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The Horus Heresy #Short Story
Blood Games
Amongst the sprawling hives of Terra, Amon Tauromachian of the Emperor's Custodians plays a deadly game as he investigates rumours of treason on humanity's home world.
Amon Tauromachian, one of the Emperor’s elite Custodian Guard, returns to the Imperial Palace after a year on one of the Blood Games by which these exalted heroes train. Tasked with a new mission, he is sent to the hives of Hy Brasil to check on the loyalty of a notorious troublemaker. With the galaxy at war and half the Imperium’s armies in rebellion, any hint of heresy on the Throneworld must be stamped out. Amon’s mission draws him into a web of deceit and betrayal, where no one can be trusted and nothing is at it seems. Can he unravel the truth and secure Terra for the Emperor?
It's an in-depth look at Terra itself, and how treachery lurked at the Imperium's heart even as the Heresy began. There's also a fantastic, action-packed look at what the Custodians do when they're not out fighting.
Running time 1 hour and 27 minutes. Read by Jonathan Keeble
Amon Tauromachian, one of the Emperor’s elite Custodian Guard, returns to the Imperial Palace after a year on one of the Blood Games by which these exalted heroes train. Tasked with a new mission, he is sent to the hives of Hy Brasil to check on the loyalty of a notorious troublemaker. With the galaxy at war and half the Imperium’s armies in rebellion, any hint of heresy on the Throneworld must be stamped out. Amon’s mission draws him into a web of deceit and betrayal, where no one can be trusted and nothing is at it seems. Can he unravel the truth and secure Terra for the Emperor?
It's an in-depth look at Terra itself, and how treachery lurked at the Imperium's heart even as the Heresy began. There's also a fantastic, action-packed look at what the Custodians do when they're not out fighting.
Running time 1 hour and 27 minutes. Read by Jonathan Keeble
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First published March 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
April 3, 2025
A neat insight into those rarer times, when the who galaxy was not going to shit; relatively.
Although it shows the intriguing blood Games by the custodes during it's earlier days, I would love to read of the current iteration.
Can you imagine, 8-9 feet tall golden demigods, chasing around eldritch entities from your worst nightmares. Ones that, would be the main horror Ina Stephen King novel. Being corraled and hunted around, so that the banana boys can stay in form during their centuries long guard duty.
Stuff of legend.
Although it shows the intriguing blood Games by the custodes during it's earlier days, I would love to read of the current iteration.
Can you imagine, 8-9 feet tall golden demigods, chasing around eldritch entities from your worst nightmares. Ones that, would be the main horror Ina Stephen King novel. Being corraled and hunted around, so that the banana boys can stay in form during their centuries long guard duty.
Stuff of legend.
January 22, 2025
Pretty interesting, involving a story about some custodes, imperial fist and rogal dorn getting terras defenses ready.
Collected in tales of heresy anthology.
Collected in tales of heresy anthology.
August 16, 2018
Pure Dan Abnett, excellent stuff!
Love reading Dan`s version of the custodes. Didn't know or expect anything about this but quickly fell in love. If you want to see a Custode squaring up to a Primarch this story is for you!
Love reading Dan`s version of the custodes. Didn't know or expect anything about this but quickly fell in love. If you want to see a Custode squaring up to a Primarch this story is for you!
February 3, 2022
I have been in the 40k universe for over two decades, but this one was hard to follow. It doesn't stand alone well and it is hard to follow without a lot of prior knowledge. What I could follow was fun.
December 13, 2020
Really cool
Really cool look into the Custodes prior to and during the Horus Heresy. If you've ever wondered if a Custodes takes their armor off... This answers it.
Really cool look into the Custodes prior to and during the Horus Heresy. If you've ever wondered if a Custodes takes their armor off... This answers it.
May 1, 2024
May 2024 Re-Read using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order Omnibus XVIII Omnissiah II End of Empires (https://www.heresyomnibus.com/omnibus...) as part of my Oath of Moment to complete the Horus Heresy series and extras.
The opening story to the first anthology that was the first real look at Terra and the Imperial Palace for many of us.
The Blood Games are the intense espionage and assassination drills the Legio Custodes run as both an independent training exercise and as a check on the Throneworld and the Imperial Palace's security. Essentially, a single Custodes heads off into the dark with the sole purpose of returning to Terra, infiltrating the palace, and attempting to assassinate the Emperor of Mankind.
Honestly, I can't believe no-one has spun this off as a reality TV show, either in real life or as part of a young adult dystopian series. It feels like it's money on the table and kinda the opposite of The Dead Zone by way of the Running Man and The Long Walk, which truly boggles the mind that I don't think Richard Bachman or Stephen King have taken a pop at it.
The first half of this story is one of the last Blood Games, taking place during the fortification of Terra by Dorn and the Imperial Fists. I don't believe it is the final Blood Game seen in The Praetorian of Dorn, I think, though I might be wrong. We follow a nameless figure as he takes on many different guides and ensures trials and tribulations, all the while giving us an unprecedented look at Terra and a small tour of the Imperial Palace, conveying just how huge it is and hinting of the marvels it contains. The second half concerns various other aspects on the same theme and highlights the difficulties and weaknesses of having disparate elements all trying to run security for the Emperor, keeping information to themselves, and not working together, in a similar, if far less comical manner, than the Orbital Plate Kerfuffle in Hands or the Emperor.
I remember this story absolutely blowing my mind when I first got my hands on Tales of Heresy. It was a sweet and innocent time, before Matthew Farrer devoured my heart with the utterly devastating and sublime After Desh'ea that closes the anthology (this is a joke. I don't think 2009 was a sweet and innocent time). Getting to see Terra and the Palace up close and personal was mesmerising in a way that I think somewhat echoes the initial brain exploding power of first reading Legion and witnessing the Acuity, though my feelings on that novel have cooled and, perhaps more accurately, curdled due to just how gross and misogynistic that book is, but there is a wonder in this story that still remains. I still find any new look or perspective of Terra fascinating, which is one of the things I enjoyed most about Sigismund: Eternal Crusader.
In mentioning the misogyny that unfortunately crops up in Abnett's writing occasionally, while it's not on display here with very little or possibly no women in this story, another aspect that has been somewhat fraught across my reading of the Horus Heresy, now being on my 28th omnibus using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order (www.heresyomnibus.com), is that race is something that isn't always handled with care. I don't know if it is actually handled badly in this, it is definitely interesting with the discussion of Caucasians and Genestock. I'm not saying there is anything explicitly problematic going on, but I've read enough of this series to at least become a little concerned when it goes there.
I really enjoy the first half of this story. The sheer amount of worldbuilding and detail, both particularly relevant and word salad jargon (which I also enjoy), is glorious. It's good to see that all isn't beautiful on Terra and get a feel for the grandeur and cyclopean scale of the Palace and the titanic operation fortifying it entails. Abnett is the Lord of the Dark Millennia for a reason and he knows his stuff, so it's wonderful to see that in display, even as he is creating new elements in the process. The references to seemingly naturally occurring abnormalities predating any aspect of the Imperium or even the Emperor's timeline and how they have been specifically bully around and into the Palace is fascinating. I do think we might get a little too bogged down in the actual logistics of the Blood Game, but that's just my take. I think there's so great ideas and steps, but I think some of the nitty gritty could be paired back.
The second half is really interesting from the perspective of just how confusing things are on Terra right now and the difficulties of having these different factions operating in the same domains and jurisdiction. It really highlights just how separate and specialised each Legion, including Custodes, are and the mixed success they have at working outside their main remit, especially without lines of communication. Security and secrets between different bodies not working together are always going to be fraught, cause friction and leave vulnerabilites, it's a reflection of the hubris of the Imperium and the Hands of the Emperor not being designed to work together.
However, I don't find the second half quite as compelling as a narrative within this story and it feels almost like this could have been two separate stories that were linked. For me, this would give the second half room to breathe and play out in a more satisfying way and not feel like it was dragging down the much tighter and more exciting first half that already suffered minimal bloat to begin with.
This is definitely a good story with some brilliant elements and phenemonal ideas and views that are rarely seen with the Heresy taking place all over the galaxy, I just think I remember being more enamoured and being a bit less aware of some weight and pacing that could be improved.
Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 36 Horus Heresy novels (including 1 repeat and 3 anthologies), 22 novellas (including 2 repeats), 114 short stories/ audio dramas (including 6 repeats, but not including a number of additional repeats for clarity), as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, All 17 Primarchs novels, 4 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, 2 Characters novels, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels and 1 short story...this run, as well as writing 1 short story myself (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t...). 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.
The opening story to the first anthology that was the first real look at Terra and the Imperial Palace for many of us.
The Blood Games are the intense espionage and assassination drills the Legio Custodes run as both an independent training exercise and as a check on the Throneworld and the Imperial Palace's security. Essentially, a single Custodes heads off into the dark with the sole purpose of returning to Terra, infiltrating the palace, and attempting to assassinate the Emperor of Mankind.
Honestly, I can't believe no-one has spun this off as a reality TV show, either in real life or as part of a young adult dystopian series. It feels like it's money on the table and kinda the opposite of The Dead Zone by way of the Running Man and The Long Walk, which truly boggles the mind that I don't think Richard Bachman or Stephen King have taken a pop at it.
The first half of this story is one of the last Blood Games, taking place during the fortification of Terra by Dorn and the Imperial Fists. I don't believe it is the final Blood Game seen in The Praetorian of Dorn, I think, though I might be wrong. We follow a nameless figure as he takes on many different guides and ensures trials and tribulations, all the while giving us an unprecedented look at Terra and a small tour of the Imperial Palace, conveying just how huge it is and hinting of the marvels it contains. The second half concerns various other aspects on the same theme and highlights the difficulties and weaknesses of having disparate elements all trying to run security for the Emperor, keeping information to themselves, and not working together, in a similar, if far less comical manner, than the Orbital Plate Kerfuffle in Hands or the Emperor.
I remember this story absolutely blowing my mind when I first got my hands on Tales of Heresy. It was a sweet and innocent time, before Matthew Farrer devoured my heart with the utterly devastating and sublime After Desh'ea that closes the anthology (this is a joke. I don't think 2009 was a sweet and innocent time). Getting to see Terra and the Palace up close and personal was mesmerising in a way that I think somewhat echoes the initial brain exploding power of first reading Legion and witnessing the Acuity, though my feelings on that novel have cooled and, perhaps more accurately, curdled due to just how gross and misogynistic that book is, but there is a wonder in this story that still remains. I still find any new look or perspective of Terra fascinating, which is one of the things I enjoyed most about Sigismund: Eternal Crusader.
In mentioning the misogyny that unfortunately crops up in Abnett's writing occasionally, while it's not on display here with very little or possibly no women in this story, another aspect that has been somewhat fraught across my reading of the Horus Heresy, now being on my 28th omnibus using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order (www.heresyomnibus.com), is that race is something that isn't always handled with care. I don't know if it is actually handled badly in this, it is definitely interesting with the discussion of Caucasians and Genestock. I'm not saying there is anything explicitly problematic going on, but I've read enough of this series to at least become a little concerned when it goes there.
I really enjoy the first half of this story. The sheer amount of worldbuilding and detail, both particularly relevant and word salad jargon (which I also enjoy), is glorious. It's good to see that all isn't beautiful on Terra and get a feel for the grandeur and cyclopean scale of the Palace and the titanic operation fortifying it entails. Abnett is the Lord of the Dark Millennia for a reason and he knows his stuff, so it's wonderful to see that in display, even as he is creating new elements in the process. The references to seemingly naturally occurring abnormalities predating any aspect of the Imperium or even the Emperor's timeline and how they have been specifically bully around and into the Palace is fascinating. I do think we might get a little too bogged down in the actual logistics of the Blood Game, but that's just my take. I think there's so great ideas and steps, but I think some of the nitty gritty could be paired back.
The second half is really interesting from the perspective of just how confusing things are on Terra right now and the difficulties of having these different factions operating in the same domains and jurisdiction. It really highlights just how separate and specialised each Legion, including Custodes, are and the mixed success they have at working outside their main remit, especially without lines of communication. Security and secrets between different bodies not working together are always going to be fraught, cause friction and leave vulnerabilites, it's a reflection of the hubris of the Imperium and the Hands of the Emperor not being designed to work together.
However, I don't find the second half quite as compelling as a narrative within this story and it feels almost like this could have been two separate stories that were linked. For me, this would give the second half room to breathe and play out in a more satisfying way and not feel like it was dragging down the much tighter and more exciting first half that already suffered minimal bloat to begin with.
This is definitely a good story with some brilliant elements and phenemonal ideas and views that are rarely seen with the Heresy taking place all over the galaxy, I just think I remember being more enamoured and being a bit less aware of some weight and pacing that could be improved.
Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 36 Horus Heresy novels (including 1 repeat and 3 anthologies), 22 novellas (including 2 repeats), 114 short stories/ audio dramas (including 6 repeats, but not including a number of additional repeats for clarity), as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, All 17 Primarchs novels, 4 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, 2 Characters novels, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels and 1 short story...this run, as well as writing 1 short story myself (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t...). 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.
March 14, 2018
The opening story from 2009’s Tales of Heresy, this sets the standard not just for Custodes stories but for Heresy short stories in general. It opens as a veiled cat and mouse story with a dangerous intruder breaching the security of the Imperial Palace, before widening in scope and showing the Custodes in action, enforcing their remit elsewhere on Terra with skill and nerve.
While the nature and behaviour of the Custodes are obviously front and centre, really it’s a story about walls – around places, around people – and the cracks that occur between them, and the people whose task it is to find and either use or seal those cracks. It’s not quite perfect, but it’s close.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/01/...
While the nature and behaviour of the Custodes are obviously front and centre, really it’s a story about walls – around places, around people – and the cracks that occur between them, and the people whose task it is to find and either use or seal those cracks. It’s not quite perfect, but it’s close.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/01/...
December 30, 2024
A highly entertaining, James Bond-esque short story about the Blood Games of the Adeptus Custodes.
The opening pages introduce our protagonist, Amon Tauromachian, one of the Emperor’s golden bodyguards. He participates in the Blood Games, a training exercise designed to test the Custodes by attempting to infiltrate the Imperial Palace on Terra undetected. Amon manages to get the furthest.
After returning, he briefly observes the Imperial Fists fortifying Terra before being assigned a mission to investigate a potential spy. What follows is an incredibly engaging and action-packed lot of pages. This is easily one of the most enjoyable short stories Games Workshop has written—one that could make for an amazing movie adaptation although it is short but I think it works better this way
The opening pages introduce our protagonist, Amon Tauromachian, one of the Emperor’s golden bodyguards. He participates in the Blood Games, a training exercise designed to test the Custodes by attempting to infiltrate the Imperial Palace on Terra undetected. Amon manages to get the furthest.
After returning, he briefly observes the Imperial Fists fortifying Terra before being assigned a mission to investigate a potential spy. What follows is an incredibly engaging and action-packed lot of pages. This is easily one of the most enjoyable short stories Games Workshop has written—one that could make for an amazing movie adaptation although it is short but I think it works better this way
December 31, 2023
Not a stand alone at all. Which kinda defeats the purpose of a short story. This connected and relied way too much on the main series, which I've read a lot of but with such a short time to establish plot, characters and world this was impossible to follow unless I wanted to spend maybe an additional 2 hours researching things to understand the context. This has to be the worst I've ever read in the 40k universe so far.
May 19, 2025
A pretty good short story and I usually hate those so this is saying something. Should I have read it all the night before my first 2nd year engineering final exam? No. Will I perhaps read another? Yes
November 26, 2021
Worth it for the unique and rare privileged inside perspective into the Custodes.
May 15, 2023
Well written as usual for Dan Abnett but the story didn’t do anything for me.
March 31, 2024
I liked this short story it was cool to see through the eyes of a Custodes and how the emperor's bodyguards keep security perfect with blood games to see how close they can get.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 23, 2024
A cool concept, but the first half of sneaking into the palace gets a big long-winded.
July 31, 2025
A close look at the nature of the Custodes, and their duty to protect the Empire. This particular short story reminds me of Dan Abnett's other work "Legion" with the story focusing on espionage and deception.
Dan Abnett does a great job developing the world of Terra, and differentiating the Custodes from their Astarte cousins.
Dan Abnett does a great job developing the world of Terra, and differentiating the Custodes from their Astarte cousins.
December 9, 2024
Well written, a great glimpse into the Custodes. Gives a solid idea of how incompetent some Imperial bureaucracies can be and how silly Dorn can be.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 4, 2024
This was a good read, but as it was my first short story in this series I found it a bit lacking. The characters were interesting, just not develoed enough.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews