All is Dust

Black Library 15 Years #12

by John French

To their foes, Thousand Sons are automata, deadly walking armoured suits who feel no pain or fear. But what is it like to live inside that armour, a spirit divorced from flesh?

A Thousand Sons short story from John French.

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction

4 pages, ebook

First published March 30, 2012

About the author

John French is a writer and freelance game designer from Nottingham, England. His novels include the Ahriman series from Black Library, and The Lord of Nightmares trilogy for Fantasy Flight. The rest of his work can be seen scattered through a number of other books, including the New York Times bestselling anthology Age of Darkness. When he is not thinking of ways that dark and corrupting beings could destroy reality and space, John enjoys talking about why it would be a good idea... that and drinking good wine.

Reviews

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gloomy short insight about what is inside the fractured mind and thoughts of a Rubric Marine, spectral remnants of the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion Astartes who are now trapped within their suits of ancient power armour as mindless, relentless automatons.

Crepuscular.

[Fiona · Rating 4 out of 5]

Something to set the mood for the Ahriman story arch. What some authors would call "a moment". In its brevity, it delivers a keen insight into the uninterrupted inner recursion that is the mind of a Rubric Marine - a victim of Ahriman's first attempt at saving his Legion.

[Brady Gilbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very short story of what it means to be a Rubic Marine before launching into the sorry of Ahriman Exile. Paints a picture of despair of how it feels to not remember who you are or your purpose. Has a sad feeling and shows what Ahriman has done, and what he fights to change.

[Ṛta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un relato corto, melancólico, sobre las víctimas del hechizo de la rúbrica de Ahriman.

Ahriman, en un intento por salvar a sus hermanos del más horroroso de los destinos, creó un hechizo cuyo objetivo era burlar la maldición que los afligía. Reunió a los hechiceros de su legión y, usando el legendario libro de Magnus, pronunció las palabras. Inmediatamente la atmósfera se saturó con poder y energía, arcos de luz crepitaban por todo el planeta, y hasta los depredadores del gran océano se agitaron. Ahriman estaba convencido de que su hechizo funcionaría, pero fue allí, en la consumación de su gran obra, que vio a sus hermanos arder y convertirse en polvo.

En su momento creyó que les había evitado un destino peor, pero con el paso de los siglos llegó a la conclusión de que la rúbrica había sido un fracaso nefando. Ahriman los había despojado de sus vibrantes y excepcionales almas, había enviado su sensibilidad a un lugar en el gran sin lugar, y todo para evitar un futuro mutable, que pudo ser, pero no era seguro.

Y he acá este relato, contado en primera persona, de uno de estos desgraciados. No hay nada a su alrededor; nada en frente, arriba, abajo o a los lados. El vértigo le dice que está cayendo, que siempre caerá y, aunque no tiene boca, ha estado gritando desde que empezó a caer. Su mente, sin punto de referencia, se devora a sí misma. Está cayendo. Sólo recuerda a Ahriman conjurando su rúbrica. Su carne arde, pero no por una fuente externa en particular; él está ardiendo, cada átomo de su cuerpo arde en perfecta conflagración y, entonces, todo su ego es lanzado al vacío. No puede ver el renadío de su tormento, pues el fuego tomó sus ojos primero, y no puede pedir ayuda, pues también le ha arrebatado su voz.

En fin. Me gustan mucho las historias que tienen que ver con los mil hijos y, siendo que es un relato tan corto, lo recomiendo.

[Atanas Parushev · Rating 5 out of 5]

“All is dust”is the battlecry of the Thousand Sons Space Marine legion – it represents the dusty ruins of their world and lost knowledge but also those brethren that became Rubricae - fleshless incomplete spirits still inhabiting their armour. The story offers insight into the mind of such a Rubric Marine, Helio Isidorus. Told from the first person view, it shows a fractured mind that manages to attain a semblance of structure only by hearing the mental command of a sorcerer. It shifts between his memories of the Burning of Prospero and his present. Curiously, in both timelines, Isidorus is fighting allegedly a Space Wolf marine. French has managed to paint a stunning vivid portrait of a fractured being – wholesome in its characterization. Words cannot begin to describe this story for me. So I will offer snippets from it here.

“Only dust remains. Dust and emptiness. I do not know what I am. I had a name, but it is gone. I am nothing. I am locked in darkness, tumbling without end through broken memories”.

“I have shape. It is a shape, like that of man, but I am hollow. I am just the outline. I have hands, but cannot touch. I have no mouth, but I have been screaming since I began my fall. I want to breath, but I cannot. I cannot remember what it is to breathe;…”.

“I am an outline held in a dream of falling, and this moment means nothing”.

[Luke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super short but really impactful. A fantastic glimpse into what it is like for the tormented Thousand Sons. The dreamlike quality in particular is really cool, and I am sure it is something that will be explored more in the rest of John French’s series

[Narek Ohanyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A moment which provides a glimpse into what it feels like to be...dust. To feel nothing, and yet to desire to feel again. The rage and sadness of not being alive, but also not having the peace of being dead. Truly a grim entryway into the series.

[David Strašák · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice short story to set the mood before reading ahriman: exile

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting short passage.