As you can probably tell from the rather ominous cover, David Annandale’s Horus Heresy short story Prologue to Nikaea focuses on Malcador the Sigillite, the perils of the warp, and psykers…lots of psykers. Set during the Great Crusade, it sees Malcador searching for the origin of a great storm in the immaterium, desperate to understand what it portends and whether its influence stretches to the physical plane as well. What he finds, on a world recently wracked by rebellion, promises to haunt him for long years to come and have a profound impact on the future of the Imperium.
Anyone remotely familiar with the Heresy – and specifically the tragedy of Magnus and the questions around the Librarius – will know loosely what to expect here, and on the surface it does deliver an explanation of sorts. It doesn’t fully satisfy, however, partly down to a strange choice of pacing which sees much of the story bogged down in rather overplayed Warp-based wanderings and partly because the conclusions it seems to draw just feel a bit banal and obvious. There’s real potential here, and it’s entertaining enough as a standalone bit of psyker-heavy action, but overall it feels lacking in the real Heresy gravitas and doesn’t offer much insight into Malcador or his decision-making. A missed opportunity, perhaps.
Check out the main Horus Heresy reviews page on Track of Words.
