The Twice-Dead King: Ruin (Warhammer 40,000) [Paperback] Crowley, Nate

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It so many of those good good space opera tropes I love: dynasty and honor causing family conflicts to span millennia and across planets, disgraced second sons in exile, decaying empires, the works. This immortality involved ‘biotransference’ – giving the necrontyr (all of them) advanced self-repairing metal bodies and in the process incinerating their mortal organic forms . . . and, as it happened, also their souls. They would no longer have hearts to beat, lungs to breath with. All of this proved much to the necrontyr’s eternal regret – but they were now no longer the necrontyr: they were the necrons. From now on they would forever wake up in a hollow metal shell and see the world through oculars instead of eyes. The extent to which they ‘miss’ – to put it in the mildest possible way – their organic selves is part of the body horror themes of this novel.

Putting aside the quandary over whether humans can truly write about the mind of an alien or robot, the Crowley (similar to Rath) writes the Necrons as particularly human. Their range of feelings are the same, their interactions contain recognisable social cues, and they suffer versions of dementia and (extreme) dysphoria. Absolute garbage. Nate Crowley wrote a teen’s light fantasy novel about a royal youth in space struggling against his newfound burden of leadership and a deadly family secret.The Twice Dead King is a Necron-focused novel series by Nate Crowley. It covers the exploits of Necron Lord Oltyx. [1] Books in series A pesar de sentirme perdido en algunas partes, principalmente por no saber tanto de los necron, el libro me pareció una obra maestra. No solo es emocionante sino que tiene un trasfondo bastante profundo del que se puede sacar bastante contenido e incluso reflexión.

The juxtaposition of absurd humour and tragic melancholy that Crowley finds here lends this a tone and feel that simply couldn’t have come from any other author. On the surface there’s plenty to enjoy in the depiction of necron dynastic life, the contrast between the necrons and the orks, and Oltyx’s general viewpoint on the ‘upstart species’, but dig deeper and this is really a sad story about the loss of memory and identity, about legacy and what’s worth fighting for, and about the dangers of relying too much on tradition and getting caught up in the past. These necrons may be virtually indestructible and in many ways very alien, but they’re incredibly relatable too. The human (and transhuman) denizens of the Imperium may be the main focus of the overall 40k setting, but this just goes to show that the non-human viewpoints in 40k have just as much to say too. The book follows the tale of Nomarch Oltyx, disgraced heir to the Ithakas Dynasty, in his exile on the fringe planet of Sedh. But even there, on the edge of the dynasty, a plethora of enemies rise to meet the Necrons, not just from the myriad of lesser races, but also from within. Oltyx soon finds that his fight may not be to save just his planet, but his entire dynasty. If I'd have to boil down what Crowley's writing excels at - in this and his other works - I'd point to three aspects that particularly stand out to me.Every single high-ranking Necron is having to come to terms with existing eternally, in a body completely alien to the one its mind evolved to sit within,” he says.

But the ending sparks some questions, it's seems to heavily imply that Olytyx and Valgûl, the Fallen Lord are similar / the same person.However, the further the necrons run, the more apparent it becomes that the humans will never leave them alone. Spurred on by his most loyal advisors, Oltyx embarks on a risky plan to find an ancient planet, said to be ruled over by a deadly king and his hordes. Making use of long-lost technology, Oltyx and his people undertake a deadly trip towards their goal. However, a far greater threat soon emerges in the very heart of his ship. The flayer curse that has long infected his people and which drove Oltyx’s father mad has returned, and soon thousands are infected. Forced to take drastic actions to save his people, Oltyx soon learns the full weight of responsibility and loneliness that all kings must bear. But this king has a dark secret that will threaten the entire Ithakas Dynasty. Can Oltyx control the dark urges that reside deep within his soul or will a new twice-dead king rise to reign over the Ithakas necrons?

An excellent sequel to an already excellent. Rich character development with a lot of action. The main characters are "humanized" quite capably while remaining alien. The ambiguity in the ending is great and leaves me wanting more.

Without wanting to spoil too much, I’d say that Ruin is the story of a kingdom’s end, and Reign is the story of a new one being founded. Reign also massively expands the spatial scope of the story – and gave me lots of room to play with gargantuan voidcraft, too.” The best bits: fundamentally, the story is a Shakespearean tragedy with a redemption arc at the end that averts total destruction for our protagonist Oltyx. There are also space battles, an exhausting chase sequence reminiscent of the first episode of Battlestar Galactica (in all the best ways), and hand-to-hand combat. Unfortunately, compared to themostly introspective first novel of this duology, I didn't find that the pieces meshed, and the over-the-top setting and some of the tone clashed with the story that was being told.