I found my self liking the Era of Ruin anthology that released not too long ago. My favorite part was the baby Shiban saved getting adopted by two conscripts and going home with his adopted father. Also apparently Sisters of Silence read steamy romance novels to pass the time (and cope with their horrendous loneliness). ADB being forced to write that Custodes are explicitly a brotherhood was also a highlight.
Speaking of ADB, I think I know why his books bother me so much. He is a sound storyteller in theory, but all of his books are written with the perspective that the protagonists are always too cool for school and everyone else is an incorrigible moron. Now I believe ADB has claimed that he does this intentionally to show how the protagonists view themselves, but the issue is I never feel the books communicate that effectively. Maybe you could say he did do it with Night Lords, but everything else is just "my guys are cool and win, the other guys suck and they lose." If someone reads an ADB book blind, all they will get is a protagonist wankfest.
His short story in Era of Ruin really is no different. One of the Custodes (ADB writes custodes like teenagers for some reason) gathers the Talons and bursts into Gulliman's office and defeats him in a verbal argument over his reforms. Then the time-skip in the ending implies the Custodes was right about everything and that Gulliman let the Imperium stagnate.
ADB leans too much on external knowledge and materials as a crutch. He needs more counterpoint within his books. A contrasting charachter on equal footing with the protagonists would be nice for once.
