Ostensibly about how, when and why Mortarion received his pistol, the Lantern, James Swallow’s Horus Heresy short story Lantern’s Light is really an exploration of the Death Lord’s relationship with and attitude towards the Emperor. For a year after their first meeting, Mortarion has been learning the ways of the Imperium and beginning to bond with his new legion, but has not been permitted to lead his sons into battle. When the Emperor returns to Barbarus to meet with him once more, Mortarion finds himself questioning his new life and the role he sees for himself in his father’s empire.
It’s a quiet, introspective story which eschews any overt action in favour of finding conflict in Mortarion’s inner turmoil and his reactions to the changes in his life forced upon him by the Emperor. It offers an intriguing glimpse of the early, tentative relationship between these two characters, and how Mortarion’s upbringing has affected the way in which he perceives the Emperor’s actions and intentions. The focus is on the burgeoning sense of resentment that Mortarion feels, and he doesn’t come across as particularly likeable, but that feels appropriate in this sort of character study. It’s not a happy read, but it’s interesting nonetheless, and ties in well with Swallow’s novel The Buried Dagger.
Check out the main Horus Heresy reviews page on Track of Words.
