As such, despite his incredibly well-written nature, the Emperor is unfortunately where the book stumbles most. As great an author as he is, he does have this nasty habit of overly simplifying certain subjects or themes in his worse stories. More-so than anyone else, he will always seek to use the battles as an extension or final point to his themes, often using them to resolve major character arcs or shifts; blending them directly into the moment rather than breaking them up during and after a conflict.

So, while Seventh Retribution (and many Ben Counter stories, for that matter) would deal with something which could reshape the setting itself by introducing something wholly new or twisting an old idea; Soul Hunter works to make itself stand out thanks to character dynamics, drama and a complex web of personal character arcs. Only by promulgating the doctrines of the Imperial Truth did the Emperor believe He could begin to weaken the hold of the need for faith and the other irrational aspects of the Human mind that birthed and sustained the power of Chaos in the Warp. Through the eyes of a few distinct characters, the reader begins to see what separates them from both astartes and humans alike, and how they are more than just a marine on more 'roids. Throughout its pages we see almost every aspect of it introduced, brought up and considered, but without the definitive or singular focus of other tales. As more and more Humans were born with the mutant psyker genes that granted them the ability to wield the potent power of the Immaterium in the last centuries of the Dark Age of Technology, and Humanity suffered from the deadly effects of uncontrolled psykers that heralded the onset of the Age of Strife, the Emperor realised that He would have to take a more direct and open role in Human affairs than ever before.

While the book's structure is as dynamic, varied and chaotic (please, that's not a pun) as past books, it manages to seem somewhat disjointed by comparison. Yet, as each story always sticks to that single defining view of each faction saying "this is right, there are no exceptions, no alternative views on the subject" and going from there, this can become a problem in a story about a figures who are supposed to be very ambiguous.

It’s a story of creeping death, as inch by gruelling inch, the Emperor’s forces are compelled to fall back.

Despite their willingness to strike a bargain with Him early on, the Chaos Gods themselves later recognised the Emperor as their greatest enemy among all the intelligent beings of the galaxy, naming him "the Anathema. And since we are still trying to mirror canon where it fits in our canon, the thought was did we need to change our portrayal? There's some suggestions that the Emperor realises they might be linked, or even bend a mind towards, the Ruinous Powers, but does nothing because their failings would supposedly be offset by their killing potential.

While each of these points isn't delved into with the depth and detail one might expect from what was done to the Legions, it nevertheless sheds a great deal of light on the subject. The stage is set for the dogged defenders’ last stand, and both setting and atmosphere are rendered beautifully. We would not have Magnus using sorcery to contact him because there wouldn't have been the same level of trust from the Emperor to assume that Magnus wouldn't use sorcery (and even if that still happened, the Emperor wouldn't have the trust to assume that everything was still fine with Horus). In each of these visions the Emperor tries to teach Ra a little bit more about why the Great Work is so important, as well as staying appraised of what's going on with the battles.Really, there's an entire section of the book where they're examining Angron's body (while he's unconscious) and he decides he's going to just leave the Butcher's Nails in there to give him another warrior, and permit the War Hounds to have them so they'll be a more effective bloodthirsty force. However, Lorgar, the primarch of the Word Bearers Legion, desperate to find some outlet for his belief that Humanity must have a god to worship to be truly whole, gave in to the constant whispers of the Chaos Gods and, after corrupting his Legion to their service, sent his First Chaplain Erebus to poison the minds of the other primarchs and their Legions. It's rarely ever enough to give the full picture of course, but the moments granted are enough to give an impression of the deeper world about them. I'll likely still pick up this book because I do like reading well-written stories regardless of how predictable they feel, though that one point is a major failing to me that on its own might kill the book for me.

During the course of the Great Crusade all but two of the twenty primarchs were successfully found and united with the Space Marine Legions that had been created after their disappearances from the genetic material that they had left behind.For thousands of standard years before becoming the Emperor, He guided and watched Humanity develop over the course of its history, assuming the guise of a large number of historical personages. Metabolic collapse leading to rapid death was not uncommon, and many Thunder Warriors were also prone to mental instability and even psychosis as they aged.