David Annandale

This was an enjoyable and rather different story as far as the Horus Heresy and the generally insufferable (complimentary) characterisation of Malcador outside of L.J. Goulding's Malcador: First Lord of the Imperium, which managed to finally humanise him a little and made my sob my little heart out, and gives an insight to the kinds of things he gets up to during the Great Crusade.

We get a look the Malcador's special warp meditation room and what it looks like for the second most powerful psyker in the Imperium goes sperlunking for secrets in the immaterium. Taking a force of Custodes, the Sigillite goes to investigate an Imperial world beset by warp storms and is confronted by the potential dangers of large-scale psyker warfare.

Annandale is a master of the esoteric and eldritch details that firmly cemented himself as one of my favourites after bringing that and so much emotional weight to Kurtha Sedd and The Unburdened, one of the pair of Betrayal at Calth novellas.

The quality of the writing and details really do sing but, with some space added reading this, I can't help feel like I could have really done with more to really put things in perspective. The psychic ramifications for the immaterium and the materium, beyond the relatively localised warp storm, more of a discussion of the Chaos factor, and how the concerns here relate to the Astartes and Nikaea feel like they really would have given the story more weight and have it earn the title a bit more.

Good stuff, but it could have been so much more.… (mer)

After the first book of this duology I was not expecting this to pop out of the Warp, put a Vengeance Cannon against my head and absolutely blow my mind!

I truly cannot fathom why so many ratings and reviews for this are so tepid.

I've listened to around 40 hours of audiobooks and audio dramas covering Monarchia through the Battle of Calth and the Underworld War to Gage's Wild Ride and Kor Phaeron finding new digs, and this is absolutely up there with Know No Fear, Calth That Was, and The Underworld War, as well as having some of the greatest reflections and reactions to the razing of the Perfect City and the shaming of the XVII, a Son of Lorgar with enough depth, character, and emotion to rival Argal Tal, and just some of the richest and visceral touches and details around the rituals of Chaos and all things heretical.

I am flabbergasted that this literally did everything I said the last book lacked and eschewed everything I took issue with. I no way does this feeling like a rushed, unplanned tie-in to a box set.

I absolutely intend to do more of a deep dive review because I have a lot to say and I truly think this book deserves the praise and recognition I think it deserves because I am positively giddy with how good this was and how happy it made me!… (mer)

I am not having the best time with the Primarchs series so far. Lorgar's book wasn't great and reading about all the horrific things Lorgar was put through was unpleasant, but at least I was fully invested in the character and learning more about their life. I was hoping to get some of that here, but this is essentially just a story about an Ultramarines operation during the Great Crusade that doesn't really relate to the wider Horus Heresy Series or add interesting depth to the Warriors of Ultramar or their Primarch.

Guilliman is having some feelings about one of his Chapters that is less like the others and makes an unpopular decision regarding their leadership, ahead of taking on an Ork empire and doing a big fight in a vaguely ominous pyramid.

Cards on the table, I can't stand Roboute Guilliman and the Ultramarines as who Legion or Chapter, likewise with Rogal Dorn and the Imperial Fists. There are individuals I enjoy, like Thiel and Ventanus, and I love Know No Fear, but the general mien and culture of those Primarchs and Legions/ Chapters, in my personal opinion, fundamentally lack an interesting veneer or conflict that explains or allows them to justify what they do. There are obviously Legions, etc. who do far worse things, like the Word Bearers, but Lorgar's life, conflict, and corruption make it make sense within context and their who nightmare undivided paganism-meets-catholicism Chaos worship shtick is awesome. Erebus and Kor Phaeron are still the absolute worst.

All of that being said, coming to this for the first, and almost certainly last, time on the back of Know No Fear and Honour to the Dead, I was ready to really give the XII Primarch a fair shake and was enjoying Annandale's prose and the strange politics and inscrutable logic of the Lord of Ultramar. I was even finding the constant Guilliman quotes, in every break in the text and in the dialogue, charming for a while.

It seemed like we were looking at a like father like son situation in terms of handling their progeny, as we know how the Emperor is the galaxy's worst dad, when Guilliman decided to shake things up. I was expecting some Roboute Night Shymalan twist where he knew what he was doing all along, but it didn't really end up being anything in particular.

Spending so much time with Guilliman brought home just how truly insufferable he his with his constant preaching giving New Atheism™ theoretical zealotory, which is exacerbated by the way his sycophantic officers are constantly quoting him back to him too. The problem you are faced with when writing about someone who is a great writer and thinker is delivering that. Thankfully, it's already been established that, while we're supposed to treat the last Battle King of Macragge as the combination of Marcus Aurelius and Sun Tzu combined, he just opines bits of logic and tactics in the most super smart person on reddit kinda way. This is amusing in small doses, but the sheer volume of quotes from Guilliman's various LiveJournals and tumblrs is maddening and really makes the 'joke' ware thin.

The highlight of the book for me was the serious and scary flavour Orks come in during the Heresy. Don't get me wrong, I love an absolutely ridiculous git with a ludicrous Cockney accent, but there's just something about how intense they are in this series. Reading about their ludicrous weapons and Inventions described in a serious and epic tone is a lot of fun, and there's a great description of some nightmare cut and shut vehicle that I thoroughly enjoyed. Unfortunately, the Orks stop being veery interesting or detailed, and the final confrontation sigh the Ork Emperor is powerfully underwhelming.

Listening to Ultramarines fighting Orks, while playing an Ultramarine fighting Orks in Space Marine was run though, but that's just my ridiculous and embarrassing life choices, rather than the book.

If you want some truly transcendent Horus Heresy Ork action, I thoroughly recommend the Wolf of Ash and Fire by Graham McNeill, which sees the Emperor and Horus go absolutely hogwild and has some of the most epic and mind-bending Ork stuff.

I think the problem I have is similar to the issues I raised with Battle for the Abyss, this doesn't really feel like a Horus Heresy or even a Primarch novel. There's a tiny bit of vaguely foreboding imagery in the pyramid and Guilliman deciding to do some repression and lying, which probably qualifies as dramatic irony, but this had it's limited run in 2016, ten years after the beginning of the series, and probably at least a few more years until it got a wider realise, so the dramatic irony well is pretty dry and needs something a bit more impactful to have that Heresy feeling.

Again, just like BFTA, this only needs the most minimum of changes to make is just a regular Warhammer 40K story, swap Calgar in for Guilliman and Ventris or another officer in for Calgar, if it's set before Roboute returns, or change practically nothing at all if you set in in the Dark Imperium. I actually think having Guilliman see the imagery and it causing him to remember Monarchia and reflect on the Heresy would actually be more powerful that this being set shortly after Monarchia.

I feel like I've gone in really hard on this, and I don't mean to be unfair, especially after performing such a powerful 180° on Honour to the Dead after listening to it again today. I am just reflecting on my honest experiences and holding this series that I respect and care deeply for to the high standard it set itself and, at least in this re-read suing the the Heresy Omnibus suggested reading order (www.heresyomnibus.com), has largely maintained. I absolutely wouldn't be this critical if this was a regular Warhammer 40K story.

Ultimately, I found this book to be seriously lacking the tragedy and pathos that, along with the mythic legendary tone, are the lifeblood of this series. Guilliman feels a wee bit perturbed by Monarchia and Lorgar's trauma, so he wants to focus more on preserving and creating than just war. He excuses his actions with the XVII as necessary, which is somehow worse than him being a mindless weapon. Sadly, that reflection isn't given any time or weight, just like the organisation drama that is the whole beginning of the book. It does play a part in the narrative, but there's no emotional connection.

Regardless, I do want to point out that Annandale's prose is good and Longworth's narration is spectacular as always. Unfortunately, it just felt like the longest 181 pages/ 5 hours book I have read in a while. You're mileage may vary.

I can only really recommend this for the completionists and those pledged to the 500 Worlds of Ultramar.

"Don't let you plans be dreams"
- Roboute Guilliman

I was going to do a bit of a These Words by Natasha Bedingfield parody - Theoretical Words, like I did with The Ballad of Tchure and Luciel for Know No Fear, but I only got as far as this as I jsif wasn't feeling as invested and inspired.

Read some Cadmus, Karkasy and Voss
Purged the Greenskins off of Thoas
I'm having trouble Hierax thinks I'm mean
But Nemesis is more Angron's scene

These words are my own
From my Codex
Theoretical, Theoretical, Practical
There's no other way
For the Astartes
Practical, Practical!… (mer)