The great curse of the necrons is loneliness. Orikan and Trazyn hate each other. Can't be around each other for a minute without antagonising each other. All goodwill they might have had for each other has slowly been eroding over millenia of slights and grudges. But they're also all they have. Whatever friends they might have had lost their souls in biotransference. They can't make new friends among other necrons with souls, because they all know each other and also dislike each other. There are no new necrons they could make friends, they can't make friends with non-necrons because they don't live long enough to make meaningful connections with. Being necron is being locked in a room with the same 20 people for the rest of eternity.

The Infinite and The Divine is just Two Old Men Bickering Who Happen to be Robot Skeletons. And it's fantastic for it.

Stellar discussion! One minor thing though: Sleeping for 10.000 years = sleeping for *65 million years. It's implied that the necrons "harvested" the dinosaurs on Earth, among many other things, before going to sleep. Edit: Stewart Thorpe beat me to that in the comments.

One of my favourite parts of this book is that it shows Trazyn as essentially the hobby transplanted into its own universe

"We would like to see fanart of us..." STOP. STOP RIGHT THERE. NO. NO MA'AM. YOU'RE THINKING OF A DIFFERENT INTERNET. YOU DO NOT WANT THAT.

Statler and Waldorf in spaaaaaace!

I feel like it would be wise to say "No Slaanesh fan art either". That could get awkward very quickly!

I loved this book. The necrons are delightfully insane and even as a relatively new 40k enthusiast I was able to catch a lot of the references, which is something I love to do. Reading this book I really felt that the Necrons have some of the most vivid characters in the setting, because they are all defined by their personal flavors of insanity. Like Nemesor Zahndrekh. It's worth noting, Ian, that the old version of the Necrons as terminator-death robots is still maintained in the lore as its own non-dynasty Dynasty (I think they're called the Silent Dynasty or something like that, but don't have my Codex within reach). When the lore was updated with the dynasties and the lords and the new C'tan they preserved the original version in its own little corner. As I was reading this book I kept putting it down to share quotes with my friends. It was hilarious. "You got us box seats to a coup!" "Well, the reviews were very good"

Ok, so I listened to this while painting models. It was hands down some of the best, most wholesome 40K content I've ever enjoyed. Fantastic work guys.

One of my favorite parts is the red herring with the Genestealer and the slasher. I was genuinely shocked.

The new image is adorable, and I love it

Addendum: necrons weren't asleep for 10000 years. More like 60 million years

Yeah! More Mira.

Kingmaker is so fucking good. Like I can’t emphasize just how much fun it is

The connection to extra history makes a lot of sense given how entertaining both are.

OMEMPEROR! I didn't realize that Rob from Extra History was a Black Library Author. Does this book feature a small, super smart black cat called Zoe? This is a great episode in an already strong series, and Rob is a great guest.

Freakin’ loved this book. So funny, so action-packed, so cleverly written and constructed. It’s intense and hilarious all at once. Easy to read but also dense with detail. Such a great read.

Sounds like 'Last of the Summer Necron'. Love the channel.

You guys HAVE to read Twice Dead King! It almost completely fills the gaps in Necron origin lore!

Spectacular review. Great chemistry and infectious enthusiasm.

Robert is fantastic. I also love his work on extra credits.

I honestly didn't think I was going to manage the 1hr long video but damn was I wrong. :) Keep the videos coming. :P Great job folks.

Wow I love Extra History! So interesting he writes for that aswell as warhammer

I just finished it and im Blown Away. So much genius in this book.

Genuinely I think that one of the best bits about the Necrons is that for years they were these implacable, terrifying, soulless machines. Now they're written as that, but headed up by a bunch of pompous, belligerent aristocrats. And that's really funny. From the outside they're infinite, all-powerful masters of technology beyond any other race. From the inside it's a bunch of minor gentry arguing over who gets the nicest stuff, grandest title, or most land. Couple that with the genuine tragedy of their fate, and the become a pretty sympathetic if amusing race. Not to mention the fact that their soldiers are undying, so you don't have to feel pity for the warrior-class that get thrown into the machine to become fodder, and instead can just be eyerollingly entertained by the farcical rivalries that play out. Gonna call it: Necrons are (ironically) the race with the most personality.

I loved this book, it's by far one of my favourite books, I listened to the audio book and I think their characters really came out with the narration, please listen to it if you can 😃

I always go out of my way to read Xenos novels. I loved Infinite and the Divine. I also enjoyed Brutal Kunnin, and Path of the Archon

This was such a great video! Really got me interested in the book, and the interview was top notch!

Really enjoying this series. Fantastic conversation. Always special to have the author. Nice video. Keep up the good work.

It's great to hear what the author thinks in your commentary, very nice.

Great video on a fun book! Thanks as always Mira and Ian!

Robert wrote a short story where the Jurassic park style thing happened. It’s in our if the combined short story collection.

The description of Trazyn the Infinte sounded like a description of the British Museum. Very fun episode of book club.

I definitely want a video of Ian teaching Mira to play 40k now, and also a video of them playing a 40k TTRPG since Mira is a DnD player! :)

Always heard great stuff about the book, but the review and interview pushed me over the top...book comes tomorrow, and looking forward to other R Rath books.

Triumph of StKatherine was fantastic! Just finished it, now to finish the model!

I have not read the book, but from your description it reminds me a lot of the Spy vs Spy comic from the old MAD magazines.

Careening in a year later, answering questions that have probably already been answered! Nightscythe: Troop carrying croissant shaped fighter ship. Doomscythe: Heavy weapons croissant. Ghost Ark: "ground" based Troop transport (its the big gondola looking thing with the ribs pointing up.) Annihilation Barge: Catacomb Command Barge, but with tons of big guns. My favorite bit in TI&TD is Trazyn "pranking" Orikan with this weird purple clawed thing he found, only to realize millenia later, now knowing what a Genestealer is, that that was a very bad idea. Also "brief recesses" in the court case being centuries.

You two need to read The Twice-Dead King books.

This is great! Thank you!

oh my god the new intro image is so cute! And you guys are wonderful too of course :D

Ahhhh! So excited to watch this when I get off work, loved this book and can't wait to hear what yall think of it!

I liked the fact that the genestealer that Trazyn used to ambush Orikan was one of the original Rogue Trader types!

great video, top content, very nice to have an interview of the author. I was only mildly interested in Necrons before reading the book, but characters like Thrazyn make them quite interesting and fun

Love the intro image, very apt and warm

‘Do you have a statue of yourself, Orikan?’

Was a great video!

I loved this book, and book club edition. This is my favourite so far that I have read. Was a fan when I was a teen 1st edition 40k and now picked it back up for the painting and playing with my son.

Awesome video! ❤️💪🏻

Thank you all for a superb chat about an outstanding book 🤖🧛‍♂🌞🦎🤩😍

intro is very cool and loved the review

I love Mira omg

So, I haven't watched this, but that's because you guys keep doing books that I'm told are really good and I don't want to spoil myself on them. I did want to say though that it's adorable that Mira has a little Fire Warrior avatar after saying she liked the Tau in another video.

I loved this book. Grumpy old men in space.

Fun to hear a Fluffenhammer namn drop.

Love the jersey! careful though, i heard mario is running around jumping on stuff! Loved the novel, and your show.

Putting them in the theater to make sure we all get the Statler and Waldorf comparison was peak 40k. Also missed in this is the meta commentary that Trazyn is actually a 40k player collecting all the armies and making literally dioramas of his favorite models, but he's in the 40k universe. This is a comment on what 40k players are like according to GW. And Orikan keeps stealing one of his models.

Gauss weapons are also a real thing in the real world, sometimes called coil guns. Electro magnetic mass drivers, they are very much prototype weapons at the moment. Nothing like necron gauss weapons I should say.

I just read Bleed Out, it was really great

Yup war in the museum is what I was talking about

Any chance of a video doing a rundown of the creation, production and fiction history of thr Necrons?

I really lived this book. I'd like more novels focusing on xenos characters...

i believe it was millions of years not 10,000 ian otherwise great brief history

Hilarious book, really loving it. Silly, over the top, but with still plenty of brutality and grimdorkness.

I compare it to the movie “prestige” but in space.

'10,000 years' , Ian?? *LAUGHS/SOBS IN NECRON 60-MILLION YEAR SLUMBER*

The Necrons slept for 60 million years, not 10 thousand?

Just re-read Ravenor so can't wait to here you 2 discuss it. Have you done Eisenhorn?

Take a drink every time he says "10,000 years", confusing the age of the Imperium for the time the Necrons have been asleep.

Ordo Hereticus Section M38/6893- Graven images of an Imperial Citizen (rendered in Xenos form or the Warp) is considered punishable by DEATH!

With the Audiobooks, have you tried and read by Jonathan Keeble? I also struggled with the Audio of Infinite and the Devine but have enjoyed basically anything that JK has been narrating. If you want something less of a slog than a HH novel, try the Audio drama, Honour to the Dead. It involves Titans and has some really good performances and audio. Jonathan Keeble plays a Princeps falling to Chaos and he clearly had a lot of fun with it.

has the book club read Valdor? I really enjoyed it and was very different from any Warhammer 40k / Heresy book that I have read.

So twice dead king wen?

Hey, you every read "Empra" its really short but has a fun story about basically a bronze age level society and its interations with the imperium.

pausing this, so I can go away and read the book - see you in a while :)

Not read the book but hearing that bit about Gorkamorka makes me both really happy but really sad at the same time lol

Been really excited to see this as someone who initially voted for it... but then maybe had some second thoughts! Sounds like Mira really got a lot out of it though, and I think it reminded me a bit of the feeling I had on my first readings of 40k books... Ian Watson's Space Marine I think? All sorts of weird things I didn't understand when I first read it, and nice to get that feeling from a 40k book again (after 25ish years...). On the 'catacomb command barge' style of the world building: I feel maybe the book's world building was in the PERSONALITY of the Necrons rather than the THINGS of the Necron canon? I'm so glad the development in this (historically boring) area has been handed to two great writers (I'm sure Rath won't mind a shout out to Cowley's Twice Dead King series here too!). Favourite bit: how bad and long Necron theatre is. Brilliant.

Due to the lack of availability of Warhammer 40k paperback books in German, I almost exclusively listen to audiobooks. Thankfully the German audiobooks never really do these kind of extreme accents like the English version of The Infinite and the Divine.

Huh, didn’t realize Robert wrote for Extra History

Can you add a join button instead of Patreon for membership? You might catch some more fish like me on this platform. Great content by the way.

I did not put together that this author was from Extra History til now

Do genestealers count as Tyranids for the purpose of fan art? Just asking.

Steve Lyons... DEAD MEN WALKING

I love the audiobook because Trazyn sounds like fucking Pete from Disney

#Rockstar choice

What about Slanesh fan art 🤣

Is it possible we could refrain or reframe that reading a book isn't the only 'proper' way to experience it? Not everyone listnes to them causally, I listen with as much concentration as if I was reading them. For me and my Dyslexia (yes everyone's is different) some books just don't click on the page, but in audio form, brilliant. I'd hate to think I've not properly experienced all those Ian M Banks books by listening to them. Absolutely agree audio books are not for all, but it doesn't make it any less of an experience. Just a different way. I do want to add I love the channel and these book reviews, I really do. But I felt the need to comment in what I hope is safe space.

Doo-bili-doo!? Arbitor Ian are you a Nerdfighter?!

Such a beautiful woman *heart

Aaaaahhhh, he writes 40k too???

The "Recent Human Civil War" was actually the much, much earlier war against AI and the Men of Iron! I actually doubt that Trazyn and Orikan would have noticed the Horus Heresy.

65 million years not 10,000. They are the oldest still existing race.

ar BITE er?

Y'all's a cute couple. Be waiting for the Only fans name drop hahaah

Absolutely loved this, the first book episode I've seen and it's with a writer I know from extra history. Great questions, a lovely conversation with interesting insights. Now I am definitely gonna watch the older episodes too.