"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.

New to PurpleHeresy? Head on over to the index page to see a more chronological list of the Horus Heresy reviews on this blog.

"Know No Fear" by Dan Abnett

Know No Fear tells the story of The Battle of Calth. The Word Bearers mass (and plot) to crush the majority of the Ultramarines legion, getting vengance for their humiliating full-legion public spanking on Monarchia (see 'The First Heretic'). There's an ulterior motive aside from smashing one of the biggest, most Imperial-loyal (and therefore most dangerous to Horus) legions: Erebus, Lorgar and Kor Phaeron are cookin' up a big old UNHYGIENIC ACTIVITY which seems to feed on the colossal loss of life that hits both sides.

Fighting in space with no helmet is just another reason why Guilliman is better than you and me.

And boy is there a loss of life. At the outset, the Ultramarines have 200,000 troops massed (four-fifths of their entire strength). The Word Bearers only 50,000. Abnett doesn't specify how it stands at the end of the book, but fuck me, it's a meatgrinder. As you can see, the Ultramarines have the numbers, but the Word Bearers have surprise on their side. Actually, 'surprise' isn't really adequate to describe how the Ultramarines feel. They are probably the most practical chapter, but they just cannot conceive of the grim reality of their situation, even when faced with evidence; far too many stories end with Ultramarines staring blankly in horror and shock, while the Word Bearers gun them down, all the time singing creepy songs (quite possibly all from NIN's 'The Downward Spiral'). Not only are they betrayed and fighting their own kind - something they're not remotely prepared for - but they're fighting things which they haven't even really acknowledged the existence of - daemons, Chaos, religious people.

The format, in my opinion, is amazing - an ongoing chronological sequence of 'fragments', each time-stamped in relation to the 'mark' of Calth (the point at which Guilliman declared hostilities open). Primarily, the book focuses on a 50-hour period which changes things forever for the Ultramarines. There are exceptions to the 50-hour rule (including a FUCKING INCREDIBLE addendum which, by my - very likely wrong - calculations, is set about 25 years after the action of the book, and, yeah... dish best served cold...) but it's mainly about 2 days of carnage and daemon worship. (Insert sarcastic comment about Burning Man here.)

Radical!

The tone of the writing is often focused more on the 'practical' than the 'theoretical', to borrow from the Ultramarines cant. Brisk, declarative and wholly present-tense, it's very easy to get lost in. At times, it almost seems like another attempt at writing WH40K fiction as 'straight' historical record, as Abnett often seemed to be doing in his Gaunt's Ghosts book 'Necropolis'. While 'Necropolis' is a book I look back on more with admiration than fondness, the conceit works incredibly well here: it takes the 'hard facts' approach, frequently showing us the wider, horrific context of the ever-changing overall 'board' of Calth and juxtaposing it with stories of individuals caught up in the confusion. And boy, are the stories hard-hitting. Once we get past the initial stage of the outrage and the cussing of Lorgar's Chaos-ruled bones, we get to the Crunch: to borrow the slogan from 'Independence Day', we get The Day We Fight Back. While 'Know No Fear' is pretty amazing from the outset, the stories all gather in momentum as they reach the end, and the last third of the book reaches a frantic pace; your eyes will hurt from the QUICK EYES TRY READ FASTER WORDS, and I honestly found it incredibly hard to put this down at all. Even harder as I was reading it on the bus to and from work with no opportunities in-between bus journeys to read it; just imagine taking a 7-hour break from this book after reading the sentence "Kor Phaeron puts the athame to Guilliman's throat"!

One big criticism Abnett often gets is 'He can't write Astartes, he writes them the same as his Guardsmen characters'. Look, if you want to see Abnett write 'modern' Astartes read the omnibus about the Iron Snakes chapter. If you're a guy who thinks Astartes should never cuss, crack jokes, or show any kind of emotion, 'Know No Fear' isn't for you. If you want to read about Marines who are all blank verse, righteous indignation and periodically howling "FOR THE EMPEROR, BROTHERS!!!!!!" or "LAST ONE TO DIE IS AN ELDAR!" (actual canon Space Wolf quote), there are plenty other Heresy books for you. But you probably shouldn't read 'Legion' (Astartes: "I admire your balls"), 'Horus Rising' (Astartes: "Wipe your arse with the other hand for a while") or 'Prospero Burns' (Astartes: "Magnus? The fucking guy's a cunt"). Oh wait, you SHOULD read those because THEY ARE SOME OF THE BEST HH BOOKS.

One group of Marines that also cusses a lot are the Angry Marines. Those guys HATE Ultramarines, though.

So as a counterpoint, a lot of people have a different view of Abnett's cursemarines: as weird and semi-aspergic as they are, Astartes are human (on some level), and they are soldiers. They probably would react like human soldiers to some things, and occasionally use inappropriate language, and bleak humour, and show disrespect to their more stick-in-the-mud commanders. Abnett is a hit with this crowd, quite rightly. HAVING SAID THAT, my personal image of the 13th Legion does not really feature them being this (prim face all the way on) potty-mouthed. We can forgive the constant "YOUUUU BASTARRRRDS!" screams, since, well, the Word Bearers are bastarrrrrrrrrds of the highest order. But... dude, do they need to use so many cuss words? (Ventanus, as played by Jeff Bridges: "Dude, what the fuck are you talking about?" *exhales gigantic cloud of lho-smoke*) Actually, I honestly don't have a problem with the harsh language; I guess I just always figured the 13th were a bit more unflinchingly respectful of the chain of command, and emotionless, and robotic. Or Roboutic. In a way, writing down this whiny complaint I have has made me realise it was actually one of the best things about the book. It humanised the Ultramarines in ways I hadn't thought possible.

One of the best things about this book is that it tears at your loyalties. Let's face it, many of us who are fans of the HH series come to it as Chaos or Imperial cheerleaders. I was a HUGE Chaos fan when I played 40K and 'The First Heretic' really made me feel like the Word Bearers (frankly never my favourite Chaos chapter) could perhaps be MY dog in the HH fight. As for the Ultramarines, well, I was put off by seemingly 50% of the Space Marine players I encountered fielding an Ultramarines army, plus they always seemed like the most flavourless chapter. This does the impossible: makes me actually like Guilliman's legion and root for their victory. A nice way that Abnett accomplishes this is focusing on the most EEEEVIL aspects of the Word Bearers: of course, Kor Phaeron is the primary Word Bearers character, probably the most irredeemably evil dick in the whole HH dramatis personae (well, Erebus is probably more evil, but Phaeron is more of a dick). Though I felt oddly fond of KP at times in The First Heretic, here he just gets to dance around flitting between creepily placid serial-killer calm and furious gloating. Clearly, in the inevitable HBO miniseries, he needs to be portrayed by Kevin Spacey.

"So what does this 'athame' actually do?" "Oh, you'll see, John Cusack. You'll see."

Also, the 'mud-slinging' holo-chat between Lorgar and Guilliman is, well, hilarious, but will probably cause more straight-laced BL readers to hurl the book into the furious abyss. Frankly, there's no better way Guilliman can respond to Lorgar's oblique burnout ramblings than "Lorgar, you SHIT. Are you DRUGGED?" but him calling his brother Primarch a 'worm' and 'maggot' while Lorgar responds with 'you cheap Irish faggot', err, sorry, I mean 'arsehole', seems a bit juvenile. I hear that BL cut out the extended scene where Rob yells "You know what you are, Lorgar? A dickstrangling bitch" and Lorgar proceeds to say "Thirteenth Primarch? more like the Thirteenth crymarch, you baby" since it would, you know, hurt kids.

Barely any Word Bearers get moments of dialogue or character development, but that's OK. This is the Ultramarines' book, and boy was it overdue. Perhaps out of respect to AD-B, Argel Tal is mentioned, and glimpsed briefly, but we don't smell what he's cooking. I didn't even mind. Wait, wanting the Ultramarines to win and not wanting more time with Lorgar and Argel Tal? I suppose next you'll be telling me Abnett is making me actually like the Space Wolves... oh wait... There are some nice callbacks, also, to details in HH books past, like the scrapcode (presumably passed on from those scrubs in 'Mechanicum') being an integral part of the 17th's assault. Or John Grammaticus (that fucking smooth bastard) showing up again. Or Tarik Torgaddon's geneseed being used in an eldritch ritual to appease unknowable gods (not so funny now, is it Tarik?). I could have done without Tarik being reborn as a daemon called 'Tormageddon' though... smh.

Do I even got to say my rating? 10/10!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is that shit which made me hella wet for Unremembered Empire (and my review of that will follow... soon). I know I sound like a fucking Abnett groupie once again, but the guy can do no wrong...

New to PurpleHeresy? Head on over to the index page to see a more chronological list of the Horus Heresy reviews on this blog.

"Prospero Burns" by Dan Abnett

PROSPERO. BURNS. IS. FUCKING. AMAZING.

But is it a good Horus Heresy book? Not really.

But is it FUCKING DICKBREAKINGLY, CLITORIS-SLAPPINGLY amazing? Yes really.

Does that make sense? Not really.

Let me explain a little.

One of the more misleading covers in the series.

You see, this book pisses off people for a few reasons.

One, kind of like in 'A Thousand Sons', PROSPERO DON'T DO NO BURNIN' TIL DANG NEAR THE END OF THE BOOK!!! How yew gonna call your book that AND NOT HAVE IT BE 1000 PAGES OF CHAINSWORD-CLASHIN', PSYKER-SMASHIN' GREY-ON-RED VIOLENCE?!?! How you gonna have all this faggot CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT shit all in your book, yo, when we know we just want MARINES FIGHTING MARINES UNTIL BOTH ARMIES ARE OPENLY CRYING.

Two, this is NOT the Space Wolves we know and love. Sure they hang out with wolves (the four-legged kind); sure they chill on Fenris in The Fang like some $wagged out bosses; sure they wear grey armour and have a load of runes and talismans all up on their shoulderpads. But they're also extremely downbeat, laconic and, well, not the ale-swilling alpha males you'd expect. I'll admit, I could get no more than a few chapters into the Bill King 'Space Wolf' books which (to me) read like a shitty Japanese RPG about half-understood super-Vikings (lots of mead, references to sagas, characters earnestly pledging to meet again in Valhalla and shit like that). But none of that here. Just lots of phlegmatic, darkly humourous conversations and desperately violent, short battles. In probably the most controversial scene here, they even openly dismiss the name 'Space Wolves' - and you can see why. These are Serious Dudes, and that name is, well, faintly ridiculous. Obviously, this is the highest Heresy EVER to angry "current-40K" nerds who are all Team Jacob and shit. The implication that perhaps 10,000 years go, their legion of boisterous space barbarians were a little different from the WH40K status quo... motherfuckers damn near took contracts out on Abnett's life. And Lemam Russ turning up, but not eviscerating ANYONE or even roaring at anything? And, perhaps (as 'A Thousand Sons' hinted so well) being a thoughtful, well-balanced guy capable of civilised conversation and bearing no apparent malice towards the Crimson King, but who feels he has to play the role of a brash warlord to be a more effective/fearsome leader? Don't. Get. Me. Fucking. Started. Abnett. You. Monster.

Space Wolves in a happier, simpler time.

So, this is less like the romanticised vision of Space Vikings we have previously seen in fiction about the 6th Legion, and more like the people of Fenris probably would be. I mean, their world isn't just hostile, it's seemingly designed specifically to stamp out any human life on it. The tribes live in constant war and even if they continuously win, their prize is to live out a pretty joyless, awful existence. This makes the survivors a group of people who were killers through necessity, and good at it, but didn't particularly relish life and realised it could be taken away, horribly, at any time.

I am fucking sick, by this point, of moments in Horus Heresy books where the author says "All the legions were designed to deal death, but (insert name of Legion this book is about) were... like, really, really fucking good at it, y'know. They were all about killing. Not like those pussy-ass other 17." But... fuck. You know if Abnett pulled that shit, he was gonna back it up by taking it to some OTHER LEVEL of violence. The battle scenes in THIS are, well, brutal. I read this before I read 'A Thousand Sons', and by the end, I was going "Shit, man, if I was Magnus and the Emperor sicced these dogs on ME, I'd be pounding on Tzeentch's door before they even made planetfall, begging him to take my soul so he could super-Saiyan me the fuck up." And the Thousand Sons are my dudes, they like reading, daydreaming, listening to the Smiths and burning people alive with their minds... but the Rout win this one, bruh. It was never even a contest. Forget McNeill's Stalinist revisionism where the Sons lost just because of the flesh-change. Team Fenris got in the mud on Prospero. They might not be marching into battle singing 'Immigrant Song' but they still reach out & touch their enemies real good.

The goofy over-the-top 'space vikings' thing isn't all bad. This cover is pretty damn cool.

Oh yeah, another reason this SUCKS and Abnett should DIE: The main character isn't even a Space Wolf! See, Kasper Hawser AKA Ahmad Ibn Rusta AKA as Trashbat is this wussy academic type who gets seconded to the Wolves due to, erm, almost dying on Fenris, and learns some shit about their ways and traditions and what have you. It's interesting because - to my knowledge - there hadn't really been a HH book before this solely from the viewpoint of an outsider/non-combatant - for the sake of argument let's call him a Remembrancer. We've had some characters of that nature, but we've never stayed in their perspective for a whole book. Don't worry, there's still loads of killing... but there are also some super-homo bits where he thinks back to his life as a 31st milennium archaeologist-type and the debates he had with colleagues on the nature of the Crusade and Man's role in the universe. DON'T YOU HATE IT WHEN AUTHORS GIVE MORE DIMENSION TO THE WH40K UNIVERSE THAT'S NOT CHAINSWORDS SLICING OPEN BOLTGUNS? If so you probably shouldn't be reading a Dan Abnett book... even a Heresy one.

Oh, the other reason this book pisses people off: Abnett references, many times, the wolves making a deep "wet leopard-growl" in their throats. I did see one dude sneering in his review "What this is I don't know; presumably the sound a leopard would make when it's wet." No brah, that would be a "wet-leopard growl". Check ya hyphenation son... you Gore Vidal-ass motherfucker. But I digress. As soon as I read this, I instantly 'felt' where Dan was comin' from. The wolves are so animalistic, don't you agree? And it's just a deep, gurgling, primal sound like a large cat would make. I do agree, though, that he overuses that particular phrase, by about 10 instances. But you know what? That's the ONE FLAW I feel this book has.

This would explain a lot (attribution)

If you loved 'Ravenor', or 'Eisenhorn', you will probably love Prospero Burns. It's colossal, history shaping events seen by a non-warlike, but intelligent, character who is often struggling to comprehend what he sees. In other words, he's us. See what I mean? Not necessarily a great Horus Heresy series book, but a superb WH40K book and a great dark sci-fi book full stop. 'Prospero Burns', I now reiterate, is probably my favourite Dan Abnett book so far and it's a masterpiece of 40K fiction. I give it an unreserved 10/10.

New to PurpleHeresy? Head on over to the index page to see a more chronological list of the Horus Heresy reviews on this blog.

"Fear To Tread" by James Swallow

Ahh, the Blood Angels... who haven't really made much of an appearance in the Heresy series, aside from their 'supporting role' in the great 'Brotherhood In Spiderland' segment of 'Horus Rising'. And here we are, Book 21, finally a Blood Angels-centred book. Funny, because they are probably one of the most well-known Legions - if Black Library were REALLY as evil and profit-driven as many angry nerds think, surely they'd just keep churning out book after book of poorly written Heresy-era Blood Angels drivel featuring the chapter doing absolutely fuck-all, since they know there's more of a guaranteed audience for it than, say, a story about the inner workings of the Heresy-era Mechanicum. What's that you say? "That sounds exactly like how they've treated the Dark Angels so far?" What an ugly, cynical world we live in...

*guttural screams, blastbeats*

'Fear To Tread' reminds me of nothing more than 'The First Heretic' in its structure. Like with that book, we begin with an event that casts a dark stain on a Legion's honour, long before the Heresy erupts. We then take on the perspective of some battle-brothers of that legion, as well as a healthy dose of Primarch-shadowing, as they learn gradually about the existence and nature of Chaos. We also get some fucking massive battles of incredible import. I know all this mucking about in THE PAST or THINGS WE KNOW ABOUT ALREADY is going to get up the ass of some HH followers who are eager for the books to follow a chronological arc, and for this to continue right after 'Know No Fear' left off. But in case 21 books hadn't already showed you, let me spell it out... that's never going to happen. I'm a firm believer that the several (or 18, or 50, or 100) converging and diverging storylines all need to be done justice, separately or together, before they can progress...

I've compared 'Fear To Tread' to 'The First Heretic'. Of course, the primary difference between the books is the side of the Heresy on which the Legion falls. Lorgar's story was given a hugely tragic aspect by making him a much more sympathetic, interesting character than the fluff previously allowed - but Sanguinius' tragedy is already well known. Horus' treatment of his brother is just as awful and horrifying as his treatment of Magnus, with the added horror that Sanguinius was probably the Primarch closest and dearest to the Warmaster, once upon a time. I mean, we're often told that in no uncertain terms in previous books, but actually seeing them interact is a different matter. It gives the pre-fall scenes between them an added poignance that is sometimes nearly unbearable. Another difference (and possibly a hindrance) between this and First Heretic is 'big name battles'. First Heretic's third act hinged on the Isstvan betrayal. Fear To Tread's third act hinges on the battle of Signus Prime, which I've never even fucking heard of before (but I'm not really 'up on things' re: the Blood Angels history, to be fair). As long as you're not bummed out that you don't see any Primarchs apart from Sanguinius getting their swords wet, I think Signus Prime easily stacks up against ANY Isstvan sequence we've had so far. Yeah, I said it.

The characters are great as well. Of course, Sanguinius (the Primarch with 'the gift' of psyker powers - so what's Magnus, chop liver?) is a colossal figure in the mythology of 40K and the Imperium, so Swallow had to deal with him carefully so as not to tarnish his 'gay space Jesus' image. I personally think he pulled it off magnificently; the Angel is a likeable, awe-inspiringly talented figure who also nicely misses the pitfall of being 100% AWESOMESAUCE WITH NO FLAWS. There are a few other major Blood Angels characters, an ex-Librarian and an Apothecary plus the heroic 'everyman' First Captain Raldoron, and all are done very well; they're certainly leaning more on the side of 'goody-two shoes marines', but what's wrong with that? It just makes it all the more shocking if they get a lil bit dirteeeeeeee. Evil schemes are provided by the Word Bearer 'advisors' who are seconded to the Blood Angels fleet, and a few nice little glimpses of Fabius Bile and Erebus. We also have a sassy Keeper Of Secrets and a surprisingly loquacious Bloodthirster. The supporting cast is handled well, too. I'll be honest, I never gave a fuck about the Loyalist chapters (heretic bias much?) but 'Fear To Tread' gives us a nice 'flavour' of the 9th Legion, from its more bloodthirsty sons, to the resented arrogance and entitlement of the Sanguiniary Guard; from the antagonistic Wardens who are like parole officers for former Librarians, to the Legion's hidden shame of its nascent Black Rage. I liked the glimpses of figures who will play a large part in the future of the Legion, like Furio or Amit the Flesh Tearer.

This is how the Prince of the 9th rolls, you devils.

At first I almost thought it unfair to compare 'Fear To Tread' and 'The First Heretic'. After all, TFH is by my (second?) favourite Black Library author. Dembski-Bowden is arguably better at giving his characters more rounded, believeable personalities, at writing dialogue, and his dark sense of humour can give you some real kneeslapper moments. However, I would say in some ways 'Fear To Tread' is even better. You know, 'First Heretic' would probably still win, but it might get its hair mussed. Swallow has the advantage with action sequences I think (the battle scene against creatures constructed out of a dead city's detritus and refuse is a high point) but he also might be the very best HH author at relentlessly driving the plot forward. At no point in the 500+ pages did I think COME ON MAN, GET TO THE POINT, THIS SCENE IS WORTHLESS like I often do with Ben Counter, those Dark Angels-writing chumps and sometimes (Emperor forgive me) m'Lord Graham McNeill. There's no fat on Swallow's plotting at all. It was certainly the case with 'Flight Of The Eisenstein', but it's even better here. Now sure, it's great there are books like 'The First Heretic' or 'Prospero Burns' where we have divergences and branches shooting off from the main plot - they're an excellent way to learn background about a Legion or an event - but it's also nice to have a book that just doesn't let up for a second. Out of the 19 novels and 8 authors across the HH series so far, this is only the second time I've read an HH novel and wanted to read non-HH fiction by the same author. ('First Heretic' was the first one, obviously, since I was already a Fan Abnett before I started this hellish journey.)

The cover art is acknowledged by Swallow as 'the best death metal album cover ever' and it really is amazingly over the top: a ginormous Bloodthirster (as we all know, probably the closest thing in 40K to the 'typical' perception of Satan) apparently besting the much smaller, angelic Sanguinius. Yeah, you know those Khornate hordes fucking thrash it to Deicide before their gigs. Speaking of metal fandom in 40K, there's a nice little allusion to a Lieutenant-Commander Reznor, who has an aquiline nose and a curtain of black hair. He would, quite possibly, rather die than give you control.

Geneseed insertion is like being raped by a million grasping pigs *sobs convulsively*

My only nitpick with this book is that many characters here use 'Throne' as an oath and, I mean, would that happen yet? I know the Golden Throne technically exists at this point of the timeline, but is it already an object of almost religious significance? Wouldn't they be more likely to swear by Terra or something? I've noticed this in a few of the recent books. Anyway, just a minor issue, which I'm probably not even right about...

I know I said that this was action packed, but the last 100 pages or so are, well, action-stuffed. As well as heroically overwrought battles, the Blood Angels experience the beginnings of a more widespread Legion-wide Black Rage, one major character suffers a ridiculously dark fate (which I hope will be built upon in future volumes) and the pieces are re-arranged for the beginning of the next round. It builds nicely on the end of 'Know No Fear' and (I hope) the Lion's closing statements in 'Savage Weapons'. There's an epilogue; another opportunity for Horus to crow over his sick Eye glyph and mutter some more vague descriptions of how amazing he is. Suddenly... Wait. What. WHAT. HOLY FUCKING SHIT.

A motherfucker is really on some House Bolton shit though

It's safe to say the last couple pages of 'Fear To Tread' are some of the most unexpected, disturbing shit in the whole book. And this is after Erebus' ascension to god-knows-what at the end of 'Know No Fear', so you know it takes some fucking juice to smack him about like this. All in all, the closing of this tale almost has an 'Empire Strikes Back' feeling to it. Both sides took some licks, and next time, it's gonna be personal. Here's hoping they don't decide the White Scars have spent all this time fighting Ewoks.

I give this 8/10. It only misses out on a 9/10 by a tiny amount. Oh, and the last comparison between 'First Heretic' and this: both are really long, but when I finished the last chapters, I immediately wanted more.

PS Sanguinius tattooed a single tear on his face to show love to his dead homies. THAT'S GANGSTA.

New to PurpleHeresy? Head on over to the index page to see a more chronological list of the Horus Heresy reviews on this blog.

"Age Of Darkness" (short story collection)

An ambitious title that got up a lot of fans' noses, the 'Age Of Darkness' refers to the period between the opening of Horus' insurrection and the Siege of Terra. Since hostilities opened at, well, the end of book 2 in the series, I guess some figured this would be an 'overview' of the Age Of Darkness, or perhaps signify the end of this period of the story so we could get ahead to THE NEXT PART OF THE STORY OMG WHY DOES BL HATE US?!?

The more HH covers with someone doing a black metal 'grimclaw of megadark' the better

I personally think that those who are soooo concerned with pushing the story forward are missing the point. We all kind of KNOW the overarching story of the Horus Heresy; you can always re-read your old WH40K rulebooks' background sections if you want to refresh your memory. I think there's still a fair amount of ground we can cover within the Age Of Darkness itself before motherfuckers start pitching up at Terra. A White Scars book is on its way, and the 'Isstvan V Survivors' threads have been picked up nicely for the last couple books... but there are still hella chapters I'd like us to check in with again: Death Guard, Sons Of Horus, "Fallen" Dark Angels, Space Wolves, Thousand Sons... but enough of that. How does this actual collection measure up...?

Rules Of Engagement: Graham McNeill takes on the Ultramarines at one of the lowest points in their history - the aftermath of the Calth atrocity. Guilliman has turned from "emotionless tactical powerhouse" to devastated and possibly foul-smelling "tee-hee, writey-witey booky-wooky!!" maniac, and the legion feel beleaguered and rudderless. They're impatient with the fact their primarch is making them stick firmly to approved tactics (seriously - Ultramarines are pissed at Guilliman - holy shit, my world is cracking). They're also stuck in a story which kind of goes fucking nowhere. Yeah, you know I like to snipe at McNeill, but this was not one of my favourite stories of his. Obviously I'm a ravening Abnett fanboy, and this story seems a little pointless with the existence of 'Know No Fear'. The main character, Remus Ventanus, is served much better in that book, as are the whole legion really. Also, the twist (ALL THOSE BATTLES YO? THEY WAS JUST TRAINING EXERCISES VS OTHER ULTRAMARINES!!) is like the "& THEN I WOKE UP, & IT WAS ALL A DREAM" of 40K fiction. The only thing that really sticks with me here is the part where they battle Salamanders - I was really expecting a payoff or an explanation here but since all the fights were just 'play' I guess the only reasonable explanation is that Guilliman hates black people...? Oh those Salamanders and their DARK paths they choose!

Ultramar wasn't built on no dang miscegenation!

There's a bit of a sting at the end of the tale. Dark hints are made that Roboute has a plan and doesn't expect his legion to like it. I am going to hazard a guess that it's going to be "Let's not try to get to Terra, instead let's try to fuck up as many Traitor Legions as possible." But it's probably way more elaborate, I'm sure. I give this 6/10, not a terrible way to start the book really, but it didn't get me PUMPED.

Liar's Due: It takes a brave writer to deal with the Alpha Legion and their cryptic machinations following the great 'Legion'. But James Swallow does a pretty good job here, mainly by presenting how a single human agent critically fucks up an entire planet's shit. No Astartes or Chaos energies here, just one guy creating maximum havoc with misdirection, lies and obfuscation (you're damn right I had to look it up right before I wrote it). It's extremely impressive in an evil way but while the character is intelligent and almost sympathetic, 'Liar's Due' doesn't do much more than hint at the fascinating moral conundrum the Alpha Legion were left in with their last novel. Also, I'm not sure about the subplot with Mendacs (what a fitting name for a deceitful spy, what are you, JK Rowling?) and his landlord's slightly fey son. I know that the story tells us the agent decides fairly rapidly "hey, this one dreamy yokel is gonna be my cultural barometer for the whole planet, let me screw around with his mind" but why the fuck would he tell him his entire awful plan/philosophy and then just leave the guy alive?? Seems contrary to the Alpha Legion's ruthless intolerance for leaving any irregularities in the mix.

You wish to know my entire plan? Very well, I'll tell you.

What's funny is that this is a fairly insignificant pissant little planet so we'll probably never hear about the cast of Liar's Due again... and that's somehow perfect for the theme of 'Age Of Darkness'. Just another example of how people who don't care THAT much about either the Imperial Truth or the Primordial Annihilator are getting their entire lives ruined just so Horus can change a blue rune to a red one next to a particular system on his galaxy chalkboard... what a dicklord. I give Liar's Due 7/10.

Forgotten Sons: Written by that pretty motherfucker Nick Kyme AKA Dances With Salamanders, this is almost like an apology for that one scene in 'Rules Of Engagement' where McNeill trolls us and makes us think the Ultramarines spent some time in the HH era kicking Salamander butt (even more of a hideous crime post-Isstvan). Here, a Salamander and an Ultramarine both suffering from space-PTSD are given the duties of a) being ambassadors and b) pretending they give a shit about some remembrancer they're babysitting. The Ultramarine (a SHOUTMARINE) finds this... challenging, the Salamander, ehhh, not so much. As they're in currently neutral territory, and in an apparently strategically important system, both sides have consented to use non-violent methods to resolve this conflict and need to present their arguments for Horus or the Emperor to the planetary government. It's a really fascinating concept that isn't really exploited to its full potential - it doesn't help that their opponent is just a preening ambitious dickhead as well as 'merely' a human (how cold would it have been to see Arcadese and Heka'tan trying to keep their cool with a couple Word Bearers opposite them, with the loyalists knowing the extent of the horror of Calth and Isstvan but also knowing that if they lose their cool they lose everything?). I also really like the 'Nemesis' nod with the brief reference to the 'tragic assassination' of Luc Sedirae.

For those of you who reach for the lube when the bolters start 'coughing', rest assured, the diplomacy breaks down. Subsequently we get some quite memorable and cringe-inducing battle scenes; not an 'embarrassed by bad writing' cringe but an 'ouch, ouch, fuck, he ripped WHAT off?' type of cringe, with some truly brutal Astartes-on-Astartes action and a tense fight with a Foul Xenos. The best moments of the story are the most Salamander-centric; we get some tantalising images of Vulkan's disastrous experiences in the Isstvan massacre. Kyme dealt with this in greater detail in 'Vulkan Lives' and perhaps he's also spoken about it in the Salamander series he wrote, but this story made me really want to learn more about how Vulkan rolls. Once again the Salamanders seem like the Legion (along with the Raven Guard) that it would be most fun to bro down with: humanitarian, conscientious and, well, just politer than most other Astartes. I'm still not sure I want to read a whole book by ya boy, but I give Forgotten Sons 7/10 for the fun times.

The Last Remembrancer: Short but sweet, this gives us another look at how things are going on Terra. I might love these types of stories most of all, as it's always cool to juxtapose the desperate stuff on the frontiers with the growing dread at the Imperium's heart. Horus sends a skeleton-crewed battle barge into the heart of the system, featuring some quickly dead Traitor Guard and an imprisoned remembrancer. The remembrancer, Solomon Voss, has been sent to troll the defenders of Terra on some "c u soon fagots :) lolololol" shit. Through him, Rogal Dorn will get (yet more) hints on how far his brother has fallen.

I would quite like Qruze to be played by Keith Szarabajka. Dude has one brutal croak.

The Last Remembrancer shows us that shit ain't all good in the homelands. There is still tension between Dorn and Malcador on how to run things, the moon has been turned into Space Guantanamo Bay, and fear, suspicion and anger are the dominant motivators. Things are moving swiftly towards the brutal, authoritarian Imperium built on hate and oppression that we know from the 40K universe - something that seemed a long way away at the start of this series. On this subject, we get some nice 'hawks and doves' moments between Iacton Qruze and Rogal Dorn. I dunno, I'm not crazy about Dorn in general, he somehow combines a hardline, conservative arrogance with a "let's always fight fair tho bro yeah???" naievety... but in this, he begins to show signs of removing his head from his ass. Qruze continues to be a great character and I'm fascinated to see where his path ultimately takes him. Unfortunately, the actions on the last page light the way for how things are gonna be from now on in the Imperium. If information (or a person) is inconvenient, it gets Dealt With. A grim moral for a grim tale in a grim tome... I give this 8/10.

Rebirth: I'm not a ginormous fan of the book 'A Thousand Sons'. While there were some excellent scenes in it and it was well-paced (like McNeill books always seem to be), I found it lacking in memorable characters and overclogged with drab sequences - quite an accomplishment in a book starring Magnus and Ahriman and ending in the Fall of Prospero. By the time they ended up on the Planet Of The Sorcerors I didn't really feel a desperate need to find out what happened to them between then and the Rubric. (Which is pretty much 'the entire Heresy'.)

A magician, yesterday, on the Planet Of The Magicians.

'Rebirth' is a nice surprise - a Thousand Sons story which features more intesting plot points than their full length novel, in my opinion (though I guess the comparison is unfair; it helps that I didn't know how 'Rebirth' ended before I started reading it). A squad of Thousand Sons Marines who for some lucky reason evaded the Space Wolf invasion, come back to their homeworld and find it dead and deserted. Trying to overcome their horror, they search for answers, their primarch or even any of their brothers. I really like the way this switches between first person and third person, though I'd imagine some will find this very annoying. I also felt more engaged by Kalliston as a character than nearly any other Thousand Son in the HH series so far (save perhaps Atharva of 'The Outcast Dead'). The 'interrogation' scenes, in particular, are extremely well done - read this and compare it to 'After Desh'ea', and you learn a lot about Kharn's fall... even if what he's up to here is kind of... elliptical for a World Eater. I'd really like to see Chris Wraight do a bit more about the Thousand Sons we meet here. This might happen, given that the ending leaves us with a glimmer of hope for the survivors' mission... I give 'Rebirth' 9/10 and I definitely look forward to reading Wraight's 'Scars' novel when it comes out in non-eBook format.

The Face Of Treachery: I hated 'The Face Of Treachery' the first time I read it; I thought it was utterly nonsensical with perhaps the stupidest 'twist' ever. But that was before I read 'Deliverance Lost'. It makes much more sense as an extended prelude to that book, in which you find out why one Traitor Legion would stop another from destroying the remnants of the Raven Guard and taking them out of the runnings for good.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. After the Isstvan betrayal (quite a while afterwards, it seems) the Traitor Legions still have a picket of ships waiting for any signs of life from the Salamanders, Raven Guard or Iron Hands, ready to jump on 'em quick with both feet. Though why you'd choose some World Eaters for this shit is very unclear. "GRRR, I DON'T HAVE TIME TO PICKET! I WANT TO REND SOMETHING AND DRINK ITS FLUIDS, RIGHT NOW!" At the edge of the system, Branne Nev (a Raven Guard commander and a prominent character in 'Deliverance Lost') has showed up with a ship and a latent psyker who's been having troubling dreams of catastrophe. They're not exactly sure what happened, they just have a feeling Corax is in danger. Now that the big 'WTF' moment at the end of this story makes more sense, I'm free to focus on the strong points. It's tightly paced, and never lets up enough to get boring. There are tense moments, and also moments of great relief (if you're a Loyalist anyhow). It perfectly sets up all of the themes of 'Deliverance Lost', to the point that it should probably have been part of that book instead. This is also one of the few HH books where the publishing order is messed up - you really need to read 'Raven's Flight' in the 'Shadows Of Treachery' collection before you read this, as it gives an excellent setup for this story. 'The Face Of Teachery' was probably poorly served by being next to 'Rebirth'; the one-dimensional shouty World Eater ship captain here and the visceral portrayal of Kharn in 'Rebirth' isn't a kind comparison. Apart from that, it's a winner in all ways. I give it 8/10.

Little Horus: Now ga-damn, this is the shit I'm talking about. Following the opening trilogy, we've certainly had glimpses of the Sons Of Horus on and off throughout the series, but they've often been relegated to silent background artists to their Primarch in various sinister war councils. I was waiting on Abnett tackling the cast of Horus Rising again and here we have a story focusing almost entirely on Little Horus. Unlike with 'Horus Rising', 'False Gods' or 'Galaxy In Flames', here we are privy to Aximand's inner monologue. As 'the melancholy humour' in the Mournival, of course he's a more measured, sombre presence in a legion that desperately needs one. As he's a Son Of Horus, of course he's also a bloodthirsty killer when he needs to be. This gives us both introspection and brutal killing; haunting dreams and hundreds of puny humans being killed so thoroughly they turn into vapour. And... well, that ending... jeez..

If you sat through 'Equilibrium', you know what it is.

One thing I particularly like is that Abnett didn't let himself be distracted from the story with cliched Chaos rituals, or how the Sons Of Horus battleships are now covered in cobwebs, creepy skeletons and weird mirrors, or give us an epilogue with Erebus laughing wildly while casting shadow puppets on a wall. Abnett just told the story, and that was it. He writes superbly, as usual. He's said before that he would love to tackle the HH-era White Scars and that comes through here. I was also surprised at how much I wanted to read an Abnett novel on the Iron Hands legion (who I usually find incredibly boring). Of course, he has a pretty good grasp of the Sons Of Horus as well... well, here's hoping that he will get to write something about all three legions in the future.

The message here is pretty much the message of any Abnett review I write... it's awesome and you should read it right away. Recapturing the spirit of 'Horus Rising' so perfectly in a short story is quite an accomplishment. 10/10.

The Iron Within: A group of loyalist Iron Warriors defend an Iron Warriors fortress from some Traitor Iron Warriors in an iron war to the iron death while thinking about the nature of iron a fair amount. 'The Iron Within' is the closest 'Age Of Darkness' gets to a yawnfest like 'Scions Of The Storm'. Even so, there are some nice moments here - often the Iron Warriors seem nigh-invulnerable to physical atrophy, so it's cool that the force commander here is dying from previously suffered wounds. However, the characters are fairly colourless and, well, grey - as well as which, I didn't feel like I learned much about the nature of the legion, its culture, or its background. I know, I should just go read Index Astartes if that's what I want... but these factors make it tough going at times, though (and this is something I feel almost all of my negative reivews include) the battle scenes are great and show a compelling argument for Iron Warriors being extremely good defense troops rather than just saying "they're real tough and stubborn and won't die". It's funny, this story does have a few unexpected twists and turns, which I usually feel is an ingredient missing in HH fiction, but none of the twists and turns really impress me. Though the fact our tragic heroes actually don't die is a nice touch, and I'm assuming they will become part of Malcador's ambition to have one loyalist member of every Traitor legion for his own 'dirty dozen' style suicide squad... good fucking luck with the Night Lords, buddy. I give this 6/10. Perhaps being between 2 stories by my favourite HH authors meant it was doomed from the start...

Savage Weapons: Throughout 'Age Of Darkness' we've come across a few Traitor instruments who, on some level, feel regret for some of their actions since the Heresy started. For example, Kharn, Aximand, and I guess Mendacs (though that's a stretch, but I bet Alpharius feels it). Poignant stuff, as we all already know there can be no forgiveness in the aftermath of the Heresy, only grudges and bitterness. And that's just among your own legion. Anyone with different-coloured warplate to you is almost guaranteed to want to smack fire out of ya.

So it's nice that we get to some dudes with No Regrets. The fucking Night Lords. Dembski-Bowden pulls off a double-feat in this story, he writes some Dark Angel characters with a sense of humour without making the world explode, and he gives us three of the baddest motherfuckers ever to stand in midnight clad: Sevatar, Sheng and Conrad Kurze. Sure one could claim that on some basic level, they're just archetypes: Conrad the tortured, morose genius, Sevatar the acid-tongued 'laughing killer', Sheng the laconic brute. But goddamn I love spending time with these characters. We AD-B fans have heard plenty about them (well, Sheng aside) from a Night Lord perspective, but it's really cool seeing them from an 'outsider' view and having it confirmed, yes, they are that bad-ass and that vile. (And to digress for a moment - the way he sets a lot of this among the foundations of the Night Lords' Tsagualsa fortress just makes you want to do a dance of joy.) As for Kurze (that INsane Primarch from the psycho ward) he manages to make that inscrutable, scheming dickmerchant The Lion actually lose his cool, so bonus points for that. In fact, the juxtaposition with the much more 'straight-man' Dark Angels is a nice touch.

Oh yeah, I nearly forgot, Dembski-Bowden made the Dark Angels actually fucking interesting here. Shudder to think... The "knightly orders in power armour" concept can either go really well or be incredibly boring, obvious bullshit. I won't comment on where you can find some boring, obvious bullshit written about these guys, but 'Savage Weapons' is a consummate example of this going really well. I get a real kick out of the descriptions of the Lion (though I guess I never pictured him as a blond - it works, though) and our hero Corswain has a dry sense of humour to him, which helps. And of the possible responses to "lol where's ur sword bro", well, "I left it in a Primarch's spine" has got to be one of badassest ones.

I give this 10/10, ain't even trippin'.

'Age Of Darkness' is a great collection of stories about a huge, fascinating time period; unfortunately the 'fluff' is quite clear that there is just WAY too much going during this time for it to be covered in a single volume. With that said, it's a high 8/10. There are undeniably a few stories here I could live without (probably just legion and author bias) but even with those weighing it down, around half of it is an excellent example of HH writing, describing key events and deepening the character of a legion or hero. Another reason why I don't get the 'short story collection' hate amongst HH fans.

New to PurpleHeresy? Head on over to the index page to see a more chronological list of the Horus Heresy reviews on this blog.

"The First Heretic" by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

The First Heretic: I think after 'Horus Rising', 'The First Heretic' was the next HH book I loved. And aside from author Aaron Dembski-Bowden being an actual genius, this is mainly 'cause I love Lorgar quite a bit.

At least you haven't ended up friendless and alone LIKE ZOIDBERG

I think I like Lorgar because in a lot of ways, he's a bit like me. This sounds massively egotistical and all, comparing myself to a superhuman genius, but... he has a very strong sense of 'right' and 'wrong' he tries to stick by; he tries to be a pretty nice guy; he wants the best for the people he feels responsible for. I'd say those are mostly traits I share with him (hopefully) though 'the people I feel responsible for' may not be as numerous as Lorgar's, what with his thousands upon thousands of dedicated supermen looking to him for guidance.

So what are Lorgar's flaws? Well, he really knows how to hold a grudge (forever), and he often spazzes out and throws tantrums (and these get worse when his peers don't take them seriously). I'm like, "Same!" I'm sure a lot of nerds feel this way because Lorgar is really the nerd (or 'scholar' if you prefer) amongst the Emperor's sons, but he's also not a flawless genius; he's got a lot of knowledge, but not necessarily the best application of that knowledge. Compare that to me: I'd like to consider myself pretty well-read (heck, some books that I've read don't even have ANY hordes of orcs in them) but I can't really bring that in as 'real-world knowledge'. At the start of this story, Lorgar is viewed with disdain by a lot of his brothers. Many secretly see him as a disgusting weakling; many more feel the same way, but don't bother to keep it secret. The comparisons just keep piling up. Lorgar also has some problems with his hair. See, we're separated at birth. ZOMG, maybe I'm the 2nd Legion primarch!!!!??

All jokes and creepiness aside, this is in fact probably the best single HH novel I've read (subtly different from 'best novel in the HH series' which I'd give to 'Prospero Burns' or 'Legion' - those are the best written, I think, but 'The First Heretic' better serves the actual series as a whole). Only 'Horus Rising' is close when it comes to excellent characterisation, fast-paced but unrushed plot progression, and showing you WHY the Heresy happened in a way that can't be flippantly summarised as "Horus was a crybaby and Erebus was a dick"... all that good stuff, The First Heretic arguably does it mo' better. Perhaps I feel this way because when I re-read 'Horus Rising' now, I just feel a lot of missed opportunity: I remember how many of the nuanced, interesting, or funny characters turned into boring, one-dimensional assholes or heroes in books by other authors. Since it's looking like AD-B has "got this Word Bearer shit on lock" right now, it seems these characters aren't going to be taken away from him, bent over a table and nailed hard, while Black Library snarls "Feel that, Argel Tal? That's your STOMACH LINING getting fucked, asshole." And that lack of daemon-rape can only be a good thing.

This story - naturally - is about Lorgar's fall from grace. Some 40k lore or general HH knowledge helps, but isn't mandatory. We start with Lorgar's humiliating censure by the Emperor for bein' crazy idolatrous and building monuments for how awesome the Emperor is instead of just getting on with the genocide/subjugation in His name. After knocking that punk-ass Guilliman the FUCK OUT, Lorgar decides to go off and brood. Since he's a sensitive flower, his father's scolding has really hurt his feelings; resentment festers, and his two BFFs don't need to expend much energy in convincing him "Listen, turn to Chaos, brocialist. It'll be a real good time, we'll rule the universe, and gain unimaginable power." Lorgar then gets into ALL types of shit; dark compacts with gods of unknowable malice are sealed, the Immaterium is fucked around with, he makes his own marines agree to daemonic possession (knowing full well what will happen to them, and not telling them), germs of rebellion are planted in the other legions at his instigation, and entire planets are massacred to cover his tracks. In a scene I honestly can't believe made it past Black Library's "don't alienate the 12-year-olds" guidelines, a naked female shaman on primitive Cadia is literally ripped apart from within by an emerging daemon; what's more fucked up is that she's totally down for it to happen. All described in a fair amount of detail of course. Yikes.

Keep in mind that a great deal of this stuff happens long before Horus even gets a bit miffed at the Emperor for deserting the Crusade. That's right - Lorgar's been claimin' Chaos since WAY before all these effing hipsters started jumping on the bandwagon. Pfffft... Magnus. Poseur.

The real treat, of course, is Lorgar, who always struck me - like Night Haunter, I guess - as being a tragic hero of the Heresy, for sticking to his principles, even if they were extremely wrong, and weird. We get a LOT of Lorgar here; I suppose it's nice when HH books continue the 'mystification' of primarch characters by having them seldom-glimpsed, inscrutable figures even to their own legion. But this is the opposite, and I much prefer this approach. We get to know Lorgar deeply, his motivations, his thoughts; we're privy to some heated conversations between him and his subordinates (these guys don't pull their punches) and of course, the fact that we already know how this shit will end makes it all the more fascinating.

Dream casting for Lorgar? I'm thinkin'... Ed Norton.

We also get some nice cameos from other primarchs. Guilliman, who is ice-cold and really breaks out of that annoying "limitless intellect plus a superb tactician and really super great guy who does a load of work for charity" role that 40k history sees him as, but without pissing on continuity (in this book, it really seems like he is the Stannis Baratheon of primarchs; forgive me for my cross-pollination of nerdiness, but that's AWESOME). And, naturally, since this is an AD-B book, Night Haunter AKA Conrad Kurze AKA The 31st Milennium's Charlie Brooker shows up to bum out everyone's party; he gets just a couple paragraphs really, but he Makes An Impression. After pretty much seeing him as a pathetic (yet badass) depressed Goth teenager lounging in an armchair sobbing "Everything's SHIT" in the flashbacks of the Night Lords trilogy, it's nice seeing CK getting out and mixing shit up (he FUCKS UP Corax pretty good, but Lorgar gets all weepy and tries to hug him halfway though the battle, so the bird-faced emo primarch gets away). His utter disdain for his fellow traitor primarchs (Lorgar in particular) is bracing, but not a surprise. The part where he's approached by the horribly mutated daemon-bound Astartes of the Word Bearers on the battlefield and is so repelled he's nearly lost for words, nicely fits in with the image Dembski-Bowden has created of the Night Lords primarch in his other work, and kind of explains the attitude of his 'true sons' (ie Talos) even more. Speaking of which, we get some brief cameos from other Night Lords series characters like Sevatar and Malcharion as well.

Word Bearer Argel Tal is (kind of) the main character here, and he's a pretty cool one; what's really interesting, since the Word Bearers arguably become the MOST evil legion by some standards (they go the furthest in spitting on what they once were) is that our main character is a thoughtful, intelligent and - let's just say it - loveable guy. He's like Loken, if Loken decided to choose Chaos over his straight-up-n-down principles. His relationship with a human camp follower is quite tender and sweet, and from this (and some other elements of the story) we really get the feeling that the Word Bearers are proficient and enthusiastic in the arts of "actually talking to regular humans without making them shit blood". An oddity among Legions Astartes. Another great character is Kor Phaeron. If Lorgar is The First Heretic amongst primarchs, then Kor is 'the First First Heretic', an OG Chaos Motherfucker. He's an amazingly slimy, evil dude, full of malice and hatred, but also, in a weird way, very fond of his adopted son Lorgar and firm in his belief that THIS is the right way for Lorgar to get his due. I look forward to whatever this crazy kid gets up to next.

Are there any problems with 'The First Heretic'? Not really. There are a couple sequences which I felt were a little ponderous - ie some elements of Argel Tal's first journey into the warp. But at the same time, not a page is wasted in this book. It all drives the story towards its dark, terrible conclusion, even when it's moving slowly. I give 'The First Heretic' 9/10. After 'Horus Rising', this was the book that convinced me of the worth of this series. And with 'Betrayer', Aaron had more bombs to drop on us...

New to PurpleHeresy? Head on over to the index page to see a more chronological list of the Horus Heresy reviews on this blog.

"The Primarchs" (novella collection)

I kind of bought this like "sigh... all right... I suppose I had better complete my collection." I mean tales of the Primarchs were kind of the reason I began looking through these Black Library scrolls... but I've often found myself disappointed by the portrayal of these legendary figures. (This has led me to one of the weirder bits of fanfiction I've read.) When Sanguinius eating an apple and smirking at Horus is the only memorable moment the guy has in the series until you've had over 20 books... then you got problems. And to be honest, I still feel like I have almost NO real sense of the character of Mortarion... Even Corax and Magnus are a bit of a fucking enigma to me and they've pretty much had entire books devoted to them... Am I just not reading it right?? Oddly though, I do feel like I know Angron, Horus, Russ and Lorgar pretty well now.

Great cover.

After a few books I was less than thrilled by, I figured 'The Primarchs' would be a giant disappointment. But instead, I have found it to be surprisingly awesome. It's split into four novellas, dealing with a Primarch each: Fulgrim, Ferrus Manus, Lion El'Johnson and Alpharius/BrOmegon.

To go over them briefly:

-After being a little annoyed by what I saw as wasted potential in 'Fulgrim', McNeill brings everything good about that novel into a much tighter, fast-paced novella about the collapse of the Emperor's Children with none of the shit stuff (ie no Remembrancers, no angsty hand-wringing from Saul Tarvitz about how his legion are getting way too interested in musical theatre, no conversations between Fulgrim and his sword...)

-Despite having to deal with one of the most boring Primarchs, 'Feat Of Iron' is a nice Ferrus Manus story that gives us a little more background on his chapter. It also links in nicely with 'Promethean Sun', if you read that one.

-'The Lion' gives us a much more concise and perceptive description of Johnson's worsening mental state and (often justified) paranoia than those two inteminable 1st Legion novels: through characterisation and his actions, it's all but explicitly stated that Johnson trusts himself, and the Emperor, and that's it: all other Primarchs, and all other Astartes (even his own) could be trickin' on him.

-'The Serpent Beneath' shows an Alpha Legion covert op against a xenos/psyker/Dark Mechanicum facility (??) which they believe to be a threat to their ongoing mission to confuse/arouse everyone in the Horus Heresy timeline. So that facility's gotta go. !Problem!: It's an Alpha Legion facility!!! OH SHIZNIT! Will there be some twists? Is a bear a Catholic?

The cover is great, but the full artwork might be one of my favourite Horus Heresy pictures so far.

Lemme go on a bit of a tangent (for the rest of the review). There are some very nice/upsetting parallel moments in two stories here: an Astartes previously thought to be fairly integral to the ongoing storyline is suddenly, unexpectedly executed by their own Primarch seemingly on a whim. Oh, God, I can't stop myself. Look away if you don't want spoilers. First, in 'The Reflection Crack'd', Fulgrim uses his wu-tang style to remove Eidolon's head from its mu'fuckin shoulders, after Eidolon makes one thoughtless ass-kissing remark too many. Then, in 'The Lion', well, Lion El'Johnson gets all up in Nemiel's grill when Nemmy's like "the Edicts of Nikea mean we can't use no Librarians, even if the Night Lords are deploying daemons against us" and Johnson's all like "whut, u shook or somethin? I done told you an ORDER, my word is law in this bitch" then BLAOW he blazes his headpiece. Yo, all types of blood comin' out of that Astartes, he's layin' there like a... like a fuckin' newborn baby, yo.

Lionel Johnson: blazing headpieces since the 1800s

These were shocking for a few reasons. Eidolon was always a gigantic asshole, so it was nice to see him get his comeuppance (and for his ass-kissing, as well! TARVITZ WAS RIGHT!) but I always figured he would get his at the Siege of Terra, hopefully at Loken's hand. His death does nicely illustrate, though (as if it needed further illustration; McNeill lays it on with a fucking trowel all through this story, and it's disgustingly brilliant) how far the Emperor's Children have fallen; a death of a key member of their officer cadre just sends them into paroxysms of delight over this exotic new sensation called "fear our Primarch might bust our heads right off for no apparent reason".

As for Nemiel (RIP), I've spoken before about how little I have nice to say about the Dark Angels stuff so far in the Heresy. And Nemiel and Zahariel's tiresome rivalry/brotherhood was one of my least favourite aspects of my least favourite story arc. Nemiel was dogged but ran with some suspect dudes, Zahariel was brilliant in every way but also a psyker, he fell from favour, Nemiel got taken in by the cool crowd, Zahariel fell in with the Dark Angels who rebelled against the Imperium. It seemed to all be moving (so... fucking... slowly) towards a homecoming battle between Nemiel and Zahariel with Nemiel dying, then Zahariel being killed by Lion El'Johnson who turns towards the audience and winks, saying "This reminds me of the thing with Sanguinius, the Emperor and Horus, yeah? Cosmic!" But now my snarky predictions are RUNED (it's like ruined, but more arcane) and I actually love that.

Also, the 'brief moment of satisfaction' we see in Johnson immediately after he kills Nemiel makes my mind go into overdrive. Did he know about Nemiel's involvement in the plot to kill the Emperor all along, and his vengeance just took a few centuries to unfold? Or does he just really, really want to fucking kill EVERYTHING that disagrees with him, even if it's wearing Astartes plate? (His orders do get questioned quite a bit here; one senses it's taking a toll). Or did he just not really think about it and JUST DO IT? Or does he resent the idea that Nemiel's loyalty is to the the Emperor rather than to Johnson? Or that Nemiel is a better son of the Emperor than Johnson is? FUCK!!! Anyway, with this unexpected lurch in the Nemiel/Zahariel /Johnson love triangle, I expect the (eventual) Dark Angels conclusion to be a little more interesting. If Gav writes it.

Now fans of those 2 dead bastards, you know how BL plays with the chronology, so we may still see several books released with those guys as major characters. But I hope to Christ not, though, because as I said, they were, in my opinion, cunts. (Note: I wrote this sentence a long while ago - over a year, probably - but sure enough, Eidolon hasn't breathed his last... check out 'Angel Exterminatus'.)

Anyway, I done gone on too long about spoilerific stuff and I haven't even spoken about 'Feat Of Iron' yet (lesson: Ferrus Manus is a close-minded, intractable asshole, and his legion has way more Terminator suits than is fair) or how 'Reflection' has a gloriously over-the-top, homoerotic torture scene (3 dudes excruciating a naked Fulgrim while Fabius looks on, a creepy glint in his eye, quite possibly filming on his iPhone) or the Tinker Tailor Soldier Astartes of 'The Serpent Beneath', or how the Death Guard in 'The Lion' seem to be trying very hard in a very crowded field to establish themselves as The Asshole Legion (also, I hear all their dialogue in the voice of Ray Winstone for some reason). But the stories all have dope moments; I would say two stories are excellent ('Reflection' and 'Lion'), one is very good ('Serpent') and one is just verging on average but still pretty cool ('Feat Of Iron').

Overall, I give 'The Primarchs' 7/10, and strongly urge you to get it if you're a staunch fan of any one Legion featured, but mainly if you're keen on the Heresy series in general and like to find more out about the characters involved, rather than just the events/action.

*GASP* These tattoos say I'm Alpharius!!

(And BTW, what's the odds that the 'Serpent Beneath' Alpha Legion infiltration squad are gonna show up again? I feel like the secret Black Library motto of the Horus Heresy series is "If you didn't ACTUALLY SEE 'EM DIE... they're not dead." What, you think just because the last time you see 'em they're saying "shit bro, we'll NEVER GET BACK TO THE SHIP ON TIME" they're all just vacuumbait? Yeah, I remember another dude who was almost certainly about to die at the end of his book... his name was Garvi Loken...)

New to PurpleHeresy? Head on over to the index page to see a more chronological list of the Horus Heresy reviews on this blog.