Hand of Abaddon

Dawn of Fire: Warhammer 40,000, Book 8

By: Nick Kyme

Narrated by: John Banks

Length: 13 hrs and 3 mins

Publisher's summary

Book 8 in the Dawn of Fire Series

As the Indomitus Crusade rages on, Inquisitor Rostov discovers vital intelligence that could reveal the plan of the notorious Hand of Abaddon, and hastily gathers together those loyal to his cause.

LISTEN TO IT BECAUSE

The dark schemes of the Hand of Abaddon near fruition. Can the already stretched forces of the Imperium manage to hunt down and prevent this new threat?

THE STORY

Defending the Anaxian Line, Ultramarines Lieutenant Ferren Areios uncovers a dread vision that has ties to the mission of an old ally. Meanwhile, Magda Kesh campaigns alongside the 84th Mordian. Though she refutes her fate as something more than a mere soldier, is she truly touched by the Emperor?

Despite a fractious alliance, the Hand’s scheme is reaching culmination. Amidst the infighting, Tharador Yheng yearns to be free of her master Tenebrus’ shadow and claim her destiny. But another acolyte has embarked on his own path, the Red Corsair Graeyl Herek. Both vie for the favour of the Dark Gods, and the means to harness an ancient evil that could reshape the war between the Imperium and Chaos.

Written by Nick Kyme. Narrated by John Banks. Runtime 13 hours and 4 minutes approx.

©2024 Games Workshop Limited (P)2024 Games Workshop Limited

An excellent advancement of the plot.

With all the different perspectives on the Dawn of Fire series it was easy to have mild expectations for this book, especially with how the previous book went. To say I was impressed is an understatement. The book flowed very well and gave us some incredible advancement in the plot and development for the recurring characters in the series. Hand of Abaddon is the perfect setup to the upcoming finale and has a fun amount of unpredictability to its end. Nick Kyme wrote a great story here and, as always, John Banks lives up to his reputation as one of my personal favorite voice actors.

Great advancements are made in the plot that push key characters forwards.

Great narrating as always! I really enjoyed the progress certain characters made during this story. I also enjoy how the Votann are now included in this storyline!

A Great Addition to the Dawn of Fire Series

Nick Kyme does an amazing job not only tying together characters in stories from the previous seven novels, but also taking a significant step forward in the furthering of the overall Dawn of fires narrative.

But this novel, we will definitely see the series taking a new direction and he has left plenty of room for characters to grow in different store lines to be pursued by other authors as the series continues. This one really does not disappoint.

Excellent addition to the series

Excellent addition to the series, really moving the story forward; the pacing is excellent and the action set piece is grim and haunting. The best part is that it actually moves the overall plot of 40k forward with possibly far reaching consequences in the final book.

advances the setting a little, good overall

great narrator and great story except I'm not a fan of the horus reference. sick of all the retcons

An aggressively average book

This book is an aggressively average entry to the dawn of fire series. It has no major issues, and no major wins. When it does something cool it doesn't go far or just backpeddles.

This is all hands on deck for Main Characters from the series, but the avengers assemble moment is slow to come

It relies heavily on the reading of the other books, and introduces the returning characters terribly

The character reunions are unfruitful or unsatisfying

The Leagues are used which I really appreciate but they are underwhelming, the kahl is unremarkable, the elite guard/fighters are shown as bumbling, and the worst part is we're told how cool they are but never shown doing anything great

The Sisters of Silence are here which again I love, lack majesty, and are really petty. Except for our main sos which is good.

All of the major deaths are so unsatisfying

There is a strange pattern where male characters with good personality always die

There are two characters who get a well deserved boost but that whole part is relegated to the next book

I like where the story went but I couldn't have fun while going through it.