Taker of Heads is a 70 (ish) minute Mortifactors audio drama which sees Ian St. Martin return to the character of Adoni from his short story Deathwatch: Swordwind. This time it’s a story of Adoni’s youth, as he and his fellow neophytes are deployed to the jungle world of Aztlan to aid the embattled, outclassed Imperial Guard in their fight against the cunning t’au. There’s more at stake for Adoni than just defeating the t’au however, as this mission offers him the opportunity to prove himself a taker of heads, and earn his name and his place within the Chapter.
The Mortifactors are not a well-described Chapter thus far, but if you’re interested in finding out a bit more about what makes a Mortifactor tick then this is the story for you. Told through John Banks’ first person narration as Adoni, it kicks off with a recollection of a primitive hunt that he embarked upon prior to being chosen by the Mortifactors, before moving on to the neophytes’ pre-battle rituals and then the tense, atmospheric jungle warfare of the mission against the t’au. It’s all packed with detail and character for not just Adoni but the Chapter as a whole, and offers an impressive amount of world building for the Mortifactors without compromising the quality of the story itself.
St. Martin wears his influences on his sleeve, unashamedly channeling Predator once the narrative reaches the Aztlan jungle. There’s no “get to the chopper” moment here, although there are traps and ambushes aplenty, and the predator/prey dynamic is very much in place with the t’au’s technological superiority stacking the odds in their favour. There’s always the sense, however, that Space Marines don’t make easy prey, and although Adoni is ‘only’ a neophyte he’s a consummate hunter who’s driven to survive and succeed. Despite the obvious influences it’s still a 40k story, and as it turns out there’s plenty of entertaining crossover with 40k as a setting and 90s action movie stylings!
Crucially, this works very well as an audio drama and not just a 40k story, despite the heavy narration focus. The choice of a first person perspective for the narrator is an effective one, avoiding any sense of excess exposition and allowing Adoni’s voice to really come through by way of Banks’ measured, slightly sinister delivery. The Mortifactors are portrayed with half-whispered pseudo-Eastern-European accents, and while it might have been nice to hear something a little different it does tie together well with all of the cast going for similar stylings. Meanwhile the music and sound design are as effective as ever, effortlessly conjuring up vivid atmospheres that help bring the story to life and complement St. Martin’s script. Overall, as long as you don’t mind the overt plot references, there’s a great balance of action and character development and some really interesting insight into this unusual Chapter. It’s well worth checking out.