Elemental Council - Cao Quo's independence
Elemental Council is the only halfway decent T'au novel I have read since Fire Warrior.
It is also the first time since Fire Warrior that Aun have not been depicted as moustache twirling villains who would make Dick Dasterdly say they need to tone it down.
Like Fire Warrior it explores the unique capacity of the T'au within the setting to approach questions without an instinctive binary of 'Either we all die or they all die' and instead explore a nuanced range of expressions and reactions.
Indeed, the failed thrust of Artamax's ploy is almost to force them into this, and it speaks to the T'au's unique situation that it only really even has a chance of succeeding through Callidus imitation.
The only thing I truly do not like about it is a reinforcing pattern: when Games Workshop/Black Library make stories about Xenos, focused on Xenos, from the perspective of Xenos they are more than happy to let the endings be anything but outright military victories. They will happily let the stories (often) end in some interminable stalemate (as per Freebooter recently) or outright defeat (the Exodite animation, the Asuryani animation). Now, on the one hand, this results often in FAR more interesting stories. Cao Quo being granted its independence BY the T'au Empire (not returned to the Imperium, simply granted its own independence and sovereignty) is UNPRECEDENTED in the setting. No-one else does this. It is fascinating, interesting and REALLY helps explore T'au and the characters in the book. So, in that regard, I like it. I think it is novel and fascinating and helps again demonstrate the material differences between the T'au and the other major empires.
But. But. Some annoyance grinds at me. At the back of my head. Because a voice reminds me "if the main characters had been Space Marines, Commissars, Inquisitors, Custodes they would NEVER write anything short of absolute and glorious military victory where the T'au are completely annihilated and humiliated in the book and driven into utter defeat,'
I dislike that the persistence of this trope in the lore of the setting has caused me to feel discontentment with a narrative I, overall, think is incredibly good and one of the most profound decisions by a character in 40k I have ever seen.
I am hard pressed to think of ANY character in the setting who has ever told a conquered place "We are letting you be independent and sovereign and withdrawing" and not because they suffered a decisive military defeat.
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