common, or at least common enough to be of note that it happens

>This group of Kroot at least, run in family groups called kindreds and I think that it’s cool and a little adorable

Now! Onto my ramble!

T’au don’t know what toasting was, so poor Por’la’kunas was terrified when Oriel was like “a toast for El’savon!” and everyone was just “!?!?! YOU WANT TO DO WHAT?!” Such a wonderful moment of cultural confliction askldfkl i love it

I’ma start at the beginning with..

13TH LEGION / DELIVERANCE

MAN! This was a wonderful start to the hell ride that too my heart! It introduced me to some of my favorite characters [Asides from Kage] namely, Franx, Striden, Kronin,Gudmanz and Poal. I love them all for different reasons and of course I’ma ramble about them too: POAL: An ex-priest who had enough bullshit in his life and decided to yell at the Cardinal, I love himm. Of course, he like the others of the 13th Penal Legion, is rough around the edges, but I think that’s what makes him great. I love the things he reveals religious wise of the Imperium. At least, what happens if you don’t necessarily believe, anyhow. FRANX: My MAN man I love Franx, he was wonderful and it’s impressive how much of a trooper he was. And, if I’m remembering right, his more-or-less selfless crime made him as memorable as much as he was.. I’d say cheery in a grim fashion? Sort of in the same way as how Kage says “Time to die!” before every major conflict KRONIN: Sure, he only speaks in litanies and the 40k equivalent of bible verse, but he still made his point across and honestly, he was great. I have less to say, sure, but it was utterly tragic how far he got before he died in the background. Not a word, not a scene telling of how he died, just an assumption from Kage that it was bloodloss

GUDMANZ: A 286 year old tech priest, so you already know he took my heart from just being a tech-priest. I Mmmeeean, he did a pretty serious crime, but 40k is just “choose your warcrime” sometimes and I dig it. Anyhow, Gudmanz was a decent dude.. a.. more or less nice old man. Kinda sad how he died

STRIDEN: The only non criminal on this, I just love his enthusiasm for orbital bombardments and his really good moral compass. It was neat to see how Gav Thorpe seemed to write him being.. uhh.. I’d dare to say fascinated about the Colonel’s crew before seeing them as the criminals they are

KILL TEAM:

OohohoHOHOHOHOHOooooo MAN this one’s got all the things I love, T’au, Kage, Kage being an asshole, Colonel being an asshole, sassing off to the T’au, Kage saying he has patience and then flipping off the lid 2 seconds later. I’m actually kinda upset that Marn died cause he seemed kinda chill, I mean we’re ignoring how he’s described as my dream guy, but I digress Characters I love this time? Orak, Trost,Moerk,, and Quidlon

ORAK: He’s a Kroot! A cool Kroot, so far from what I’ve seen, all Kroot are cool characters. Love ‘em a lot

TROST: Demo man!! He’s great, snaps off at Kage and picks his battles. I love how smug he is about demo stuff 

MOERK: HERO!! And a hero’s end he got! A fucking travesty he was put into the 13th, he seemed a great Commissar, loyal to the end

QUIDLON: Brains! I love hi mm! All the way to the part where Tech Priests didn’t like him cause he liked to tinker with things. HOLY SHIT I wasn’t prepared to find out how I guess T’au battlesuits are wired to their pilots or something cause it fried him QwQ

ANNIHILATION SQUAD:

This one, THIS is where Gav Thorpe officially took my heart. Kage finding out he’s a psyker and the possession scenes?! GOD DAMN the possession scenes got me! As much as the ending was tragic, it was the tragedy that befits Kage in the best way. He’s a broken man, a devastated man. He well established how the reason he lives is because he wants to live.

He just wants to live to be alive. And his death is just so MAN! I can’t word it properly and it upsets me, but just.. WOW! He takes fate by the throat and does what he does beast: Complete the mission at hand through the means he has. Even if it’s unconventional. However, I think the part that really marked his ending, was the death of Lorii. I really feel like she was the only human Kage relatively cared about on some level, hell, I feel like while he would’ve fought back, that if it wasn’t for the daemon possessing him, he would’ve at least convinced her or die trying

Not as many characters like the others, but I do have a precious few:Erasmus ‘Razzy’ Spooge, Oaheb, Brin Dunore, adding Colonel Schaeffer and Kage to the list too.. Okay maybe it’s a lot, Annihilation Squad was amazing

ERASMUS SPOOGE: Asdklfasklfh I love him, he’s such a strong dude even if he’s non-combatant, unlike Kelth he actually helps and gets a nickname from Brin! I love his questioning words and the servoskull of his dad he totes around

DERFLAN KIERK: While not one of my faves, I feel like it needs to be put out there how much of a character he is! Love it! Love the whole shenanigan with the Firefather too

OAHEB: I think he’s a psychic-blank? It’s super hard to tell but I love how he’s just sort of There. There to the point Kage downright dislikes and ignores the dude but he gives such good pieces of advice and words of wisdom the few times he speaks aksldfklh

BRIN DUNMORE: Brin ‘Brownie’ Dunmore, I like how he sees the humor in the nickname he just can’t shake off and MAN he’s a great character. A trooper to the end and overall, I just think he’s a great dude. He’s not ‘criminal scum’ like the rest no idea about oaheb tho and not counting Spooge He adds a little bit of light to the dreary darkness, even if Kage shoots him down a lot

COLONEL SCHAEFFER: The COLONEL! My MAN! I love how much of a force of nature he is! How terrifying he feels. How he’s over 300 years old and still an.. well not angry but very determined individual. There’s no care for Kage at all, but he does have some sort of odd comradrie with him, especially when he talks to the daemon inside Kage. MAN! He’s so fucking awesome and badass I can go off all day on him

KAGE S.: We don’t know much about Kage, admittedly, we only know his last name starts with an S, he’s maybe 30 something years old. That he was raised in the hives of Olympas before getting sent to the 13th for killing his Sargent and he and the Colonel have some sort of.. They have some sort of hatred for each other going on but they’re still comrades in the end, in a warped sense. Overall, I love how he sticks by his morals, even if those morals are very few and very slim. He’s a bulwark against threats of the Imperium, not even a Daemon could get him even if it caused so much havoc. And he’s  such a broken man. Corinatorum, I feel, is what really broke him. The description of how he saw the living children as just piles of dust. It haunts him day in and day out, but he still keeps going. He still puts one foot after another. Yes he’s an asshole and yet there’s.. there’s just something admirable in how he keeps going. How much that despite he says he’ll leave everyone behind, he still goes back to save Franx. How he still helps others, whether he realizes it or not. He’s such an amazingly written character and I love it!

Overall, the Last Chancers was an amazing book and a wonderful [albeit unconventional] entry into books about Imperial Guardsmen and their lives. I’d honestly say that, so far, it’s revealed a lot of things I never would’ve thought about in the Imperium and it’s wonderful! Wonderfully grimdark!