News from the frontlines of this Heresy shit (Well, not really)

Awwwww shit!

It has recently come to my attention (via Black Library's helpful newsletter email) that the next Horus Heresy release after 'The Damnation Of Pythos' is going to be called 'Legacies Of Betrayal'. Here's a slightly cropped shot of the cover art they released - the full version is now proudly taking over as my desktop background (I can retire the long-serving 'Tallarn: Executioner' art, goodbye flaming Iron Warriors, hello flaming... well... there's a Lucius joke in there somewhere, but it seems cheap).

PASS THE MIC SON

Sooooo... some characters seem clear to me (Kharn, Cypher, Lucius, and I suppose Ahriman, though I don't remember him having horns at this point). Some are a mystery but we can at least guess at their identity. The Word Bearers are conspicuous in there absence so we can presume that's a Gal Vorbak bringing up the rear, but with Argel Tal's death, who could it actually be? But speculation isn't helpful (he said, limbering up his fingers for some heavy fucking speculation).

So what's this actually about? Went through some of the usual well-informed but passive-aggressive posts on Heresy Online, and it looks like it will be a three-volume novella collection. (And seriously, guys, why would you think an anthology called 'Legacies Of Betrayal' would have an Ultramarine story in it?) In terms of what the stories will actually be, well, that's unclear, but it's shown on Amazon and Waterstones as being written by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Chris Wraight and Graham McNeill. Looks like a lot of people think Graham has most likely been replaced by Gav Thorpe, though.

So, dream lineup for me:
ADB: A 'Prince Of Crows' sequel. Perhaps a conclusion to the Sevatar story? Though that might be too soon. KILL HIM! KILL HIM, ADB, KILL HIM IN A REALLY AWESOME WAY THAT MAKES EVERYONE MAD!
Chris Wraight: Something about the Alpha Legion would be nice. 'Scars' featured only a tiny bit of XX Legion shenanigans but I felt that Chris had a really good handle on them. Perhaps something about the Thousand Sons character he wrote about in 'Scars' and 'Rebirth', though I'd wager something a bit more villainous is likely with the theme of the collection.
Graham McNeill: A continuation of the story hinted at in 'Lucius: The Eternal Blade'. Lucius and the Thousand Sons butting heads could be a great scenario. But it's being said that we're more likely to get...
Gav Thorpe: Looks like a Cypher story. I could go for one of those. I guess.

But hey, the world isn't an ideal one, so this might not be what we get. It really doesn't look like Sevatar is on the cover, so I'd say it's much more likely that we get a Kharn story. Still, who the fuck am I to complain? I'll buy that shit as soon as it goes on sale. I'd buy it if it was an anthology written by Mitchel Scanlon, CZ Dunn and the fucking ghost of Ayn Rand. So a book with two (mmmaaaayyyybeeee three?) of my favourite HH writers getting 100+ pages each to deepen the story... that sounds golden. I'm not crazy about the concept of Graham being dropped for another Gav Dark Angels story, but if it's on Caliban and deals with the Fallen, I'm still on board. As for Wraight and ADB, I'm not worried about what those guys will bring to the table... at all.

I did not see this one coming, but I did hope another story collection would be out soon, and the dark gods have answered my prayers. Here's hoping it'll be as good as that other 'Legacy' collection...

Erebus, yesterday.

In other news, I got my hands on a copy of 'The Imperial Truth', so I hope to have a review up fairly soon. I'm still struggling horribly with my review readthrough of 'Nemesis' (been stranded at the halfway point for weeks now; boy is that book not fun to write about) and so I'm taking a break to read 'Angel Exterminatus' again, plus all the short stories leading up to it. That means 'The Crimson Fist' so far, and I really didn't give that book its due in my 'Shadows Of Treachery' review, it's very good. definitely better than 7/10.

And of course, I'm stoked for 'Damnation of Pythos' brah.