Cadian Honour

Product Information

Book 2 in the Dawn of Fire series, this portrays the next steps in the early stages of the Indomitus Crusade. It takes place on/on the way to Gathalamor, as a mixed force of Imperial soldiery – led by Shield-Captain Achallor of the Custodes – races to keep the vital shrine world from Abaddon’s grip. It’s a bit more of an all-out action story than Avenging Son, but it’s a fun read and it expands the scope of the series even if it’s not exactly a sequel to the first book. They will do so, again and again, continuing to fight until the day every Traitor in thrall to the Dark Gods is defeated at last and their world avenged a thousand times over. Some 40 standard years before the outbreak of the Horus Heresy, Cadia was a world inhabited by a primitive race of violet-eyed humans who worshipped the four Chaos Gods, probably a remnant of Mankind that had turned to the Ruinous Powers during the hardships of the Age of Strife. Prompted by the so-called Pilgrimage of the Primarch Lorgar of the Word Bearers Legion to discover whether or not the Gods once worshipped by adherents of the Old Faith of the Word Bearers' homeworld of Colchis actually existed, Lorgar journeyed with his Word Bearers Legion's Chapter of the Serrated Sun to what was then the fringes of known Imperial space as part of the 1301st Expeditionary Fleet of the Great Crusade. Some amongst the Cult Mechanicus believed the spires to be the work of the Necrons, or their mortal antecedents the Necrontyr, but then there were those on Mars equally convinced that the pylons were constructed by the Old Ones for the sole purpose of destroying the Necrons and their former C'tan overlords. Amongst them is the indomitable Sergeant Minka Lesk. Sent to the capital world of Potence, Lesk and the Cadian 101st company soon discover that a rot runs through the very heart of the seemingly peaceful world. Lesk knows she must excise this taint of Chaos, for it is not only her life and those of her company at stake, but also the honour of Cadia itself.

Je me suis rapidement axée sur l’histoire et fait au mieux pour ne pas être gênée par ces faiblesses. Curiosité piquée, j’ai acheté les deux autres volumes ! Each new dawn was greeted by a scattering of ships from the Great Exodus, those fortunate souls who had braved the Empyrean tempests and lived to tell of it. Again and again the fighting escalated, the fires of war that had burned Cadia to cinders roaring to life anew upon the other worlds of the Cadian System, as well as those of the Belis Corona and Agripinaa Systems. Hill does a great job of building on his work in Cadia Stands, continuing to illustrate the character of the Cadians and demonstrating why they deserve their standing within the Imperium’s military. There’s lots to enjoy for Guard fans here, even if the use of multiple viewpoints means the expected protagonists aren’t quite as well developed as you’d expect, and the pace occasionally slows down while new characters are introduced into the mix. Overall it’s a valuable, engaging addition to the ever-growing body of Imperial Guard stories, with a tone and feel that’s distinct to Hill’s style and sets it nicely apart from the rest. When a section of a Cadian cemetery's grave markers were deemed illegible, those graves were exhumed and the bones were added to a communal pit. The Cadian belief was that once the names on a grave marker were illegible, the honours of those dead were forgotten. In a galaxy replete with mysteries, the Cadian Pylons were amongst the most enduring. There were over five thousand such edifices scattered across the surface of Cadia before the fall, each one standing some five hundred yards above the surface, and reaching two hundred and fifty yards below. Reports differ, but it was understood that there could have been anywhere between two and three thousand more concealed below ground as the result of tectonic movement down the ages.JH: I think this is being envisaged as the first Minka Lesk novel so you could go straight in, but if you want to get the full setting then reading Cadia Stands gives you the set up. And if you really like stories of common grunts facing down all the horrors of the 40K universe, then there’s a ream of Ursarkar E. Creed stories ( you can find here) which I think have been hugely well received.

The Cadian Pylons created the unusual area of realspace stability known as the Cadian Gate near the Eye of Terror that was unaffected by the constant Warp Storms that surround that Warp rift. Cadia's location directly adjacent to the dangerous Eye of Terror made it necessary for the people of Cadia to fortify the planet to an extent where almost the entire population lived in massive fortress-cities known locally as " kasrs."Lesk knows she must excise this taint of Chaos, for it is not only her life and those of her company at stake but also the honour of Cadia itself. The grit and determination with which Cadia was so valiantly defended for all those millennia has long been lauded within the Astra Militarum. The professionalism of the world's soldiers remains influential, not only as inspiration to fuel lurid trench-line tales, but also through tactica penned by Cadian generals that are studied in regimental academies. Rare demobilised regiments of Cadians, granted rights of settlement on worlds they conquered for the Emperor, instill Cadia's legendary discipline into their new societies. You’ll notice that I’ve also included a trio of Ursarkar E. Creed short stories on the timeline – more on those shortly.

The best parts are really after the Fall and you see the aftermath of the remaining Cadians trying to hold together and you get some character work done, especially with Grüber, but that’s the last third of the book, so that kept my rating down a bit. After the full-on chaos of Cadia Stands, the second novel in the series is still very much a war story but it also expands out to encompass a little bit of political and religious intrigue. The plot is based around the 101st defending the world of Potence from Chaos forces, fighting to survive while still adjusting to their new post-Cadia reality. Despite its billing as a Minka Lesk story I’d say it’s still more about the wider 101st than just Minka, but it’s a good continuation of the series. I know we’re not supposed to judge books by their covers, but this one definitely has my favourite cover of any Cadian novel!JH: I think this one came out pretty much as planned. It’s the first one I’m thinking at publication: YES! – this is what I wanted to write and I’ve done it. The first book in the brand new Dawn of Fire series, this effectively takes place as the Indomitus Crusade begins. If you haven’t already read Dark Imperium , this is definitely the place to start with the Era Indomitus stories. There’s lots about Guilliman and masses of great new lore, but also all sorts of interesting arcs featuring the Imperial Navy, the Inquisition and the Administratum. Many of the surviving Traitors were put to the sword, but the majority of the Traitor Legions escaped into the great Warp rift known as the Eye of Terror in the Segmentum Obscurus, a region of space where reality and the insanity of Chaos collide as the raw psychic energy of the Immaterium pours into real space-time. The descriptions in this story are well written, but the author has ni idea how to write a convincing military tale. It starts with an irrelivant scene, revolving around a duel that seemed to be lifted from a Sharpe novel. Those who survived, though haunted by the loss of their beloved homeworld, remain bloodied and unbarred, fighting ruthlessly in the Emperor’s name. Amongst them is the indomitable Sergeant Minka Lesk. Sent to the capital world of Potence, Lesk and the Cadian 101st company soon discover that a rot runs through the very heart of the seemingly peaceful world.