favorite depiction of Tyranids?
I tend to not enjoy the way a lot of writers portray Tyranids, to be honest. I hate when they're just Not Xenomorphs that hiss and screech and act fundamentally like chittering animals. I also despise the "personal" route where every Tyranid emanates hatred and maliciousness and is evil. Both of these, to me, rob them of the effective horror that is their unique and unknowable Hive Mind.
The book that captures best what I want out of Tyranids, and is a fairly tense read for it, is Deathworlder by Victoria Hayward. It's a good book in its own right, of course. Catachans and Cadians exploring cultural differences during a secret mission in the final hours of a world doomed by Tyranids. Good stuff. Worth a read. The way the Tyranids are written, though, is superb. They barely make noise. Most of their ambient sound comes from the sheer number of them moving at once, the shifting of carapace, the sounds of biological weaponry compressing to fire. They don't react to pain correctly. They move broken and shattered limbs in ways that are deeply wrong, compelled through a greater consciousness. They let themselves be crushed down into ramps for their fellows to swarm over, without making a sound or resisting it. Tyranids appear randomly to observe or harry people for ends that aren't understood but feel deeply deliberate. Everything is alien but clearly part of an intelligence that vastly outstrips everyone present. It's great. It is what Tyranids should be.
Anyway, if you like Tyranids, Catachans, human suffering, a fascinating glimpse into genestealer cults post-"ascension", a big woman ripping a gargoyle in half with her bare hands, go read Deathworlder.
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