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Anyone else crack this open yet? Also, feel free to discuss the Horusian Wars in general here, I don’t feel like bumping the old Resurrection thread. The Horusian Wars: Divination – John French I believe that whoever decided to have this anthology drop after 2 novels was the same “mastermind” behind having Sword of Destiny Published in English over halfway through the Witcher saga, and you can’t convince me otherwise. Yes, Resurrection gives you a general idea of who the characters are, but it’s clear French intended for the shorts to hold proper character introductions for Covenant’s retinue when that book starts. This is coming from someone who enjoyed Resurrection anyway: read this first (or good luck remembering much about who someone like Koleg is). While not all the stories are pre-Resurrection, any references to spoilers are so oblique you won’t know what they mean until they happen in the novels. I’m aware some of these are new, but having this be the proper first entry with a bit of schedule-shuffling would have vastly improved people’s outlook on the series, IMO. Moving on from the book’s functional value, this is the strongest entry into the series as well. Limp-wristed shorts are a trap even the best author can fall into, but there’s none of that here. While I’m not in love with every entry, none fall below a solid “good,” it might be one of Black Libraries strongest anthologies ever. The character work is superb. The conceptual stuff is outstanding, building a world as deep as so varied an empire as the Imperium should be. And, as always with French, the oppressive atmosphere of the 41st millennium (and beyond) is on full, horrifying display. Nor is any of it simple brain candy, each tale is as much a thematic encapsulation of the Imperium’s various facets as they are character pieces. The standouts are definitely Mistress of Threads and Father of Faith. Each is a tale with minimal violence and lots of big ideas. Viola was already a fascinating character in the novels once she got appropriate focus, and none of that is lost here. Josef too was never lacking for charm, but Father of Faith adds some further tragedy to his character I hadn’t expected. I don’t have much in the way of criticism. I’ll admit Absolution of Swords and Blessing of Saints didn’t catch me as much as the others, unfortunate as they bookend the collection. That said, their content works well to frame the character pieces between them, and provide some wider context into why the Horusian Wars are happening, and how. Must Read, even if you dislike the novels 9/10