The Age of Darkness [Mass Market Paperback]

I have read every Horus Heresy book that has yet been published. I've followed the series from the high points to the low, with a faithful dedication that would rival the most steadfast space marine. I took pause, however, before buying Age of Darkness. I'm not really a big fan of short stories and I didn't feel like the previous Horus Heresy anthology, Tales of Heresy, did much to further the overarching story line. After reading several advance reviews for Age of Darkness I couldn't help but be excited. The roster promised stories from all the heavy hitters in the BL arsenal as well as some new talent and all the stories seemed relevant to the overall plot. This book will not disappoint fans of the Heresy.

Rules of Engagement by Graham McNeill
-McNeill has written some fantastic stories for the HH series but he is perhaps best known for his books featuring the Ultramarines. This short story examines Captain Remus Ventanus of the Ultramarines 4th Company has he struggles to adjust to the new battle doctrine penned by his Primarch, Roboute Guilliman. That doctrine of course would be the infamous Codex Astartes and Captain Ventanus must test the very discipline of his marines as well as the capabilities of the Codex if the Ultramarines are to survive the great heresy. I enjoyed this story and the major revelation at the end that gives Ultramarines fans some food for thought but what I didn't like was how obscure the strategy was. The reader is told that Captain Ventanus is using the tactics of the Codex that are nearly flawless though they seem counter productive at first. This allows Ventanus to achieve some major victories but the reader never sees the reason WHY the strategies employed are so brilliant, just that they are. (3 out of 5 stars)

Liars Due by James Swallow
-I'm not a big fan of Swallow. I couldn't stomach his Blood Angels books and I didn't like Flight of the Eisenstein all that much. That being said, Liars Due is probably one of my favorite stories of the whole collection. There are no space marines to be found in this story, no explosive combat. Instead readers get to experience the fear and uncertainty of regular people, removed from the great wars engulfing the galaxy. These people know that horrible battles are being fought on distant planets but they themselves carry on with daily life as always...until a visitor comes to town. Swallow manages to create believable paranoia and tension on a small scale but with tremendous skill. The ending of the story was some what predictable but I loved this story and I wish Swallow would write more like it. (5 out of 5 stars)

Forgotten Sons by Nick Kyme *Spoilers*
-This is the only story of the entire collection that I truly disliked. And I really really disliked it at that. I loved the premise of the story, space marines playing the role of ambassadors to a world beneficial to the campaigns of both sides. The story even started out rather well with the unlikely partnership of a Salamander with a haunted past and a crippled Ultramarine. The beginning of the story plays out well, with the marines attempting to convince the planetary council to side with the Emperor in the heresy. From there though the story quickly becomes convoluted. What could have been a straight forward and compelling story is complicated by a plot to blow up the planet. This could have worked had there not been ANOTHER plot to fake an assassination. The ending of the story is messy and altogether pointless. (1 out of 5 stars)

The Last Remembrancer by John French
-This is another great story, made all the better by the fact that it was written by a fresh face. This story not only explains the dissolution of the Order of Remembrancers but it also gives a peek at the origins of what would later become the Emperor's Holy Inquisition. Rogal Dorn and Iacton Qruze both make appearances in this story and there are some great nods to events that have occurred in other books throughout the HH series. French writes some solid dialogue and good description as well as pull some very tender emotional strings. I sincerely hope that French will write a full blown HH novel, I can only imagine how good it would be. (4 out of 5 stars)

Rebirth by Chris Wraight
-This is also a pretty cool story, as well as the first work by Wraight I have read. The story revolves around a squad of Thousand Sons space marines returning to their devastated home planet of Prospero after the sanction carried out by the Space Wolves. This story meshes very well with McNeill's HH novel, A Thousand Sons, and Abnett's, Prospero Burns. There is a minor twist in the story that definitely threw me for a loop and a pretty major revelation at the end that will certainly confirm some deep seated suspicions of anyone to have played the 40K computer game Dawn of War. Thanks to this story I will definitely be buying Wraight's novel Battle for the Fang when it comes out. (4 out of 5)

The Face of Treachery by Gav Thorpe
-I would consider this my second least favorite story of the whole collection. I had high expectations for a brutal void battle or at least a little Raven Guard on World Eater action but it never panned out. Instead the story explains the daring, yet unexciting rescue of Corax and the surviving Raven Guard from Isstvan V in the wake of the Dropsite Massacre. There is a twist to the story but I couldn't help but feel that The Face of Treachery was more of a precursor to Thorpe's HH novel out next year, than a short story of its very own. This was a rather lack luster performance by a regularly fantastic author. (2 out of 5 stars)

Little Horus by Dan Abnett
-This story probably had the most style of all but it fell just short of being my favorite. Little Horus Aximand makes a return, and this time around we get to see the personality behind the mysterious soldier. It is good to once again catch a glimpse of the Sons of Horus legion and watch them make battle. The action is good and the motivations behind Aximand's decisions are quite interesting. It's also really good to see the Iron Warriors and the White Scars make an appearance in a HH novel, however brief it may be. This story is enough to make any reader feel nostalgic for the first three novels of the HH series for sure. (5 out of 5 stars)

The Iron Within by Rob Sanders
-This is, without a doubt, the single best story in the entire collection. I tried to read Sanders' imperial guard novel Redemption Corps and it failed to keep my interest. Rob Sanders needs to be writing space marine novels. He needs to be writing Iron Warrior novels, because I don't think there is a single person that understands the Iron Warriors legion like he does. This short story is packed with the best action of the whole collection, what can I say, I'm a sucker for sieges. The description of the loyalist fortress and the world it is built on are vivid and imaginative. The characters and motivations are colorful and I seriously hope to see more of Warsmith Dantioch some day. There is also a pretty cool twist that turns defeat into bitter victory. (8 out of 5 stars)

Savage Weapons
-This is a great story to end the anthology with. Readers get a chance to see two Primarch go head to head in glorious combat. We also get a closer look at the psyche of The Lion and the actions of the Dark Angels during the Heresy. The action is of course gripping but the real draw of the story is the dialogue. The interaction between two Primarchs on opposite sides of the civil war. Two brothers, engaging in a conversation before trying to rip each other apart. It makes for some pretty moving stuff. What I also liked about this story is that it casts light on the intentions of the Dark Angels, which have come into question by some within the 40K community. Once again Aaron Dembski-Bowden proves that he knows how to write a fantastic story with big characters and big consequences. (5 out of 5)

Age of Darkness is perhaps the best collection of short stories I have ever read. Normally I jump around when reading an anthology, skipping over less interesting stories to get the more better ones, and feeling pretty unsatisfied. This time I read every story, all the way through, in order. Even the stories I didn't like were I felt motivated to see through to the bitter end. Any fan of the HH series needs this book on their shelf.

"Age of Darkness" is a collection of short stories that occur during the middle of the Heresy. I have enjoyed the book, as a whole, and think it is a good representation of the authors featured within. Some of the other collections had definite swings -- some stories good, some slow and not so great. This book has been pretty even keel through out... with one exception.

The Iron Within.

What an utterly fantastic short story. That story, alone, is worth the price of admission.

"The Iron Within" really is the darling of the entire book. I'm not sure that I've read anything else by Rob Sanders, the author, but I will say that his writing does the Warhammer 40,000 universe justice. He presents a grim and dark, yet heroic and epic vision of the events in his story. He covers similar basic ground as many of the other authors but goes about it with a completely different feel. The combination of his pacing, character design, and imagery just brings the entire story right to life. Not repetitive, not unimaginative, not stale... I love the Warhammer 40,000 books but if you've read enough of them you'll know what I mean. I just want to babble about all the excellent aspects of the story, but I don't want to spoil any of it.

Between the general quality of the stories contained within, and the shining star, "The Iron Within", I felt this was a great book to read.

First posted on Amazon.co.uk on 4 June 2011

Just a warning: this book was advertised as telling the story of the HH War during the 7 years that it took the rebels to reach Earth. In reality, it is a compilation of short stories about mostly minor aspects (there are a few exceptions). One you have finished, you still don't know anything more about what happened in the 7 years after the beginning of the civil war...

Yet again, we are told about the Isstvan V massacre, here with one of the loyal Primarchs escaping from the trap. A suggestion: perhaps one day BL could get one of its authors to write a HH book on preparing the defenses of Terra or of the planets and systems that stand between it and the Heresy rather than a collection of short stories of uneven quality and interest.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 10 reviews  4.0 out of 5 stars