Topic: has anyone read path of the incubus?

[nawari]

Hi all i have almost finished path of the incubus, and WOW!!! it's such an awsome book! it has re-kindled my love for DE and im writing up new army lists to try out, which will probably get smashed lol but will be fun and fluffy.

so has anyone else read it? i would love to hear your opinions on the new book.

[Plastikente]

I'm about 1/3 of the way through now, and enjoying it so far.  I will give you my final opinion when I've finished.

I take it you're aware that it's part 2 of a trilogy, and follows Path of the Renegade?  I found the first book also painted a great picture of the society of Commoragh, with all its scheming, backstabbing and bloodletting.

[Katamari Damacy]

i finished it a couple of days ago... i liked pretty much all the eldar/deldar/harlies books so far, mainly for the pieces of fluff/background. I especially enjoyed Motley and his kind of behaviour. It's difficult to include a solitaire in a story, wouldn't work on its own, but was the perfect counterpart for Morr in my view 

The descirption of the Black Descent was also really enjoyable!

[Ludo]

It reminded me why I started collecting Dark Eldar.  I finished it the week it came out (pre-ordered it off of amazon and with prime it was a 2 day delivery). It actually made me go back and finish painting the incubi I had collected.

I didn't realize how many different archons there were.  I also loved how it explained the covens.  I don't think the codex really explained how the covens interact with the kabals.

[nawari]

i finsihed the book last night. and it was AWSOME! i cant wait for path of the archon to come out. path of the renegade was a good book aswell, but i think i like this one better. only because its more about the incubi which i love! i thought motley was a crack up lol, right up untill the end he had me guessing what he was really up to. reading the books has opened my eyes alot more of how dark eldar society works. there is just so much more fluff!!! i was about to put my army in storage, but after reading the book and talking to you guys online i have become more inspired for my dark eldar.

i love all the dark eldar weaponry and different units in the book. like how the the wrack has a hex rifle, and the dijion blade that almost kills its owner haha! the description of the ur-guls was spot on, and the two pain engines were amazing in my eyes.

reading the books i must admit it has gotten me a little interested in eldar fluff. something that i thought i would NEVER touch! lol so i will probably read the other books, definatley getting the masque of vyle.

overall i am very impressed with the books and i enjoyed them so much that i would read them again on a rainy day!

One of my favourite lines from the book: To live as a true eldar is to live on a knife edge, to live as an archon is to live at the very point of the knife. -thoughts of Archon Yllithian.

[Khain Mor (/kharandhil)]

Read the eldar paths , it's weird how they describe the Eldar civilian life, very weird. Eldar are very weird, weirder than you might think and Craftworld eldar are surprisingly close to the dark eldar, all exarchs are pretty much Dark Eldar Eldar living on craftworlds. This trilogy has a fair amount of Dark eldar related pieces, as well as some Harlequin stuff.

I still have to Order Path of the Incubi and MAsque of the Vyle, have to do that this week, i just cant wait ><.

[Ludo]

I can't bring myself to shell out the money for Masque of the Vyle. $20 for a short story seems excessive to me as much I would like to read it. 

[Koval, Master Verispex]

I'm on the fence about whether or not to buy The Masque Of Vyle, though that's primarily because I've yet to even read Path of the Renegade. (This will rectify itself over the weekend.)

However, judging by the name, I do wonder if Andy Chambers is secretly an Elder Scrolls fan.

[Bumbles]

If you're a fan of Motley then Masque of Vyle is a must.
Potentially game changing spoiler....
[spoiler]Because it potentially casts EVERYTHING from the DE Path series in an entirely different light if the finale of the Masque wasn't a performance and Motley has stopped playing She-Who-Thirsts and has actually become it.[/spoiler]
I was gobsmacked.

[Katamari Damacy]

[spoiler]Because it potentially casts EVERYTHING from the DE Path series in an entirely different light if the finale of the Masque wasn't a performance and Motley has stopped playing She-Who-Thirsts and has actually become it.[/spoiler]

I guess that would be something to debate. We have so far had little info on what the Solitaire really is. At one point in the book it is said, that [spoiler]the presence of the Solitaire protects the  Harlequins from Slaanesh. How this plays out exactly is not explained but we can speculate with the info given on th last two pages[/spoiler].

For all we know, the Solitaire remains an enigmatic entity and i think sone things should remain unexplained in order to keep it this way

[Bumbles]

The impression I got from the Great Harlequin's opinion of Motley was [spoiler]the Solitaire protects the Harlequins from Slaanesh by basically being Slaanesh. In effect, they play the role, giving a concrete focus for what is Slaanesh and thus something for the other players in the troupe to basically "not be". In effect, "I can't do that because it's not my role", this the Quins are all "exarchs" if you think about it from a Craftworlder perspective, they're literally defined by their roles and protected by being so defined.

Solitaires are Slaanesh magnets and by playing that role they protect the rest of the troupe by being the one Slaanesh goes for first, they suck it all up, they hide it under their "masks" (a la War Masks from the Eldar Path series) and eventually they break.  [/spoiler]

As for the last chapter [spoiler]it's brilliantly told.
You the read end up as part of the Masque as much as Vyle, you don't know whether it's a performance of if Motley actually has flipped out and gone fully Slaanesh.
We're told repeatedly that the non-Harlequin players end up sucked into the performance, and then instead of watching it happen, it happens to the reader.

Alternatively, Motley's just a little piece of Slaanesh now, and everything he did in this story and potentially the DE Path series was Slaanesh seeing if they're as good as Tzeentch in manipulation.
After all, in Path of the Warrior, he breaks the Spirit Mind of a Exodite world.
Then in Path of the Incubus he repairs it through an injection of Chaos corrupted souls (Morr and the Eldar Warlock).
Incidentally, that first action? Causes a Disjunction allowing lord only knows how many daemons into Commoragh, and fixing it closes the Disjunction.

The only thing going in the favour of Motley not being fully corrupted in the DE Path series is that he manipulates Morr into slaughtering a DE Lord whose been corrupted himself.[/spoiler]

[Locarno]

The stories are all awesome. I love all three - Outcast, Incubus and Vyle - because they show so much you never thought of. One of the most interesting is the Incubi's version of the legend of Arha. Which....does not entirely stack up with the Craftworlder version. Or what the Harlequins actually think of the three factions of the Eldar.

Mostly, it's because the characters are just awesome.

Bellathonis - damn I want a coven army now
"You don't understand how terrible the price I had to pay for this was!"
"Only because you chose to pay it youself." Looks across to random minion. "Incidentally, whilst we're on the subject, that's an extremely well-formed left arm you have there..."

[Bellathonis next seen recovered from crippling injury with mismatched skin tones between his hands]

Motley - Just because. He's in a fight several times but only properly cuts loose once. And when he does it's one of those holy-absolute-crap moments.

Aesdrubael Vect - how do you steal a book series when you're only in it for two scenes?
"Nowhere's safe! Why should corespur be any different? For all we know Vect is already dead!"
"Really? When the universe ends and collapses into an unending void, the only thing left will be Aesdrubael Vect, floating unharmed in an unbreachable bubble of his own deviousness and smug self-satisfaction."

[Plastikente]

Just finished the book, and it is an awesome insight into the worlds of the Eldar.

I have a slight grumble with the writing though.  Towards the end I got the definite impression that it hadn't been so well edited.  Sadly I can't give page references (I read it on Kindle, didn't think at the time to note the locations, and it's difficult to find them now) but there was one sentence that read something like "the slick black walls were slick and black as they rushed past" and another which was something like "he now couldn't remember it now".  Also, every time someone was about to die (perhaps) it cut to another scene before cutting back later to explain how they had survived.  Now I know this is supposed to increase tension and it can be a good tool, but it happened so frequently that it could predict the switch about a page in advance and it started to get on my nerves.  But I am a bit picky about quality writing.

But those are minor clouds well outweighed by the huge silver linings.  The characters were fantastic, the story was engaging and well-paced, and I loved the evocative insights into the dark city, its various factions and their interactions with the Craftworlders, Exodites and Harlequins.  I've got to agree with Locarno's assessment of the characters - the Archons and Succubi are devious but a little bit samey, whereas the coven characters and Vect really stand out.  And Motley - simply awesome.  Now I have to buy the Masque of Vyle.

[Jehoel]

Bought Masque of Vyle. Havn't read it yet though.

I liked the path of the incubus. Or most of it. Kharbyr was an annoyance to me and I couldn't figure out what the author wanted him for. I wasn't disappointed by his fate, but it seemed a little excessive to use the same trick twice during the book, since Yllithian had already done it.

I really enjoyed the insight into the world of the haemonculi, as it is so rarely brought up. I almost wish the third book was named path of the haemonculus, rather than POT Archon.

Morr was a wonderfull character. I almost want to incribe his name on one of my own incubi, but I fear I could never do him justice on the board ;-)

I actually never thought of Motley as a solitaire. He and Morr were my favorite characters but he didn't strike me as a one. What we know of the solitaire is:
- They are soulless so everyone near them should feel uneasy as if being with a person that shouldn't exist (Especially the warlock should have gone totally of the map being near him)
- They very rarely speak, but to hear the voice of one is to curse yourself.
- Are complete combat monsters (A solitaire would have taken on the incubi in the temple)
- Are totally fearless (A feature that Motley doesn't demonstrate to me)

Beside these points I always interpreted the solitaire as a tragic and remorseful character (you know, the sad of the two theater masks). Not one to make jokes, giggle and skip around but a lone sad individual that knows to much for his own good.
Motley is much to funny and sarcastic to be a solitaire imho. Since he can't be a mime I took him for an avatar or great harlequin, although sometimes for just a simple trouper.

[Bumbles]

- They are soulless so everyone near them should feel uneasy as if being with a person that shouldn't exist (Especially the
warlock should have gone totally of the map being near him)

I think they've been "redefined" as being "differently soulled". Masque of Vyle redefines them.

- They very rarely speak, but to hear the voice of one is to curse yourself.

Ahh, different people are different. Motley refers to knowing when to speak and when not to, he also doesn't seem to care about rules. As for "hearing them leads to damnation" well their role IS to be Slaanesh. It's a short road from pretending to be something and being mistaken for what you're pretending to be (think of all the actors who are typecast, same for Solitaires).

- Are complete combat monsters (A solitaire would have taken on the incubi in the temple)

He ran up (the blade?) of a Klaive and makes short work of Incubi temple guards. That's nasty dangerous.

- Are totally fearless (A feature that Motley doesn't demonstrate to me)

He seems more fearful of his plans failing rather then for himself.

Beside these points I always interpreted the solitaire as a tragic and remorseful character (you know, the sad of the two theater masks). Not one to make jokes, giggle and skip around but a lone sad individual that knows to much for his own good.
Motley is much to funny and sarcastic to be a solitaire imho. Since he can't be a mime I took him for an avatar or great harlequin, although sometimes for just a simple trouper.

I have to agree there, actually. I thought he might have been a Solitaire, but he doesn't "play" like a Solitaire. He's more like something else entirely, a Ronin Great Harlequin perhaps. I'm happy to call him a Solitaire though, he's just different that's all.