As always there is action in these books. It's all well written and doesn't go on for too long. I did like how the author chose not to show all the battles that happen in this book either as the characters weren't there. It added a certain mystery and added to the idea that some of the events in this book are beyond what Terra is ready for. I mean (Actual quote from the book): “I drove myself hard, aiming to recover my full spectrum of physical movement and banish my last evidence of my injury but even so there were still moments of unavoidable reflection.” You don’t say… “Unavoidable” So when I grabbed this book I was hoping to relive that. Instead, almost every conflict in the entire book was described something like: What Wraight achieves more than anything else is, by centering his focus on Terra, to drive home the scale of the galaxy and the conflict it faces. Facts we take as simple gospel in canon take so long to cross the void; till the disaster of Fenris is dropped almost on top of the Fall of Cadia. Through the human eyes of Tieron (The Chancellor of the Senatorum Imperialis), we watch as hope slowly bleeds away. Through the viewpoint of Custodian Valerian, we see the strictures which bind him to the Palace tighten and loosen, as he struggles with philosophical musings and armed conflict. And through Aleya of the Anathema Psykana we see the rage at being forgotten and ill-used by the galaxy at large.

When Aleya and her ship are trying to reach Terra through the Warp, they're rescued by Navradaran's ship, which has been assembling the Sisters of Silence. Karma Houdini: Not counting their losses in the battle with the Custodes, the Minotaurs are never punished for siding with Imperium Eterna, despite the fact that assaulting the Custodians would spell death for any other Chapter. When the astronomicon went out, it doesn't seem to have been an obvious mechanical failure. Tribune Heracleon (leader of the Emperors personal guard) reported that everything was working within normal parameters. Still the Fabricator-General himself went to see what was happening. In the second book, Valerian finds himself realizing that he enjoys true battle, and can't keep still in the Imperial Palace the way he used to.

Double Agent: In the second book, Fadix openly sides with the Imperium Eterna while covertly setting up assassins to take them out when the time comes. The second book features Tor Garadon, an Imperial Fists captain last seen shepherding the remnants of Cadian army in the "Gathering Storm" campaign. Q: If the Old World still existed, would Ludwig Schwarzhelm’s mighty beard have gotten its own book? Tieron binds aspects of these stories together, as he tries desperately to muster and release the institutions which might give humanity a fighting chance. He is a very human character, relatable in his flaws and his failings, yet also admirable for his supreme commitment to the idea of the Imperium rather than its floundering realities.

Scene of Wonder: When Tieron goes to Luna to investigate the disturbance there, he walks in on the aftermath of the massive battle between the Imperial forces and Chaos, with none other than Roboute Guilliman in the centre. The way he describes it, he sounds like he's losing his mind throughout the whole encounter. And the Adventure Continues: The Regent's Shadow ends with Valerian pursuing Lachrymosa, the last surviving Splintered leader, beyond the Sol System. Meanwhile Abaddon looks out over another failure and his like *Ugh* no more. so he jumps with his men(Yeah that's right he jumps out on a planet that he just aimed a Death Star a moments ago). Abaddon launches the next assault. Long story short again, lots of fighting, lots of pew pew pew. Sisters of Battle had alot of moments in this enough for the collectors to pray for a "Plastic Sisters" to be release in 2017 BUT NOOOOOOOOOOO...

Contents

Sisters of Silence see Daemons differently. Whilst normal people see them as staggeringly frightening and insidious, Sisters see them no more as just gross and dangerous. Like a snake in your bed, not to be messed with lightly but sill "normal". Odd Friendship: Valerian considers his and Aleya's frienship to be this. He's an immortal Custodian thousands of years old, Brainwashed to have no strong emotions except absolute loyalty to the Emperor; she's a firebrand Sister of Silence whose nature as a blank means she has trouble with any interpersonal interactions. They make it work anyway. Q: Thanks for all your awesome books on Space Wolves and White Scars. Do you have plans to return to Ingvar for a third Space Wolves novel? No doubt there will be many White Scars stories to come, both in the Scouring and beyond, but I do like the idea of writing a complete narrative, with a beginning, middle and end, before the baton is passed on to someone else. In Warhammer 40,000, of course, we already have Robbie MacNiven’s brilliant White Scars stories, so I don’t think fans will be short of material. In terms of the Space Wolves, given my schedule, I’m not sure that I’ll be doing any more with them either, although I do have the long-postponed third book in my Warhammer 40,000 trilogy to attend to. (See below…) Put on a Bus: Lev Tieron retires at the end of the first book, passing his job - and his point-of-view slot - to his assistant, Jek.

We Are Not Going Through That Again: At the end of The Emperor's Legion, Guilliman offers Tieron the position of his personal remembrancer - basically, a biographer who'd go with him to observe the Indomitus Crusade - as a reward for his services. Tieron decides that he's had quite enough excitement in the past few months, thank you very much, and chooses to comfortably retire instead. Q: What’s your process when Games Workshop add new lore to things you’ve written or are writing? For example, the major changes in the most recent edition of Warhammer 40,000.Obstructive Code of Conduct: The Edict of Restraint forbids the Custodes from leaving the Imperial Palace ( at least openly, as Custodes have always been coming and going from the Palace in secret). Tieron's goal in The Emperor's Legion is to have it repealed so that the Legion can be committed to the defense of Cadian Gate. Custodes don't dream. Only if the Emperor visits them in their sleep do they dream, and at the current date the Custodes are unsure if it will ever happen again since it's been millennia since one of them dreamed. Chris Wraight, man, do you ever do something bad? Once again, an incredible read that flows like butter on a summer day down a ramp, and reads like a beautiful cinematic adventure of pure unaltered chaos (the word, no the faction). Two Lines, No Waiting: Three, technically; the chapters cycle between points of view of Tieron, Valerian and Aleya. In The Regent's Shadow, Tieron is replaced by Jek.