"Scars" by Chris Wraight

Sometimes… Shit, sometimes… I think ‘Scars’ might be my favourite fuckin’ Horus Heresy book ever.

o shit look over there son

Let’s not throw other books under the bus. There are close competitors. ‘Prospero Burns’ is a poem, an experiment with style which is divisive in the fanbase, but which I love unreservedly. ‘The First Heretic’ was a complete surprise, not a flawless one, but it brought emotional depth to some of the most cartoonish villains in the lore. And then Aaron did that again with a whole different Legion in ‘Betrayer’, also refining the structure of ‘The First Heretic’, trimming its narrative fat. ‘Legion’ is fucking amazing – but it’s so short, and as the series goes on it feels more and more like it doesn’t belong, perhaps even that its presence hurts the series in some way; it makes all other Alpha Legion appearances so disappointing, and its vision of the Crusade is so far from everything else we’ve seen (yet, I think, so much better than most of the other stuff as well). The same pitfall, in a way, befalls ‘Horus Rising’ – every time I read it, I get mad at the serious drop in almost every aspect of the story’s quality that happened when ‘False Gods’ came around. I’ll argue at length for ‘Angel Exterminatus’ being an underrated classic – but it’s not my favourite. I’ve grown fonder and fonder of ‘The Unremembered Empire’ for its distinctive writing style – but it’s not my favourite.  ‘Know No Fear’ has, I believe, the best action sequences in the whole Heresy, no contest, but it’s probably not my favourite. Probably not. That one’s a strong contender, though.

But ‘Scars’? This book has some serious pull.

First off, don’t read this without reading ‘Brotherhood of the Storm’. Since ‘Brotherhood’ is now available in ‘Legacies of Betrayal’, even you ‘I won’t read anything but the numbered novels’ crazies are going to have no excuse to skip this masterpiece. Between ‘Brotherhood’ and ‘Scars’, there’s a switch from first-person to third-person which readers may find jarring at first, but it’s a necessary step considering the drastic increase in ‘perspective’ characters in this book.

The book begins with a prologue which cuts between Tamu (a youth on Chogoris) and Haren (a Terran boy from the region of Skandmark, which is a great name for a fake-Nordic place). The two boys are on completely different worlds, but their lives run parallel. The prologue takes you through their days as Legion Aspirants, Haren hoping to join the Luna Wolves, Tamu being a potential White Scar. Tamu forms a companionship with Yesugei the Stormseer, and Haren suffers the agony of not quite making the grade for his preferred Legion. As the two of them prepare for ordination into the White Scars, they must choose new names as part of the ritual of Ascension. Tamu becomes Shiban, and Haren becomes Torghun. Shock! IT WAS TWO KEY CHARACTERS FROM ‘BROTHERHOOD OF THE STORM’ ALL ALONG!

I don’t think the Heresy has ever really explored the Aspirant process as thoroughly as Wraight does here. It works brilliantly, not just as a re-introduction to these characters, but as an explanation for their attitudes.

This section also features probably one of the best paragraphs ever: “Many of [the Aspirants] had been taken from the Asiatic hive clusters. Haren disapproved of that. After Unity the Imperium was meant to have moved beyond racial and ethnic stereotyping, so the fact that the V Legion remained mired in the physiognomic traits of their backwater world was an irritant.” Sure it’s a nice indicator of Haren’s frustration and arrogance, but it also lampshades the idiocy of a whole Legion of Space Mongolians. (There are elements of other real-world cultures in the White Scars Legion. Torghun uses a tulwar, an Indian sword; Shiban wields a guan dao, a Japanese weapon.) When Black Library were selling ‘Scars’ as an episodic e-book series, I only had to buy ‘Prologue’ to feel confident it would be worth waiting for the hardback and reading it in one sitting. After this, you might assume Shiban and Torghun will be the main characters here. Unfortunately, I feel Torghun is never really explored or shown to the same degree as Shiban. I did find Torghun a really interesting character so I would have liked more exploration of his motives, but hey, whatever. It’s possible that could be an element of whatever comes next in this story arc.

After the prologue, we skip forward and follow the events of ‘Brotherhood of the Storm’. Ilya Ravallion is preparing to leave Chondax, concerned by the inability of the Astropaths to make contact with the rest of the Imperium. Meanwhile, Shiban is on Phemus-IV, and discovers the bodies of a White Scar patrol group mysteriously assassinated months ago – a great tie-in to ‘The Serpent Beneath’. And Torghun is creeping over to a Lodge meeting to get hella crunk. At this time, Yesugei is on Chogoris, musing over the Edict of Nikea. He comes to the conclusion that he must have guidance from the Khagan to unpick this knotty issue, and though he had been ordered to remain on the homeworld, he resolves to find his Primarch and appeal to him regarding the Edict which he believes to be a mistake. Unfortunately, due to suspicious Warp-storm activity, shit’s kinda rough and his journey will not be an easy one. It feels like by this point in the Heresy series, I should be rolling my eyes and looking at my watch whenever there are sequences where clueless loyalists scratch their heads at the strange Warp phenomena restricting their movements, but Chris does well in making this seem like a fresh new storyline.

Then, the ‘wild card’, unexpected for fans of ‘Brotherhood of the Storm’ but perhaps unsurprising given Chris’ authorial history: we cut to the Space Wolves. Their spirit darkened and bruised after Prospero, and worsened by learning of the betrayal at Isstvan, they’ve realised they have been manipulated and used. Gathering at the Alaxxes Nebula to repair their fleet, they ponder their next move. As Russ orders them to return to Terra, their plans are complicated by the arrival of the Alpha Legion. It’s really cool that we get – ostensibly – a sequel to ‘Prospero Burns’ as some bonus content to a book about a completely different Legion, and it gives Chris a chance to expand on the not-entirely-positive relationship between the V and VI Legions.

But that’s not all! Then we have a meeting on Terra between Dorn, Constantin Valdor and the Sigillite, where they discuss their possible options for squashing this rebellion, and Malcador drops this jewel: “You brothers – such a nest of rivalries. I warned him to make you sisters, that it would make things more civilised. He thought I was joking. I wasn’t.” As someone who has a shitload of aunts, I would say that perhaps Malcador is not completely correct there, but I love that line. And then (yes, there’s more), back with the White Scars fleet, we get a reintroduction to another character from ‘Brotherhood of the Storm’ – Jaghatai Khan. He’s grown closer to Ilya and she no longer feels like she’s going to have a heart attack when she sees him, though he’s still an extremely intimidating presence. He’s also given much more time on the page than he was in ‘Brotherhood of the Storm’; in fact, you could argue he is one of the main characters in this book – and I think that’s as it should be, with this being his Legion’s first novel.

Now, my intro covers a rather small portion of ‘Scars’, and I think you’ll agree that’s a lot of characters and a lot of plot strands for the first three chapters of a book. As I read it, I was flipping out – could Chris keep this many storylines in a manageable, tight story? As it turns out, he doesn’t need to; many of the storylines are dropped quickly. The Terran intrigue is just a nice bonus, a reminder that Chris probably writes Malcador better than anyone else. We don’t see anything like that again. And the Space Wolves strand is a major plot device, but doesn’t persist through the whole book, though it’s an opportunity to get some more Bjorn character development. As for Torghun, he does some pretty significant stuff, but in terms of page count he’s a secondary character we don’t spend much time with. No, ‘Scars’ really just carries on with the characters (and plot strands) of ‘Brotherhood of the Storm’, with a much greater presence from the Khagan. In fact, the Fifth Primarch is the driving force behind the book’s narrative, which is as it should be. Torn between his duty to the Imperium, and his independent nature, the Khan would rather find things out for himself than blindly carry out an order from his brother, whether that’s Dorn or Horus.

The Space Wolf/Alpha Legion confrontation is great, but a relatively brief account. Wraight’s void war was impressive, but I admit I enjoyed it more when Bjorn and his pack were fighting the Hydra face to face. And Bjorn’s angry interrogation of the dying Alpha Legionary, and his confusing answer… it’s so great. I honestly feel that by giving the Alpha Legion an almost non-speaking role, Chris has taken the first steps on the road I wish all the Heresy writers would travel: pulling it back to the remote and mysterious characterisation of ‘Legion’. As a bonus, Leman Russ has a fight against a Contemptor Dreadnought which ends so gruesomely, it actually made me nauseous. But the Space Wolf strand quickly draws to a close, with the VI forced back into the Alaxxes nebula and driven to seek aid from the White Scars – aid which Jaghatai denies them with a frostily polite message mentioning that they must go investigate the reported demise of Prospero. I don’t doubt this moment will be a point of contention when the Wolf and the Khan meet again – but it also sets the Wolves up brilliantly for the Alaxxes fight, something we can hopefully expect in novella form later this year.

With the second part of the book beginning, Yesugei joins the Shattered Legions in their fight, which is a good opportunity for him to discuss corruption and sorcery with the more tunnel-visioned Bion Henricos. (Yes, Bion Henricos. The shadow of ‘Little Horus’ continues to loom over the minds of other Horus Heresy writers, though Chris seems much less indebted to it than Graham.) There’s a telling scene where Yesugei horrifically tortures a captured Word Bearer, before being stopped by a Salamander – Yesugei’s apparent ruthlessness switching quickly to his capitulation and shame when the error of his judgement is pointed out, makes me like him (and the Salamander) even more. It also shows that even the most powerful of the White Scars are nowhere near as intractable as many Legion command elite. It says a lot about their Legion’s character.

Though Torghun and Shiban’s scenes here slow the pace a little too much – especially considering this Legion’s predilection for speed – the Khagan’s quest to find out what happened to his beloved brother Magnus more than makes up for any shortcomings elsewhere. It also leads to one of the most devastating scenes in the book: Jaghatai confronting the shade of his brother Magnus in the ruins of Tizca. Not content with defining one Primarch’s character, and redefining the character of another Primarch who had previously been rather undeveloped (we’ll get to that later), Chris actually writes yet another Primarch to a very good standard as well. There’s no dramatic change in Magnus’ attitudes from what’s previously been written about him, but his dialogue and his characteristics just seem more well-thought out and subtle than the rather one-dimensional wizard king in Graham McNeill’s book. As for their unexpected regard for each other, it’s written in a way that makes a lot of sense – it’s established fairly early on that some seem to think Jaghatai has the gift of psychic powers – Yesugei and Magnus among them. I really like the idea of Primarchs who you’d never think would get on ending up as best bros, so this is a great development. Not only that, but Chris’ Ahriman is excellent as well, much more in line with the John French books. I know I’ve banged on about being disappointed in ‘A Thousand Sons’ before, and most HH fans love that book so this probably won’t stand out as much for them. I have faith that ‘The Crimson King’ could be a fantastic book, so I’m not going to start clamouring for Chris Wraight to write all the Magnus stuff from now on… but it’s a great expansion to his character, one I hope McNeill takes a few cues from.

And speaking of writing Primarchs excellently… the brief flashback to Ullanor, just after the Triumph and Horus’ ascension to Warmaster, sees Fulgrim, Mortarion, Sanguinius and the Khan having a nice family get-together. Buried (and not-so-buried) resentments don’t take long to ruin the gathering. It’s a masterfully written scene, and makes me regret that Wraight didn’t have the opportunity to feature Primarch interaction more heavily in his books. I’m almost tempted to add another one to the list of ‘Chris might be the best at writing this Primarch’ characters: Sanguinius. Unfortunately, in a great deal of Heresy fiction, the Angel has come across as a little fey and – not stupid, but rather naïve, and perhaps lacking in charisma. More sullen than angelic. Here, Wraight shows him as (in Nick Cave’s words) a lovely creature, a conciliator amongst his passive-aggressive brothers with little in the way of guile or malice. This conversation is also a telling illustration of the Khan’s attitudes to the Imperium itself. He does not believe that Horus should have been elevated to Warmaster, not because he distrusts Horus or wishes the role for himself, but because he doesn’t think such a positon should exist. ‘Scars’ is littered with little moments like this showing the Khan’s “fuck the Feds” attitude; there’s a very telling flashback where Yesugei remembers the Khan back on Chogoris denouncing the very prospect of an Emperor able to conquer everything.

Abnett’s Russ and Guilliman, AD-B’s Lorgar, Graham’s Perturabo… The list is impressive, yet this late in the game, it feels like the redefinition of a Primarch is less and less likely. Somehow though, Chris managed it for the Khan, not just redefining his character, but his role in the Horus Heresy. Wraight began to show his skill in this arena in ‘Brotherhood Of The Storm’, and continued into ‘Scars’ (and ‘Daemonology’, for Mortarion). Something in me hopes he gets a crack at Alpharius next, as of all the eighteen Primarchs, the XX seems the most in need of a helpful push at the moment – yet if Wraight stays with the Khagan, I will be far from dissatisfied.

Jaghatai and the Magnus-shade’s conversation is one of the best moments of the book; it reads like an eloquent apology for the intensely stupid actions Magnus’ character has been funnelled into during the series. Yet it’s also a harsh reality check for the Khan, who’s been focusing so much on the horror which has befallen his closest brothers – Magnus and Horus – that he hasn’t quite allowed himself to see the wider context. A side must be chosen. Oh, man. What a downer this book is getting towards the end. It’s like the big homie Randall said, life is just a series of downer endings.

But could… wait, could Chris just… throw in a late-novel game-changer featuring a Primarch who’s been woefully underused so far? And perhaps write one of the most emotionally resonant Primarch confrontation we’ve had in the series so far? (OK, Angron and Lorgar v Guilliman in ‘Betrayer’ is pretty great too.) I’ve already gushed about this in other reviews, so the shock (and spoilers) should be low by now. But when I saw Mortarion show up in this book, it felt like Christmas had come early. I was like OH SHIT SON YOU AIN’T EVEN HAD TO DO THAT! BOOK WAS ALREADY A SOLID 9! Not only is this a great fight scene (unstoppable forces vs immovable object, Spiderman vs the Hulk) it’s a wonderful confrontation of the two brothers’ viewpoints. The Khan’s disdainful verbal excoriation of Mortarion’s self-aggrandisement is rather cutting, but I think if we look at how things played out, Mortarion had a better grasp of how things would play out on a wide scale. I strongly recommend reading ‘Daemonology’ right after you finish this book, and then reading the Death Lord’s scenes in ‘Vengeful Spirit’ – it makes a horrible kind of sense now.

I feel like I’ve compared a lot of Heresy books’ endings (favourably) with The Empire Strikes Back. With ‘Scars’, my feeling is more of ‘A New Hope’. The characters are beginning to realise the stakes, they have won a significant victory, but they know a long hard road is ahead of them. Their optimism is cautious, but it’s still there. I hate saying it, because I genuinely like the Scars so much as characters, but I can’t wait for the V Legion to go down the dark paths we know are waiting for them on this long Heresy road.

When I finished ‘Scars’ for the first time, I might have given it 9/10. I was annoyed that the Space Wolf/Alpha Legion strand was truncated so abruptly, and that all the Primarchs listed in the Dramatis Personae didn’t take a more central role. Knowing the overview of the book, and giving each plot strand the added attention it deserved, I found it to be as perfect a Heresy novel as we’ve ever had. Yes, there were a few moments where I was a little less engaged – Torghun and Shiban’s dance around the Lodges should have been shorter by a few scenes. But it’s packed with superb sequences which stand as highlights of the entire series.

I honestly can’t wait for the next ‘Scars’ novel – from my conversation with Chris Wraight at the Weekender, its publication before the end of 2015 doesn’t seem completely impossible at this point – but it’ll be bloody difficult for him to get better than this. 10/10

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