The Lion: Son Of The Forest (Warhammer 40,000)

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The latest issue of White Dwarf magazine continues the story of the space hulk Herald of Misery, adding new rules for deadly laser grids to Boarding Actions games and two short stories concerning the forces fighting within. Meanwhile, a Tale of Four Warlords takes on its second challenge of the year, while Part Five of The Great Stomp introduces campaign rules for Warhammer Age of Sigmar games set in the Living Peaks. There are shades of old Lion in him. Such as during the first fight against the Not-Chaos Beast, he imperiously throws his gore-clogged helmet to the people he dived in to save, commanding them first to stay out of the way, and second, clean my helmet. During a fight. That's our lovable bastard.

Shapeshifter: The Lion encounters one in the forest; it takes the form of each of his brothers in turn, forcing the Lion to fight them. Older and Wiser: The Lion, when last seen in Horus Heresy books, was prideful, cold and uncompromising. The state of the galaxy in the forty-second millennium makes him acutely aware of his own failings, and he works to be more understanding and forgiving. Wow, now this was a pretty damn awesome Warhammer 40,000 novel. Mike Brooks continues to really impress me with this cool new book, and I loved the elaborate and captivating tale contained within The Lion: Son of the Forest. Featuring an intriguing and emotionally charged narrative that perfectly revives a key Warhammer 40,000 character, The Lion is an outstanding read and I think this is probably Brooks’ best Warhammer novel yet. It isn't until he identifies something else is doing what he wants to do: a Protector, that he figures out more of himself, and when he finds said Protector, it starts shooting at him. Enter Zabriel, arguably the Deuteragonist of the novel. It takes a Fallen dual wielding antique bolts, for the Lion to remember what he truly is.The latest issue of White Dwarf magazine continues the story of the space hulk Herald of Misery , adding new rules for deadly laser grids to Boarding Actions games and two short stories concerning the forces fighting within. Meanwhile, a Tale of Four Warlords takes on its second challenge of the year, while Part Five of The Great Stomp introduces campaign rules for Warhammer Age of Sigmar games set in the Living Peaks. Faced with these strange times, the Lion can be certain of nothing and no-one, except for himself. But in a galaxy without the Emperor, without the Imperium, without his Legion, and without Caliban… who is he? [1] Sources

This is a difficult and delicate book to manage, as all big event books are, but Mike Brooks handles it with aplomb! This is quite the sweet deal if you want to listen to podcasts or books! Especially if you’re traveling, this is perfect for helping pass the time. Here’s everything you get even at the cheaper price: Somehow, the Lion awakens in panoply, an armored state lampshaded at least twice more by Fallen asking for assistance for themselves to be armored. This to me is what's weird. It is pristine, with charge. Was he interred in this by the Watchers in the Dark? Or, did the Lion truly get ripped into the Warp as did his Fallen, and that is how the bond holds across spacetime?At the dawn of the Imperium of Man, there was no force more deadly nor more loyal to the Emperor than the Dark Angels, the first Legion of Space Marines. Led by their implacable and unstoppable Primarch and genefather, Lion El’Johnson, better known as the Lion, nothing was able to stop the Dark Angels as they crusaded from planet to planet dispensing the Emperor’s will. However, following the events of the Horus Heresy and the Lion’s inability to save the Emperor, the Dark Angels imploded from within. Treachery and years of resentment saw the Legion engage in a brutal and sudden civil war, which resulted in the destruction of the Dark Angel’s home world of Caliban, the scattering of the traitor Dark Angels throughout time and space as the Fallen, and the disappearance and apparent death of the Lion right when the galaxy needed him most. Shevana: My psykana gifts have been sanctioned by Terra itself. (...) Your presence is a boon and a blessing, Lord Lion, but to announce it may call new terror down upon us. Affably Evil: Baelor and Seraphax are both extremely polite to their brothers, even as they try to kill them. If you never encountered a masculine man in your whole life and were tasked to write one... well... you would have Lion El'Johnson from this particular book. He is written like a self-hating man that oozes his, what leftists would call, "toxic masculinity". But, we see him start to tone police himself and other Space Marines in the novel like some sort of dude with mommy issues.

Phil Kelly's novel at the beginning of 8th Ed around Primaris being 'accepted' by the Dark Angels was bad, I'm still not sure if he even understands a lot of the narrative around the Unforgiven chapters. Gave Thorpe's Luther novel was a solid miss for me, I didn't want to see a novel where half the time is spent on Caliban pre-Lion exploring his largely inconsequential past. Also, I think the relationship between the two lead Space Marine antagonists had just that hint of queerness I’ve come to enjoy from Brook’s writing. Not much to say there, but just glad it exists. BL fiction very rarely touches the long-standing 40k lore. Even the recent Dawn of Fire books are really just "here's stuff happening in the post-Rift galaxy". Mike Brooks' The Lion is an excellent example of how to move core pieces of lore forwards.

This item contains adult content

I'm not sure I've read too much by Mike Brooks; I think he's done some Horus Heresy bits and pieces, I'll have to dig them out and see what they're like.