The Beheading (The Beast Arises) Hardcover – 17 Nov. 2016

vgood

great series for any warhammer 40k fans

Great series. Really enjoyed the roller coaster of events. It was nice to get more information about the early years of the Imperium, after the Great Heresy.

Unput downable

As promised

As always, minor spoilers ahead (I will try to avoid where I can)So the Beast, the greatest threat to Humanity and it's Imperium since the civil war of Horus is dead (perhaps an even greater threat then Horus, as the Beast did in a year what Horus took seven to do) and the Ork Empire is breaking up into warring tribes, with infighting starting to break out.However the Imperium is not yet saved. Numerous worlds have been destroyed, the forces of the Space Marines have been decimated, not to mention the the Imperial Guard and Navy have been pushed to the limit. What is needed now is a concerted push by the High Lords of Terra to rebuild and strengthen Mankind's defences. To that end Drakan Vamgporich, Grand Master of the Assassins and one of the High Twelve, seeks to place Thane, Chapter Master of the reborn Imperial Fists Space Marines in the position of Lord Commander of the Imperium, in essence the leader of the Imperium, given that the Emperor is interred on the Golden Throne. Thane however has other concerns, he wishes to push the Orks back from Imperial space. A bargain is therefore stuck to allow Thane to achieve this, which he then alters to place Draken as Lord Protector of the Imperium and Thane's representative while he crusades amongst the stars. The story ends with the return of Thane to Terra after a Hundred years due to circumstances which I will not spoil.This is a good book, though not great. The reason why it is not great is because, while it is a longer book then most of the others in the series (at around 248 pages) it could have used an extra 50 pages to flush out a few parts of the story. Everything was ended satisfactory, you are just left with the feeling that some things could have used a bit more, (which in essence is a mark of a good writer, leaving you wanting more, rather then less) Guy Haley did do a good job in closing the story and the Beheading (from which the novel took it's name) is a very well done part of it.As for the series as a whole, I highly recommend it. From beginning to end, the series has ranged from good, to great. Black Library has done an excellent job with this series being able to bring together nine different authors to carry a story on, each with their own style, yet still keeping it from being jarring. This series has really shown the best of what it and it's authors can do when it is not limited by constraints by Games Workshop's accumulated lore of the past 25 years. Hopefully there will be more series like this.

We get the wrap up, but honestly, I could have done without the finale. Love the actual Beheading, though.

good read

Great read get the series

long live the emperor!