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HH: The Either (from Meduson) & Inheritor(new!)


veterannoob

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Another great story from Meduson is available as audio. The Either by G.McN is up on 
http://www.blacklibrary.com/horus-heresy/h...either-mp3.html 

And a new short from Gav, Inheritor, which I don't know off the top of my head if it's brand brand brand new or only previously published in sky writing over the Sahara laugh.gif 
But I'm sold! 
http://www.blacklibrary.com/new-titles/new...itor-ebook.html

"On the world of Kronus, deep within the grand realm of Ultramar, Torquill Eliphas of the Word Bearers brings his grand designs to fruition"

 

BL pandered to the fanbase and brought in Eliphas. Lets see how this goes, he was actually one of the only decent characters in the DoW series, so I really hope they do not mess it up.

 

As for the Either, it was a good story in the Meduson book albeit way down there, and due to the recent release of Grey Talon, I am really hoping we will see more from the book.

Aye, to my knowledge Inheritor really is brand new, though I must confess I've not got my hopes up for it. I don't hate Gav's writing, but he's not really the best at giving the legions distinct characters, I fear both the Word Bearers and World Eaters will be too cartoon-y and one-dimensional. But we'll see.

 

The Either is pretty good, not the best short in the series, but I like Marr as a character and would enjoy seeing more of him.

The Inheritor by Gav Thorpe

As a Word Bearers player and long time fan of my buddy Eliphas and his charisma, this book caught me from the left but even while short, it was a sweet read.

The short story takes place on Kronus, the very planet from the Dawn of War: Dark Crusade game where Eliphas returned and fought valiantly against many a foe.

The short story itself is a nice one for it is the first real mention of Word Bearers unholy architecture in the Horus Heresy era and an insight in what makes this legions so infamous.

The story writes of the Daemonarchia, a vast Chaos cathedral which was built by the Chapter of the Ark of Testimony (cool name) using the remains of thousands of slain Kronus citizens.

In order to seal the pact the Word Bearers allowed some Ultramarines to escape with the news of Kronus's fall and which followed with an invasion of around 300 Ultramarines to retake the planet.

This was nothing but a rouse to sacrifice as many UItramarines as possible in order to fuel the infernal pact. The interesting part of the story is that the Word Bearers are indeed the brains of the operation but the World Eaters are its strong arm.

A vicious battle ensues, the Ultramarines are hopelessly outmatched by the outnumbering World Eaters and it ends with the sacrifice made and the pact committed.

The fun part of the story is that the entity entitled to the sacrificed soul-matter is non other than Lorgar who proceeds to chastise poor Eliphas for losing time following things which are no longer a concern of his Primarch and he orders the chastised Word Bearers off Kronus and to a meeting point for the legion.

The interesting parts of the short story are several. Namely the description of how the Daemonarchia works made me laugh when it was explained to a World Eater who courtly did not took offense for his remonstrated ignorance (in fact he willingly played the part).

The second interesting part is the description of how the Butcher's Nails can be a boon when a warrior follows a determinate discipline and the World Eaters Captain Eres is rather an atypical son of the XIIth legion due to his views. If for nothing else read the short story for his brief vignette.

The last and arguably the most important thing glimpsed in the short story was the reason why Eliphas is named the Inheritor. He is named as such for he killed the previous commander of the chapter during the Purge and thus never earned the right of command over it. A reason his warriors will never allow him to forget.

Due to him being unrecognized in valor and worth by Lorgar our pal Eliphas will try his utmost best to catch the eye of his sire and earn the recognition he so much craves.

All in all, a nice, short and sweet story to read.

The short story has many interesting aspects to it. We learn why Eliphas is named the Inheritor, we have a first glimpse in the Word Bearers unholy architecture and we meet a very smart and atypical World Eaters Captain. The setting is interesting for all the fans of the DoW series and this short story is a nice, if short, fan service to us who played those games to exhaustion.

I rate the short story a nice 7/10 on my personal scale since it delivers what it was meant to do (namely the introduction of Eliphas the Inheritor). It also gets a bonus since it introduces a very interesting World Eaters marine and lastly and very personally gets an additional point for in it many Ultramarines die, and such a thing always warrants a bonus in my book. laugh.png

All in all I recommend the short story Inheritor.

I was thoroughly disappointed by Inheritor. Far too little focus on Eliphas being the main reason. Even the reveal of his name felt tacked on. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that Eliphas himself was introduced late into the writing process and it was a random Word Bearers Chapter Master originally.

 

The big plot of the WBs also felt nonsensical.

 

Calling on Lorgar while he was busy doing other stuff with the bulk of his Legion? Expecting him to come pay you a visit on a seemingly useless, valueless world in Ultramar just to pat you on the back? Really? How do they think a Primarch is going to react to what boils down to a request for him to abandon the bulk of his forces to celebrate with 200 odd legionaries?

 

 

Yeah, I liked the World Eaters captain and the architecture descriptions, but that was about it.

I didn't really dislike Inheritor, though I didn't love it either. I felt much the same really: Eliphas wasn't interesting nor given much actual focus given the title of the short. The WE captain was better, I'd much rather have a story all about him. But I went into it with low expectations, so I guess overall it was still a pleasant surprise :p

The Either is set in-between Vengeful Spirit. Tybalt Marr catches up with the Sons of Horus on Dwell, after defeating Shadrak Meduson and dealing with a ton of shattered legion dudes after Isstvan V.

The decapitation attempt by the Shattered Legions on Dwell (see: Vengeful Spirit) has already come to pass, but Horus has not yet left for Molech.

 

Marr sees the hand of Meduson behind it all, but is told off by the Mournival for being too paranoid, so he makes a gamble to prove that the Shattered Legions are once more united and a real threat to them, and delaying the advance to Terra significantly. In the end he convinces Horus that the threat is real, and Marr sets out to hunt for Meduson.

 

The story is really simple, but it all comes down to Tybalt's character development, mono- and dialogues, and his rivalry with Meduson (who does not appear in person in the story). I'd also argue that the Mournival is a highlight, especially since the choices Aximand and Abaddon made during Little Horus are being put to the test and questioned.

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