Scions of the Storm

The Horus Heresy #Short Story

by Anthony Reynolds

The Word Bearers encounter a planet where worship of the Dark Gods echoes their own nascent beliefs. Will they purge this world or embrace its darkness?

Shortly after the shameful events of Monarchia, the Word Bearers Legion have begun to prosecute the Great Crusade with a previously unseen level of zealotry and aggression. The world of Forty-Seven Sixteen falls into their sights, a world where the human populace worship graven idols in their heathen rights, and yet plead to be integrated into the wider Imperium. Captain Sor Talgron of the 34th Company stands ready to serve his primarch – but does the Legion have more in common with the people of Forty-Seven Sixteen than they realise?

Another step in the Word Bearers' fall to darkness is revealed, along with some of the foul deeds they committed to get the attention of the Chaos gods.

Running time: 1 hour, 18 minutes
Narrated by Gareth Armstrong
Written by Anthony Reynolds

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

Audiobook

First published January 1, 2015

About the author

Anthony Reynolds was a Games Developer and manager at Games Workshop in the UK. Since then he's written freelance for a number of companies, including Black Library Publishing, Mantic Games, THQ, Bandai-Namco, Behaviour Interactive, and River Horse Games. He currently lives in California.

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Anthony^Reynolds

Reviews

[RatGrrrl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy seeing the setup for...pretty much everything play out here or at least the decision to cross that line. I also love that this story could, and maybe should, have been called Malicious Compliance.

The Word Bearers are reeling from the brutal shaming and humbling they experienced at Monarchia at the hands of the Ultramarines and the Emperor's decree. Lorgar is rocked and only hanging out with Daddy Kor and his Erebuddy. But things seek to pick up when they have a new planet to bring to Compliance. Unfortunately, reports are that the the population isn't cool and Lorgar decrees a scorched earth policy.

The end is a definite end of one way of doing thing and the beginning of another...

I liked the hints about who has influence and is pulling strings, as well as the Milgram's Obedience Study reflected in many of the Astartes dedication to and willingness to follow their Primarch's authority, regardless of the context.

I thought the union of the Star Wars Techno Guild droid army with Gungan shield technology was interesting, but the action that took up a large portion of this short story was a little bland and made me extra glad I held off on Fulgrim for the Shattersong Omnibussy, as, if I recall, there's a bunch of video games taking out relay rowers in that too.

I was going to give this 4/5 because of the bits I liked and the weight on the events, but I've talked myself into 3/5 because a story has to live up to the events within it and I really did check out for uninspired action.

[Oliver Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having only read the first two books in the 50+ HH books a couple of years ago, I decided to give it a go at reading the entire HH series in chronological order. Starting with the "Last Church" audiobook set in 30,800. I am using https://rateyourmusic.com/list/Tymell... as a guide on which books to read in chronological order.

This audiobook took place in 30,963 I started listening to the audiobook and quickly realised that I didnt understand the pre-dating events that lead to Lorgar's reclusion. So I went to www.http://wh40k.lexicanum.com to read up on what happened. The events that pre-date this book but after the Lorgar primarch book is as follows:

The Word Bearer's were dragging far behind the other legions in bringing worlds into compliance and it is discovered that they were converting the compliant worlds to worship the Emperor which took alot longer than just achieving compliance. As a result of this the Emperor is outraged and orders the destruction of Monarchia (The Word Bearers home world) by the Ultramarines as an example to both Lorgar and the Word Bearers demonstrating that their worship of the Emperor and the spread of such doctrine could not be tolerated. All the Word Bearer's were forced to kneel in the ashes of their homeworld whilst being yelled at by the Emperor. The shame of this resulted in Lorgar going into reculsion. This background added a ton of detail that otherwise I wouldn't have known without a bit of background research.

Picking up from the start of this audiobook and the above events Lorgar emerges from his reclusion, to bring compliance to Forty-Seven Sixteen. Who deploy intelligent machines which goes against the Emperor's commands. The story follows Captain Sor Talgron who leads a jump pack assault against the last bastion of the planet's remaining humans after the plant is all but wiped out by bombardment. I wont go into too much more detail as I dont want to ruin the fun but this audiobook does set the stagefor the start of Lorgar, Erebus and Kor Phaeron turn against the Imperium.

Had the audiobook covered the pre-dating destruction of Monarchia better I would have rated it 5*. As it stands it was short at an hour long but worth a read, especially if you read the Lorgar primarch book.

The audiobook version was very well read and I would recommend to anyone looking to get more depth on the initial stages of the Dark Angels.

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

I mean, as a prequel to a more interesting book, this works—but it just never quite happens.

This book explores the beginning of the Word Bearers' corruption. Unfortunately, a short story doesn’t do the topic justice, and I have to say, I really didn’t enjoy this one.

[Troy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Collected in tales of heresy anthology.

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Word Bearers commit genocide against the world of forty seven sixteen. Erebus says it is the emperor’s will because they are religious. But this is doubtful because the Word Bearers have already been corrupted. The twist: the world actually worships the emperor, making this a great waste of life.

The main purpose of the book is to introduce Sor Talgron, captain of the 34th Company. He is introspective and curious, which leads him to discover the tragedy of the battle. But Lorgar assures him this is all strictly necessary. Will we see Talgron as a loyalist in Battle for the Abyss? Also, it’s clear that most WBs still consider the emperor a god despite the emperor’s reprimand of Lorgar.

Bonus warship sightings:
Fidelitas Rex, WB Flagship
Dominatus Sanctus, WB Strike Cruiser and Talgron’s Ship

Seems like WB ships have a latin religious naming theme.

3/5 because there was too much action in the front half for my preference. I like more dialogue and character development.

[big dog · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t particularly like the word bearers, seems like they’re being positioned as the baddest of the bad guys. I’ve quickly learned to curb my expectations with short stories in HH as well. I enjoyed the 1-1.5h audio length, and the author did a good job describing the setting in detail so I could picture it. The note on a jump pack enabling space marine in assuming mk2-3 armor to survive an emergency planet descent from 20k meters was interesting. For what this story was, I think it was good, and further lowers my attitude towards the 17th legion (due to their actions).

[Jim Pickone · Rating 5 out of 5]

Damn good short story. Action was great, cool enemies with a very fun twist that actually surprised me. Lorgar here is deliciously scary here and Reyndolds did a great job in just a few pages of making his interpretation i the character stand out.

Loved the interaction between Sor Talgron and Lorgar. Reynolds did a fantastic job at making their relationship very parental and Talgron came off as a child terrified their Dad was gonna hit them.

[Christopher Corbaley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Man word bearers are a crazy chapter of space Marines and especially Logar their Primarch. I do agree that the Emperor did not handle Lorgar very well and pushed him towards heresy but also the Primarch was all too willing to go.

[Arnis · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://poseidons99.wordpress.com/202...

[Eric Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Freaking Word Bearers. Lorgar’s crazy ass. These friggin guys. Good story showing off the ol’ zealot flip flop.

[TuralyonW3 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not essential but a nice tie-in with First Heretic (best read right before) which deals with the complicated themes involved in the Word Bearers plot. Solid writing by Reynolds.

[Thomas Langley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favourite depiction of Lorgar.

[Maestitia Reclusiam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Les Descendants de la Tempête est une courte tragédie de loyauté aveugle. Anthony Reynolds y montre, avec une efficacité redoutable, comment on peut tomber sans jamais avoir l’impression de trahir. Une lecture rapide, mais lourde de sens, qui renforce encore l’aura sombre et fascinante des fils de Lorgar.

Critique complète :
https://reclusiam.net/descendants-tem...

[Ross Cudmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

A tale of the Word Bearers that starts off slow and has some middling action but ends strong. Set during the Great Crusade shortly after the events of Monarchia, the Word Bearers set about bringing a heathen world into compliance. This story serves as a dark omen of what is to come and the danger of misplaced trust.

The main protagonist is Sor Talgron, who in 40k is known as the "Warmonger". He also reappears in the Heresy novella "The Purge" which I quite enjoyed.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

From what I know of the Word Bearers, it’s a good short about them

[Lucas · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a bad first look at Lorgar and his legion, alot of unnecessary fighting for very little substance. Seemed more like a small clip in what would eventually be a full novel on the fall of the Word Bearers.