#malodrax

[e3n-ethan]

This just in: Lysander does not know what sex toys are

[e3n-ethan]

Warhammer 40k book I really recommend for people who want that old school Warhammer 40k vibe : Malodrax, by Ben Counter.

The weirdness and vibe of horror is just *so fucking good* in this one.

[e3n-ethan]

Darnath Lysander speed running his own corruption arc is really fucking funny to me.

“For this you need to give up your morals”

“Aight bet.”

[e3n-ethan]

The thing I love about Ben Counter is how he writes chaos. Idk how to describe it other than “this reads like Iron Maiden is giving a concert right around the corner. Someone is playing Hallowed Be Thy Name *right now*”.

[e3n-ethan]

Watching Predator was the first time I realised that I like muscular men being put into situations where they’re outclassed and whimpering. Reading Malodrax confirmed to me *how* much I’m into that.

[e3n-ethan]

Today on: space marine hobbies:

The chaplain of the first company of the imperial fists is really into artistic scrimshaw. He uses the bones of his fallen battle brothers.

[e3n-ethan]

Next book I’ll read: Malodrax.

*does the Darnath Lysander dance with movements that somehow perfectly show someone being tortured and then committing war crimes in extreme detail*

[fourgods-nobrakes]

I finished Malodrax the other day. My favorite part remains Malodrax itself, which is a living world in a way very few 40k settings manage to be -- and not just in the way where it's implied sometimes that the planet has desires of its own. There are layers of history and culture, variable biomes, different factions which each contain varied people. The daemonic creatures don't map easily to models GW sells, and most of the xenos are no named, imperially known race. There are small specialized cults for unnamed minor gods who matter to the people who worship them (like the forge god worshipped by workers in the Iron Warriors' factories). It's so rich and interesting, compared to the "this entire planet is skulls and blood rain," "this entire planet is covered by Mechanicus forges" approach. Early on one of the characters suggests that the forces of Chaos spend far more time paying attention to each other than giving any damns about the Imperium, and the book absolutely follows through on that.

Also there was a lot less moral hand-holding than many 40k novels I've read; Lysander and Golrukhan both reflect on their own actions as they try to survive Malodrax, but their POVs don't dwell on how we're supposed to feel about the background characters (except of course that Imperial Fists hate Iron Warriors forever, but even there we get reminders that the two sides are capable in similar ways and it's the fact that they're both good at this that fuels their enmity). Made it overall a really neat place to visit.

I wish we'd gotten more of Kraegon Thul being on screen and speaking; his last confrontation with Lysander hinted at some cool potential that the book didn't really explore -- he spent most of the time being a symbol of power and threat rather than a character.

If I ship anything it's probably Lysander/Halaestus, between the saving each other and the way we actually see Halaestus having PTSD even though he's a space marine. "This dude is really fucked up and the only support he has is a dude who has no idea how to help" is a compelling dynamic, ok.

But really: mostly there for a travelogue through a messy, interesting Chaos world.