Released back in 2012 as part of Black Library’s 15th birthday celebration, Rob Sanders’ Army of One was one of the first (perhaps actually the first) Horus Heresy short stories to be released as a standalone ebook. Very much a ‘quick read’, it takes a whistlestop tour of one man’s history as he relives the unexpected way in which he was caught up in the Heresy. Unwanted by the Imperial Army, he finds his place in the war in a less obvious role.
On the one hand, reading this in 2015, in light of all the subsequent Heresy releases, this doesn’t really feel like a Horus Heresy story. It has none of the sense of scale that so many Heresy stories have, and is perhaps the exception to the rule of ‘all Heresy stories are somehow interlinked’. On the other hand, it’s just a strong, really well written, evocative story with all the hallmarks of a great Black Library tale. Sure, it could just as easily be a 40k story as a Heresy one, but don’t let that take away from how good this is. As far as 1,000 word stories go, this is pretty much spot on – engaging, satisfying and really enjoyable to read.
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