Review of Tallarn by John French

I enjoyed Angel Exterminatus. While fundamentally the story of Fulgrim's rise to ultimate evil, another primarch played a more nuanced role: Peturabo, leader of the Iron Warriors. An inventor/tinkerer who seems only a half-willing participant in Horus' rebellion, his machinations kept the novel intriguing. I wanted to catch up with Peturabo before getting into the Siege of Terra books, so picked up the forty-fifth book in the Horus Heresy, the collection Tallarn by John French (2017).

Covering the spectrum of story length, Tallarn contains four pieces: one bit of flash fiction, one short story, one novella, and one novel. Presented chronologically, they describe the Iron Warriors surprise attack, the locals' resistance, and Peturabo's ultimate purpose taking the planet. Like Corax, the stories form a chain telling an overarching story. A more interesting mix, however, it proves to be one of the better collections/anthologies in the Horus Heresy.

Kicking off the collection is "Witness". More tone-setter than story, it is set in the aftermath of a massive battle on a field of destroyed equipment and space marines. It is the winning commander's grim summary, the final line of the story, where things hit home.

Kicking off the collection's story arc proper is the novella “Executioner”. It opens as the Iron Warriors battle fleet arrives in orbit above the planet of Tallarn and looses a virus bomb that wipes the planet's surface of life. But not all. A staging ground for Imperium crusades, a large amount of soldiers and artillery live in underground bunkers, protected from the bombs. They come together to fight a dirty war on the surface of the planet, tank to tank, soldier to soldier. French does a good job capturing the gritty, sight-limited nature of tank battle on a ravaged battlefield, and the emergence of a titan is striking.

Seeming a bit out of temporal whack, “Executioner” is followed by the short story “Siren”. Ignoring logical inconsistencies, it tells of a lone 7^th Legion space marine and a tax evader in the underground bunkers of Tallarn, sheltering from the Iron Warriors' barrage. Needing to get word to the outside world of the attack, the pair come upon a plan. Claustrophobic and small scale, French pulls off their tale, and in doing so paves the way for the final story.

Closing the collection is the novel “Ironclad”. It switches from the perspective of underground bunkers found in the prior stories to the Iron Warriors' view, and in doing so shows the the true state of confusion and chaos (no pun intended) Horus' rebellion is in. Trust proves to be a priceless entity as Alpha Legion attack Iron Warriors, while Imperials, Dark Mechanicum, Iron Hands, and others play a role in ensuring the outcome of Tallarn's loyalty is anything but certain. Driving the gruff story are tank battles and the search for a numinous object which few people, if any, know the details of. While at times difficult to follow given the number of fingers in the pie, there are meaningful twists and turns, and surprise appearances by primarchs.

Like Mark of Calth, Tallarn is one of the better collections/anthologies of the Horus Heresy series for being focused on one place. Character stories braided with plot around a singular setting feels tighter, more meaningful. That being said, Tallarn is not a critical element of the series' architecture. People jumping through the series can likely skip it. But for those curious what Peturabo is up to, this is it, along with some excellently realized tank vs. tank ground fighting.

The following are the four pieces of fiction contained in Tallarn:

"Witness" (short story)

“Executioner” (novella)

“Siren" (short story)

“Ironclad” (novel)