Gunsight

The Horus Heresy #Short Story

by James Swallow

An Assassin lurks on board the Vengeful Spirit. His target? Warmaster Horus himself.

Read it because
A story set aboard the Vengeful Spirit itself, flagship of Horus Lupercal. A killer stalks the corridors, and a daring assassination attempt is underway. But such attempts have failed before... how will this one prove any more successful?

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Short Stories

37 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 16, 2015

About the author

James Swallow is a New York Times, Sunday Times and Amazon #1 bestselling author and scriptwriter, a BAFTA nominee, a former journalist and the award-winning writer of over sixty-five books, along with scripts for video games, comics, radio and television.

DARK HORIZON, his latest stand-alone thriller, is out now from Mountain Leopard Press, and OUTLAW, the 6th action-packed Marc Dane novel, is published by Bonnier.

Along with the Marc Dane thrillers, his writing includes, the Sundowners steampunk Westerns and fiction from the worlds of Star Trek, Tom Clancy, 24, Warhammer 40000, Doctor Who, Deus Ex, Stargate, 2000AD and many more.

For information on new releases & more, sign up to the Readers’ Club here: www.bit.ly/JamesSwallow

Visit James's website at http://www.jswallow.com/ for more, including ROUGH AIR, a free eBook novella in the Marc Dane series.

You can also follow James on Bluesky at @jmswallow.bsky.social, Twitter at @jmswallow, Mastodon at @jmswallow@mstdn.social and jmswallow.tumblr.com at Tumblr.

Reviews

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the tragic death of his sister and the other killers sent by Malcador the Sigillite, the Vindicare Temple Assassin Eristede Kell lurks on board the Vengeful Spirit waiting for a chance to complete his mission and slay the traitor Warmaster.
But the crew of Horus'admiral ship is not the only one touched by the warp, and after spending years in hiding and isolation, Kell starts losing his clarity and mind.

And Horus Lupercal is not going to be an easy target at all.



A very good sequel to James Swallow's Nemesis Horus Heresy novel, closing the storyline and opening a new one.

[Troy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collected in war without end anthology.

[RatGrrrl · Rating 4 out of 5]

April 2024 Re-Read using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order Omnibus XIV Shadows of the Warmaster II Lords of Death (https://www.heresyomnibus.com/omnibus...) as part of my Oath of Moment to complete the Horus series and extras.

A great example of psychological horror and a unique insight to life on board the Warmaster's flagship in the dark wake of Isstvan.

A breath of fresh foul recycled air on board the Vengeful Spirit where Kel, the Vindicare Assassin and sole survivor of the original Execution Force sent to assassinate Horus in Nemesis, has been hiding and obsessing about his quarry and his training for a length of time he is unable to fathom.

This was a story that really grew on me. I enjoyed the premise from the start, but felt the dialogue and relationship with the deck hand weren't the best examples of Swallow's talents. However, the second half built and came apart beautifully.

Despite my negative experience with Vengeful Spirit, I'm intrigued to see what is being set up with the various people who have found their way to the Horus' flagship and what will end up going down.

Reading this does reinforce how much I would love to have seen Swallow, Abnett, Annandale, or Guymer's Vengeful Spirit.

Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 25.64 Horus Heresy novels, 14 novellas (including 1 repeat), 88 short stories/ audio dramas (including 6 repeats), as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, 13 Primarchs novels, 4 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels and a short story...this run. I can't say enough good about the way the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project suggestions. I'm loving it! Especially after originally reading to the releases and being so frustrated at having to wait so long for a narrative to continue.

[Freyja Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

The fall of Kell. Very interesting. I'd actually read the Garro Anthology before this and nemesis, and for some reason, Kell's name didn't click for me, so I had no idea he was the assassin in Garro until the end of this short story lol. Was a cool realisation (even though it was due to my own patchy memory lol)

[Danny Saines · Rating 4 out of 5]

A story that really built the tension nicely to a very satisfying conclusion. I’m very interested to see how this develops in the future as it did not go where I expected it to.

[Thomas Langley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kell is tortured and broken till he turns to chaos which feels an unfitting step for his character.

[Ross Cudmore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A follow up to "Nemesis". An assassin has made his way onto the Vengeful Spirit. He can't remember who he is. The only thing he knows is that he is there to kill a monster. Really atmospheric and haunting, a man's mind broken and hazy, stumbling through time.

I wasn't the biggest fan of Nemesis, but I enjoyed this sequel quite a bit, it felt more focused and emotionally impactful.

[Dylan Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I was intially very, VERY, put off by the idea of another assassin story, even though I really enjoyed Nemesis, this turned out to be quite a good story! A few twists and turns I didn't see coming, and getting a new sideplot started were all great fun! I wont say too much about the assasssin, as I don't want to spoil anything, but it was a shock for sure! Both the characters name as well as the outcome for him or her. What really interested me most about the short was the time the assassin spent in the depths of the ship. In most BL fiction, we are given tidbits on those parts of the monsterous vessals that carry our beloved characters to war and what not, but here we got to see first hand the conditions in those places. We got to see what it was like for a loyal man to live in the very belly of the traitor's greatest ship! Which was awesome. We also got to see a little bit of the culture that evolves in those environments, which I thought was great. Now as for the assassination... Obviously, Horus survives, but it is HOW he survives that was so awesome. He is really a different breed than at the start of Horus Rising, and he was the first among equals then! Damn good short, and I can't wait to see where this goes!

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

A continuation and epilogue of Nemesis, where the reader learns the fate of the Officio Assassinorum's team.
The Vindicare was my favorite assassin and his descent into madness was an incredible read.

[Alexander van der Pol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must read before reading Ghosts Speak Not & Patience.