So, with the August free-shipping offer in mind, the choice has come down to Black Legion by Aaron Dembski-Bowden and Lorgar: Bearer of the Word by Gav Thorpe. Both have pros and cons from my perspective so I’ll list them and people can feel tempted to help me justify how to spend money I shouldn’t be spending on books I shouldn’t be reading.
To the shock of probably none of you, I have a bad habit of dealing with stress by online shopping. Unfortunately, scrolling through pages of clothes and shoes and make-up sometimes just doesn’t provide a high enough level of escapism and I just have to reach for that much more meta by dropping stupid amounts of money on an expensive, collectible book. I mean, why buy something to use in real life (which I don’t want to think about) when instead I can instead buy something that can allow me to ignore reality for several hours and look gorgeous on my bookshelf that no one else can see? Pros and cons are as follows.
Black Legion:
My main draw is the fact that Abaddon and Sigismund finally have their showdown.
Sigismund is one of my sword baes and I need to see him get utterly r e k t while swording.
He’s basically made to be abused and he’s so beautiful when he’s weeping from betrayal and heartbreak.
His sadness will make me feel so much better about reality because at least I don’t have the emotional depths capable of such drama.
70% certain Dorn is still running around somewhere in the background which makes the fact that Sigismund dies at the end so much the better.
HIGH KEY ANGSTING ON MY BEHALF BECAUSE I DON’T DO SADNESS (probably mostly by the Black Templars because yooooo it’s people who think like my idiot sword bae).
Also Abaddon tries to do a thing and inevitably fails; I want to laugh at him.
Daddy issues from literally everyone. Like, literally everyone. This is a space marine book basically not long after the Heresy. All the daddy issues.
SIGISMUND V. ABADDON
Lorgar: Bearer of the Word:
Ngl, I’ll probably find this an uncomfortable read.
Kor Phaeron the Almost Worst is there to creep on a pretty little choirboy.
I have a really weird fascination with all the worst parts of religious institutions probably because I spent most of my childhood in a not-officially-but-still-very-Catholic(TM) school before my grandfather realised and had me moved (thanks granddad).
Lorgar’s childhood is almost certainly going to suck and it’ll make me feel better about my current reality.
The cover is prettier and will look neat in the gradient of all my hardcovers the way the black Black Legion book wouldn’t.
It’s not written by ADB.
Like, he’s not bad and he writes traitors really well but his daddy issues are not the sexy kind.
At some point the Emperor’s gonna come up and he’s going to be an asshole which is such a cop-out and I will not be impressed.
So, yes. Should I pick Black Legion or Lorgar: BotW? Or none of them. Another recommendation on ultimate reality-ignoring? I welcome your advice. If no one says anything, I’ll roll some dice tomorrow. Or, well, later today. Much later.
