Shadows of Treachery

[MiyamatoMusashi]

Managed to pick this up at Warhammer World today. I hadn't realised so many of the stories in here were reprints of previous limited edition chapbooks, or audiobooks; but, quite honestly, the last four Horus Heresy books have been pretty poor IMO so as long as the new stuff in here was good, I wasn't going to be bothered by that.

I won't go into detail on the stories you've probably read/heard before. Also, no spoilers!

The Crimson Fist (John French) - wow. This story, about the Imperial Fists fleet sent to Isstvan - which obviously never got there - begins with subtlety and psychology, and ends with apocalyptic violence on a massive scale. Along the way we learn the astonishing truth about Sigismund's secret shame, we finally get some hint of a believable motive for Perturabo, and we witness a selfless, noble sacrifice that can only arise when one must lose a battle to stand a better chance of winning a war. Frankly, this was what Know No Fear should have been: you don't make a story feel epic by tediously listing large numbers - you make a story feel epic by... well... writing like this. 10/10, and the Horus Heresy series returns to form in explosive fashion.

The Dark King (Graham McNeill) - previously published in a chapbook and as an audiobook. Konrad Curze realizes the Imperium is not for him. One of the earliest HH stories and still a personal favourite. 10/10.

The Lightning Tower (Dan Abnett) - previously published alongside The Dark King. Rogal Dorn attempts to confront his fears. Brilliant. 9/10.

The Kaban Project (Graham McNeill) - previously published in Collected Visions. Mysterious goings-on on Mars. Decent enough but unremarkable. 6/10.

Raven's Flight (Gav Thorpe) - previously published as an audiobook. Corax regroups after the Dropsite Massacre. Somewhat uninspired. 6/10.

Death of a Silversmith (Graham McNeill) - previously published in a chapbook. About... I can't say. Short but very sweet. 8/10.

Prince of Crows (Aaron Dembski Bowden) - oh! this is splendid. A magnificent tale (which raises almost as many questions as it answers) following the tribulations of Sevatar, as the Night Lords are on the receiving end of a beating from the Tuchulcha-assisted Dark Angels. The story is carried by the character of Sevatar himself; and what a character he is, an anti-hero who defies classification. At times he seems almost autistic; at other times his casual black humour and simple values make him genuinely likeable, and it is easy to understand why some among his men worship him (even if Sevatar, himself, doesn't understand it at all). There are surprising revelations here, and the ending left me desperate for more; a sign of a good story. 10/10.

So there we have it. In my view, TOD, DL and KNF were all rather weak, and even The Primarchs only had one really good story of the four; I was hoping that Shadows of Treachery would reverse that trend, and it did not disappoint. Both new stories are superb; the reprints are mostly excellent too. Highly recommended.

[DDM]

Most of the stories are re-releases/reprints? Bah, humbug!

I'll still pick it up, even if only for the Prince of Crows.

[malika]

That's a bit of a letdown, that most of the stories are just reprints. Very curious about the new ones though!

[MiyamatoMusashi]

In the interests of fairness, the first and last (new) stories are nearly a third of the book each, by page count; leaving only just over one third of the book for all the reprints. That's not too bad after all... and quality has a quantity all of its own (!?).

[stormblade]

Well, good to know this thing isn't worth getting.
Thanks for the info.

[MiyamatoMusashi]

...you do know that's the complete opposite of what I just said, right?

Two thirds of it is both new and brilliant. I mean, if you want to miss out on that because one third of it is not new, I guess that's your prerogative. Seems a bit silly to me though.

[stormblade]

From your opinions stated in the first post I think our tastes diverge significantly, and I already listend to half of this so no, I understood you perfactly. I'm grateful for the info about the contents of the book however.

[Sqallum]

Ooh, lots of questions. Please, spoiler the heck out of this!

[Sqallum]

Sorry for the double post, but

Just read Death of A Silversmith. Intriguing stuff. It is about a rebremancer who is tasked by Hastur Sejanus to make the symbols of the Mournival, for Torgaddon, Abaddon, Aximand and Sejanus. He does so. However, later that day Serghar Targost comes along and demands for the man to to engrave the symbol of the Luna Wolves onto a blank silver disk. The man does so. Then, having accepted the disk, Targost mortally wounds the man, before whispering is his ear why. Later Sejanus finds the man, who is dying on the floor. With his last breath the man says I Can't Say.

[Lupe]

we finally get some hint of a believable motive for Perturabo

This part interests me beyond imagining. Could you elaborate?

[MiyamatoMusashi]

This part interests me beyond imagining. Could you elaborate?

Well, the first thing we need to understand is that Perturabo is off his rocker. Seriously - the guy is seething with hatred and resentment and it's completely unbalanced him. For example, y'know the saying "don't shoot the messenger"? If Perturabo has ever heard it, he didn't agree. Anyway - the only real explanation I've heard for Perturabo turning traitor before was "he got all the crap jobs!", which just makes him sound like a whiny bitch quite honestly; instead this story hints at / suggests a much more specific, much more personal resentment which to my non-psychology expert mind seems to have literally driven him insane, he's obsessed beyond all reason with putting one over on a certain Legion and a few certain individuals. He thinks he has an opportunity to do just that in this story - and will stop at nothing to take that opportunity.

I guess whether you consider it "believable" depends on how OK you are with the idea of a primarch going mad; I suppose some people might consider it a cop-out. For me, I found this unhealthy obsession far more compelling than a simple "always gets the boring jobs" explanation. Perturabo, as portrayed here, is two sandwiches short of a picnic, but for really the first time I began to understand just why he turned traitor. So it worked for me.

And the realisation he comes to at the end will not, I suspect, do much to set him back on the straight and narrow...

[Lupe]

Well, the first thing we need to understand is that Perturabo is off his rocker. Seriously - the guy is seething with hatred and resentment and it's completely unbalanced him. For example, y'know the saying "don't shoot the messenger"? If Perturabo has ever heard it, he didn't agree. Anyway - the only real explanation I've heard for Perturabo turning traitor before was "he got all the crap jobs!", which just makes him sound like a whiny bitch quite honestly; instead this story hints at / suggests a much more specific, much more personal resentment which to my non-psychology expert mind seems to have literally driven him insane, he's obsessed beyond all reason with putting one over on a certain Legion and a few certain individuals. He thinks he has an opportunity to do just that in this story - and will stop at nothing to take that opportunity.



I guess whether you consider it "believable" depends on how OK you are with the idea of a primarch going mad; I suppose some people might consider it a cop-out. For me, I found this unhealthy obsession far more compelling than a simple "always gets the boring jobs" explanation. Perturabo, as portrayed here, is two sandwiches short of a picnic, but for really the first time I began to understand just why he turned traitor. So it worked for me.

And the realisation he comes to at the end will not, I suspect, do much to set him back on the straight and narrow...

It works for me...

Given his cold, meticulous nature, it doesn't seem out of character for him to turn any problem he can't solve into an obsession. Coupled with the fact that he sees himself as an outsider, and is pretty much denied the kinship of his brothers, it's not hard to understand why he's unbalanced. It doesn't actually rule out the "crap jobs" theory, it actually lends some depth to it. And it seems to fit quite nicely with my own views on the character

[Sqallum]

Yes, I agree. Poor Perturabo I hope Angel Exterminatus will expand on this. I am SO getting this book now