The Infinite and The Divine (Warhammer 40,000)

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Black Comedy: A lot of the story is centered around the titular duo's age-old feud, which is unimaginably horrific to the mortals caught in the crossfire and an infuriating annoyance that's proving more costly to their fellow Necrons. They’re still vulnerable to very relatable and human mistakes, and ultimately they’re just tremendously entertaining to read about. I'm inclined to think that these overarching themes were quite deliberate, showcasing the author's own reflections on how humans - like Necrons, apparently - struggle to reconcile and profit from different forms of knowledge.

Mistaken Identity: One of Trazyn's exploits ended up this way, as a world he accidentally wound up saving from an Ork invasion ended up seeing Trazyn and his Necron legions as a chapter of oddly-adorned Space Marines, christening them as members of the Silver Skulls chapter and the planet erecting statues in their honor. If Orikan is a fusion of mathematician, astronomer and physicist, Trazyn is the ultimate mix of historian, curator and anthropologist. Orikan, as indicated above, outright dismisses the importance of cultural knowledge - if you're tangling with the base code of the universe, why would you care about what the ants believe about it all?

Unwilling Roboticisation: Some Necrontyrs did not want to undergo bio-transferrance, and had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the furnaces by their peers, which Orikan remembers all too well, especially since Trazyn was the one to force him. Equally though, Orikan cannot replicate Trazyn's scholarship, who studies (and collects) culture, a pursuit Orikan has limited time and aptitude for - it is, after all, 'not [his] business to know the specifics of every barbarian culture and alien oddity'. Regardless, Trazyn preemptively apologizes to Orikan in earnest for what happened, even if he remembers the circumstances differently. Trying not to spoil anything, suffice to say this interesting view on time lends itself perfectly to an almost multi-generational plot, which is ambitious and unusual but highly effective. His work for them includes the necrons novel THE INFINITE AND THE DIVINE, the assassins novel ASSASSINORUM: KINGMAKER, the Warhammer Crime novella "Bleedout," and numerous short stories.

You couldn't ask for a more perfect pair of protagonists in Trazyn and Orikan, both functional demigods of an ancient sentient race that had long since given up their flesh and blood to become the immortal robots that we know them as through the course of this story. Trazyn and Orikan have been enemies for millennia, but when Orikan steals the Astrarium Mysterios from Trazyn's collection, believing it to be the key to unlocking an ancient power, the two are dragged into direct conflict.

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I've been sticking with these guys through the initial tank shredding 1st Codex, through the Wardian era, and now through the Indomitus era.At its heart this is a story about two bickering old men whose rivalry ebbs and flows over time, to the point where the original source of discontent is almost irrelevant. Trazyn, initially foiled by Orikan's manipulation of time in Necron Night Court, finds a solution in the form of an artefact. By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file.