Short Story Reviews: “Riven” & “Hand of Dust” by John French (Black Library)

Two short stories by one of Black Library’s up-and-comers

RIVEN (Horus Heresy)

As one of the vaunted Crusader Host, Brother Crius stood as the representative of the X Legion upon the soil of Holy Terra, but when he learns of the death of his beloved primarch Ferrus Manus at the hands of the traitors, his stoic, mechanical grief imbues him with the strength and resolve to undertake a special mission on behalf of Rogal Dorn himself. Striking out into the stars, he searches for any signs of his lost Iron Hands brethren, hoping to bring them back to Terra to aid in the final defence of the Palace. The question remains – just who has survived the slaughter on Isstvan V, and what yet remains of them?

I’m always happy when a new piece of Horus Heresy fiction is released, and this one is by an author I have not read much by, before. The story follows Brother Crius, a member of the Iron Hands, struggling with the loss of his Primarch, Ferrus Manus. He is tasked by Sigismund, the First Captain of the Imperial Fists to seek out any other survivors of the Isstvan V massacre, and bring them back to Terra to bolster the defence against the eventual attack by Horus’s forces. Heading out, with the support of an Imperial Fists captain, what Crius and his companions discover is not at all what they were expecting – nor, actually, what I was expecting.

I like what French has done with this story. While I wasn’t entirely clear as to why Crius was incarcerated at the start of the story, the author nevertheless has written a pretty great story. We see a little bit more of what makes the Iron Hands tick, and also a little bit of the psychological damage that the death of Ferrus has caused. True, it’s still a relatively short story, so there isn’t too much of this, but I would certainly like to read more about the Legion pre- and post-Ferrus’s death. The final battle is pretty intense, and not over-described (which was certainly welcome to me). Overall, this is a recommended addition to the growing Heresy story.

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AHRIMAN: HAND OF DUST

On Prospero, a solitary living soul walks across the shattered world. Beneath the ruined spires, Ahriman, exiled son of Magnus the Red and destroyer of his Legion, contemplates what once was, what is, and what may yet be. And amidst the dust of the long-lost paradise world, the sorcerer faces his mistakes and decides his destiny.

This (very) short story is part of Black Library’s Advent Calendar series of eBooks. It is also the second by French featuring the Thousand Sons (All is Dust, another micro-story, was released early last year). Hand of Dust follows one of the greatest sorcerers of the Thousand Sons traitor legion – Ahriam, the architect of the Rubric that ‘froze’ his fellow legionaries, in an attempt to rescue them from the fate that has plagued the sons of Magnus for centuries.

Hand of Dust is perhaps too short to really have much to write about it. The premise is interesting, and I think it could (and, perhaps, should) have been extended. It’s like a teaser for French’s writing and also his Ahriman fiction. It’s a good one, too. As with Riven, above, French’s writing is pretty solid and well-crafted. It is perhaps not as streamlined and fluid as some of the other, more-established Black Library authors, but it’s still very good. It will certainly be interesting to see how he develops over time.

French also wrote the first Ahriman novel, Ahriman: Exile (below), which is out now, and has now been bumped up my tottering TBR mountain. Ahriman also features in Rob Sanders’s Atlas Infernal and Graham McNeill’s superb A Thousand Sons (and a handful of other Horus Heresy novels). French will also be writing a follow-up to Exile, Sorcerer, which is due for publication in 2014.

“Battle of the Fang” by Chris Wraight (Black Library)

The Thousand Sons bring the fight to the Space Wolves’ homeworld

It is M32, a thousand years after the Horus Heresy. The Scouring is over and the Imperium at the height of its post-Crusade power. When Magnus the Red is tracked down to Gangava Prime, the Space Wolves hasten to engage the daemon primarch.

Even as Great Wolf Harek Ironhelm closes on his ancient enemy, the Fang on the Space Wolves home world is besieged by a massive force of Thousand Sons. A desperate battle ensues as the skeleton forces of Wolf Lord Vaer Greylock attempt to hold back the attacking hosts before the last of his meagre defences gives in. Though a single Scout ship survives to summon Great Wolf Harek Ironhelm back to Fenris, none of the defenders truly realise the full scale the horror that awaits them, nor what the Battle for the Fang will cost them all.

Continuing the story of the blood-feud between the Space Wolves and the Thousand Sons, Battle of the Fang takes us beyond the Horus Heresy, as the Thousand Sons stage a daring attack on the Wolves’ homeworld of Fenris. This is the first novel in the Space Marine Battles series that I’ve read, and it really is great. Evocative, brutal, and brisk, it’s exactly what I was hoping for.

“Prospero Burns”, by Dan Abnett (Black Library)

The Wolves unleashed

The Emperor is enraged. Primarch Magnus the Red of the Thousand Sons Legion has made a terrible mistake that endangers the very safety of Terra. With no other choice, the Emperor charges Leman Russ, Primarch of the Space Wolves, with the apprehension of his brother from the Thousand Sons home world of Prospero.

This planet of sorcerers will not be easy to overcome, but Russ and his Space Wolves are not easily deterred. With wrath in his heart, Russ is determined to bring Magnus to justice and bring about the fall of Prospero.

Picking up the story of A Thousand Sons from a different perspective, Prospero Burns is the long-awaited Space Wolves novel from one of Black Library’s most established and defining authors. Needless to say, the wait has been more than worth it – this is a superb sci-fi war novel written with depth, intelligence, and considerable panache.

What continues to amaze me about Mr Abnett is the breadth of his writing ability – whether it is a Horus Heresy novel, a Gaunt’s Ghosts novel, a Warhammer fantasy novel, or something entirely of his own creation (e.g., Triumff): the most consistent trait is that it is always of extremely high quality. Each of his Horus Heresy novels (Horus Rising, Legion, and now this novel) feels different from the last but is always engaging, interesting, utterly addictive, and invariably raises the bar yet again for both the series and also the quality of (oft-maligned) tie-in fiction as a whole. He also has a tendency to expand the Warhammer 40,000 lexicon, adding ever-more phraseology that will be used in many future novels by other authors.

To begin with, I wasn’t sure how Abnett was going to make the first chapter relevant to the plot synopsis. It was certainly interesting, because it added another great layer to our understanding of the century and a half following the start of the Wars of Unification; as well as a good account of what life on Fenris is like for non-Space Wolves. Apart from a single, fleeting mention of the Thousand Sons, however, there was no connection to what I was expecting the novel to be about.

Hawser, an Imperial archaeologist, is assimilated by the Space Wolves after he arrives (well, crashes) on Fenris. He is adopted as an oral historian (skjald), and his position is to record, remember and regale Legion actions. The majority of the novel is from his perspective (another aspect that makes this a very different Horus Heresy novel). The attention Abnett pays to Hawser’s pre-Fenris life, and its importance to the story, slowly becomes apparent as he builds the readers familiarity and relationship with Hawser and a handful of Space Wolves.

Abnett’s gift for atmospheric description is evident throughout the novel: Norse and sagaic influences come through in the dream-like passages in the first quarter of the novel, as Hawser struggles to survive the harsh Fenrisian environment. The author’s treatment of the Space Wolves is superb, also: they are a very different ‘loyalist’ legion to what we’re used to reading about. They are paganistic, ritualistic and much rougher around the (blade-)edges. Their manner is one of sublime brutality. The Fang, or “Aett” as they call it, is a Stygian fortress from an outsider’s nightmare, brilliant realised on the page. One would be forgiven for thinking the Wolves and not the Thousand Sons would be most likely to fall: a simplistic description could see this as a gang of brutal thugs being sent after scholar-sages. Abnett does a superb job of bringing the Space Wolves to life in the novel, showing us their distinct blend of proud, martial bearing and barbarian savagery through our glimpses into their traditions and rituals.

The Space Wolves are a dark Legion, there’s no doubt about it – by their own admission and acceptance, they were created to be the Emperor’s executioners. When Hawser comes before the Jarl currently in charge at the Fang, he is told:

“Life and death. That’s what we’re about, Upplander... Life and death, and the place where they meet up. That place, that’s where we do business. That’s the space we inhabit.”

Abnett offers other outside opinions of the Wolves, further deepening our understanding of their reputation, and also adding depth to the novel. An Imperial Guard soldier recounts fighting alongside the Space Wolves, suggesting the Emperor had “gone too far... and made things he should not have made”:

“They were animals, those things that fought with us... They killed everything, and destroyed everything and, worst of all, they took great relish in the apocalypse they had brought down upon their foe. They just left a sick taste in the mouth as if, by calling on their help, we had somehow demeaned ourselves in an effort to win.”

He has come to the Space Wolves to learn about them, to learn about their history and their ways, and much of the first three-quarters of the novel is about Hawser’s getting to know his hosts and protectors. They want to help him understand the Legion – that yes, they are brutish killing machines, but also so much more.

“Their reputation helped. No one expected brutes who looked like ritual-obsessed, bestial clansmen to be underpinned by peerless combat intelligence.”

This desire to be understood comes through most clearly when Hawser is invited to observe a Space Wolf captain’s dealing with arrogant and prickly (though still afraid) human commanders, and he explains why it’s important that an outside chronicler sees him – and by extension, the Space Wolves – follow the rules of war:

“We are known for our ferocity. We are thought to be feral and undisciplined. Even brother legions consider us to be wild and bestial... But if that was our natural state, we’d all be dead by now... It takes a vast amount of self-control to be this dangerous.”

As the chronicler gets to know the Wolves, the reader quickly understands why Abnett gave us such a long intro about the lives of native Fenrisians, the harsh eternal-winter environment and what it means: “That means learning about survival. About killing.”

“The Wolves liked to wrap themselves in a cloak of mystery and solemn, supernatural power, but such nonsense was the superstitious talk, of barbarians, inherited from the Fenrisians they drew their strength from.”

There is another, key element to Prospero Burns – that of the importance of knowledge. Hawser, as a conservator of knowledge, both ancient and contemporary, has built a life and career around knowing and understanding the universe and its inhabitants. There is a poignant irony that such a man is accepted into the Space Wolf community, only for the Legion to be unleashed on their most knowledge-obsessed brother-Legion. The flashbacks to Hawser’s archaeological career are also important, as they include a good deal of discussion about the importance of discovering, preserving, and understanding knowledge of the past.

Prospero Burns was not the novel I was expecting. The majority of the book is not actually about Prospero, the Thousand Sons and the Emperor’s sanction of Magnus the Red at all, really. Rather, it is an account of the Space Wolves – their psychology, their traditions and manner, the roots and ironies of their reputation and purpose. When the story does bring us finally to the Council of Nikaea and the Space Wolves siege of Prospero, we get more layers added to the story started in A Thousand Sons, and a look at what went on behind-the-scenes at the trial, and also meet Leman Russ – Abnett writes him brilliantly, and it’s a great characterisation of such a fearsome Primarch. Hawser’s account of the battle on Prospero is very personal as he struggles to reconcile the fact that brother has been pitted against brother, the tragic fall of one of the Emperor’s Legions, and also his first battle as a warrior.

Prospero Burns is a thoughtful and intelligent novel, with a multitude of themes running through it, as well as expanding our understanding of the time leading up to the Heresy. The novel easily maintains the quality of writing and plotting we’ve come to expect from Abnett, despite it taking just a little bit longer to get going than I usual find with his novels. As always, the author’s ability to convey atmosphere and the maelstrom of war is peerless.

Abnett has once again taken a Black Library series and contributed a work of complete originality that yet fits perfectly within the whole. His approach is unorthodox, but thanks to his prose and authorial skill, you will lose yourself in this utterly engaging story, and it will leave an impression long after you stop reading. After the slow start, Prospero Burns evolved into one of the stand-out novels in the series, once again making it clear why Abnett’s work is so beloved.

Very highly recommended, this is intelligent and gripping military science fiction at its best. I only wish it had been longer.

The Horus Heresy: Horus Rising, False Gods, Galaxy in Flames, Flight of the Eisenstein, Fulgrim, Descent of Angels, Legion, Battle for the Abyss, Mechanicum, Tales of Heresy, Fallen Angels, A Thousand Sons, Nemesis, The First Heretic, Prospero Burns, Age of Darkness (May 2011), Deliverance Lost (January 2012)

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Breaking News! As of this writing, Prospero Burns has entered the New York Times Bestseller List at #16! This makes it the fourth Horus Heresy novel in a row to feature on the list!

[Incidentally, Dan’s next original-setting work of fiction will be released later this year: Embedded will be published by Angry Robot Books in May 2011, and is one of CR’s Most-Anticipated novels of the year.]

Great News for “A Thousand Sons”!

Just another excuse to draw your attention to this great novel, but Graham McNeill’s A Thousand Sons has charted at #22 on the New York Times mass-market paperback fiction chart! This places him above such mass-market luminaries as Greg Iles, John Grisham, Robert B. Parker, and just below Jeffrey Deaver! This is great news for both Graham and also Black Library, making their debut on the chart.

Many congratularions to Mr. McNeill, I hope it helps raise awareness of his work.

My review of A Thousand Sons is below.

“A Thousand Sons”, by Graham McNeill (Black Library)

Introducing the enigmatic, psychic, and misunderstood Sons of Magnus

Censured at the Council of Nikea for his flagrant use of sorcery, Magnus the Red and his Thousand Sons Legion retreat to their home-world of Prospero to continue their use of the arcane arts in secret. But when the ill-fated primarch foresees the treachery of Warmaster Horus and warns the Emperor with the very powers he was forbidden to use, the Master of Mankind dispatches fellow primarch Leman Russ to attack Prospero itself. But Magnus has seen more than the betrayal of Horus, and the witnessed revelations will change the fate of his fallen Legion, and its primarch, forever.

I’ve been waiting a long time for this novel. Ever since the Black Library announced the Horus Heresy series, I’ve been eagerly awaiting coverage of a number of key events: from the initial descent of Horus (in Horus Rising, False Gods and Galaxy in Flames), the war on Mars (Mechanicum), and also the Space Wolves-Thousand Sons conflict. In A Thousand Sons, Graham McNeill offers us the story from the perspective of the eponymous legion (Dan Abnett’s Prospero Burns will give us the perspective of the Space Wolves).

The novel opens well before the events described in the blurb, which I thought strange, but it’s also good as it allows McNeill plenty of space to flesh out the Thousand Sons and the history of the period. To begin with, Magnus’s legion are on the desert-world of Aghoru, investigating an ancient, psychically-charged, malevolent force buried beneath the world.

It takes a little while to get used to the different terminology used by the Thousand Sons (each legion has its own quirky jargon for legion-related things such as hierarchy, structure, practices, traditions, and so forth), but we quickly figure out what is being referred to. The author brings the Thousand Sons to life on the pages, one of the more strange and eccentric Space Marine legions. McNeill manages to balance the clear Egyptian influences that make up a lot of the Thousand Sons’ iconography with the more standard imagery of the Warhammer 40,000 universe as a whole, as well as convey their ‘otherness’ perfectly. The differences are particularly stark when compared with the Space Wolves, one of the more feral legions (think Norsemen and Vikings, only with really, really big guns and swords…). The scenes featuring Magnus and Leman Russ, the Primarch of the Space Wolves, are particularly interesting, as the friction and animosity between the two is palpable, and McNeill is very adept at portraying the tensions through his writing. Indeed, it is always interesting to see the Primarchs brought to life on the pages of this series; so impossible and impressive they are, so legendary, it is a testament to the quality of Graham McNeill (and also Dan Abnett) to have made them such realistic, flawed and three-dimensional characters.

The story is not rushed, as befits the legion’s methodical, calm, scholarly approach to all things. The story is, actually, utterly absorbing, and kept me up well into the night – it’s one of the longer Horus Heresy novels, clocking in at over 500 pages, though this didn’t seem to matter at all – whereas in the past I have been put off by some of the longer Black Library releases, McNeill’s writing, the plot, and the intriguing characters all helped make this easily one of my favourite Sci-Fi novels, period, let alone just Black Library releases.

The novel is enjoyable, though not without one minor flaw. It’s a common sci-fi trope, rather than anything that can be blamed on Graham McNeill alone. It’s also not really that much of an issue, but given that it occurred on page one, it bugged me (and the length that I discuss this should not detract from the other 99% of the novel that I loved). Specifically, it’s the insistence on writing the “science” into science fiction. Take this excerpt from the first page:

“Though its people had no knowledge of geology, the titanic forces of orogenic movement, compressional energies and isostatic uplift, they knew enough to know that the Mountain was too vast, too monumental, to be a natural formation.”

For me, the emphasised text should have been left out – including it doesn’t make me think the author’s done his homework (which, to be fair, he has), but rather that someone was trying to make the novel sound more impressive. McNeill is a great author, who doesn’t need to rely on such devices to make us like his work. This isn’t a text book. Having said all this, however, the decision to use this style does start to make sense – it is perfectly in keeping with the temperament and character of the Astartes of the Thousand Sons, who progress through the ranks by ridding themselves of ego and favouring learning, with intellectual prowess as important as their marshal prowess.

This very minor quibble aside (and, again, it’s true for many sci-fi authors), this is a great addition to the series. We are shown how one of the most loyal and least bloodthirsty legions fell out of favour through suspicion, betrayal, and misunderstanding – unlike the Sons of Horus, who fell through hubris; the Emperor’s Children who fell through decadence and arrogance; and various other reasons that afflicted the other fallen legions. The story of the Thousand Sons is perhaps the most tragic of all the legions.

The Horus Heresy series has been, for the main, a very enjoyable reading experience. The first three novels, for example, proved to be amazing, bringing the age into amazing, violent and chaotic life. A Thousand Sons belongs not only in the upper echelons of the series, but is one of the best novels released by the Black Library thus far.

To sum up: an utterly absorbing, exciting and expertly-crafted novel.

Series Chronology (thus far): Dan Abnett, Horus Rising; Graham McNeill, False Gods; Ben Counter, Galaxy in Flames; James Swallow, The Flight of the Eisenstein; Graham McNeill, Fulgrim; Mitch Scanlon, Descent of Angels; Dan Abnett, Legion; Ben Counter, Battle for the Abyss; Graham McNeill, Mechanicum; Various, Tales of Heresy; Mike Lee, Fallen Angels; Graham McNeill, A Thousand Sons; James Swallow, Nemesis (August 2010); Aaron Dembski-Bowden, The First Heretic (November 2010); Dan Abnett, Prospero Burns (January 2011)

To order A Thousand Sons, click here.