Category Archives: Short Stories

QUICK REVIEW : Twisted – Guy Haley

In a series the size and scale of the Horus Heresy, it’s inevitable that some characters’ involvement will wax and wane. Such has been the case with Maloghurst the Twisted; introduced at the beginning of the series, he was absent for much of the time up until his return in Vengeful Spirit. In Guy Haley’s Twisted, we look closer at Horus’ equerry as he sees the safety of his position crumble while the legion changes around him. Plagued by the whisperings of the Neverborn, he turns to a dangerous, unlikely source of support.

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QUICK REVIEW : Distant Echoes of Old Night – Rob Sanders

The Death Guard are still somewhat under-represented in the Horus Heresy series, but Rob Sanders’ Distant Echoes of Old Night goes some way to filling that gap. Here we see Death Guard Chaplain Morgax Murnau as he leads a Destroyer squad through a dying world to finish off a detachment of Imperial Fists from a downed ship. The brutal, implacable Death Guard will have to use every awful weapon at their disposal if they are to prise the dug-in Imperial Fists from their tenacious defences.

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QUICK REVIEW : The Gates of Terra – Nick Kyme

Nick Kyme’s ‘quick read’ The Gates of Terra follows Captain Arcadese of the Ultramarines as he stubbornly defends the Ardent Reef from the forces of the Warmaster, in spite of his growing confusion at what’s happening around him. To abuse a famous line : it is a truth universally acknowledged, that a Horus Heresy short story, even one apparently standing on its own, will in some way be linked to at least one other existing story. This story is a great example, as while fundamentally it stands as a single story it is in fact linked with Forgotten Sons from the Age of Darkness anthology, as well as the Garro arc, albeit loosely.

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QUICK REVIEW : Lost Sons – James Swallow

It took a while for the Blood Angels to get involved in the Horus Heresy series, but when they did, in Fear To Tread, almost the entire legion got stuck in. In his ‘quick read’ story Lost Sons, James Swallow looks at what happened to those few legionaries who stayed behind on Baal, their home world. Denied the right to fight alongside their brothers, then cut off from the rest of the legion by the Ruinstorm, all they can do is wait and hope. When fateful news arrives with an agent of the Sigillite, it appears the worst may have happened.
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QUICK REVIEW: The Blind King – Paul Kearney

Published in 2015 (although subsequently removed from sale), Paul Kearney’s 40k short story The Blind King was intended to act as a prequel to his novel Dark Hunters: Umbra Sumus, which was sadly caught up in legal difficulties in quickly withdrawn from publication. Here we see the Dark Hunters chapter in its relative infancy, fighting for survival against an army of traitor Titans. With the future of the Dark Hunters at stake, the entire chapter goes to war, but against the might of Titans will even that be enough?

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QUICK REVIEW : Sins of the Father – Andy Smillie

The go-to guy for Flesh Tearers in 40k, Andy Smillie has recently turned his attention to their founding chapter, the Blood Angels, as part of the Horus Heresy series. A prequel to Virtues of the Sons (from the Death and Defiance anthology), his ‘quick read’ story Sins of the Father sees the primarch Sanguinius in a dark mood, reflecting on his future and that of his sons. He sees a bleak future for the Blood Angels, with only Azkaellon and Amit offering even a slender thread of hope.

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QUICK REVIEW : Child of Night – John French

Of all the merits of Black Library’s Horus Heresy series, perhaps its greatest achievement to date is the way it has cast the whole conflict in a new light and reminded readers that it wasn’t just a case of good versus evil and black and white, but very much shades of grey. John French looks at this in a little more detail with his quick read Child of Night, introducing us to Fel Zharost, the ex-Chief Librarian of the Night Lords. Having left his legion after the passing of the Edict of Nikea and returned to the underhive slums of Terra where he was born, he has remained unaware of the civil war ripping the Galaxy apart. Until now.

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QUICK REVIEW : Black Oculus – John French

The latest Horus Heresy quick read from Black Library, John French’s Black Oculus is a prequel of sorts to his excellent novella Tallarn : Executioner, which was a limited edition release in 2013 and is sadly still not yet generally available. After the events at the climax of Angel Exterminatus, Perturabo ordered his fleet into the heart of a black hole, deep within the Eye of Terror. Here we get a glimpse of the terrible effects that decision had upon the Navigators who guided the Iron Warriors fleet on that fateful journey that led to their arrival at Tallarn.

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QUICK REVIEW : Forgotten – Dan Abnett

On the twenty-third day of Christmas, Black Library gave to us…a Gaunt’s Ghosts short story by Dan Abnett. A Gaunt’s Ghosts ghost story, in fact, called Forgotten. As the story unfolds, several of the Ghosts are gathered around a fire in a quiet storeroom somewhere within the Ser Armaduke, telling each other ghost stories. At Gaunt’s prompting, Mkoll begrudgingly tells his tale, of a fiend who moves in the darkness and strikes unseen, forgotten by death but stalked in turn by Mkoll.

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QUICK REVIEW : Brotherhood of the Moon – Chris Wraight

On the twenty-second day of Christmas, Black Library gave to us…a Horus Heresy short story by Chris Wraight. First of all, Brotherhood of the Moon is a direct sequel to Scars, so if you haven’t read that…look away now. Shown through Torghun Khan’s eyes as he attempts to explain himself in the aftermath of Scars’ denouement, it looks at his early dealings with the Lunar Wolves and some of the first steps that set him on his path. He recalls early campaigns before the legion was reunited at Chondax, and his desire to see his legion honoured and respected alongside the Lunar Wolves.

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