Wednesday 6 May 2015

Episode 3: New Stuff, 30k on a Budget, and Fear to Tread

In this third episode of the Age of Darkness Podcast we do the obligatory new stuff segment and talk about some recent games we've played. We then argue that it is indeed possible to get into 30k on a budget, and go through a bit of an intellectual exercise in order to prove it. Finally, in Book Club we discuss Fear to Tread by James Swallow, and conclude as is our way with the two-week hobby challenge. Thanks for listening!

Direct link (to download right-click and choose "Save Link As"):

The Age of Darkness Podcast Episode 3

0:00  News and battle reports

49:58   Getting into 30k on a budget

1:12:41  Book club: Fear to Tread by James Swallow

2:04:00  Two-week hobby challenge, closing song

Closing song is "At Dawn they Sleep" by Slayer (off Hell Awaits)

The Age of Darkness Podcast can be contacted at ageofdarknesspodcast@gmail.com

3 comments:

  1. Hi again,

    Thanks for responding to my previous comments!

    I'll be quite brief on Fear to Tread. I think two things ruined this book for me: (1) the characters were so samey and flat (as said in the podcast) and (2) the story was too well known in the lore. These 2 things just killed it for me.

    The Red Angel element was not interesting enough to save it for me, but I did like the pre-Signus Prime stuff (setting the betrayal up) and the divisions within the traitor faction. I think some of the other books have started to draw together the idea that by the time the traitors get to Terra they are fractious. If they weren't they would have won, surely? I also liked the first hint towards Unremembered Empire.

    Quite separately, I liked the HH on a budget bit (and i'm nearly up to the budget correction bit on Ep5).

    Thanks for keeping this going

    Rob

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  2. Yeah I'm right there with you on the "samey-ness" of the characters. Besides Amit, who rules, I kept getting them all confused. However the story didn't hinge on characters like Raldoron, it hinged on Sanguninius, and thankfully he was great! I agree that the story was so well known that it was difficult to get right, but I thought it was generally successful. Did you feel the same way about Calth and Istvaan V? Or is it just this book that did not do justice to the legends?

    I do understand your justifications for not liking the book, personally I thought it was one of the better ones. The Red Angel in particular is a great addition to the cannon I felt. As for the factions developing in the traitor camp, I have a feeling that it will come to a head on board the Vengeful Spirit!

    Keep the comments coming! The main reason we do this podcast is to discuss these things that we love!

    Best,

    -JP

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  3. Hi again

    I feel that this book in particularly had trouble with known events (though arguably the turning of Horus in False Gods was unconvincing).

    I like plot and characters and don't even mind the 'rule of cool', which is why I liked the Guilliman V AL scene, but I appreciate that in-world 'realism' or 'consistency' are important for others.

    The difference between Fear to Tread and Istvaan V is that the latter is just snapshots rather than the whole story. On the other hand Know No Fear is interesting because the characters are interesting (for example: the exchange between Lorgar and Guilliman and the foreboding scene between the WB and UM leading to the betrayal) and the 'how' was interesting. By comparison Fear to Tread felt like a journey from A to B and the journey was well known. The big addition of the 'transformer world' was just bolter porn.

    I should say that I find the return to Calth/Istvaan short stories a little boring, because I want to see new things..

    The Red Angel was already in canon, but limited to a picture in collected visions. I just expected it to be something a little cooler when it was revealed.

    All that being said, I feel that I don't like the book because it wasn't what I wanted it to be and with that I mind, and bearing in mind I read it the month it was released and not since, you've encouraged me to give it another go before the end of the month.

    Cheers

    Rob

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