"Shadows Of Treachery" (short story collection)

It's an odd one this; many nerds were furious when they realised this 'new' HH short story collection consisted mostly of audiobook transcriptions, some from as far back as 2007.

How DARE they?

I can see why you would get mad if you'd already shelled out full price for CDs of these stories, and you find out you're only getting two previously unreleased works (well, a lot of these were previously quite limited-edition apparently). However... aside from not really getting any opportunities to pick up limited edition Games Day chapbooks... I don't really dig BL audiobooks. I've bought a LOT of Horus Heresy ones - hell, I'm not prepared to miss out on any aspect of the storyline - but it seems like their voice actors are a fruity concoction of Richard Harris, Anthony Hopkins and Oliver Reed at their most bellowing. Nothing wrong with that, but add the ambient 'laser battle/yelling/chainsword' sound effects constantly working in the background, and it gets a bit hard to concentrate on the story. Guess I'm just a written word guy when it comes to stuff like this. So hell, BL, go for it. I for one can't wait for the Garro stories and The Butcher's Nails to come out in book form (I'm not talkin' bout that 'Scripts collection' bullshit, I mean proper prose versions). I'll buy that shit for real dawg.

The Crimson Fist: The first novella is about (maybe?) the first open conflict ever between the Imperial Fists and the Iron Warriors legions. Thus begins a feud that continues for millennia. John French, the author, wrote The Last Remembrancer, and there are a few themes that the stories have in common: the paranoia and dread building at Terra, the horror of the unfolding Heresy to its defenders... and Rogal Dorn being a colossal, gold-plated rectum.

I don't really know why but Rogal Dorn is that Primarch I don't like. He's been pretty assholish in the appearances he's made so far. I guess the Fists' main virtue - their stalwart intractability - is also their Primarch's failing. He's so arrogant and certain of himself, so stubborn, that I find it hard to see him as anything but vain. Perhaps a Know No Fear style character renaissance is in the works, which will make me revise my opinion of him... but probably not. (Though maybe the new Dembski-Bowden book, focusing on the Emperor, will bring a new dimension to Dorn?)

Dorn is kind of like the stalwart, intractable Annabel Veal. They call her "the Wall".

Anyway, most of the story does not focus on Dorn or Terra. It's about the commander Alexis Polux, who a cursory nerd-wiki search revealed as the founding father of the Crimson Fists. (I hope that's not a spoiler, in case the title of the story, the little flashback anecdote where Polux's hand gets all bloody, or the presence of Sigismund throughout the story didn't alert you that some Second Founding backstory might be going on.) Most of the story involves the Fists (currently Imperial, mind you) trapped in space in the arse-end of nowhere, girding their loins in anticipation of an ambush. I admit, coming into this right after Fear To Tread may have been a mistake, since I was right away hit with another situation where a big fleet of Loyalists are trapped by foul magicks/warp-disturbance and left to marinate. Still, I was like "allow it bruv" since I guess Horus was doing this shit everywhere around this time, just spamming the fuck out of it. Oh well. The latter half of the story is where things really pick up, with a great void battle, some breathtaking 'boarding actions', a daring plan and something of a Pyrrhic victory for one side.

There are a couple 'oh SNAP' moments very near the end, which were ably built on in subsequent HH books, namely 'Angel Exterminatus'. It turns out I was completely mistaken in my assumption about the fleet's final destination; I thought perhaps they'd been warp-tossed through time and arrived at Terra after its siege... but no, 'Unremembered Empire' proved me wrong. As for the Iron Warriors, we don't get much out of them except that their Primarch might be one of the most charisma-lacking of all the Emperor's sons (a few scenes aren't really a fair judgement of that, I guess) and seems to think nothing of killing his senior officers if they bring him bad news.

This is a pretty cool novella, but a slightly confusing writing style (most characters are third person, Polux is first person) and some scenes near the beginning which seemed superfluous, bring it down slightly. I think 7/10 is fair, as I know John French can do better...

The Dark King: Graham McNeill! Night Haunter! Rogal Dorn! To arms! A very promising scenario, and The Dark King certainly delivers. I love Conrad Kurze (uh, no homo), he is probably one of my favourite characters throughout the whole pantheon of the Heresy. While he's unquestionably a total piece of shit, a mass murdering authoritarian-yet-nihilistic quasi-fascist, he's also incredibly, fascinatingly damaged (the fits and convulsions, the horrible, gloomy visions, the self-hatred) and I think of all the Primarchs, he is the one who has the most accurate view of his father and his father's works. We get nothing but Kurze in this story, and McNeill portrays him very well: moribund, macabre and other Glenn Danzig song titles. There aren't many Night Lords appearing in The Dark King, though we do get some moments with Sheng (Shang in this story?) who isn't much more than a nodding head here, I'm glad Dembski-Bowden decided to make him Sevatar's foil in Savage Weapons. Despite my intro, Dorn doesn't actually appear that much barring the beginning of the story; he does at least refrain from acting like a total dogfucker (though anyone can wear the white hat when they're standing next to Kurze). Anyhow, after their gold-leaf wearin' sissy Primarch gets the taste slapped outta his mouth, the Imperial Fists get shook and it looks like Conrad is gonna be doin' a bid. Convinced that like two of his former brothers, he will be dismantled along with his legion, Kurze takes matters into his own claws. The story snaps along at a brisk pace and it doesn't take long before Kurze is dealing with some 'childhood issues' in a rather final way. Fuck, man. 8/10 for rillah.

It is necessary to follow any use of the phrase 'no homo' with a picture of Cam'Ron, the Dr. Frankenstein of 'no homo'.

The Lightning Tower: Well now I got to take back all the shit I said about Dorn, because this, the other side of the Dark King coin, makes me like him way more. At the risk of sounding even more like a groupie this is pretty much just down to Dan Abnett (or, for some reason, Vincenzo Abnetti, as I call him in my mind... why? I don't know, all I know is that Vincenzo is from Noo Joizey and often urges people to forget about it). Really, all it took for me to warm to Dorn was the guy talking like a human rather than a slab of beef with a mean face drawn on it. It's a smaller-scale version of the overhaul he gave Guilliman. And this is the problem with Abnett stuff buried amongst the other Heresy writers; his living, breathing characters just lose their lustre and shine when others handle them, so now next to The Lightning Tower, many Dorn stories look way shittier to me. Perhaps it's Abnett's fault and he's mad inconsistent with previously established characters. Perhaps he should just go ahead and have Dorn act like a cardboard Space Pope Hitler... but I hope it doesn't come to that.

Just like most of Dorn's appearances thus far, his role in this story is to fortify the Imperial Palace and brood about the Heresy. Still, while you could argue this little snippet doesn't really give us any mindbreaking events to push the HH arc forward, it does tell us quite a lot about Rogal's thought processes and his inner motivations, some of which aren't as hidden as he would like... Some may sniffle about Dorn openly showing his fear of Kurze to Malcador. After all, he doesn't seem to like or trust Malcador much in previous stories, and if the Astartes know no fear, Primarchs know negative a billion fear, riiiiiiight? I actually really liked this scene, and it kind of bothers me (on behalf of both Legions) that, as far as I know, there was no 'money shot' confrontation between the golden asshole and his poisonous brother at the Siege of Terra. Still, perhaps THAT was what Dorn was doing while the Horus/Sanguinius/Emperor 3-way was happening?

9/10, extremely close to 10/10. Only the ghost of Little Horus stops me from giving this the full 10, because I loved that fucking story so much.

The Kaban Project: This is sort of a 'prequel' to 'Mechanicum', which I've said a few times is probably one of my favourite Graham McNeill books. Since this was a more limited-issue story previously, McNeill obviously didn't want to bury in a short story any crucial details that would make the full book into something puzzling and incomplete. So this isn't really 'required reading' for 'Mechanicum' fans. This touches on a few key characters we saw gettin' down in the Martian power struggle. There is one interesting portrayal of a 'Mechanicum' character in a way VERY different from how we saw them in the full book. Also, a nice moment where we glimpse a certain set of Tactical Dreadnought armour which may have been featured on an HH book cover... Aside from those, the plot doesn't exactly yield any surprising moments (seriously, even if you haven't read 'Mechanicum', you're like "Don't fucking trust a guy who's named Malevolous, bro! His name is like the 40K version of being called Jerky McBastard!"). However, it is nice to read a bit more about this very fascinating subject. See, straying away from marines as the subject of HH books isn't ALL bad... I'm not sure exactly how to grade this; it's good, but it's no Lightning Tower and it doesn't exactly read like something that would have grossly improved 'Mechanicum', so I'm gonna give it 7/10.

Flight Of The Raven: Whoops, this is where chronology issues come in. Issued several years ago as an audio drama, 'Flight Of The Raven' is clearly meant to be read/heard before 'The Face Of Betrayal' and 'Deliverance Lost'. If you've already read those, it gets rid of much of the tension in the narrative, as you already know that Valerius will convince Branne his spooky dreams are a distress call from Corax on Isstvan.

Luckily, though, we also get some great stuff about Corax on Isstvan, which is what I BEEN waiting on. A nice line here about how Vulkan wanted to defend the dropsite and Corax, realising it was lost already, retreated as soon as possible, earning the Salamander's ire. I can't imagine that slight will be forgotten... Oh, this is, I guess, the first appearance of Vincente Sixx (as in, Vince Neill and Nikki Sixx's offspring... you see the Raven Guard are not the emo chapter, they're the hair-metal chapter), who does play a major role in 'Deliverance Lost'. We are given some first-hand demonstration of how the Raven Guard fight and what Corax's tactical preferences are. This guy is smart, disciplined, and cares about his Legion a lot. Straight up, Corax is probably my favourite loyalist Primarch so far, tied with Abnett's Guilliman. Even though there's a moment where he cries a bit, which is not very Primarch-esque (either a stalwart pretense showing no tears, or flopping down and weeping blood for months and months, seems like the more likely thing). Really, reading this made me want to read 'Face Of Treachery' and then 'Deliverance Lost' again right away. So no problems reading this out of order then. I give this an easy 8/10.

Death Of A Silversmith: Perhaps I wasn't fair to this, because I fairly ripped through it, so eager was I to read 'Prince Of Crows'. I didn't find it particularly useful, though it is very short. It tells the story of a Remembrancer silver-worker who is given the task of making rings of office for the Mournival, and also some lodge medallions. Shit pops off, and he gets dead. That's pretty much it. The appearance of Hastur Sejanus gives us a reminder that this heresy took root long before the events which began 'Horus Rising'. But we knew that already. Anyway, I didn't hate this, but it didn't leave much of an impression. Take my 6/10 rating with a pinch of salt.

Prince Of Crows: In the words of Waka Flocka, "Sevatar? That's my motherfuckin' Night Lord."

I've read some harsh criticism of Prince Of Crows. Talking about "Sevatar fucking surfs on a space-fighter during a void-battle, WTF?" Talking about "Sevatar is just some sassy little bitch, Kurze would have popped his head off like a bottlecap for talkin' greasy like that!" Talking about "We've had enough of Thramas, get us back to Calth/Terra/the 41st Milennium!!!" Well that's just haterspeak. Sevatar is certainly vicious with the wisecracks but he is also a handy audience stand-in - for example, when he calls Kurze on his genocidal, broken-window theory bullshit. Even though his Primarch slaps the taste outta his mouth for implying that maybe brutal murder for EVERY transgression isn't the best way to govern a world, it warms my heart that Sevatar spoke up. That's not to say he is the Legion's conscience; he can be as brutal and callous as any son of Kurze (those VIII Legion dudes sure like skinnin' folk).

As for the rocketship surfing, it isn't as dumb as it will sound if you try to make it sound dumb. It's not like Sevatar just does this shit casually like "OH HI HATERS, JUST CATCHIN' SOME WAVES". He barely survives. Keep in mind he's an incredibly tough son of a bitch with poorly-buried Librarius powers, has come through countless battlefields without being bested, and came up in life as a feral, creepy gangland kid. He ain't no Ignace Karkasy, but this little stunt punishes him, badly. So... haters will hate. But I honestly, for the life of me, can't think of another character like Sevatar in the HH storyline. Just a smooth, evil son of a bitch with punchlines for days; a 'smiling villain', and don't we all love those (peace to Richard III). He's like what Lucius could be if he wasn't buried in his own asshole, or Tarik if he had let his id control him completely.

This is a hell of a picture of Sev which kind of makes me think of GTAIII: Vice City.

Enough Sevatar dicklicking. What's the story of Prince Of Crows? Oooh, tough break, it's Sevatar's story! We're brought in some months after the events of 'Savage Weapons'. Following their straightforward knock-down drag-out fight on Tsagualsa, Lion'El Johnson and Kurze have continued the deadlock of the Thramas Crusade. Johnson, however, learns his lesson and his Angels ambush the Night Lords, beating them bloody and leaving Kurze in a near-death state. Into this power vacuum steps Sevatar, who isn't shy about reshaping the Legion in the image he feels is best for everyone, and the hell with the Primarch and Horus' wishes. While stating he himself plans to take the fight to Terra, he gives the other warlords the choice to do what they will with their slices of the pie... something they seem oddly, touchingly grateful for. Perhaps Sevatar's move is ultimately a selfish one (he doesn't want to compete with headbreakers and glory hunters who want the Atramentar at their own backs and Sev's helm on their trophy rack). Perhaps it's a realistic one (acknowledging that his Legion, gathered together, is not an unstoppable World Eating force, or an immovable Imperial Fist anvil; just a conglomerate of backstabbing dickheads - and ten Night Lords in a room will get you fifteen agendas.) Or perhaps it's entirely prescient: he is helping his Legion reach, ahead of time by several years (or milennia, depending on your perspective) the point that all the Traitor Legions will essentially arrive at: autonomous warbands whose only purpose is to maim the Imperium.

Or maybe he's just a dick. An insane dick. Who knows?

In what is probably a very wise move, Dembski-Bowden doesn't focus on characters from his highly lauded Night Lords trilogy, just teasing us with a brief mention of the Covenant Of Blood and a tantalising throwaway line that the comatose Primarch is tended by three apothecaries, one of which is from the 10th Company. But it makes sense: even Vandred would have been far beneath Sevatar's notice, and Talos was 'just' an Apothecary. If First Claw wandered into this shit all "OHHHH what up Jago? Ain't seen you in a minute son", that'd seem kind of forced and weird.

'Prince Of Crows' is a perfect mix of intense action, snappy dialogue, fleshing out the backstory of Kurze himself, and some introductions of further unsavoury 'persons of interest' in the shadowy Legion's upper echelons. Of these, I'm particularly fascinated by Alastor Rushal, a Raven Guard captain who for some reason is not only an honorary member of the Night Lords, but promoted to their ruling council by Sevatar. It gradually becomes clear that he has been 'with' the Legion since Isstvan (but was he captured or did he defect?) and has been extensively tortured and mutilated by Sevatar, including having his tongue removed (so why does he fight unflinchingly by Sev's side?). If nothing else from 'Prince Of Crows' is ever picked up, I only hope that Alastor gets a little bit more development of his story, whether it's his background or his ultimate fate. But I have faith that AD-B wouldn't put a character like this in without planning out a pretty extensive story arc for him.

And fuck man... that ending. That ending, bro. THAT ENDING. Just like with Fear To Tread, there's absolutely an 'Empire Strikes Back' feeling about this story's closing pages. The feeling of a Legion or a character raising up again slowly after taking some serious licks. Sevatar, like Han in carbonite, shouldn't be counted out. Damn right he'll rise again.

10/10, dog. 10/10 long and hard.

In summing up, I think 'Shadows Of Treachery' shows Black Library at their best and also their evillest. I guess making a 'new' story collection 75% old material is a little reprehensible, but it's also an extremely strong read, which rarely lets up, and provides some of the absolute best moments in the series so far. It feels like I say that about most of their story collections, but STILL, when there's stuff like 'Rebirth', 'Little Horus', 'After Des'hea', 'The Last Remembrancer' and 'Savage Weapons' out there, I can't help but feel a lot of the "proper" full-length Heresy novels come off poorly in comparison. I'll never understand the mindset that the story collections are "just filler"; there's so much more scope for exploration in a short story collection, you can deal with things that wouldn't stand up for an entire novel but can't be left out of the HH storyline. If you're worried a collection will lack focus, you should also note that a lot of these stories focus on fleshing out just a few Legions or events, ie Kurze and Dorn's pre-Heresy smackdown, and the character of the Imperial Fists themselves.

Overall I give Shadows 8/10.

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