A rare non-Imperial 40k audio drama, Gav Thorpe’s Heirs of the Laughing God: A Deadly Wit introduces the Masque of the Fading Dawn, a troupe of Harlequins led by the idiosyncratic Duruthiel, or the ‘Red Swan’ as he refers to himself. Despite the disapproval of his Death Jester companion Adroniel, Red Swan leads his troupe in a risky assault on the fortress of a powerful ork warlord. When the mission proves more dangerous, and the warlord more deadly, than he had anticipated, Duruthiel is forced to open up about the real reasons for choosing this particular, reckless mission.
Perhaps more than any other, the audio medium really suits sharp, dialogue-led stories where characters have scope to discuss more than just their latest combat mission. Sure, there are plenty of great Space Marine-focused audios, but characters with a wider emotional range – like eldar, perhaps – can really be brought to life. So it is here, with Thorpe injecting tremendous character into Duruthiel and his companions, primarily the disapproving Death Jester Adroniel and Echo, a poetic and enigmatic Shadowseer. Duruthiel is the driving force behind the story, but all three play key roles, not least Adroniel’s vocal frustration with Duruthiel’s…unique sense of theatre.
Harlequins are, quite simply, a perfect choice for audio. The four-strong cast are clearly having huge fun with the dialogue, most notably Matthew Hunt’s pompous and flamboyant portrayal of Duruthiel and Emma Gregory’s scathing turn as Adroniel. That dialogue is the main draw here, with just the right amount of flowery and deliberately pretentious language and fey, fickle humour, focusing attention on the dynamics between the Harlequins with the actual specifics of the mission taking a bit of a back seat. The plot is pretty simple but works nicely, keeping things moving with Gareth Armstrong’s excellent narration while giving the characters license to get into (and out of) various situations ripe for witty verbal sparring.
What this isn’t, is an in-depth exploration of what Harlequins are, how they’re organised, and so on. Leave that for the background books. Instead, this is a characterful look at a specific group of Harlequins, referencing all of the key touchpoints for this 40k faction but portraying these particular characters in their own unique way, while offering something a little different to most Black Library audios. It’s typically well crafted and thought out, the sound design is every bit as good as you’d expect…but in the best possible way that all fades away to provide a background for the listener to kick back and enjoy the Red Swan’s performance.