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.
There’s no doubt about it, John French has the knack for writing the shadowy and the sinister; the Night Lords then are an excellent fit. While channeling their inherent darkness with plenty of violence and cruelty, at the same time he manages to show in Fel Zharost a little of the underlying nobility that originally imbued the legion. A little less straightforward in structure than some stories, this nonetheless is a clever tale that ties nicely into the recurring themes of the Heresy and is a fine addition to the series.
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