So we’re almost to the finish line in terms of books, but Horus & Co. haven’t even started the official journey to Terra. We haven’t seen the Emperor’s Children or Iron Warriors since Angel Exterminatus, the Word Bearers or the World Eaters since Betrayer (notice a pattern there?), or the Alpha Legion since the death (?) of Alpharius. We know that Horus sent the Death Guard on ahead to try to stop the White Scars. And the Sons of Horus themselves are still reeling from the attempted assassination of Horus from the Space Wolves. Now that I think about it, what are the Night Lords doing? Trying to find Curze?
The point is, most of the gang has gathered on Terra, but Horus’ army is in disarray to say the least. So the question remains how in the world do they get their act together in time to make the final assault? What heals Horus? Most importantly, how did this ragtag group ever break Dorn’s fortifications and nearly kill the Emperor? Slaves to Darkness by John French answers the first two questions, but not the last.
A Tale of Herding Cats of Chaos (aka regular cats)
While Horus is healing, Lorgar goes off to try to bring Fulgrim and his Legion to heel, and Perturabo does the same with Angron. They obviously couldn’t send Perturabo to get Fulgrim. I’m fairly certain Peter would have killed Fulgrim on sight. These stories, as well as the story of Horus recovering, are told from the perspective of various members of the Sons, Iron Warriors, and Word Bearers.
It’s kind of interesting at times to learn how individual members of these Legions interpret their current insanities. However, other times, it bogs the plot down with pointless exposition. I tuned out most of Maloghurst’s rituals and memories, because good God, the guy could ramble. Have you ever found a recipe on a cooking blog? That’s exactly what these recollected memories were like.
Horus is not himself
Then there’s the big question of what is going on with Horus. He’s injured from his battle with Leman Russ, but spiritually, he’s off. Maloghurst believes he’s the only one who can save him, and maybe he was. The daemons have said that spiritually, Horus never left that cave on Molech. I mean, sure, I guess that makes sense. And, supposing that is true, Maloghurst bringing Horus back finalized his ascension into daemonhood. It would explain some things, albeit somewhat unsatisfactorily.
It’s unsatisfactory because I really thought after Molech and Ignis that Horus had made this choice. I guess I really didn’t think that Lorgar/Erebus’ daemon-dabbling took that choice away from Horus. I hated the fact that Lorgar took that choice away from Angron. Learning of this manipulation from Erebus and Lorgar has made it all worse. It was easier to hate Horus for falling for Erebus’ deception and choosing to do what he has done and it is to learn he’s been manipulated by daemons all this time.
Who’s the real slave to darkness here?
So for those keeping count at home, we have a Warmaster who has completely forgotten himself, a daemon prince of Slaanesh who gets bored easily, a priest who nearly killed Horus because he wasn’t rebelling the way he wanted (yeah, that was a thing), a very angry blood monster, a member of the Alpha Legion who may or may not be Alpharius, and a bitter warrior wondering if he backed the wrong horse with all of these psychos/slaves to chaos.
Seriously, how does this bunch fight so well on Terra? Is it because they brought daemon cheat codes?
Next book is another dang anthology. Almost there, people. Almost there.
Fifty-one books down, 3 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.
