Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Black Library Review: A Thousand Sons


The Wolves are coming.

As an avid fan of “The Horus Heresy” and a larger fan of Graham McNeill I present to you “A Thousand Sons”.  
Click to zoom on this excellent work.
 Magnus, Primarch of the Thousand Sons unquenchably thirsts for the knowledge and power of the arcane. In his quest for forbidden knowledge he ignores a call for war from the wolf king, Leman Russ (not smart). Only after an envoy of less than happy Space Wolves arrives at his door does he leave to join his brother Primarch in the tide of battle. On the planetary capital of Heliosa Magnus and his Thousand Sons stand defiantly before Russ in an attempt to save the last traces of the now conquered system's accumulated history and knowledge from the unleashed rage of the Space Wolves.  Magnus orders the wolves to be held back whatever the cost and the thousand sons release a torrent of psychic power halting the Wolves in their urge to pillage and burn, ultimately blood is spilled.  All that keeps Russ and Magnus from coming to blows is the timely intervention of their brother Primarch Lorgar, of The Word Bearers.  Russ decries Magnus as a Cyclops and wielder of dark powers and before standing down lets Magnus know, “This is not over, blood of Fenris is on your hands and there will be a reckoning between us, Magnus. This I swear…”.
They named tanks after him for a reason.
 The events of Heliosa would lead to the Emperor’s calling for a meeting on the planet of Nikaea, “History would recall this assembly as the Council of Nikaea. Others would know it as the trial of Magnus the Red”. The Emperor decrees that all use of psychic powers are now forbidden and anyone who dares to disobey his command will pay dearly for their mistake.  However it is Magnus who foresees the betrayal of Horus, and when his attempt to stop Horus’ fall from grace fails he turns to use his powers to warn the Emperor of the impending civil war.  In his momentary connection with the Emperor, Magnus sees the folly of his ways and just how much he has destroyed in his attempt to regain his good grace.  The Wolves are thus unleashed and Russ finds his chance for vengeance.  Prospero will burn and all will be dust.  As Magnus’ world comes crashing down around him he realizes he has ultimately been twisted by the forces of Chaos to unknowingly do their bidding helping to bring about this civil war and ultimately his legions destruction. Finally you’re left with Magnus’ heart wrenching struggle over his own fear and guilt.  As a favored son of the Emperor he chose to stop at nothing to prove the value of himself, his legion and the supernatural powers that they possessed.  In his blind ambition Magnus destroyed it all, himself, his legion and the very trust and faith that he tried so hard to establish.
Only to leave behind a legacy of ghosts and sorcerers.
 Weighing in at a beefy 558 pages “A Thousand Sons” is one of, if not the longest book released in the series.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and honestly believe that this is one of the best of the series, more enthralling than “Fulgrim” and more heartfelt than the opening trilogy.  This novel gives a complete first hand and in depth look into just how and why a loyal legion of Astartes can be cast off as traitors, it should be enjoyed by all fans of the 40k universe, not just the Tzeench worshiping cultists of Ahriman. 

Hater's Final Verdict:
This book is AWESOME... in space!

If you enjoyed this review look for more to come from the Black Library Review found here!

No comments:

Post a Comment