Review of The Primarchs ed. by Christian Dunn

If readers had to identify the single thing which keeps bringing them back to the Horus Heresy series, keeps them believing the 60+ books are worth it, it has to be the primarchs. Demi-gods of the far future, they dominate their scenes and generate excitement when one faces another. It makes sense then, that among the dozen anthologies you include in the series, one is designated for the super-human sons of the Emperor, yes? Let's see if The Primarchs (2012), edited by Christian Dunn, capitalizes.

The Primarchs consists of four novellas, and four novellas only. Each focuses on one of the titular demi-gods. For those counting, that's four of the eighteen known primarchs. The first is ”The Reflection Crack'd” by Graham McNeill. The story follows a swordsman named Lucius of the Emperor's Children as he begins to suspect Fulgrim's demonic possession. Suspicion converting to vested interest, he begins tailing Fulgrim in his private life to learn the truth. Lucius does discover the truth, but in hindsight perhaps would rather have not... McNeill's strong writing is (mostly) on display, but that cannot rescue this tale from the redundancy of Angel Exterminatus. A repeated concept, the novella is really only for major fans of Fulgrim and the Emperor Children's storyline.

The second novella is “Feat of Iron” by Nick Kyme. Set before the major events of the Horus Heresy series, it features Ferrus Manus and his Iron Hands as they fight alongside the Salamanders on a hot, desert planet against a host of Eldar and large, chitinous alliens. Manus eager to keep pace with the Crusade success of his brother primarchs on other worlds, he pushes his Astartes relentlessly, getting angrier and angrier as the sandy conditions and tenacious Eldar prevent him from achieving his goals. Little does Manus know of the trap laying before him... This story would be mere bolter porn were it not for a couple key scenes toward the conclusion. Foreshadowing dark things to come, Manus gets his revenge on Fulgrim, he just doesn't know it. Kyme's workaday style gives this story enough to get over the line, but again, like “The Reflection Crack'd”, the criticality of this story to the overarching HH series is limited. Likewise again, it's for people interested in the Fulgrim storyline, as well as Iron Hands'.

The third novella is “The Lion” by Gav Thorpe. Featuring Lion El'Jonson and his Dark Angels, it is set in the early days of Horus's rebellion. Unsure who is friend and who is foe, the Lion is faced with a critical decision: whether or not to defend a key Death Angel location? Is a trap laying in wait? Deciding to take the risk, the Lion loads his ships and heads into the Warp. There to discover... Golly gee Uncle Sal, do you think warp creatures will attack? Well, Little Johnny, the warp is a dangerous place, so who knows? But the Astartes are always attacked by Chaos demons in the warp. Indeed, seems so Johnny... “The Lion” is perhaps the most disappointing story in the anthology. Rather than really digging into the meat of the Lion's uncertainty and playing off his humanity in relatable fashion, Thorpe instead turns in a bog standard marines-enter-the-warp-and-fight-chaos-demons story. It's rote. The Lion's identity and his legion are advanced in minimal fashion, if at all.

The fourth, final, and likely best story in the anthology is “The Serpent Beneath” by Rob Sanders. Something (loosely) resembling a Mission Impossible-style story, it tells of an Alpha Legion secret mission in the pre-Heresy universe. The Legion sent to infiltrate the Tenebrae asteroid, the novella has wheels within wheels of plot, as well as a couple masks being pulled off to reveal the 'real' character beneath, as the story unfolds. Sanders' voice is unsubtle—workaday at best, and needed to be more slick to truly pull off this type of story. That being said, it remains the most engaging story in the collection from a bare bones plot perspective. It goes without saying any reader who likes Alpha Legion will have solid content to consume here.

I question the purpose of the four novellas. They feel good. It's Horus Heresy. And the writing is at least competent on the whole. But I have to wonder about the stories' place in the series, and as a result the anthology's. And I truly mean the word 'wonder'. I see both sides. On one hand, the four novellas are extraneous. They add unnecessary layers without extending the HH storyline in any significant way, and as a result I can't help but feel the anthology is essentially cutting room floor material. That being said, three of the stories open windows into the lives of primarchs who have spent their time predominantly offscreen: Ferrus Manus, Lion El'Jonson, and Omegon. Moreover, I generally prefer the content of the novellas presented here compared to some of the bolter porn that is used in many HH novels as filler. The novellas are at least character-focused.

In the end, The Primarchs is likely not as strong an anthology as the title and cover blurb would have it. Four stories and four primarchs, with more than a dozen more primarchs out there whose stories are not included. If the four stories pushed the storyline of each primarch forward in a meaningful fashion, I could recommend the anthology. But as it stands, such 'progress' is minimal. The Fulgrim story is superfluous. The Lion story is more Chaos fighting than development of the primarch's character. The Omegon story is a semi-nice bit of 'spy fiction', but is more candy than meal. And the Ferrus story, while feeling good and perhaps offering content where little is possible given the character's fate, is not even close to integral to the HH series. Bottom line: the anthology is for diehard fans of HH who want to consume every inch of content. For such readers the anthology will mostly satisfy, making this review likewise superfluous. For people thinking an anthology titled ”The Primarchs” will be crucial to the overarching storyline of the HH series, read more reviews before making the decision to buy.