To give you an idea about how wonderful reading The Burden of Loyalty was for me, please take note that it took me over a MONTH to get through a short story collection. A month. This was a struggle of all struggles in the Horus Heresy series. Es ist nicht wunderbar. What’s even worse is that I can’t properly discuss this book, because I zoned out through most of it. I zoned out through a lot of OHMYGODIDON’TCAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRE.
With an intro like that, here we go!
Believe it or not, the stories I liked the most were about the Space Wolves. The first was “The Thirteenth Wolf” by Gav Thorpe. Within a few paragraphs, it hit me that this was the basis for Thorpe’s Ashes of Prospero. I pulled the the book almost immediately and flipped through the end to look for familiar names. Lo and behold, there they were.
It’s funny to me that people who love the Space Wolves hate how Gav Thorpe writes them, and I’ve said before that I believe it’s because Thorpe lays bare their stubborn pride. In “The Thirteenth Wolf,” the Thousand Sons that the Wolves have chased into the webway labyrinth plead with the Wolves to listen to reason. The Wolves’ stumbling through the webway is trapping both factions. Izzakar Orr, the same Thousand Son who invaded Njal’s headspace, begs the Wolves to let him help them all escape. Of course they don’t, Izzakar is killed, and the Wolves are trapped there for millennia. Stubborn pride.
The other was Chris Wraight’s novella, Wolf King. Leman Russ is sullen and pouty after leaving Prospero and after Jaghatai Khan refused to help him. The only Space Wolf he’ll speak with about his affliction is Bjorn the Fell-handed, and Bjorn is the only one who will tell Russ what’s what. As Russ keeps rolling the Rune Stones like they’re Yahtzee dice, Bjorn points out that the reason why he’s acting this way is because of Prospero. Russ swears that he was right to kill Magnus, that he was doing the Allfather’s will, but it was Bjorn who made him face the fact that killing him was NOT an order from the Emperor. Horus made that order, and that’s something Leman Russ will have to deal with for the rest of his life. Maybe it was right that the Thousand Sons were put down, but Russ has to accept that he did not follow the Emperor’s actual order.
The last short story I enjoyed was “The Binary Succession” by David Annandale. This one explained how the Mechanium cults on Mars became the Adeptus Mechanicus. I never thought about the Mechanicus not being Adeptus Mechanicus at one time. So that was interesting, and I enjoyed seeing the Mechanicus act petty. I apologize for nothing.
Literally everything else. Most of the rest of the book contained stories about the Mechanicus and how they’re dealing with the civil war on Mars. After Mechanicum, I just don’t care. ADB’s short story “Into Exile” was interesting, but only in the way the story was presented. You’ll have to see for yourself if you’re curious.
I don’t remember much of anything of Rob Sanders’ novella, Cybernetica. I’m sure it’s great for fans of the Mechanicus, but this is where I zoned out for most of the book. Not even listening to Jonathan Keeble’s dulcet tones could get me to pay attention.
And then there was the final punch to gut with Dan Abnett’s “Perpetual.” Words cannot express how much I don’t care about where or when Oll Persson is and how he is getting to Terra. I know I need to let my hatred of the perpetuals go, but one pops up and I’m instantly Madeleine Khan from Clue.
The Burden of Loyalty I have for completing this series is a great burden indeed.
Next book is all about the Space Wolves from Guy Haley, Wolfsbane. It’s totally NOT BY Chris Wraight. No idea where you got the idea that I said it was by Chris Wraight. Never happened.
Forty-eight books down, 6 to go.
Horus Hearsay is dedicated to Keri’s journey through the Horus Heresy saga. The chronicling of the Horus Heresy began over ten years ago, with currently 54 books in total, not counting The Primarchs series or the various short stories outside of the official anthologies. Horus Hearsay will only cover the main novels.
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