Released alongside Hunter’s Moon by Guy Haley, Thief of Revelations is Graham McNeill’s latest contribution to Black Library’s range of Horus Heresy audio dramas. Running to just under 40 minutes, it features the welcome return of Ahzek Ahriman, Chief Librarian of the Thousand Sons, tragic hero (anti-hero?) and without a doubt one of Warhammer 40,000’s greatest characters. We see Ahriman post-the burning of Prospero, living on the Planet of Sorcerers and working on what will become the infamous Rubric of Ahriman.
Thief of Revelations shares Hunter’s Moon’s reflective mood, mostly forgoing the visceral actions scenes in favour of characterful dialogue as Ahriman wrestles with the dilemmas facing him as he works tirelessly to find a way to stop the flesh-change afflicting his legion. The voice cast for these audio dramas is generally excellent, and this time the usual cast do sterling work, channelling The Prisoner to suitably portentous effect (you know the bit – “we want information…information…information!”) and bringing Ahriman, Magnus et al to life wonderfully. After all, these are some of the most powerful sorcerers ever, staring across time and space to divine the hidden secrets of the galaxy – in the wrong hands they could come across all wrong, but here they sound brilliant.
Where this differs most from Hunter’s Moon is the context in which the story is placed; it’s less of a standalone, one-off piece, instead very much following on from the events of A Thousand Sons and Prospero Burns, and apparently setting up the next instalment in the story of Magnus, Ahriman and this most fascinating of legions. McNeill delights in dropping teasing hints of what might be coming next for this particular story arc; it’s unlikely to be essential to listen to this before reading whatever comes next, but for completists or just fans of the series, it’s a fascinating, compelling tale that’s absolutely worth checking out.
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