With Earth abandoned, humanity resides on Station, an industrialised asteroid run by the sentient corporations of the Pantheon. Under their leadership a war has been raging against the Totality - ex-Pantheon AIs gone rogue.

With the war over, Jack Forster and his sidekick Hugo Fist, a virtual puppet tied to Jack's mind and created to destroy the Totality, have returned home.
Labelled a traitor for surrendering to the Totality, all Jack wants is to clear his name but when he discovers two old friends have died under suspicious circumstances he also wants answers. Soon he and Fist are embroiled in a conspiracy that threatens not only their future but all of humanity's. But with Fist's software licence about to expire, taking Jack's life with it, can they bring down the real traitors before their time runs out?

Getting tired of Black Library reviews? Me too. Here's a sci-fi gem from 2015, the sequel of which I am highly anticipating!

The Story:

"With Earth abandoned, humanity resides on Station, an industrialised asteroid run by the sentient corporations of the Pantheon. Under their leadership a war has been raging against the Totality - ex-Pantheon AIs gone rogue.

With the war over, Jack Forster and his sidekick Hugo Fist, a virtual puppet tied to Jack's mind and created to destroy the Totality, have returned home.
Labelled a traitor for surrendering to the Totality, all Jack wants is to clear his name but when he discovers two old friends have died under suspicious circumstances he also wants answers. Soon he and Fist are embroiled in a conspiracy that threatens not only their future but all of humanity's. But with Fist's software licence about to expire, taking Jack's life with it, can they bring down the real traitors before their time runs out?"

The Review

When I first saw the cover for Crashing Heaven revealed by Gollancz, I knew I had to give this novel a try.

And oh boy, am I glad I did, for what I found was an exceedingly enjoyable trip into a future dominated by godlike AIs running humanity's lives according to their own schemes and personalities; a future where people live in constant contact with the Weave, a massively improved augmented reality version of the internet, which turns an otherwise bleak vision of the future into paradise - as long as they are playing by the rules of their godly Patrons and don't get excised from the privileges of staring at a hypercommercialized illusion of life.

Our protagonist Jack is one of the few who fell from grace in this society. After surrendering to an AI collective he was tasked to exterminate, using his mind-bonded hacker AI "puppet" Hugo Fist (an incredibly vile fellow, I might add!), he finally returns home, yet is still leashed by InSec, his former employers and local police force, and cut off from the Weave. Fist, too, is caged to limit his potentially destructive, chaotic powers.

But Jack isn't going to play by the new rules laid out for him. He is determined to uncover the roots of the conspiracy that led to him being exiled and sent to war, and topple the Patron god responsible for it all.
His time is running out, however, as, in this vision of the future, copyright law and terms of service have become the chains by which mankind is leashed. Jack's license for Fist's software is about to expire, and with nothing else to pay with, he will have to surrender his earthly presence to the cruel little AI.

You can tell from that alone that there is a lot of tension in Crashing Heaven, from start to finish. While Jack has come to terms with his death-countdown, he would not accept going out quietly, without his tormentors being exposed.

What that results in is a compelling cyberpunk thriller that spans not only the physical reality, but also the augmented realm of the Weave, including plenty of metaphorical representations of things we do even today on the net.

There are truckloads of personal drama to be found here, too; a love story, betrayal, family relations, friendship, philosophical questions about virtual beings and their rights, social classes and structures - I was amazed at how many themes Al Robertson managed to fit into one coherent story and still deliver it in an exciting and even funny way.

As vile as Hugo Fist may be (note: he also uses swear words as if they were punctuation), he is still quite charming when he wants to be. I massively enjoyed seeing his bond with Jack develop from being intitially gleeful at the thought of taking over and killing Jack, as per licensing agreement, to regretting that he cannot avoid doing so even if he wanted.

There was so much character development to Jack and that little shit, it made me wonder what else Robertson could come up with to top this duo he created. They really grew on me over the course of the book, along with the other characters' eccentricities.

If he wanted to, Al Robertson could probably write a dozen more stories set in this rich science fiction setting and still have things to explore, although Crashing Heaven did a fantastic job to paint a picture of a future that is worth dreading and anticipating in almost equal measure, for various reasons.
What seems to be paradise for a great many people is actually a facade for a terribly uncomfortable place to live. It rewards the obedient and exiles the inconvenient.
Seeing through Jack's eyes worked wonders to show the wild contrasts within human society, while still leaving the reader with the question whether or not the deception is worthwhile from a moral standpoint.

Crashing Heaven is a treasure trove (or root server?) of amazing ideas that snap together in a thrillingly intelligent narrative that does exactly what the title claims. It pulled me into its world, and I am sad to leave it behind already.
Al Robertson will be an author I'll look out for in the future. If his next novel is even half as exciting as this one, I'm sure to get my money and time's worth ten times over.

Crashing Heaven on Goodreads

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The war is over, and the Mortal Realms have all but fallen to Chaos... Khorgos Khul rampages across the fiery Realm of Aqshy, hunting down mortal kind to slaughter or subjugate to Khorne. His Goretide have crushed all resistance... until the storm. From the heavens hurtle paladins clad in gold. Sent by Sigmar, the Stormcast Eternals have come to liberate all the realms from the yoke of Chaos.

It’s your first chance to enter the mortal realms and see Sigmar’s chosen warriors in action – heroes of heavenly magic in god-forged armour who ride the storm and bring death to the servants of Chaos, in this case the dreaded Goretide. The perfect place to start exploring the Age of Sigmar.

The Gates of Azyr kicked off the Age of Sigmar, Games Workshop's reboot of their Warhammer Fantasy range. Officially, it is a setting succeeding the Old World of WHFB, while thematically and in terms of design, it is an entirely new universe.

The Story:

"The war is over, and the Mortal Realms have all but fallen to Chaos... Khorgos Khul rampages across the fiery Realm of Aqshy, hunting down mortal kind to slaughter or subjugate to Khorne. His Goretide have crushed all resistance... until the storm. From the heavens hurtle paladins clad in gold. Sent by Sigmar, the Stormcast Eternals have come to liberate all the realms from the yoke of Chaos.

It’s your first chance to enter the mortal realms and see Sigmar’s chosen warriors in action – heroes of heavenly magic in god-forged armour who ride the storm and bring death to the servants of Chaos, in this case the dreaded Goretide. The perfect place to start exploring the Age of Sigmar."

The Review

This is it, then. The Age of Sigmar has come... and left me cold, bored, frustrated and unsatisfied.

There is very little to this novella. In fact, I am confused as to how there could be this little substance to this book. At 128 pages, I expected a lot more of... everything. Everything except mindless action, of course, since that is all you really get in this story.

Especially when compared to other novellas Black Library has published, this one is bleak. Even Space Marine Battles stories like Blood and Fire, The Eternal Crusader or the Warhammer 40,000 starter set novella, Dark Vengeance, the various Gotrek & Felix novellas... they all offer more than this book did. A lot more.

For one, they don't spend about 66% of the book with immortal, hammer-wielding, angelic supermen fighting enraged chaos-worshipping buffoons. Well, they often do have that, but not in one go. There are various scenes and characters involved to shake up the monotony of combat. This is not the case here.

Once battle is joined (barely a third into the novella), it does not stop to even consider the mortal humans it introduced as early as chapter two, went into hiding in chapter three and did not reappear, act or become in any way useful until chapter 8, mere pages before the book's end.

There didn't appear to be any point to these mortals apart from showing off the cruelty of the bloodreavers in chapters two and three, and to give protagonist Vandus Hammerhand, Lord-Celestant of the Stormcast Eternals, an opportunity to prattle about how he and his fellows are the bringers salvation.

I did not like Vandus Hammerhand. In fact, I think I could have liked him, had he not been introduced as a wonderful, perfect "Sigmarine" (as people have taken to calling the Sigmar-serving Stormcast Eternals, due to their resemblance to Space Marines), first of the host and overall swell dude.
The Eternals are mind-scrubbed. They got snatched away by the God-King Sigmar, mind-wiped and reforged into immortal warriors living pretty much only for war in Sigmar's name.

Vandus Hammerhand didn't seem to have received that particular memo, since the moment he enters the realm of Aqshy, to reconquer the land and defeat Chaos Lord Korghos Khul, that his memories start returning. His name, his moments before being spirited away, memories of the realm he once defended... it all comes back to him. And it turns out that Khul and him have unfinished business to settle.

Neither the return of his memories nor his emotions regarding them felt in any way satisfying to read about. The impact on Vandus was at the same time mind-numbing (for him) and yawn-inducing (for me). For being the first of the host, though, Vandus sure took a lot of taunting from his former enemy, Khul, to get a grip and unleash Sigmar's power. When the main character wonders why the heck he is still holding back against the guy who burned his village to the ground and is bathing the realm in Chaos (literally), you cannot help but ask yourself why a fool like that was picked to lead the glorious heroes tasked with cleansing the realms.

In fact, I wanted Korghos Khul to win. At least he had some interesting ambitions (collecting the final skull to offer to his god Khorne, to top off his skull-pyramid and ascend to apparent daemonhood and lay waste to all the realms with his "Goretide"), humor and actual interaction with his lieutenants (all of which had silly names, like "Skullbrand the Bloodsecrator").
Where Khul showed actual excitement about fighting Vandus, the latter seemed to cower on top of his "Dracoth" (think He-Man sitting on his Battlecat Gringer, just that its a wingless dragon beast instead). I almost laughed when Vandus finally started to get serious and told his nemesis that "nothing remained" of his old self - just after he got paralyzed because of his memories, and before he encounters the surviving mortals.

Even Ionus Cryptborn, the "Lord Relictor" of the Stormhost, would have made for a more compelling character. Let me quote a passage:

Ionus smiled beneath his deathmask. If things had been different, he might have been pleased to recount the tale. He would have told of the debt he owed the God-King, and the ancient curse that his choice had made him subject to. He would have told of Nagash, the deity who slumbered still but would be sure to come for him when the toll of years was complete. He might have said that, yes, he was different, and that he was the Lord-Relictor of the Stormhost, privy to secrets that not even the Hammerhand had been made a party to, and that every road ahead of him was dark and filled with pain whatever the outcome of this battle.

That is about as much as the reader gets to learn about Ionus Cryptborn, and all I could think of when reading it was that the Cryptborn's debt to Sigmar, the curse and his fallout with Nagash would've made for an exceedingly more compelling narrative than this one.

The stakes of it all are very esoteric and intangible in this story. The realm is a broken wasteland, humanity is almost wiped out (in fact, Vandus is surprised to learn about the survivors after winning the battle), and the biggest motivation for the Stormhost seems to be that they do not wish to disappoint almighty, all-knowing Sigmar.

I can't even fault Chris Wraight for this - that's simply how Games Workshop designed the lore for the Age of Sigmar tabletop game. Dull and uninspired, without any of the charme you'd find in Warhammer Fantasy stories before it. None of the humor, sense of wonder or adventure. It seems that in the grim darkness of the replacement of Warhammer Fantasy Battles, there is only war.

In a nutshell, The Gates of Azyr is the story of two armies clashing for around 4-5 chapters before an anticlimactic end to the story. But as Vandus Hammerhand tells us that "truly, [the wars] are only just beginning". Maybe Vandus and Khul will even meet again, who can tell.
As of now, I am even less eager to follow those...

The Gates of Azyr on Goodreads

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A former Sister of Silence and a Legionary once of the Death Guard embark on a vital mission for the Sigillite... one that will lead the former XIV Legion warrior back into battle alongside his old captain, Nathaniel Garro...

When Nathaniel Garro carried word of the Warmaster’s treachery to Terra, he also brought with him seventy loyal sons of the XIV Legion. Distrusted by their kinsmen, they languished in seclusion on Luna... until now. Amendera Kendel, once a Sister of Silence but more recently in service to the Sigillite, gives Helig Gallor of the Death Guard a new purpose, and a new duty – one that will ultimately see him reunited with his former battle captain on the field of war.

Ghosts Speak Not & Patience compiles two stories dealing with Nathaniel Garro and Amendara Kendel, following on from various plotlines of the Horus Heresy.

The Story:

"A former Sister of Silence and a Legionary once of the Death Guard embark on a vital mission for the Sigillite... one that will lead the former XIV Legion warrior back into battle alongside his old captain, Nathaniel Garro...

When Nathaniel Garro carried word of the Warmaster’s treachery to Terra, he also brought with him seventy loyal sons of the XIV Legion. Distrusted by their kinsmen, they languished in seclusion on Luna... until now. Amendera Kendel, once a Sister of Silence but more recently in service to the Sigillite, gives Helig Gallor of the Death Guard a new purpose, and a new duty – one that will ultimately see him reunited with his former battle captain on the field of war."

The Review

Ghosts Speak Not is the first Horus Heresy story in a long time to feature Amendera Kendel, former Sister of Silence, now agent of Malcador the Sigillite. When last we saw her in Tales of Heresy, volume 10 of the series, many years ago, Kendel's world views and loyalties were put to the test. Now we finally get to see what came of her.

And it turns out that Kendel is even better realized now than she was back in The Flight of the Eisenstein or The Voice (from Tales of Heresy). Her character appeared stronger and more intriguing to me, and her task to uproot suspected treachery close to Terra was all the more exciting as a result.

Kendel recruits a duo of former Death Guard for her mission, finally showing us what came of the survivors of the Eisenstein's escape. Locked away and isolated deep on Luna, the warriors are growing restless and resentful. However, their loyalties remain true to the Emperor, and as such, Kendel finds the support she needs.
Both Gallor and Kyda, the Death Guard in question, fill needed roles in the story, and provide muscle where necessary. However, the show is not their own. They do just the right amount without turning the story into yet another space marine piece in the series.

But the real gem here is astropath Pau Yei, whose uneasiness around the null-maiden is felt all too vividly by the reader. I couldn't help but feel sympathy for her, but also a growing respect as events unfold.
There are other characters in Kendel's retinue, like two soldiers picked by the Sigillite, who I found to be enjoyable too.

What makes this story so exceptional to me is that it is almost an oldschool Inquisition piece. Hunting for traitors to the Imperium, going out on a limb following leads, suspecting foul play but needing firmer evidence... It is all here. The chase for the rogue elements is dynamic, well-considered and gives everyone a time to shine. It did help that the antagonists were believable in their treachery as well.
The eventual conclusion, however, made me excited like I wouldn't have expected. It adds a whole new layer of seriousness and authority to Malcador's agents. The Silent War is escalating further, it would seem.

Patience, meanwhile, felt a little tacked on (probably because it was). It made a point more than anything, and showed us Nathaniel Garro, Malcador's Agentia Primus, through the eyes of his brother Death Guard Gallor from the previous story. Unlike Ghosts, this story is written from a first person perspective, and illustrates just how apart Garro stands from his brethren at this point, both in status and in attitude, but still reaches out for them in brotherhood.
It was enjoyable, if short, and expands on Garro's mythos in a neat way.
Still, it pales in comparison with the excellent Ghosts Speak Not, so it disappointed my admittedly high expectations a little.

Overall, though, this is an excellent addition to the series. It is worth it for the action and for the character development, and brings the war a little closer to Holy Terra. I'd very much recommend it.

Ghosts Speak Not & Patience on Goodreads

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As the surface of Calth is consumed by fire, the caverns beneath the planet are host to vicious battles. Kurtha Sedd of the Word Bearers must set aside his doubts and embrace the darkness if they are to prevail.

Long considering themselves persecuted by the rest of the Imperium, the apostles of the XVIIth Legion have courted sedition, betrayal and even open heresy for decades. But for Kurtha Sedd of the Third Hand Chapter, the Word Bearers’ assault on Calth has proven… troubling. Drawn into the haunted shadows of the planet’s underworld, the Chaplain and his devout brethren must now put aside all other concerns and continue to wage war against the Ultramarines, no matter the ultimate cost.

In late 2015, Black Library released two new half-length novels (roughly 200 pages) to accompany the Horus Heresy: Betrayal at Calth boxed game by overlord Games Workshop.
One of these is "The Unburdened" by David Annandale. Here's my take on it.

The Story:

"As the surface of Calth is consumed by fire, the caverns beneath the planet are host to vicious battles. Kurtha Sedd of the Word Bearers must set aside his doubts and embrace the darkness if they are to prevail.

Long considering themselves persecuted by the rest of the Imperium, the apostles of the XVIIth Legion have courted sedition, betrayal and even open heresy for decades. But for Kurtha Sedd of the Third Hand Chapter, the Word Bearers’ assault on Calth has proven… troubling. Drawn into the haunted shadows of the planet’s underworld, the Chaplain and his devout brethren must now put aside all other concerns and continue to wage war against the Ultramarines, no matter the ultimate cost."

The Review

Alright, people. You know the drill by now. This is a David Annandale story, so expect a large spiritual component.

Indeed, The Unburdened is all about Kurtha Sedd (first seen in [author:Nick Kyme|398110]'s audio drama Censure before being introduced as the antagonist in the Betrayal at Calth box set) and his spiritual journey towards becoming "unburdened".
It is also the flipside of Rob Sanders's The Honoured, which I would urge you to read ahead of this short novel.

The reason for that is mostly the framing of the plot. The Honoured follows a more structured and anchored progress, and each chapter starts with a Know No Fear-style timestamp. This book does not, but follows along the events in the other book, though its first chapter goes all the way back to the humbling of Lorgar and the Word Bearers, delivering a very different perspective to the one found in The First Heretic.

You will see a lot of overlap with The Honoured, but Annandale's book does not concern itself so much with the exact events, or the action. Instead, the WB's morale and faith are the pillars, as well as Kurtha Sedd's internal struggle. He is desperately trying to find his place again, especially after hearing that his old friend Steloc Aethon is leading the Ultramarines arrayed against him.
He has to cut himself loose from the things and thoughts wearing him down: Loyalty to the Legion, which abandoned him and his men on a dying world. Friendship with Aethon, who took part in tearing down the monument city of Monarchia, all those decades ago. And also his belief in divine retribution and the Emperor watching him.

Taken as that, I very much enjoyed The Unburdened. Unlike its plot-armor dripping counterpiece, this installment was very atmospheric, dark and esoteric. It put me right into Kurtha Sedd's mind, and growing madness. As such, I much prefer it to Aethon and co from Sanders' work.

But you can't really read this without the context of The Honoured without getting lost in the more action-packed sections from said book. The scope felt far more limited, more centered around the warband rather than the war as a whole. Where Aethon's company is aware of other traitor groups and generals in the underground network of Calth, Sedd and co are isolated, and it wears on them.

Overall, though, I would recommend this as a fine addition to the Calth saga in the Heresy. I'd say it is one of the best pieces in that story arc, and would heartily recommend picking up the Betrayal at Calth combo - though I would recommend waiting for a combined print copy, which is bound to happen sooner or later.

The Unburdened on Goodreads

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The Battle for Calth is over, and the Underworld War has begun. Steloc Aethon and his Ultramarine brothers battle the treacherous Word Bearers in the darkness, but will they be consumed by vengeance?

In the immediate aftermath of the Word Bearers’ attack on Calth, survivors from both sides were driven into the subterranean arcology shelters by the tortured Veridian star. While their primarch Roboute Guilliman had planned for many seemingly unthinkable eventualities, the Ultramarines now face a new war in the underworld – could Steloc Aethon, renowned captain of ‘the Honoured 19th’ Company, be the one to lead them to ultimate victory over the traitors? Perhaps, if he can master his own bitter desire for vengeance…

In late 2015, Black Library released two new half-length novels (roughly 200 pages) to accompany the Horus Heresy: Betrayal at Calth boxed game by overlord Games Workshop.
One of these is "The Honoured" by Rob Sanders. Here's my take on it.

The Story:

"The Battle for Calth is over, and the Underworld War has begun. Steloc Aethon and his Ultramarine brothers battle the treacherous Word Bearers in the darkness, but will they be consumed by vengeance?

In the immediate aftermath of the Word Bearers’ attack on Calth, survivors from both sides were driven into the subterranean arcology shelters by the tortured Veridian star. While their primarch Roboute Guilliman had planned for many seemingly unthinkable eventualities, the Ultramarines now face a new war in the underworld – could Steloc Aethon, renowned captain of ‘the Honoured 19th’ Company, be the one to lead them to ultimate victory over the traitors? Perhaps, if he can master his own bitter desire for vengeance…"

The Review

What The Honoured does rather well is depict the Ultramarines' trauma following the death of Calth's sun, and the rush for the arcologies, to take shelter from the radiation.
Had it focused more on these aspects and less on the many action scenes that only ever see side characters or Word Bearers dead, this could've been an excellent short novel.

Instead, I found myself wanting to skip paragraphs during the many battles, and groaned over and over as the terminator sergeant in this story got beaten, battered, frozen, left hanging on a ledge and what not, all with his armor's integrity already compromised from prolonged exposure at the surface before reaching the arcology entrance. This character had so much plot armor, I just couldn't take it.

The organizational and smaller-scale engagements early on are rather well done and interesting. In fact, the scenes of Captain Aethon and his command making contact with other Ultramarine forces throughout the depths of Calth were more engaging to me than the exchange of bolter shells later on, including the sheer unstoppable Word Bearers dreadnought which shreds everything but the relevant characters. There was just so much over the top action here, mostly with very predictable outcomes, that I felt the tension sucked right out of it.

What it does well is depict Steloc Aethon's doubts and clinging to the faint hope that, somehow, Kurtha Sedd, his former friend and leader of the Word Bearers in the vicinity, can be redeemed and made to see reason. That their friendship still counts for something.
Instead, Aethon is setting up his own suffering and disappointment.

I am not sure if the battles were mandated by the book being a companion novel to the Horus Heresy: Battle at Calth tabletop set, but it would certainly explain the focus on big, bombastic action scenes that heavily pronounced the "bigger" models from the set, and just wouldn't let them go down. It makes me wonder how much more fulfilling and rewarding The Honoured could have been with less of these, and more character development instead.

The Honoured on Goodreads

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