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From the time that I started the Horus Heresy series I could not wait to get my teeth into this book. I was going to leave it till last, but I eventually decided just to get into it and boy am I glad I did.
Most of the reason I bought this book was for the insight it gave us about the Emperor. I was disappointed when I started listening to Horus Heresy audio dramas (still pretty new to 40K back then) by the total lack of Emperor in most of them.
The first appearance of the Emperor in the audio dramas I listened to was cool but way too brief and left me wanting so much more. I won’t spoil which audio drama it was but if I say ‘Simulations are just simulations’ some of you will know what I mean.
Anyway, this book did not disappoint. We get it good straight out of the gate with a vision of his childhood. So many awesome things about this. It gives us a ball park idea of where and when he was born and it’s cool to see that even as a little kid he was this wise, stoic, immensely powerful being that inspired both awe and fear. I love how the dogs stop barking and the other children run away as he walks by. Ra mentions that he never smiles but lots of people see him smile in different ways (physically and psychically). Anyway, I’ll be here all day if I go too deep into all of the visions. Suffice it to say I had built up a lot of hype around this book and it totally lived up to it.
With that level of excitement built up about the Emperor, scenes without him had the potential to be frustrating and boring, but they never were. The characters in this book are some of my favourite of the series. Even though Diocletian is a jerk, I found his relationship with Kaeria Casryn really compelling and I loved the conversation they were having when we first meet them, where Kaeria raises an eyebrow and Diocletian acts like she spoke.
The whole plot with the Silent Sisters and the tithe was quite interesting to me. It had the potential to feel kind of mundane and boring but I like the weight that was put on it. By the time 40K comes around they’re doing it every day, but this is the first time ever and Kaeria makes a point of being the one to put the first coffin in place. And I liked how Skoia was described as the first singer of a song that would be sung for ten thousand years. I also liked how sister Varonika says that one thousand souls isn’t that high of a price in the grand scheme of things. And in the context it makes sense and she seems to convince Kaeria that it’s a worthwhile price to pay, but there’s a real sadness for us the reader, knowing that it’s a price they’ll have to pay more than once. And it’s that sort of thinking that the Emperor warns against when he’s talking to Ra about the Priest King of Maulland Sen. What’s a thousand souls against an Imperium? What’s ten thousand? If ten thousand people must die so that the Emperor may live another day then so be it.
I went on and on about how awesome I thought the Custodes were in the Spoiler Free review so I’ll keep this quick. I love when Ra fights for seventeen days without stopping and then collapses in exhaustion, only to keep on fighting a short time later. I loved Saggitarus and the dreams he has in his dreadnought slumber. I loved how, more than once, the Custodes keep on fighting with half of their heads missing. And even though the Custodes aren’t brothers, like the Astartes are, and their only loyalty is meant to be to the Emperor, it was cool to see the friendships they had with one another. Oh, and I loved how Diocletian straight up stands up to Dorn and says that he only takes orders from the Emperor.
I don’t have much to say about Drach Nyen. I’m not a huge Black Legion fan but I appreciate the sentiment of including a famous daemon rather than just making one up. I also like how the Emperor admits that Drach Nyen may one day kill him. I bet Abaddon sure hopes so.
I liked Jaya D’Arcus as a character and I thought that it was clever not to reveal why she was in prison straight away. By the time we knew that she’d fought with Fulgrim she was already established as a character of strong will and determination and it was too late to dismiss her out of hand as a traitor. Also, unlike the Astartes, who should have known better, house Veridyan was understandably confused about where their ultimate loyalties actually lay, and I thought it was quite poignant how they determined that their oldest oaths were to Fulgrim himself, but they decided to fight for the Emperor anyway.
I thought the Mechanicum characters were well done. I liked seeing how arrogant they all were that and they were constantly trying to find fault with each other. It was interesting seeing how much Zagreus Kane has changed since ‘Mechanicum’. I was interested to note that in ‘Mechanicum’, most of his enhancements are subdermal and invisible, but now that he’s fabricator general, he barely looks human. In a later book, a young Belisarius Cawl will say that he’ll never modify himself so much as to appear inhuman. I guess it’s just part of the job description.
We don’t get much of Hieronyma but what we do get is quite interesting, and really shows Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s ability to develop characters quite efficiently. I liked how she removed her vocal cords before her surgery because she’d be embarrassed if she screamed in pain.
But Arkhan Land is the real Mechanicum representative in this book. I love how comically arrogant he is in this book and how he sort of justifies it to himself by saying that he’s kept the greatest honour of his life a secret. I also liked how we got to see him break down after seeing Daemons. He is only human after all, and it gave us an essential show of human weakness that I think was really needed to round him out. I love the sort of friendship he has with Zephon as well.
Of all the awesome characters in this book, Zephon, the Bringer of Sorrow, was probably my favourite. It was nice seeing him talking to that little boy and it was really heart warming to see him get to perform one last act of heroism in killing the Archimandrite and saving Jaya before Arkhan Land’s fix wears off. This is kind of diminished by the events of ‘Bringer of Sorrow’ but I’m not complaining.
I also thought those scenes with the Scion of Vigilant Light was cool and that line where they say “Remember us not as martyrs but as victors” gives me chills every time.
So now you see when I say I liked every part of this book, I mean it. I realise now that this whole review has kind of been based around the different characters in this book, but I suppose it’s fitting. The characters really make this book and there’s not a single one of them that I don’t like or even love. I get so much enjoyment from this book and I hope you do too.
The Emperor Protects