Review of Age of Darkness ed. by Christian Dunn

Entering the Warhammer universe of fiction I was skeptical about the quality of the franchise's fiction. Dan Abnett's Horus Rising gave me pause, and the handful of books I've read since have, generally speaking, not seen my doubts realized. But that didn't stop me from being skeptical entering my first anthology, Age of Darkness (2011). Where Warhammer novels can devolve into blaster porn, a series of short stories seems to shift that possibility almost to a guarantee. After all, doesn’t each story need a bit of action? And the next? And with +/-10 stories in an anthology, isn't that 10 spots of bolter blasting action in a row—a deluge of 400 pages? Let’s see…

They say the army is the only non-democratic organization in the West, and “Rule of Engagement” Graham McNeill puts the idea to the test through the primarch mastermind of Roboute Guilliman honing his Ultramarine’s battlefield command. Unfortunately, a story that can be read only once, it's also a story that fulfills my concerns about blaster porn and then some. The second story, "Liar's Due" by James Swallow, is a Horus Heresy version of a KGB operation on a backwater planet. Swallow could/should have spent more time on scenes depicting the human element of the story's morals, but it remains a decent spot of atypical space marine fiction with a nicely gray conclusion.

In perhaps the weakest story in the collection “"Forgotten Sons" by Nick Kyme tells of two captains, both loyal to the Emperor, who have been sent to negotiate with a diplomat from Horus at a neutral location. Trouble is, Horus doesn’t want negotiations. The story offers a spot of action for readers looking for such content, but mostly stumbles over its own feet. Attempting too much and trying to be too clever with its timeline, the story would have been better shorter and simpler: more punch, tighter escalation. The fourth story in the collection, "The Last Remembrancer" by John French, is a step up. French is not the stylist of Abnett or McNeill's caliber, but he gets the job done in this thematic story of a remembrancer sent alone into our solar system to be interrogated by Rogal Dorn. Plot-wise the sotry is entirely spurious to the Horus Heresy umbrella narrative. As far as theme is concerned, however, it is critical. And so while I wish McNeill had switched whiteboard assignments with French, the story is the best of the collection.

A story told in the immediate aftermath of the burning of Prospero, “Rebirth" by Chris Wraight features a small group of Thousand Sons Astartes looking for answers to their homeworld's destruction: who destroyed the planet? Trouble is, another legion is likewise scouring the ruins, looking to kill survivors. Unlike Kyme’s story, Wraight effectively splits the narrative's timeline, playing one perspective against the other for greater impact and mystery on the whole. All in all a decent tale that begins to tell the story of what happens to Magnus' legion after Prospero. Set in the immediate aftermath if Isstvan V, "The Face of Treachery" by Gav Thorpe features space battles told from a handful of perspectives as the Legions try to filter traitors from loyalists. On the whole a straight forward story that adds details Fulgrim novel did not, and is relatively refreshing for being set in space.

“Little Horus” by Dan Abnett is the origin story of the titular character's unique facial situation. In the story, Horus descends on a loyal planet hoping to take their cyber cemetary intact, simultaneously putting down the military. He sends Aximand, Little Horus, and his Astartes to do the job. Aximand enters the fight full of confidence, except for one voice in his dreams. While fans of Aximand will likley appreciate the story, overall it's gratuitous (save perhaps as a nice intro to the novel Vengeful Spirit).

Closing the anthology is “Savage Weapons” by Aaron Dembski-Bowden. After two years of war between the Death Angels and Night Lords, their Primarchs, Lion and Curze, agree to meet at a neutral location without their armies to try and put an end to hostilities. Things not turning out as expected, the knight and the brute make for interesting negotiators. From these bare bones, Dembski-Bowden wrings what value he can.

As stated in the introduction, my assumption going in to Age of Darkness was that Warhammer, being an epic, works best in long rather than short form. While I do my best to be objective, and there were definitely satisfying moments complementary to the overarching Horus Heresy epic, my assumption was mostly proven true, unfortunately. Homer did not write novellas for a reason.

In the end, Age of Darkness is a decent selection of short fiction set around and after the events of Isstvan V. But not more then decent. My fears that it would be unending blaster porn were not fully realized, only partially. There is more variety than the average novel, but not always. The majority of the stories take a couple of Horus Heresy elements, throw them in a jar, and shake. Thus, for readers looking for action gluing simple plots together, this is for you. For readers who look to the Warhammer universe of fiction for more thematic layers, this may not satisfy. For me personally, I will likely read another anthology. I'm invested in the setting. But I will take it to the beach and temper expectations appropriately.

The following are the nine stories contained in Age of Darkness:

"Rules of Engagement" by Graham McNeill

"Liar's Due" by James Swallow

"Forgotten Sons" by Nick Kyme

"The Last Remembrancer" by John French

"Rebirth" by Chris Wraight

"The Face of Treachery" by Gav Thorpe

"Little Horus" by Dan Abnett

"The Iron Within" by Rob Sanders

"Savage Weapons" by Aaron Dembski-Bowden