HH 51 - Slaves to Darkness

[Lord_Caerolion]

 

 

Can someone tell me what the deal with Perturabo is?

 

He betrayed the Emperor because he was basically used only as a weapon and thrown into meat grinders without any gratitude, but is now doing the exact same thing for Horus. Slaves showcases just how much nearly all of the traitors are slaves to the chaos gods with the comparison Perturabo was a slave to the Emperor first followed by doing the bidding of Horus after the betrayal. He seems to realise he's just swapped one uncaring master for another and claims that now he will answer to nobody but himself.........but at the end is still doing Horus' work for him?

 

I don't get the arc so maybe someone more enlightened can shed some more insight on this.

 

I'd say partly because Perturabo chose to side with Horus, whereas he had no such choice with the Emperor. Secondly, because now he's actually being given the recognition for his position that he deserves, being the High Marshall of Horus' forces, rather than the "unnamed comrade in arms". Lastly, because Perturabo is incredibly vindictive, and he'll do basically anything to show up Dorn. Decades ago, Dorn earned the biggest of grudges by saying that he could design a fortress that Perturabo couldn't defeat. The Lord of Iron is now coming to call that bluff.

 

Coming with the shattered remnants of his legion is he? Iron Warriors haven't fared too well with casualties it seems and I don't know how the authors are going to reconcile this in time for the actual siege. Even the accelerated inductions couldn't boost it that much.

 

 

As Bluntblade says, the Iron Warriors have made a habit of recovering from immense casualties, it's one of the things they're known for. Their geneseed is known for its very low rejection rates. They've got a heap of different recruitment worlds, and unlike the Loyalists, they actually have the ability to travel and make use of them. If any Legion were able to keep up its numbers during the Heresy, it's the Iron Warriors.

[mc warhammer]

 don't the post heresy iron warriors have to steal a lot of gene-seed? i haven't read any of the 40k books, but that was the gist i'd heard...

[Lord_Caerolion]

Yeah, but that's also after literally living in the Eye of Terror for however long they've been in there, relatively speaking. Without any warp-shenanigans getting involved, the Iron Warriors have one of the most stable, easily-implanted geneseeds, specifically noted to allow them to induct large numbers of new troops very quickly. Side note, apparently the White Scars had a similar trait in their geneseed.

[Calas Typhon]

 don't the post heresy iron warriors have to steal a lot of gene-seed? i haven't read any of the 40k books, but that was the gist i'd heard...

 

The majority of their Geneseed would either be in and around Olympia or their major garrison and recruitment worlds. Nearly all of these would be ground down to the point of literal self destruction during the scouring. 

 

There is no real mention why but it is presumed that with Perturabo being in his cave on Medrenguard and away from his legion, they can't get a 'fresh' source from him and have to result to combining geneseed, only recycling the current active geneseed for pure Iron Warriors.

[Mellow]

I’ve finished this one now. I’m a little confused over the whole “it’s before Titan Death” especially with the wounding being the one that Russ does.

 

Seems like a good novel but I’ve not got any specific view on it at the moment ... still digesting.

[Roomsky]

Slaves to Darkness

 

I wonder if John French has some kind of vendetta against Graham Mcneill. I say this because Slaves to Darkness is really everything False Gods, the end of Fulgrim, and Vengeful Spirit should have been, somehow in a single novel. The whole thing almost reads like a wink-wink nudge-nudge do-over of series blunders. Think Horus went mad too quickly? Well, maybe it wasn’t all that much Horus. Sad the hype moment of “now we march for Terra?” turned into literal years of grueling warfare? Well, the lines mean much more on the metaphorical Terran doorstep, don't they? Found it odd that Horus and Sons have been barely present throughout the heresy, often reduced to flat antagonists or sadistic incompetents? Here, have their intelligence, ability, culture, and a healthy helping of the magnificent bastardry present in Horus Rising.

 

I love this book. By no means perfect, it is to my mind one of the most satisfying novels in recent memory, combining the easy setting-texturing of the bulk of the series with the momentum of the earlier novels. It has something to say about the nature of chaos, and the nature of its champions, all while keeping a hard focus on the core of the heresy, something that’s been just a smidge too infrequent for my tastes.

 

 

The Prose

Some of the best executed dry stuff I’ve read in a while. There is certainly some artistry with the word, and dialogue flows well, but it excels most in how easily it moves the story forward Every character shift leaves you wanting more, all the while providing something substantive in each increment. I like it so much, I don’t even care how incredibly pretentious what I just wrote is.

 

All that said, there are, and these are the exceptions, not the rule, times when things end a little too abruptly. Lorgar’s plot especially occasionally breaks off at times that leave me wondering if anything substantive had even occurred.

 

The Characters

 

Thank you John French, you saved Horus from whatever it was Haley was doing with him. Despite a more thematic than literal focus, Horus here is every bit the charismatic, intelligent figure he was way back in Horus Rising, which comes as no surprise since French has been keeping that standard ever since Warmaster. Maloghurst and Ekaddon are excellent lenses for the Sons of Horus plotline, showcasing both the legion’s basic cunning, gang culture, and tendency to showboat. Honestly, of all the things this novel did well, the Sons of Horus were my favourite part, simply because they had just seemed so absent since that opening trilogy. They’ve appeared since, to be sure, but ever something of a shadow of their initial prowess.

 

Lorgar’s plot picks up well from the last we’ve seen of both him and Fulgrim. French portrays Lorgar’s aloof cruelty in much the same vein as ADB’s previously established, and the Emperor’s Children are suitably ramshackle and smarmy. Every conversation with Fulgrim just skirts the line of full-on ham, as they should, but French never tips the balance.

 

http://i.4pcdn.org/tg/1438340592698.jpg

The Iron Warriors are… fine. It’s good to see some of Tallarn’s main cast return, and while I think this novel does well with Perturabo, he doesn’t really have the magnetism I saw in that previous work. Volk is probably the weakest of the 3 “protagonists”, not helped by an excess of impersonal action scenes, which are French’s Achilles heel, if anything. While not quite as limp-wristed as some of Praetorian of Dorn’s final fleet battle, they certainly portray the pursuing loyalists as a force to be feared, they really aren’t very exciting.

 

The Plotting

 

This is really a character piece, and while French always delivers a well-constructed story, it’s not really the focus here. The theme of Chaos being a weakness as much as a strength is well conveyed, and it has no shortage of memorable story beats. It’s straightforward, but not without twists, and it would be unfair to criticize the book for lacking something it’s not even trying to achieve. This is about the assembling traitors, about a plot to overthrow the warmaster, and the omnipotent and self-defeating nature of chaos, it doesn’t need Praetorian of Dorn’s plans within plans to be effective, much as I loved them.

 

I will say, after Alpharius bit the dust in PoD, the threats to Horus’ well-being by Lorgar felt that much more real. Sure, I was 90% they weren’t going to pull a sudden 180 and kill off the title character and alter decades established lore, but it speaks to French’s skill that I even considered he might do it. Give Lorgar a red filter and slap him in some black terminator plate and who would tell the difference, after all?

 

For Example: Horus has clearly been replaced by Time Baby in this shot, and no one seems to have noticed.

 

Also he doesn’t do anything from a primarch’s immediate perspective, which is always a win in my book.

 

Verdict

 

It’s rare when a book delivers everything you were hoping for. French seems to have broken free of his old problems of totally inhuman casts, even for this, a main cast of astartes and primarchs. Strong character work, no small amount of character re-railment, and a long-awaited impetus make this one a real winner, and one of my new favorites.

 

Arbitrary Numerical Rating: 9/10

[Lord_Caerolion]

I actually really liked the Iron Warriors in this. They had the perfect amount of detached villainy without it going over the line into moustache-twirling. The action sequences were somewhat dry, but that kinda fit the character of the Legion, in a sense. Plus, it's interesting to see the new explanation for Obliterators, given Chaos Undivided as an actual thing in its own right has been removed from the canon. Perturabo really came across as staunchly loyal to his brother, chastened by the events on Tallarn, simultaneously resigned to his fate of being the workhorse Legion, but also somewhat reveling in being the Legion who can perform that duty.

That, and the scene with Angron and the World Eaters against Perturabo and the Iron Warriors was perfect. Exactly what the Iron Warriors should be.

[Scribe]

Do the WE get a fair shake in the book?

[Mellow]

Do the WE get a fair shake in the book?

Well they’re in it and Angron is too but I personally don’t believe they have a large part in the novel.

[Scribe]

 

Do the WE get a fair shake in the book?

Well they’re in it and Angron is too but I personally don’t believe they have a large part in the novel.

Doesn't need to be a large part, just done well hopefully.

[helterskelter]

Do the WE get a fair shake in the book?

Their descent is very clear, and though they're not given too much direct screen time, I certainly got the distinct feeling they will be positively, utterly, brutal come the siege

[Lord_Caerolion]

Do the WE get a fair shake in the book?

 

We get to see Daemon Angron in action, and he is brutal. The rest of the World Eaters have a brief battle scene, but they're definitely both more and less than what they were. The influence of the Nails is definitely increasing. On one hand, they definitely get outmanouvred by the Iron Warriors, but the Iron Warriors knew exactly what was required to do so. Against the Loyalists, the World Eaters are going to rip and tear.

 

We also get to see a bit more info about Forge World Sarum.

[Roomsky]

Do the WE get a fair shake in the book?

 

Their showing isn't bad, though I'd put it at the bottom of legions represented by default. They get the least (substantial) screen time, and French gives an even heavier focus to their being the broken legion than even ADB. I'd say they are more of a plot device, though I think the appearance both services their arc and isn't at all guilty of character assassination.

 

French also thankfully avoids my pet peeve with the World Eaters, which is equating having butcher's nails with being the hulk. *coughcough*SwordofTruthOutcastDead*coughcough*

[Scribe]

Sounds fine. I'm not under any illusions as to where they are going, just didnt want them to get punked too hard.

[Tymell]

I really enjoyed this one, and I'm happy to see I'm not alone in that. I don't think it's perfect, but it does a helluva damn fine job of what it sets out to do.

 

The lasting impression I come away with is that Slaves to Darkness is a perfectly titled work. It really does feel like a cohesive and well put-together exploration of the traitor forces, of how far they've come/fallen. We see the inherent divisiveness of Chaos, which makes for a nice contrast to all we've seen of its benefits (all the new powers, abilities and allies the traitor forces have had when antagonists). They are bound to their respective paths now, and the question of slavery and choices is dealt with as a solid theme, without feeling like French is hitting you over the head with it. It also makes the conflict overall seem less one-sided, highlighting the problems the traitor forces have to deal with. Not least of which: once you unleash betrayal of these bonds of brotherhood, it's not so easy to stop.

 

In a way, it feels like a traitor parallel to Ruinstorm: both books focus on their side (loyalists or traitors) exclusively, both set things up on the road to Terra, and both work broad themes into the narrative and the characters deftly. I think Slaves has the edge in pure prose and the beats of the story, but still, I think they work well together.

 

John French also does a great job with the characters here. They're certainly not heroes, but you can empathise with them. They're damaged and broken, and it's enough of a mixture of circumstances and their own fault that it makes for really enjoyable characters to read. You can feel for them, even as they do horrible things. Likewise, I liked his writing about Chaos: it's wordy when it has to be, but never excessively so, and the book manages to ooze with this raw atmosphere of Chaos without resorting to constant yammering about corruption/spikes/mutations/etc. It does it with style and a good level of restraint.

 

The book also focuses primarily on non-primarch perspective, even though various primarchs are a regular feature. It's usually through the eyes of the various main astartes characters (Maloghurst, Ekaddon, Layak, Volk and Argonis). It almost feels like a throwback to the earliest books in the series. On that note, while I might be more generous in my opinion of the overall series than some, I do feel this is solidly the best book the Sons of Horus have had since Horus Rising. And while it isn't a focus in itself, the bits here that touch on Horus' original motivations for turning traitor are far more satisfying than anything in False Gods.

 

As I said, I don't feel the book is perfect. The main issue for me is that several of the main characters were harder to get into because they hadn't been seen as much before. This isn't to say they aren't developed in this book, but there are quite a few main characters here, and as a result, there simply isn't -that- much time to set them up. With someone like Maloghurst, who we've seen plenty of before, this isn't a problem. But for others like Volk and Layak, it was a bit harder to get to grips with their characters, and as such, some of the story developments didn't feel as impactful as they might have been. Layak's backstory, for instance: I often found myself flicking back to check the various bits and pieces of it that come out as the book progresses, and it was tricky to keep it all clear in my head as I went.

 

Having said that, my absolute favourite moment of the story was

 

Horus' comeback, beatdown of Lorgar, and Layak's choice as a part of that. Pretty sure I had a huge grin plastered across my face as I read all of that.

 

And I'd love to see more of these characters in what remains of the Heresy (or beyond it), since what we have -is- well done.

 

Overall, a great addition to the series, and a must-read for any fans of the traitor forces (in particular the Sons of Horus, Iron Warriors and Word Bearers).

[Robbienw]

 

 

Do the WE get a fair shake in the book?

We get to see Daemon Angron in action, and he is brutal. The rest of the World Eaters have a brief battle scene, but they're definitely both more and less than what they were. The influence of the Nails is definitely increasing. On one hand, they definitely get outmanouvred by the Iron Warriors, but the Iron Warriors knew exactly what was required to do so. Against the Loyalists, the World Eaters are going to rip and tear.

 

We also get to see a bit more info about Forge World Sarum.

It’s not the influence of the nails anymore mate they are irrelevant , it’s the influence of Khorne and the daemon prince of khorne Angron they are hanging out with! They have gone full khorne bezerker.

[Lord_Caerolion]

So you're just going to entirely ignore the fact that the World Eaters now act exactly like the Nails-lost World Eaters did in the past? Sure, they're boosted by the effects of Khorne, but the Nails haven't magically stopped impacting on their behaviour.

[Robbienw]

So you're just going to entirely ignore the fact that the World Eaters now act exactly like the Nails-lost World Eaters did in the past? Sure, they're boosted by the effects of Khorne, but the Nails haven't magically stopped impacting on their behaviour.

Yes. They have clearly gone far beyond any nails effect now. They are specifically killing to keep a khornate Daemon Prince in the material universe. Khorne is what has pushed them over the edge.

[Lord_Caerolion]

 

So you're just going to entirely ignore the fact that the World Eaters now act exactly like the Nails-lost World Eaters did in the past? Sure, they're boosted by the effects of Khorne, but the Nails haven't magically stopped impacting on their behaviour.

Yes. They have clearly gone far beyond any nails effect now. They are specifically killing to keep a khornate Daemon Prince in the material universe. Khorne is what has pushed them over the edge.

 

 

My point though, is how is that distinguishable from killing because they're Nails-lost? It's not like they're saying why they're doing it. What they're doing is keeping Angron from dissipating, but correlation does not imply causation.

[Kelborn]

Finished it yesterday and got nothing more to say than: what a brilliant one!

John being now among my top 3 authors along Aaron and Chris.

 

Still, there are a couple of questions left:

 

So I got about 5 questions:
1) Actaea = Cyrene? blind, bloodstained, coming and going out of nowhere, no ones knew her
2) Lorgar being a loner now? Did he just left Horus and the rest of them behind?
3) Did I get it right that Argonis was sent to kill Ekaddon, his own brother?
4) What actually happened with Horus? As far as I've understood: part of him fought against the gods in the warp (or rather against their influence), Mal killed this shard of him and Horus rose anew but now truly powered by chaos / as a slave of gods? Or did I miss something?
5) What did the Alpharius + dagger scene mean? oO I never read the first three books, which started the HH series, so what exactly are those mirror coins?

[m_r_parker]

I think the questions that you have aren't going to have clean-cut answers, hence why I enjoyed this one so much. Having everything explained to the reader takes some of the satisfaction out of a book, and being able to come to my own conclusions about events and having a debate about them is a lot more fun.

Explicitly for the questions that you asked:

 

I read the 'Alpharius' dagger scene at the end of the novel thusly. The dagger represents the Alpha Legion as a whole, in that the events leading up to this have broken the Legion from a single blade into a number of smaller shards. With the Legion being based on a hierarchy akin to a terrorist network with small cells (as described by Alan Bligh at a previous Weekender event) and the head of that hierarchy being removed, these cells begin to lose direction and start to formulate their own missions and objectives. It's almost the prototype of the warband model that large elements of the Traitor Legion remnants fall into in the 40k universe. I also read it, with the art of crushing the dagger in front of Horus, that the 'Alpha Legion' are no longer on the side of the Warmaster and the delivery of the Sol System defence reports is the last official act of the Legion in the Heresy. Smaller operations may still be continuing alongside the Warmaster's goals, but the bulk of the Legion can't be counted upon in the same way as the others. As for the mirror coin, I always get confused between the lodge coins (that identified the holder as a member of the lodges pre-heresy) and the Cthonian gang coins used to mark an individuals death - I think it's the latter, and is to indicate the death of Alpharius during the events of Praetorian of Dorn.

 

The implications for Lorgar here are huge, given he's one of the main architects of the Heresy and now after a failed coup he's relegated to the sidelines. I can't see him sitting out the end of Heresy and the Siege, but equally I can't see him remain on a ship and not be a part of any strategic planning session - he is a Primarch after all. Equally I would take Horus at his word that should Lorgar present himself to the Warmaster again then Horus will kill him. It feels like a 'sticky wicket' situation that's going to take some creative writing to get out of. One of the bigger moments for me was when Zardu Layak gave fealty to the Warmaster above Lorgar, when it's been written in previous novels that the strength in the Word Bearer gene-seed was the loyalty that results in the Astartes to their Primarch. It's a weird one.

 

As for the Horus part, as the bulk of it happens within the Warp / with assistance from Warp magics, that this may be less literal and more figurative. I read it as Mal 'killing' the side of Horus that had doubts about going forward and taking up the mantle of Warmaster, being the side of Horus that is actively avoiding accepting the gifts of the Gods and becoming their pawn / property. And I think this is one of the great things about this book, that no matter how you try to strike a deal with the Gods you always end up on the losing side - regardless of whether you go 'all in' like Fulgrim and become the property of a single deity, or like Lorgar where you're actively trying to keep them all happy / not angry without committing fully to a single God and not getting the full benefits, or like Horus who is trying to take the power offered to him and resisting becoming owned and ultimately not succeeding. 

The other way I read it was the part of Horus that was trying to resist the Gods, and seen on the balcony of Ullanor, is a manifestation of the wound created by Russ' spear in Wolfsbane and the revelation offered to Horus. That element of Horus (let's call it Lupercal) that was awoken kept the physical wound of the spear from healing, and with Mal 'killing' Lupercal at the end of the novel the wound was finally able to close and heal, but at the cost of Horus fully becoming the Warmaster and owned by the Gods.

 

But there are just my interpretations. 

 

[Kelborn]

I think the questions that you have aren't going to have clean-cut answers, hence why I enjoyed this one so much. Having everything explained to the reader takes some of the satisfaction out of a book, and being able to come to my own conclusions about events and having a debate about them is a lot more fun.

Explicitly for the questions that you asked:

 

I absolutely agree with you. With German being my first language, I just wanted to see if I got it right. ;)

 

Great input, thank you!

[1ncarnadine]

 

1) Actaea = Cyrene? blind, bloodstained, coming and going out of nowhere, no ones knew her

 

 

More likely some other agent of Chaos, possibly even something like the Changeling. Remember that Cyrene was no longer blind after Erebus resurrected her, unless she blinded herself again somehow and we haven't found that out yet.

[bluntblade]

Well, that was very good indeed. The Sons of Horus have been crying out for that kind of character work for years, and it's interesting to see the Iron Warriors' professionalism in the context of the Traitor Legions.

[m0nolith]

Superb book was superb.

That is all there is to it.