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The Horus Heresy #51
Slaves to Darkness
Book 51 in the global best selling Horus Heresy series. The end is nearly here….....what lies ahead?
After a long and gruelling conflict, the traitors at last close upon Terra. But time is dwindling for an attack. Both Guilliman and the Lion are returning with all haste, and their armies could turn the tide. The hosts of the Warmaster must unite, for only then can they attack the Throneworld itself. While Mortarion is sent on ahead as the fleet’s vanguard, it falls to Lorgar and Perturabo to marshal Fulgrim and Angron, both now elevated to daemonhood and perhaps beyond even the will of the Warmaster to command. But Horus lies wounded and as the greatest battle the galaxy has ever know looms, it is up to Maloghurst to hold his fractious Legion together and to wrench Horus himself from the edge of oblivion.
After a long and gruelling conflict, the traitors at last close upon Terra. But time is dwindling for an attack. Both Guilliman and the Lion are returning with all haste, and their armies could turn the tide. The hosts of the Warmaster must unite, for only then can they attack the Throneworld itself. While Mortarion is sent on ahead as the fleet’s vanguard, it falls to Lorgar and Perturabo to marshal Fulgrim and Angron, both now elevated to daemonhood and perhaps beyond even the will of the Warmaster to command. But Horus lies wounded and as the greatest battle the galaxy has ever know looms, it is up to Maloghurst to hold his fractious Legion together and to wrench Horus himself from the edge of oblivion.
432 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2018
121 people are currently reading
1722 people want to read
About the author
John French
154 books298 followersJohn 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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
July 16, 2019
Argonis strode forwards. The Iron Circle twitched towards him but stilled as Perturabo turned to look at him.
‘What is this?’
‘Prudence,’ said the Lord of Iron.
‘The Warmaster–’
‘Has yet to speak his own will,’ said Perturabo. His dark eyes flashed. ‘Those are Third Legion vessels in the void. The last time I saw them it was in the wake of treachery.’ He tapped the layered plates of his armour. ‘A lesson taught in blood is remembered in iron.’
An intense and entertaining tale about the traitor Primarchs and their legions assembling to Ullanor before starting their final approach to Terra, despite the huge divisions among them: Emperor's Children and World Eaters are totally degenerate and disbanded after Fulgrim and Angron demonic ascensions and Lorgar decides at last it's time for him to take the lead.
Lots and lots of characters having less or more spotlight, Lorgar and Perturabo often steal the scene, but in the end the author gives to all of them the moment of glory they deserve: just wait for Alpharius and the Crimson King to make their appearance and see yourself.
Loved all the storylines and the 40K vibe and atmosphere in this 51th Horus Heresy book. And some vivid scenes like the III Legion preparing to start its deadly concert, something like out of a Clive Barker's nightmare, are just going to stay with me forever.
An excellent and page-turning prelude to the ending of the Horus Heresy saga and the starting of the Siege of Terra, and I loved every part of it.
August 30, 2018
Dear John,
Finished Slaves to darkness this evening. What a wonderful addition to the HH series. Enjoyed it massively. 5 out of 5. Compliments to you for such an entertaining novel at this stage of our journey. Some thoughts. Mild spoilers ahead.
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First of all, the novel was entertaining all the time, all chapters. That's quite a feat for a novel, in my opinion, for most books slow down during the journey, at least now and then. This book didn't, in my opinion. Every time a new chapter started, I was kind of sad that the old one ended, wanting to know how the story of the former chapter would continu. But, when just a few lines or pages into a new chapter, I was again fully immersed into the story.
So, we come to the obvious question: which of the three storylines was the best? Layak, Maloghurst or Argonis. Difficult to say, very difficult. The Layak one was a strong one for sure, but the others were great too.
What were highlights for me in this novel? Well, I loved the Orcus part a lot, the scenes in the webway, the meeting with Fulgrim and all the stuff there. But surely also the scenes at Deluge, the one with Kharn for example, the one with Angron and Perturabo off course too. Loved the scene with Horus in the warp, or dream or whatever or wherever it was, him fighting and fighting , on and on, not wishing to submit. The Ullanor scenes were also very nice, some real emotion there, sometimes gave me the chills. These scenes combined the past (both within the series but also as an reading experience for us readers) with the now and upcoming future (siege of terra and Horus ultimate fate). The conversations between Horus and Mal, about making choices, about lies, about being nobody's slave, good stuff, bringing a bit the old HH feeling with it (Horus rising, the first part of False gods .... seems like another era almost).
The HH series are at it's best (I think) when we come along scenes in which very human things happen to very inhuman / trans - human characters. Love, brotherhood, betrayal, jealousy, honor and so on. Then the HH series are at it's hight, but also very relatable: although happening in a pure fictional world, they adres situations which can happen to you or me in everyday life. Scenes like the Aximand - Torgaddon confrontation in galaxy in flames, or Fulgrim - Ferrus in book V. This book had such of scenes too, so good stuff.
It is also a bit of 'game of thrones in space' (which is a big compliment I think), with so much back stabbing, family issues and so on. Loyalties shift, the unexpected happens, old grudges come to the fore and so on. And even with the ending (the traitors gather), there is still much more going on than just a coming together of traitors.
When considering characters, I think Lorgar and Perturabo stole the show. They were very well handled, in my opinion. Big appearances, as primarchs should be, continuing the developments made by other books and authors and still adding to them. The last scene with Lorgar was too very good, and surprising also. Very curious to see what road he will be on after this book ...
Did I miss something in this book? Well, perhaps I would have liked to see a bit more how GREAT the absence of Horus was felt in the XVI legion. We see bits about it with Aximand and Mal, but this could have had a bit more light in my opinion. To FEEL the absence of Horus even more. And near the end, we see the traitors gather. Well, I would like to see a bit more in detail: more exactly which ships, which companies and commanders and so on. And a bit more on numbers. Here and there we get a bit about numbers, but we still don't know exactly how great the forces of Horus are that are going to attack the sol system. Perturabo knows them, I would like to see a bit more of them too, also to get even more the idea of that MASSIVE scale that the siege of terra shall have. Perhaps with a new series dedicated to the siege, we get more on this. I know some fans want more 'numbers' too .....
Well, as I said, very good stuff, every chapter and every storyline keeps entertaining, not slowing down for even a bit, not a part where I didn't get through the story in a good way. A very very good addition to the series, making the hype for Titan Death, the Death guard novel and the siege even bigger. Big compliments and keep up this good work ! Cheers !
Finished Slaves to darkness this evening. What a wonderful addition to the HH series. Enjoyed it massively. 5 out of 5. Compliments to you for such an entertaining novel at this stage of our journey. Some thoughts. Mild spoilers ahead.
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First of all, the novel was entertaining all the time, all chapters. That's quite a feat for a novel, in my opinion, for most books slow down during the journey, at least now and then. This book didn't, in my opinion. Every time a new chapter started, I was kind of sad that the old one ended, wanting to know how the story of the former chapter would continu. But, when just a few lines or pages into a new chapter, I was again fully immersed into the story.
So, we come to the obvious question: which of the three storylines was the best? Layak, Maloghurst or Argonis. Difficult to say, very difficult. The Layak one was a strong one for sure, but the others were great too.
What were highlights for me in this novel? Well, I loved the Orcus part a lot, the scenes in the webway, the meeting with Fulgrim and all the stuff there. But surely also the scenes at Deluge, the one with Kharn for example, the one with Angron and Perturabo off course too. Loved the scene with Horus in the warp, or dream or whatever or wherever it was, him fighting and fighting , on and on, not wishing to submit. The Ullanor scenes were also very nice, some real emotion there, sometimes gave me the chills. These scenes combined the past (both within the series but also as an reading experience for us readers) with the now and upcoming future (siege of terra and Horus ultimate fate). The conversations between Horus and Mal, about making choices, about lies, about being nobody's slave, good stuff, bringing a bit the old HH feeling with it (Horus rising, the first part of False gods .... seems like another era almost).
The HH series are at it's best (I think) when we come along scenes in which very human things happen to very inhuman / trans - human characters. Love, brotherhood, betrayal, jealousy, honor and so on. Then the HH series are at it's hight, but also very relatable: although happening in a pure fictional world, they adres situations which can happen to you or me in everyday life. Scenes like the Aximand - Torgaddon confrontation in galaxy in flames, or Fulgrim - Ferrus in book V. This book had such of scenes too, so good stuff.
It is also a bit of 'game of thrones in space' (which is a big compliment I think), with so much back stabbing, family issues and so on. Loyalties shift, the unexpected happens, old grudges come to the fore and so on. And even with the ending (the traitors gather), there is still much more going on than just a coming together of traitors.
When considering characters, I think Lorgar and Perturabo stole the show. They were very well handled, in my opinion. Big appearances, as primarchs should be, continuing the developments made by other books and authors and still adding to them. The last scene with Lorgar was too very good, and surprising also. Very curious to see what road he will be on after this book ...
Did I miss something in this book? Well, perhaps I would have liked to see a bit more how GREAT the absence of Horus was felt in the XVI legion. We see bits about it with Aximand and Mal, but this could have had a bit more light in my opinion. To FEEL the absence of Horus even more. And near the end, we see the traitors gather. Well, I would like to see a bit more in detail: more exactly which ships, which companies and commanders and so on. And a bit more on numbers. Here and there we get a bit about numbers, but we still don't know exactly how great the forces of Horus are that are going to attack the sol system. Perturabo knows them, I would like to see a bit more of them too, also to get even more the idea of that MASSIVE scale that the siege of terra shall have. Perhaps with a new series dedicated to the siege, we get more on this. I know some fans want more 'numbers' too .....
Well, as I said, very good stuff, every chapter and every storyline keeps entertaining, not slowing down for even a bit, not a part where I didn't get through the story in a good way. A very very good addition to the series, making the hype for Titan Death, the Death guard novel and the siege even bigger. Big compliments and keep up this good work ! Cheers !
May 19, 2021
Perhaps I am a bit to harsh with my rating but at the halfway mark, I could not help and say to myself; what is the point of this book? The possible answer I have, did not help.
To me this book feels like a clean up operation, 50 books in and still not all pieces were in place for the big finale, the siege of Terra and it feels as if they did not want to just make them show up at the first book of that series so they had to write their final gathering before the big push. But at the same time they also wanted to write a story of Lorgar who was tempted to grab power from Horus, they also wanted to talk about lingering doubts within Horus, they felt a need to give Leaman Russ's spear assault a bit more meaning, they wanted to write how the first Iron warrior obliterator came to be, they wanted to make a symbolic reconnection to Horus big triumph at Ullanor and present this twisted dark mirror and they wanted Angron and Perturabo to have a fight and they .... See what I am trying to say here? It was like they had this pot full of ideas that never had gotten their moment and decided to pour them all in one book. It is just to much.
In fact this is actually three stories in one with 4 POV in total, one for the sons of Horus, one for the wordbearers and two in a sort for the Iron warriors; all of whom switched every 5 or 8 pages. I can't say I disliked it but they did do some really awkward cuts and to be honest I was the most invested in the Iron warriors bit, especially the and thus finally giving something appropriate and specific for to link them to the Warp and Chaos.
So in the end did I like it? Yes kinda but it still feels a bit pointless and even tough it had its moments (the Nightlords fanboy did appreciate the covenant of blood showing up for the final muster) it still felt like a bag of unused ideas that were not enough to carry a book on their own and they did not feel like writing another short stories collection. One final note, I know it was part of his dellirium but the dark mirror Ullanor moment felt a bit hollow, Horus got his dark ullanor moment back at the end of the dropsite massacre so why this felt necessary? I really don't know....
Only for those who feel the need to read and collect it all or if you can find it cheap second hand.
To me this book feels like a clean up operation, 50 books in and still not all pieces were in place for the big finale, the siege of Terra and it feels as if they did not want to just make them show up at the first book of that series so they had to write their final gathering before the big push. But at the same time they also wanted to write a story of Lorgar who was tempted to grab power from Horus, they also wanted to talk about lingering doubts within Horus, they felt a need to give Leaman Russ's spear assault a bit more meaning, they wanted to write how the first Iron warrior obliterator came to be, they wanted to make a symbolic reconnection to Horus big triumph at Ullanor and present this twisted dark mirror and they wanted Angron and Perturabo to have a fight and they .... See what I am trying to say here? It was like they had this pot full of ideas that never had gotten their moment and decided to pour them all in one book. It is just to much.
In fact this is actually three stories in one with 4 POV in total, one for the sons of Horus, one for the wordbearers and two in a sort for the Iron warriors; all of whom switched every 5 or 8 pages. I can't say I disliked it but they did do some really awkward cuts and to be honest I was the most invested in the Iron warriors bit, especially the and thus finally giving something appropriate and specific for to link them to the Warp and Chaos.
So in the end did I like it? Yes kinda but it still feels a bit pointless and even tough it had its moments (the Nightlords fanboy did appreciate the covenant of blood showing up for the final muster) it still felt like a bag of unused ideas that were not enough to carry a book on their own and they did not feel like writing another short stories collection. One final note, I know it was part of his dellirium but the dark mirror Ullanor moment felt a bit hollow, Horus got his dark ullanor moment back at the end of the dropsite massacre so why this felt necessary? I really don't know....
Only for those who feel the need to read and collect it all or if you can find it cheap second hand.
July 7, 2018
Book fifty-one in the Horus Heresy series, this is a rare beast – a Heresy novel focusing entirely on unambiguously traitor perspectives. As Horus is brought bleeding from the surface of Beta Garmon to the Vengeful Spirit, Maloghurst issues orders to gather Horus’ brothers together. While Lorgar and Perturabo are tasked with finding and controlling their daemonic brothers Fulgrim and Angron, Maloghurst calls on all of his political nous and accumulated power to steer the overall campaign in Horus’ absence. With Abaddon away chasing the Wolves, Maloghurst is left clashing with what remains of the Mournival.
It’s a story which boils down to one thing – control, whether in terms of the warp, other characters, or ongoing events. There are some intriguing parallels between the traitors as we see them here and the loyalists we’ve seen elsewhere, but it’s clear that there are profound cracks in the traitor alliance as various characters work to turn the situation in their own favour. Maloghurst’s attempts to control the Primarchs and his fellow Sons of Horus in Lupercal’s name, the choices both Lorgar and Perturabo make in response and the ways in which they interact with their much-changed brothers – it’s all fascinating, conflict-ridden stuff, and while Horus himself isn’t really centre stage, his presence looms large throughout. By the time the events in this book take place, the traitors will be set for the final approach to Terra; how they get to that point is very interesting indeed.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/06/...
It’s a story which boils down to one thing – control, whether in terms of the warp, other characters, or ongoing events. There are some intriguing parallels between the traitors as we see them here and the loyalists we’ve seen elsewhere, but it’s clear that there are profound cracks in the traitor alliance as various characters work to turn the situation in their own favour. Maloghurst’s attempts to control the Primarchs and his fellow Sons of Horus in Lupercal’s name, the choices both Lorgar and Perturabo make in response and the ways in which they interact with their much-changed brothers – it’s all fascinating, conflict-ridden stuff, and while Horus himself isn’t really centre stage, his presence looms large throughout. By the time the events in this book take place, the traitors will be set for the final approach to Terra; how they get to that point is very interesting indeed.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/06/...
August 16, 2018
For the last three books (ignoring the anthologies, of course) the Heresy has been closing off plot lines. The fate of several legions has been dealt with, a few long-standing questions resolved and side stories closed off. We've had the end of the Imperium Secundus, seen what becomes of the Space Wolves and both the White Scars and Blood Angels are at Terra. So, Slaves to Darkness does the next thing the story needed: Unity. While the subtitle might be "Chaos undivided" a more accurate one would be "Let's get the band back together".
Synopsis
Horus has fallen. At the moment of his legion's triumph in breaking the Imperial blockade to Terra, the wound inflicted by Leman Russ has torn open once more. It is more than merely a mortal blow, and his very spirit has seemingly been splintered by it. As the Sons of Horus fight to disguise this truth from his brothers and hold the battle line together, other primarchs are dispatched to find their wayward brothers. With the Siege of Terra upon them, it is time to gather every remaining astartes within the traitor legions and march on the Emperor's palace.
The Good
Surprisingly, one of the big highlights of the book proves to be Perturabo. John French's depiction of the character has not been a popular one in the past, often reducing the Lord of Iron to a screaming maniac. Along with the Forge World rulebooks, it seems to have approached him with the impression that he's more interested in finding excuses to kill his own troops than effectively leading his forces into battle. This was most obvious when compared with the (if somewhat problematic) more detailed look at the character Angel Exterminatus offered, which gave him some much-needed depth. More than a few people might have expected the return of the hammer-wielding madman, but the Perturabo we get here is far more tempered in his nature.
The Iron Warriors primarch is blunt, expects total obedience and will bump off officers at a rate a Commissar would baulk at, but it's not without reason. The way he's written doesn't make it seem as if he's looking for an excuse to kill everyone around him, or simply has rage as his only emotion. It's far closer in nature to the original Index Astartes source material than with many past works, and what we have here more than makes up for a few past mistakes.
Equally, Fulgrim has undergone a smooth transition to his daemonic self, shedding the last few humane qualities which clung to the character. He's undeniably Slaaneshi, and the way in which he revels in his excesses is certainly something we have seen before. However, the use of call-backs to his past self and grim reflections of prior books. While this is true of Angron as well, Fulgrim's nature allows him to converse, explore and respond in more ways than simple violence. Combined with the openly flippant and unconcerned nature, it makes him an amusing contrast to the more dedicated primarchs. As a quick example, when he's found in this book and asked to take control of his legion again, he's living it up on a daemon world created by his patron god, and openly tells his brothers to bugger off.
The reason I highlight these two, in particular, is that the book needed a solid basis for the others to work from and build the rest of the narrative around. Without that, the story would have been utterly overburdened in trying to divide its focus between so many different primarchs, their subordinates, and other characters besides. While the likes of Lorgar and Malgohurst also serve as a means to drive the narrative forward - and it's always nice to see the Twisted take a front row seat again - it needed a bolder and more brazenly examine the inherent problem the traitors suffer: Chaos is chaos.
That comment might sound like an obvious one, but all too often Chaos itself is treated as an ordered and regimented thing. It's more a way to show someone go a bit mad, glue some spikes onto their armour and then fly about with all these new daemon powers from one of the four gods. Despite all the various novels which directly contradict this, the general fandom view of this does tend to categorize and label Chaos in this easily defined manner. It's something which is admittedly not helped by the use of daemons emulating their tabletop models, but that's an unfortunately unavoidable issue when it comes to this sort of thing. Chaos, as it's shown in this book, is self-destructive, completely corroding and far from this path to easy power than you might expect. many points serve as a slap in the face if you're wholly aware of its self-destructive properties, as it finds ways to constantly remind you of just how this effects anything on a large scale.
The traitor legions as they are will not exactly be bringing their A-game to Terra. Many have lost more than they have inherently gained with their alignment to Chaos, as they have suffered a severe breakdown in discipline, supplies and control since the start. While The Path of Heaven had briefly cited this with Horus' conversation to Mortarion, Slaves to Darkness truly shows it. It explores it, it details it, it takes a massive great spotlight and shines it on the legions saying that "This is Chaos", with the larger forces working almost in spite of themselves. Because of their disorganised nature and lack of true investment in the wider war, Horus' strike on Terra has become as much a decapitation effort as a hail mary pass. His legion's way was to claim the heads of the enemy leadership before dividing and destroying the body. Yet, this has turned into an effort to execute the strike while he still has forces who will effectively coordinate such an attack.
What should be praised with French's efforts is that, while this is an exploration of Chaos' weaknesses, it never tries to make the legions themselves truly weak. It avoids the Iron Hands syndrome of taking the message of weakness and emphasising it or exaggerating it until any strength is wiped away. For example, it's made clear that Angron is a loose cannon and a monster who will butcher everything in his path without pause or remorse. Yet, even as it details this, it never downplays the fact he can murder everything in his path, and Khorne's blessing will allow him to solo whole armies at a time. The powers of Chaos can teleport entire legions across light-years of space, bend the fabric of reality and bring a man back from the brink of death. So, while it might show how the empire Horus dreamed of was destined to fail, it never downplays the individual benefits of the Ruinous Powers.
The last point of praise - the last one I can praise without spoiling some of the best bits of the book, such as the saga of a certain Iron Warrior - is its use of scale. We all know that the Siege of Terra is going to be huge. Really, it's the big battle of the setting, with a vast engagement so huge that it is a war unto itself. As such, a few writers might have made the mistake of trying to directly compete with the Siege on that front, but instead, it opts to use scale in a very different manner. By having the viewpoint characters be so diversely scattered throughout the galaxy, by having each repeatedly call-back to past events and story arcs, there's a true sense of immensity to it. It feels as if this is building toward a storm, and serves as a reminder of just how huge all that has come before it truly was.
Even when the book does delve into bolter porn, it's well-timed and extremely well planned. Much of this surrounds the Iron Warriors, but it's used to comment on the state they are in. It draws attention to how the world has changed and ultimately what has become of the well-supplied supplied forces which once made up the legions. This is most evident during the rearguard actions against the Ultramarines and their allied battlegroups, but it even shows up on a very ground level view. Away from the primarchs, the gods and the prophecies, you can see how this has reshaped the soldiers fighting in them even when they are just astartes fighting other astartes bereft of Chaos' direct influence. Plus it even tries to deal with one long-standing issue of casualties, but that does, unfortunately, open up one possible plot hole as it is.
So, with that final note, it's onto the bad parts, as you might imagine.
The Bad
The book doesn't know how to use all of the primarchs. That's all that needs to be said at the start here: It doesn't know how to fully explore and examine each in the right way. This results in several having little more than cameo appearances in the final chapters, mentions or even existing in the background. This could easily be forgiven to a point, but even those which are given the spotlight fail to fully stand out. The reason Perturabo and Fulgrim's roles in the book were so openly praised is that without them this entire novel would have failed. While Lorgar does play an essential role within the story, his presence seems to be there as a mere vehicle. He exists to show off a few interesting scenes while punting the story along to a new location, and his own personal developments only emerge very late into the story. Angron suffers from a very similar issue, in that he exists largely as an obstacle for Perturabo rather than offering more insight into his new daemonic state.
While you might have thought that Horus would be at the forefront of this, even that isn't true. The few moments he gets to highlight his character almost purely emphasise the past and serve either as flashbacks or minor conversations. He's sidelined throughout much of the tale due to the after-effects of his duel in Wolfsbane, and this only hurts the book. Despite the fact his very name is in the series headline, we have seen very little of him overall in this saga. The last time he took any role of true prominence was all the way back in Vengeful Spirit (a deeply flawed book to say the least) and given how his final moment will soon be upon him, he needed more time devoted to his character. By sidelining and limiting his presence here, it didn't hurt the book but it seems like a move which will hurt the series.
What was definitely a much more negative move on the part of John French was how important the Sons of Horus truly are within the story. Compare the opening trilogy with this book and you'll note a number of major differences, the least of all is how it fails to give Aximand and Abaddon anything of relevance to do. While the Mournival is supposed to be a reflection of Horus himself, and a vital part of the legion, it's all but forgotten here. Remember how Aximand was traumatised by his need to kill his brothers? Forgotten and discarded. Remember how Abaddon effectively ceases to exist for whole eras of the series? That comes back in full force here. Multiple C-list characters take their place, and this only further undermines the legion as a whole as it robs them of an opportunity to explore their identity.
Now, as great as the initial trilogy was there's no denying that the Luna Wolves lacked something in comparison to the other legions. They were not nearly so solidly defined in terms of internal culture, style and visual characteristics. That was because this was Horus' story at the time, and that of Loken. Yet as time moved on, more and more novels began to better utilise the internal cultures of their legions, from the Thousand Sons to the World Eaters. Slaves to Darkness could have corrected this - it certainly had space, but it, unfortunately, failed to use it effectively. Instead, it uses the time to try and flesh out characters who will never be seen again beyond this book, or restore a status quo in time for the Siege itself. This is to say nothing of a major twist involving Maloghurst which was likely intended to be tragic and impactful, but it comes across as infuriating due to its timing and delivery.
The final issue is perhaps the greatest problem which has plagued the Horus Heresy series since the day Fulgrim was published. While some books veered away from this and some actively tried to correct it, time and time again the stories of characters would push too far forward. The state of the galaxy, the state of the legions, the situation with the primarchs themselves, everything doesn't seem like it's from M31 anymore. It's all too close to M41, and in the space of fifteen years the galaxy has more or less reached the state it's supposed to reach in ten thousand. While the Horus Heresy is definitely an integral part of the setting - arguably the most important chapter of its history - it should have been the start of the decay which set into the Imperium. Instead, it's already reached a point where we're now supposed to believe it will remain at, without any change, for the next ten millennia.
The Verdict
At the end of the day, Slaves to Darkness is still a John French book. It benefits from his descriptions, still and punchy if poetic descriptions, but it stumbles at a few too many points to truly stand out. As result, it's a serviceable tale with some decent moments and interesting concepts, but that's it. Those fully invested in the series will want to get this one due to how it sets up the final arc of this long-running story, and for its more engaging chapters. At the same time though, you will need to stomach as many disappointing moments as great ones to get through this novel.
Synopsis
Horus has fallen. At the moment of his legion's triumph in breaking the Imperial blockade to Terra, the wound inflicted by Leman Russ has torn open once more. It is more than merely a mortal blow, and his very spirit has seemingly been splintered by it. As the Sons of Horus fight to disguise this truth from his brothers and hold the battle line together, other primarchs are dispatched to find their wayward brothers. With the Siege of Terra upon them, it is time to gather every remaining astartes within the traitor legions and march on the Emperor's palace.
The Good
Surprisingly, one of the big highlights of the book proves to be Perturabo. John French's depiction of the character has not been a popular one in the past, often reducing the Lord of Iron to a screaming maniac. Along with the Forge World rulebooks, it seems to have approached him with the impression that he's more interested in finding excuses to kill his own troops than effectively leading his forces into battle. This was most obvious when compared with the (if somewhat problematic) more detailed look at the character Angel Exterminatus offered, which gave him some much-needed depth. More than a few people might have expected the return of the hammer-wielding madman, but the Perturabo we get here is far more tempered in his nature.
The Iron Warriors primarch is blunt, expects total obedience and will bump off officers at a rate a Commissar would baulk at, but it's not without reason. The way he's written doesn't make it seem as if he's looking for an excuse to kill everyone around him, or simply has rage as his only emotion. It's far closer in nature to the original Index Astartes source material than with many past works, and what we have here more than makes up for a few past mistakes.
Equally, Fulgrim has undergone a smooth transition to his daemonic self, shedding the last few humane qualities which clung to the character. He's undeniably Slaaneshi, and the way in which he revels in his excesses is certainly something we have seen before. However, the use of call-backs to his past self and grim reflections of prior books. While this is true of Angron as well, Fulgrim's nature allows him to converse, explore and respond in more ways than simple violence. Combined with the openly flippant and unconcerned nature, it makes him an amusing contrast to the more dedicated primarchs. As a quick example, when he's found in this book and asked to take control of his legion again, he's living it up on a daemon world created by his patron god, and openly tells his brothers to bugger off.
The reason I highlight these two, in particular, is that the book needed a solid basis for the others to work from and build the rest of the narrative around. Without that, the story would have been utterly overburdened in trying to divide its focus between so many different primarchs, their subordinates, and other characters besides. While the likes of Lorgar and Malgohurst also serve as a means to drive the narrative forward - and it's always nice to see the Twisted take a front row seat again - it needed a bolder and more brazenly examine the inherent problem the traitors suffer: Chaos is chaos.
That comment might sound like an obvious one, but all too often Chaos itself is treated as an ordered and regimented thing. It's more a way to show someone go a bit mad, glue some spikes onto their armour and then fly about with all these new daemon powers from one of the four gods. Despite all the various novels which directly contradict this, the general fandom view of this does tend to categorize and label Chaos in this easily defined manner. It's something which is admittedly not helped by the use of daemons emulating their tabletop models, but that's an unfortunately unavoidable issue when it comes to this sort of thing. Chaos, as it's shown in this book, is self-destructive, completely corroding and far from this path to easy power than you might expect. many points serve as a slap in the face if you're wholly aware of its self-destructive properties, as it finds ways to constantly remind you of just how this effects anything on a large scale.
The traitor legions as they are will not exactly be bringing their A-game to Terra. Many have lost more than they have inherently gained with their alignment to Chaos, as they have suffered a severe breakdown in discipline, supplies and control since the start. While The Path of Heaven had briefly cited this with Horus' conversation to Mortarion, Slaves to Darkness truly shows it. It explores it, it details it, it takes a massive great spotlight and shines it on the legions saying that "This is Chaos", with the larger forces working almost in spite of themselves. Because of their disorganised nature and lack of true investment in the wider war, Horus' strike on Terra has become as much a decapitation effort as a hail mary pass. His legion's way was to claim the heads of the enemy leadership before dividing and destroying the body. Yet, this has turned into an effort to execute the strike while he still has forces who will effectively coordinate such an attack.
What should be praised with French's efforts is that, while this is an exploration of Chaos' weaknesses, it never tries to make the legions themselves truly weak. It avoids the Iron Hands syndrome of taking the message of weakness and emphasising it or exaggerating it until any strength is wiped away. For example, it's made clear that Angron is a loose cannon and a monster who will butcher everything in his path without pause or remorse. Yet, even as it details this, it never downplays the fact he can murder everything in his path, and Khorne's blessing will allow him to solo whole armies at a time. The powers of Chaos can teleport entire legions across light-years of space, bend the fabric of reality and bring a man back from the brink of death. So, while it might show how the empire Horus dreamed of was destined to fail, it never downplays the individual benefits of the Ruinous Powers.
The last point of praise - the last one I can praise without spoiling some of the best bits of the book, such as the saga of a certain Iron Warrior - is its use of scale. We all know that the Siege of Terra is going to be huge. Really, it's the big battle of the setting, with a vast engagement so huge that it is a war unto itself. As such, a few writers might have made the mistake of trying to directly compete with the Siege on that front, but instead, it opts to use scale in a very different manner. By having the viewpoint characters be so diversely scattered throughout the galaxy, by having each repeatedly call-back to past events and story arcs, there's a true sense of immensity to it. It feels as if this is building toward a storm, and serves as a reminder of just how huge all that has come before it truly was.
Even when the book does delve into bolter porn, it's well-timed and extremely well planned. Much of this surrounds the Iron Warriors, but it's used to comment on the state they are in. It draws attention to how the world has changed and ultimately what has become of the well-supplied supplied forces which once made up the legions. This is most evident during the rearguard actions against the Ultramarines and their allied battlegroups, but it even shows up on a very ground level view. Away from the primarchs, the gods and the prophecies, you can see how this has reshaped the soldiers fighting in them even when they are just astartes fighting other astartes bereft of Chaos' direct influence. Plus it even tries to deal with one long-standing issue of casualties, but that does, unfortunately, open up one possible plot hole as it is.
So, with that final note, it's onto the bad parts, as you might imagine.
The Bad
The book doesn't know how to use all of the primarchs. That's all that needs to be said at the start here: It doesn't know how to fully explore and examine each in the right way. This results in several having little more than cameo appearances in the final chapters, mentions or even existing in the background. This could easily be forgiven to a point, but even those which are given the spotlight fail to fully stand out. The reason Perturabo and Fulgrim's roles in the book were so openly praised is that without them this entire novel would have failed. While Lorgar does play an essential role within the story, his presence seems to be there as a mere vehicle. He exists to show off a few interesting scenes while punting the story along to a new location, and his own personal developments only emerge very late into the story. Angron suffers from a very similar issue, in that he exists largely as an obstacle for Perturabo rather than offering more insight into his new daemonic state.
While you might have thought that Horus would be at the forefront of this, even that isn't true. The few moments he gets to highlight his character almost purely emphasise the past and serve either as flashbacks or minor conversations. He's sidelined throughout much of the tale due to the after-effects of his duel in Wolfsbane, and this only hurts the book. Despite the fact his very name is in the series headline, we have seen very little of him overall in this saga. The last time he took any role of true prominence was all the way back in Vengeful Spirit (a deeply flawed book to say the least) and given how his final moment will soon be upon him, he needed more time devoted to his character. By sidelining and limiting his presence here, it didn't hurt the book but it seems like a move which will hurt the series.
What was definitely a much more negative move on the part of John French was how important the Sons of Horus truly are within the story. Compare the opening trilogy with this book and you'll note a number of major differences, the least of all is how it fails to give Aximand and Abaddon anything of relevance to do. While the Mournival is supposed to be a reflection of Horus himself, and a vital part of the legion, it's all but forgotten here. Remember how Aximand was traumatised by his need to kill his brothers? Forgotten and discarded. Remember how Abaddon effectively ceases to exist for whole eras of the series? That comes back in full force here. Multiple C-list characters take their place, and this only further undermines the legion as a whole as it robs them of an opportunity to explore their identity.
Now, as great as the initial trilogy was there's no denying that the Luna Wolves lacked something in comparison to the other legions. They were not nearly so solidly defined in terms of internal culture, style and visual characteristics. That was because this was Horus' story at the time, and that of Loken. Yet as time moved on, more and more novels began to better utilise the internal cultures of their legions, from the Thousand Sons to the World Eaters. Slaves to Darkness could have corrected this - it certainly had space, but it, unfortunately, failed to use it effectively. Instead, it uses the time to try and flesh out characters who will never be seen again beyond this book, or restore a status quo in time for the Siege itself. This is to say nothing of a major twist involving Maloghurst which was likely intended to be tragic and impactful, but it comes across as infuriating due to its timing and delivery.
The final issue is perhaps the greatest problem which has plagued the Horus Heresy series since the day Fulgrim was published. While some books veered away from this and some actively tried to correct it, time and time again the stories of characters would push too far forward. The state of the galaxy, the state of the legions, the situation with the primarchs themselves, everything doesn't seem like it's from M31 anymore. It's all too close to M41, and in the space of fifteen years the galaxy has more or less reached the state it's supposed to reach in ten thousand. While the Horus Heresy is definitely an integral part of the setting - arguably the most important chapter of its history - it should have been the start of the decay which set into the Imperium. Instead, it's already reached a point where we're now supposed to believe it will remain at, without any change, for the next ten millennia.
The Verdict
At the end of the day, Slaves to Darkness is still a John French book. It benefits from his descriptions, still and punchy if poetic descriptions, but it stumbles at a few too many points to truly stand out. As result, it's a serviceable tale with some decent moments and interesting concepts, but that's it. Those fully invested in the series will want to get this one due to how it sets up the final arc of this long-running story, and for its more engaging chapters. At the same time though, you will need to stomach as many disappointing moments as great ones to get through this novel.
May 25, 2024
May 2024 Read using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order Omnibus XX Shadows of the Warmaster IV The Dead and the Dying (https://www.heresyomnibus.com/omnibus...) as part of my Oath of Moment to complete the Horus Heresy series and extras.
I really needed this after Titandeath and severe ADHD and insomnia could not dent my excitement and focus on this book!
On the eve of the attack of the Sol System and the Siege of Terra, Horus is in a belated bad way from Russ' thrust with the Spear of Dionysus, but the forces need to be mustered, so various groups lead by Lorgar and Perturabo venture into the Realm of Chaos to collect the Daemon Primarchs, while the Traitor Legions try to reach their cousins in the material realm. Malaghurst has his own journey within the mind of the Warmaster. The questions are can Chaos remain undivided for their great endeavour, who will heed the call to arms, does Horus want this and did he even want to Warmaster?
Slaves to Darkness is the George Lucas “It's like poetry…it rhymes” quote actualised. The novel encapsulates the entire series with echoes, reflections, and callbacks that actually resonate as it weaves a story from various perspectives and their different relationships and journeys to bring the divided forces of the Warmaster together to begin the Siege. The fractured narrative reflects how fractured Horus is since Moloch and the delayed devastation and realisation caused by the blow Russ dealt him with the Spear of Dionysus.
The story is told through alternating chapters following the various groups in varying degrees of reality and surreality and it's just one of the most John French books ever with gloriously weird and at once tangible and incomprehensible descriptions of the Realms of Chaos and fascinating insights to many characters in that signature way he managed to ground these ludicrous concepts and characters, while making them unfathomable beings of myth and legend.
To me this book is very much a double feature end of the main series alongside The Buried Dagger from the Imperium's perspective, and it's truly wonderful that, despite the vacillating quality of the books, especially towards the end, French and Swallow truly stuck the landing, ending the main series in style, and laying a wonderful foundation for the Siege of Terra.
I couldn't get enough of this and listened to the majority of the audiobook in pretty much one sitting and during the reading my ADHD and insomnia were so out of control, it's a miracle and a testament to the quality of this book that I couldn't be deterred or lose too much focus. I felt so rough that when I was initially going to review this yesterday, I paused to look up something, didn't look it up, forgot I was even doing the review for an hour later when I got a notification, went to do it, but had a migraine coming on so I went for a lay down with a cold mask, attempted to put the next story on, put the wrong one on, and promptly passed out and slept through to the morning.
I couldn't be happier that this was literally the last thing I needed to read to complete the main Horus Heresy Series, the numbers below are very wrong I realised later. I also cannot wait to read it again as part of my Omnibus Ω The Flavour Savour, my own essence of the Horus Heresy retrospective omnibus to read through before The End and the Death (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1B...).
This might not necessarily be challenging for my absolute favourite novel of the series, but it's definitely in the category of one of the ones I enjoyed the most that didn't make me cry.
***
I loved this and could not be more happy to have been way off in my calculations and discover that having finished this I have now completed at least everything of the main Horus Heresy Series, novels, novellas, and more! I still have Black Shields, Cthonia's Reckoning, the Primarchs anthologies, Eidolon: Auric Hammer, and any other stories/ audio not collected in the main anthologies, including one final Primarchs story to finish this omnibus, and then I will only have my retrospective flavour omnibus to finalise and re-read, before the Siege of Terra and the end of this wild endeavour!
I am having a rough time right now. My insomnia has meant I didn't sleep the night before and got very little last night, chronic pain and IBS are wild, and ADHD is so bad I intended to write this review earlier, but went to look something up, didn't look it up, and then completely forgot that I was going to write a review until I got a notification an hour later, so when I say this weird book with constantly changing perspectives had me absolutely gripped, know it was fighting a tough battle. Also, if this review is badly written and brief, this is why.
Actually, I think I have a migraine coming so I'm going to come back to this after laying down with a cold mask, but I absolutely loved this!
Through the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project and my own additions, I have currently read all 54 Horus Heresy main series novels (+1 repeat), all 25 novellas (+2 repeats), 137 short stories/ audio dramas (inc. 10+ repeats), as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, all 17 Primarchs novels, 4 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, 3 Characters novels, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels and 1 short story...this run, as well as writing 1 short story myself.
I couldn't be more appreciative of the phenomenal work of the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project, which has made this ridiculous endeavour all the better and has inspired me to create and collate a collection of Horus Heresy and Warhammer 40,000 documents and checklists (http://tiny.cc/im00yz). There are now too many items to list here, but there is a contents and explainer document here (http://tiny.cc/nj00yz).
I really needed this after Titandeath and severe ADHD and insomnia could not dent my excitement and focus on this book!
On the eve of the attack of the Sol System and the Siege of Terra, Horus is in a belated bad way from Russ' thrust with the Spear of Dionysus, but the forces need to be mustered, so various groups lead by Lorgar and Perturabo venture into the Realm of Chaos to collect the Daemon Primarchs, while the Traitor Legions try to reach their cousins in the material realm. Malaghurst has his own journey within the mind of the Warmaster. The questions are can Chaos remain undivided for their great endeavour, who will heed the call to arms, does Horus want this and did he even want to Warmaster?
Slaves to Darkness is the George Lucas “It's like poetry…it rhymes” quote actualised. The novel encapsulates the entire series with echoes, reflections, and callbacks that actually resonate as it weaves a story from various perspectives and their different relationships and journeys to bring the divided forces of the Warmaster together to begin the Siege. The fractured narrative reflects how fractured Horus is since Moloch and the delayed devastation and realisation caused by the blow Russ dealt him with the Spear of Dionysus.
The story is told through alternating chapters following the various groups in varying degrees of reality and surreality and it's just one of the most John French books ever with gloriously weird and at once tangible and incomprehensible descriptions of the Realms of Chaos and fascinating insights to many characters in that signature way he managed to ground these ludicrous concepts and characters, while making them unfathomable beings of myth and legend.
To me this book is very much a double feature end of the main series alongside The Buried Dagger from the Imperium's perspective, and it's truly wonderful that, despite the vacillating quality of the books, especially towards the end, French and Swallow truly stuck the landing, ending the main series in style, and laying a wonderful foundation for the Siege of Terra.
I couldn't get enough of this and listened to the majority of the audiobook in pretty much one sitting and during the reading my ADHD and insomnia were so out of control, it's a miracle and a testament to the quality of this book that I couldn't be deterred or lose too much focus. I felt so rough that when I was initially going to review this yesterday, I paused to look up something, didn't look it up, forgot I was even doing the review for an hour later when I got a notification, went to do it, but had a migraine coming on so I went for a lay down with a cold mask, attempted to put the next story on, put the wrong one on, and promptly passed out and slept through to the morning.
I couldn't be happier that this was literally the last thing I needed to read to complete the main Horus Heresy Series, the numbers below are very wrong I realised later. I also cannot wait to read it again as part of my Omnibus Ω The Flavour Savour, my own essence of the Horus Heresy retrospective omnibus to read through before The End and the Death (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1B...).
This might not necessarily be challenging for my absolute favourite novel of the series, but it's definitely in the category of one of the ones I enjoyed the most that didn't make me cry.
***
I loved this and could not be more happy to have been way off in my calculations and discover that having finished this I have now completed at least everything of the main Horus Heresy Series, novels, novellas, and more! I still have Black Shields, Cthonia's Reckoning, the Primarchs anthologies, Eidolon: Auric Hammer, and any other stories/ audio not collected in the main anthologies, including one final Primarchs story to finish this omnibus, and then I will only have my retrospective flavour omnibus to finalise and re-read, before the Siege of Terra and the end of this wild endeavour!
I am having a rough time right now. My insomnia has meant I didn't sleep the night before and got very little last night, chronic pain and IBS are wild, and ADHD is so bad I intended to write this review earlier, but went to look something up, didn't look it up, and then completely forgot that I was going to write a review until I got a notification an hour later, so when I say this weird book with constantly changing perspectives had me absolutely gripped, know it was fighting a tough battle. Also, if this review is badly written and brief, this is why.
Actually, I think I have a migraine coming so I'm going to come back to this after laying down with a cold mask, but I absolutely loved this!
Through the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project and my own additions, I have currently read all 54 Horus Heresy main series novels (+1 repeat), all 25 novellas (+2 repeats), 137 short stories/ audio dramas (inc. 10+ repeats), as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, all 17 Primarchs novels, 4 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, 3 Characters novels, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels and 1 short story...this run, as well as writing 1 short story myself.
I couldn't be more appreciative of the phenomenal work of the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project, which has made this ridiculous endeavour all the better and has inspired me to create and collate a collection of Horus Heresy and Warhammer 40,000 documents and checklists (http://tiny.cc/im00yz). There are now too many items to list here, but there is a contents and explainer document here (http://tiny.cc/nj00yz).
August 14, 2018
Let’s just subtitle this one “Perturabo fething rules” and be done with it.
May 20, 2021
In the Voices of Heresy Humble Bundle there are audiobooks or higher quality shorter productions called "audio dramas" of this infinite drag of a series. There are novels one through six and then there is a long gap and we get novels #51-#54, the last ones in the HH series. At first I was confused, why such a selection? At first glance you "miss" a lot of novels, but when I read 4 and 5 and now also number 51, it became clear that Games Workshop really has no decency. The whole series is just dragging on a simple story. So I guess Humble Bundle got it right. You can easily skip the ~45 novels in the between.
If interested in some happenings in between, you could read the summary of Imperium Secundus wiki article to get the general gest of what has happened https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Impe...
And for friends of short summary, you could only read chapter 19, although nobody would fault you if you'd just ignore the whole thing.
It has been clear from the beginning what is the endgame for Horus and 50 novels in, nothing much has happened. Basically it has been a slow grind towards Earth and not much progress is made even in "Slaves to Darkness". It has descended into a soap opera of the primarchs with a dash of mandatory kicking of everyone's respective behinds. Not that it would really matter anything or more likely the importantce is not really conveyed to the readers. It's just some cannon fodder and the "higher immortal beings" throwing empty words at each other.
Part of the Voices of Heresy Humble Bundle a while back https://www.humblebundle.com/books/ho...
If interested in some happenings in between, you could read the summary of Imperium Secundus wiki article to get the general gest of what has happened https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Impe...
And for friends of short summary, you could only read chapter 19, although nobody would fault you if you'd just ignore the whole thing.
It has been clear from the beginning what is the endgame for Horus and 50 novels in, nothing much has happened. Basically it has been a slow grind towards Earth and not much progress is made even in "Slaves to Darkness". It has descended into a soap opera of the primarchs with a dash of mandatory kicking of everyone's respective behinds. Not that it would really matter anything or more likely the importantce is not really conveyed to the readers. It's just some cannon fodder and the "higher immortal beings" throwing empty words at each other.
Part of the Voices of Heresy Humble Bundle a while back https://www.humblebundle.com/books/ho...
November 20, 2019
This was an absolutely riveting book. Commenting too much gives away major spoilers, but the look at the fallen Primarchs and how their plan to invade Terra came together and was influenced by Chaos itself.....just magnificent.
This book is the best look so far into the forces of Chaos and setting the table for the major events to come.
Absolute must read.
This book is the best look so far into the forces of Chaos and setting the table for the major events to come.
Absolute must read.
November 16, 2025
Genuinely couldn't put this down tonight, 30 pages turned into 100 because my God the pace is breakneck. There's so much to cover and tie up and I think it's an impossible job to do perfectly but French gets so close with this. Perturabo gets the main wins in this book he's fantastic but God, that final scene Horus has is really heartbreaking in the best way. I would have happily had another few chapters with the muster but I understand there's only so much time.
September 22, 2018
It's been a while, but I'm finally here. Up to date with the Horus Heresy, aside from a few minor things I skipped and plan to catch up on in the nearest future. This book started out nicely, intriguing and exceptionally atmospheric, yet I did not get everything I wanted from it. I feel like I will have to read it again to fully appreciate the experience. My initial excitement was based on the fact that I always preferred reading about the traitor legions, their stories being more deep and complicated, often having better character development. I did not get enough of it here. I can't see this novel being enjoyable as a stand alone, which is a major issue for me personally. I believe each book in the series has to be readable and understandable to a person who has't read every other thing published before it and I see this one relying heavily on the previous HH pieces.
The book involves a whole bunch of Primarchs along with familiar astartes, their stories either being wrapped up or moving gradually towards the long awaited event of the Siege of Terra. I especially enjoyed the portrayal of Perturabo who keeps becoming fuller with each book he's in. Even more I enjoyed Fulgrim who at this point couldn't care less about his brothers' goals and prefers to just bathe in lavishly grotesque excess, fully embracing the gifts of the Prince of Pleasure. I feel like the portrayal of Angron has been less strong, a little brushed over, and Lorgar's arch has been too predictable and repetitive for his character. Horus and Maloghurst scenes seemed to be sort of a weaker version of the shards of Magnus scenes from the Crimson King novel, they are not entirely similar, but there is a resemblance.
We meet some new characters as well, including the magnificent Zardu Layak, who's been previously mentioned in Forge World books and even has his own model. The introduction of this space marine was absolutely fascinating to me, but I would definitely prefer to learn even more about him and to see his story unravel in more detail. The fact that this book tells many stories of rather different personalities could not give enough space for Layak to fully blossom.
Overall I think that the huge concentration of characters, especially Primarchs, did not allow each of them to completely take the spotlight, some less than the others. It was still rather enjoyable, the book contains quite a few very well described scenes that were more than pleasing to visualize. I enjoyed it, but it had it's issues. Excited for the next one, and finally I'm gonna read it in time.
The book involves a whole bunch of Primarchs along with familiar astartes, their stories either being wrapped up or moving gradually towards the long awaited event of the Siege of Terra. I especially enjoyed the portrayal of Perturabo who keeps becoming fuller with each book he's in. Even more I enjoyed Fulgrim who at this point couldn't care less about his brothers' goals and prefers to just bathe in lavishly grotesque excess, fully embracing the gifts of the Prince of Pleasure. I feel like the portrayal of Angron has been less strong, a little brushed over, and Lorgar's arch has been too predictable and repetitive for his character. Horus and Maloghurst scenes seemed to be sort of a weaker version of the shards of Magnus scenes from the Crimson King novel, they are not entirely similar, but there is a resemblance.
We meet some new characters as well, including the magnificent Zardu Layak, who's been previously mentioned in Forge World books and even has his own model. The introduction of this space marine was absolutely fascinating to me, but I would definitely prefer to learn even more about him and to see his story unravel in more detail. The fact that this book tells many stories of rather different personalities could not give enough space for Layak to fully blossom.
Overall I think that the huge concentration of characters, especially Primarchs, did not allow each of them to completely take the spotlight, some less than the others. It was still rather enjoyable, the book contains quite a few very well described scenes that were more than pleasing to visualize. I enjoyed it, but it had it's issues. Excited for the next one, and finally I'm gonna read it in time.
May 8, 2019
3.5 stars rounded up to 4 because the afterword was awesome.
This novel realistically could have been a novella, lots of what I feel was unnecessary details and build up that wasn’t needed
This novel realistically could have been a novella, lots of what I feel was unnecessary details and build up that wasn’t needed
May 21, 2025
Slaves to Darkness is just that one episode of Rick and Morty where a heist is being planned and every co-conspirator’s response to being brought on is just “You son of a bitch, I’m in!”
Well… maybe not entirely… For most of the story Horus is doing his best impression of a burn victim after getting his ass spanked by the Great Furry, Leman Russ at the end of Wolfsbane.
Lorgar gets sick and tired of going door to door preaching the good word of the Chaos Gods and decides he wants to be the new Pope (Warmaster), until Horus reminds him that he’s still just an Altar Boy after he dumpsters his ass with World Breaker (There’s also a pretty cool call back to Monarchia that Horus references after giving his whole “If you’re gonna be the man, you gotta beat the man” speech.) This all happened too after he had to suffer through getting Fulgrim to leave all of his cocaine and Slaaneshi Hookers behind.
Perturabo gives Angron an existentialist crisis after reminding him of the fact that he is still in fact a slave, except instead of it being to Mr. Shining Golden Light, Emperor of Mankind, it’s to Khorne, and then proceeds to “You son of a bitch, I’m in” to Peter Turbo despite the fact he was about to crush his ass like a Coke can five minutes earlier.
And I guess Alpharius (Omegon????) also wants in on the action too, despite the fact he can only communicate with the same three worded phrase like he's Groot (i Am aLpHaRiUs), nonetheless he showed up to Ullanor without anyone asking. Oh also the Night Lords are here too, but I only know that because I read the Night Lords trilogy and the Covenant of Blood and Echo of Damnation warships are so iconic.
Mortarion is doing god knows what, maybe rolling around in feces or something… (I know the Buried Dagger is after this book, but I still feel obliged to make a death guard poop joke.)
And yeah, that’s it, the gang is all here on Ullanor and they’re all enthusiastically ready to spread sunshine, happiness, and brotherly love to Terra…
I really enjoyed this book, and it was nice to get a “where are they now” book about what the Chaos-Aligned Primarchs have been up to.
Well… maybe not entirely… For most of the story Horus is doing his best impression of a burn victim after getting his ass spanked by the Great Furry, Leman Russ at the end of Wolfsbane.
Lorgar gets sick and tired of going door to door preaching the good word of the Chaos Gods and decides he wants to be the new Pope (Warmaster), until Horus reminds him that he’s still just an Altar Boy after he dumpsters his ass with World Breaker (There’s also a pretty cool call back to Monarchia that Horus references after giving his whole “If you’re gonna be the man, you gotta beat the man” speech.) This all happened too after he had to suffer through getting Fulgrim to leave all of his cocaine and Slaaneshi Hookers behind.
Perturabo gives Angron an existentialist crisis after reminding him of the fact that he is still in fact a slave, except instead of it being to Mr. Shining Golden Light, Emperor of Mankind, it’s to Khorne, and then proceeds to “You son of a bitch, I’m in” to Peter Turbo despite the fact he was about to crush his ass like a Coke can five minutes earlier.
And I guess Alpharius (Omegon????) also wants in on the action too, despite the fact he can only communicate with the same three worded phrase like he's Groot (i Am aLpHaRiUs), nonetheless he showed up to Ullanor without anyone asking. Oh also the Night Lords are here too, but I only know that because I read the Night Lords trilogy and the Covenant of Blood and Echo of Damnation warships are so iconic.
Mortarion is doing god knows what, maybe rolling around in feces or something… (I know the Buried Dagger is after this book, but I still feel obliged to make a death guard poop joke.)
And yeah, that’s it, the gang is all here on Ullanor and they’re all enthusiastically ready to spread sunshine, happiness, and brotherly love to Terra…
I really enjoyed this book, and it was nice to get a “where are they now” book about what the Chaos-Aligned Primarchs have been up to.
November 10, 2022
If Slaves to Darkness could be summaried in just one word, it might be the Ancient Greek word 'nostoi' (returns/returnings). Several key figures are saught out, their return to the warhost demanded: Lorgar is sent to return Fulgrim, Perurabo to return Angron and Maloghurst to return Horus (in a more abstract sense). Through flashbacks and events in the book's present, Ullanor features quite heavily and is symbolic as a start point [see 'nostos']. Through these leaps in time the reader is reminded just how far the Chaos-turned legions have fallen at this point and may ask 'what could've been?'.
Considering the trend that is the reduced quality of the later books in the series, the reader may be surprised at how good Slaves to Darkness actually is. The book doesn't come across as a gap-filler and if anything, is filled with so many events that the plot may even progress a little quickly. These events include many primarch interactions which are sure to please fans of the series.
Whilst smaller fight scenes featuring Primarchs are written excellently, the title suffers by including a number of pretty drawn out and dull battle scenes. John French appears to be meeting an arbitrary quota of 'fighting' which he believes must be met to qualify as a Black Library title.
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Additional note: It would be interesting to know how many times the phrase 'needle-toothed grin' or variations of it feature.
Considering the trend that is the reduced quality of the later books in the series, the reader may be surprised at how good Slaves to Darkness actually is. The book doesn't come across as a gap-filler and if anything, is filled with so many events that the plot may even progress a little quickly. These events include many primarch interactions which are sure to please fans of the series.
Whilst smaller fight scenes featuring Primarchs are written excellently, the title suffers by including a number of pretty drawn out and dull battle scenes. John French appears to be meeting an arbitrary quota of 'fighting' which he believes must be met to qualify as a Black Library title.
---
Additional note: It would be interesting to know how many times the phrase 'needle-toothed grin' or variations of it feature.
January 24, 2023
2.5
El libro es realmente lento y poco interesante en durante casi toda la primera mitad. Vemos casi todo lo que sucede a traves de marines especiales de altos rangos. Pero como son casi desconocidos: Layak, Argonis, Volk, con excepcion de Maloghurst, todo el resto son desconocidos, que no tienen un backstory en otros libros, asi que sus pensamientos son mas bien aburridos y tediosos. Casi no hay accion y menos algun momento de enfrentamiento donde el resultado no se sustente por el poder del Primarca. Pero aun asi, quitando la paja del heno. Creo que es un libro interesante, en la tercera parte, por fin avanza la trama y vemos porque Lorgar es el ser mas patetico de toda la galaxia. Desde el primer hereje, que no escuchamos los pensamientos del conspirador principal.
"-Lorgar ha estado plenenado esta guerra durante decadas.. La mera vision de las naves es una prueba de eso. Recordalo, todos vosotros cada vez que sintáis la tentacion de confiar en una de esas serpierntes en rojo"
Esa es la descripcion mas exacta que se puede hacer de Lorgar, una serpiente traicionera.
A lo largo del libro vemos como el resto de primercas traidores son consumidos por los dioses, solo Perturabo conserva algo pensamiento independiente. Pero esta es la caida absoluta de Lorgar, pues traicionó a todos con tal de esparcir la verdad de los dioses, pero es que no se da cuenta que los dioses no quieren la victoria a ellos solo les sirve el caos. Tambien es muy triste ver como Magnus se arrodilla ante su hermano, buscando venganza por la quema de Prospero, sin saber que fue Horus quien pleaneó todo.
El libro es realmente lento y poco interesante en durante casi toda la primera mitad. Vemos casi todo lo que sucede a traves de marines especiales de altos rangos. Pero como son casi desconocidos: Layak, Argonis, Volk, con excepcion de Maloghurst, todo el resto son desconocidos, que no tienen un backstory en otros libros, asi que sus pensamientos son mas bien aburridos y tediosos. Casi no hay accion y menos algun momento de enfrentamiento donde el resultado no se sustente por el poder del Primarca. Pero aun asi, quitando la paja del heno. Creo que es un libro interesante, en la tercera parte, por fin avanza la trama y vemos porque Lorgar es el ser mas patetico de toda la galaxia. Desde el primer hereje, que no escuchamos los pensamientos del conspirador principal.
"-Lorgar ha estado plenenado esta guerra durante decadas.. La mera vision de las naves es una prueba de eso. Recordalo, todos vosotros cada vez que sintáis la tentacion de confiar en una de esas serpierntes en rojo"
Esa es la descripcion mas exacta que se puede hacer de Lorgar, una serpiente traicionera.
A lo largo del libro vemos como el resto de primercas traidores son consumidos por los dioses, solo Perturabo conserva algo pensamiento independiente. Pero esta es la caida absoluta de Lorgar, pues traicionó a todos con tal de esparcir la verdad de los dioses, pero es que no se da cuenta que los dioses no quieren la victoria a ellos solo les sirve el caos. Tambien es muy triste ver como Magnus se arrodilla ante su hermano, buscando venganza por la quema de Prospero, sin saber que fue Horus quien pleaneó todo.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 16, 2024
Really good perspective on Lorgar, Fulgrim + Maloghurst. Taps into the insanity of the chaos gods and the warp quite well - an importance on names is key. Perturabo one of the highlights. We're seeing the transition some of the Chaos Primarchs into their Daemon form now and it's fascinating.
September 8, 2022
At last, a book squarely from Horus and the traitorous legions and there not so harmonious relationship, motivations and goals.
A must read, Chaos reigns in everyones back garden!
A must read, Chaos reigns in everyones back garden!
April 25, 2024
God damn!
July 5, 2024
Slaves to Darkness exists to explain why Fulgrim and Angron remain loyal to the Warmaster’s cause post-ascension to daemonhood, and to continue showcasing Perturabo as the most stable and reasonable prim arch on the traitor’s side - Good job Perty!
It’s an intriguing premise, but the execution is tired like so many of the entries towards the latter end of this series.
Most of the book feels padded, chapters exist to meet a minimum word count. I have just finished it and can hardly recall anything particularly memorable outside the key confrontations where Fulgrim and Angron are brought to heel - these are indeed real highlights.
I will shout out French’s decision to structure the book and chapter names using POV characters a la GRRM. It was a nice change to have cohesive viewpoints throughout, more of this, please!
One of the most glaring issues is the portrayal of Horus. Once again, he is a background figure with no impetus, the kicker in this case being he’s unconscious for almost the entire novel. This continues a recurring theme in the series of Horus being sidelined and possessing no agency. The series repeatedly tells us that Horus was the best of the Primarchs but has never actually shown us this with the exception of Dan Abnett’s Horus Rising - Book 1! It’s a disconnect that’s becoming increasingly frustrating, what’s so special about Horus? He’s just some guy.
Overall, the series seems to be losing momentum as it hurtles toward the Siege of Terra, so many threads were set up in the first half and the instructions seem to have been that each of these requires a full book to resolve. It’s simply not necessary, the confrontations here would have been much more impactful as short stories. We don’t need a mini-series of novels to bring the traitors together for the assault on Terra, just have them together at the beginning of the novel and build from there!
It’s an intriguing premise, but the execution is tired like so many of the entries towards the latter end of this series.
Most of the book feels padded, chapters exist to meet a minimum word count. I have just finished it and can hardly recall anything particularly memorable outside the key confrontations where Fulgrim and Angron are brought to heel - these are indeed real highlights.
I will shout out French’s decision to structure the book and chapter names using POV characters a la GRRM. It was a nice change to have cohesive viewpoints throughout, more of this, please!
One of the most glaring issues is the portrayal of Horus. Once again, he is a background figure with no impetus, the kicker in this case being he’s unconscious for almost the entire novel. This continues a recurring theme in the series of Horus being sidelined and possessing no agency. The series repeatedly tells us that Horus was the best of the Primarchs but has never actually shown us this with the exception of Dan Abnett’s Horus Rising - Book 1! It’s a disconnect that’s becoming increasingly frustrating, what’s so special about Horus? He’s just some guy.
Overall, the series seems to be losing momentum as it hurtles toward the Siege of Terra, so many threads were set up in the first half and the instructions seem to have been that each of these requires a full book to resolve. It’s simply not necessary, the confrontations here would have been much more impactful as short stories. We don’t need a mini-series of novels to bring the traitors together for the assault on Terra, just have them together at the beginning of the novel and build from there!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 22, 2024
A book that was a solid albeit confusing 3-stars... and saved when the viewpoint characters and plot finally started to meet up and merge in the last quarter of the book. Seeing my homeboy Perturabo make a complete fool of Angron and his World Eaters was worth it for the price alone.
If you are having doubts about this book, my advice is to tough it out. The finish is 100% worth the effort.
If you are having doubts about this book, my advice is to tough it out. The finish is 100% worth the effort.
July 5, 2020
My rating for this book would be higher if it was say, 30 or less into the series. But at this point, at #51, the plot of this book just isn't worth the space. All this book amounts to is a mustering of the traitor legions to head for Terra.
Additionally, the structure of this book is to advance three plot lines in parallel in each chapter. Meaning that each chapter has three subchapters - one for each plot. What's telling is that two of these plots are so identical that you often get them confused.
This is an easy one to skip for those grinding through the entire series.
Additionally, the structure of this book is to advance three plot lines in parallel in each chapter. Meaning that each chapter has three subchapters - one for each plot. What's telling is that two of these plots are so identical that you often get them confused.
This is an easy one to skip for those grinding through the entire series.
October 14, 2024
Well… I think I’m reading these books in a bad order. I essentially am just interested in the Word Bearers for Legions Imperialis reasons, which means that I’m missing a lot of the context on how we got here - and I do get it. This book is amongst the last before we get to Terra, and feels like a proper culmination. It’s obvious that things aren’t looking great for Horus’ little uprising. This book certainly makes me to go for the whole Terra set afterwards 😅
September 5, 2018
I have series fatigue. I’m simple. I’m tired of this Chaos ritual gobbledygook and brother melodrama. I just want military science fiction battles on an epic scale and imagining my models come to life. This novel, for me, is another step toward the legend of the Battle of Terra.
March 22, 2022
The various storylines were all very interesting. But the bouncing from one to another in each chapter made following difficult for me at times.
Saying that though this is a MUST READ part of the arch.
Saying that though this is a MUST READ part of the arch.
May 4, 2024
While this book has some great moments I found it hard to get into. The first half didn’t compel me to keep reading, though the second half was excellent.
It’s not to say it’s a bad book, just not as compelling as I was expecting. Though it has a good payoff
It’s not to say it’s a bad book, just not as compelling as I was expecting. Though it has a good payoff
September 30, 2022
This book bored me. Sota-Nul is great, the Iron Warriors have decent representation and the Ullanor symbology feels impactful. But I lost interest in the story, overall.
October 13, 2019
At over fifty books in the series the Horus Heresy at times has been required to allow itself to indulge in the occasional filler book and Slaves to Darkness certainly fits this particular bill.
The premise of the 51st title follows the consequences of Wolfsbane. Still reeling from the attack by his brother Primarch, Lemun Russ of the Space Wolves, Horus sits injured and dying upon his throne on his command ship the Vengeful Spirit. Left comatose, his lieutenants in the great war set about mustering his forces for the final push on Terra. This of course means rallying the two Daemon Primarch's, Fulgrim and Angron, to the cause and resume their part in the final siege. For this task, Horus's closest members of the Mournival are contacted by Lorgar, Primarch of the Word Bearers who sets into motion a plan to not only gather the forces needed but also to betray Horus and ultimately take his place as the chosen of the Chaos Gods.
John French is masterful at creating a thrilling story from next to nothing. Ultimately, the plot revolves around two key encounters, that of Lorgar vs Fulgrim and Perturabo vs Angron. With such a simple thread French places layer upon layer of plot and subterfuge for the reader to elegantly dive oneself into, all the while bearing the weight of unknown possibilities with each page turned.
From its wonderfully penned opening to its dramatic conclusion French shows off his masterful use of the written word by showing not only the divisions between the Primarch's but also those Horus holds closest to him in his own legion. His adapt use of colourful descriptions as he shows the audience the true inner struggle that the Horus of old fights daily as well as his self delusions that he can somehow retain his own psyche and ultimately master the forces that move him, gave this reader something of a forlorn hope that the Warmaster may indeed see the error of his ways, even while knowing all the while he will not.
There are, however, some rather glaring bum notes to the rhythm of the books pacing. It felt, on occasion, that French had come to a point of frustration in the writing of the book, where characters needed some kind of device in order to keep the action going and would, haphazardly, throw in the occasional random encounter with loyalist forces. It felt more as a means for keeping the primary character busy, of giving them something to do while they moved on with the greater elements of the plot before ultimately building to their amazing conclusion. At times I could not help but feel if the same results could not have been better achieved if Slaves to Darkness had been presented as a pair of Novellas instead of a single volume, much in the way that French's collected stories for Tallarn: War for a dead world, had been.
Now while this is by no means my favourite book of the series, I did find it a great improvement on Praetorian of Dorn, which was more of a lumbering beast than the great work I had come to expect from a HH series writer. Slaves to Darkness may still be a bridging book but it showed the importance of French's place as a Black Library writer and just why he has been selected as one of the final six writers for the Solar War conclusion.
The premise of the 51st title follows the consequences of Wolfsbane. Still reeling from the attack by his brother Primarch, Lemun Russ of the Space Wolves, Horus sits injured and dying upon his throne on his command ship the Vengeful Spirit. Left comatose, his lieutenants in the great war set about mustering his forces for the final push on Terra. This of course means rallying the two Daemon Primarch's, Fulgrim and Angron, to the cause and resume their part in the final siege. For this task, Horus's closest members of the Mournival are contacted by Lorgar, Primarch of the Word Bearers who sets into motion a plan to not only gather the forces needed but also to betray Horus and ultimately take his place as the chosen of the Chaos Gods.
John French is masterful at creating a thrilling story from next to nothing. Ultimately, the plot revolves around two key encounters, that of Lorgar vs Fulgrim and Perturabo vs Angron. With such a simple thread French places layer upon layer of plot and subterfuge for the reader to elegantly dive oneself into, all the while bearing the weight of unknown possibilities with each page turned.
From its wonderfully penned opening to its dramatic conclusion French shows off his masterful use of the written word by showing not only the divisions between the Primarch's but also those Horus holds closest to him in his own legion. His adapt use of colourful descriptions as he shows the audience the true inner struggle that the Horus of old fights daily as well as his self delusions that he can somehow retain his own psyche and ultimately master the forces that move him, gave this reader something of a forlorn hope that the Warmaster may indeed see the error of his ways, even while knowing all the while he will not.
There are, however, some rather glaring bum notes to the rhythm of the books pacing. It felt, on occasion, that French had come to a point of frustration in the writing of the book, where characters needed some kind of device in order to keep the action going and would, haphazardly, throw in the occasional random encounter with loyalist forces. It felt more as a means for keeping the primary character busy, of giving them something to do while they moved on with the greater elements of the plot before ultimately building to their amazing conclusion. At times I could not help but feel if the same results could not have been better achieved if Slaves to Darkness had been presented as a pair of Novellas instead of a single volume, much in the way that French's collected stories for Tallarn: War for a dead world, had been.
Now while this is by no means my favourite book of the series, I did find it a great improvement on Praetorian of Dorn, which was more of a lumbering beast than the great work I had come to expect from a HH series writer. Slaves to Darkness may still be a bridging book but it showed the importance of French's place as a Black Library writer and just why he has been selected as one of the final six writers for the Solar War conclusion.
March 26, 2019
Great novel, and a welcome addition to the overall story. It was awesome to wet the appetite for the Seige of Terra series that is about to kick off. Although - I feel like, and maybe I missed a short story, or a Christmas advent audiobook or some random ebook that flew past me as I struggle to stay current with a story now over 50 novels in length and including a side universe of ancillary content. They even count the Primarch books in the HH. (which I have read!) I struggle with making sure I keep reading or listening to the pertinent stories, but there is just SO much now. I hate feeling like I missed something or having to go to the 40k Wiki to catch up. This one starts with Horus having been re-wounded in the battle of Beta-Garmon. That battle is over, and all the Sons of Horus are scrambling to get their primarch back home safe and figure out what to do next. Buuuuuuut. What? When last I left Horus he was wounded by Russ in Wolfsbane but on his way to Beta-Garmon. Dorn gathered all the forces he could to stop Horus there. And the novel TitanDeath about the Legions during the battle of Beta-Garmon is book 53...soooooooo, what? I must have missed something, or time has no meaning in the warp so I should just shut up. I dont know. I do know aside from feeling a bit out of the scheme of things I really enjoyed this novel. French is a welcome author in the HH and all of his novels to date in this series have been great. I miss some of the old voices that started the series, but Master French is doing heroes work to tie up a lot of loose ends and set the stage and tell a story about a grand muster compelling. Normally I end my HH reviews with a plea to just end it already, but since that is planned...weeeeeeeeeeeee.
February 12, 2025
Plunging readers into the dark heart of the Traitor Legions as they march toward the inevitable Siege of Terra, Slaves to Darkness delivers an action-packed and highly entertaining look at the final stages of the Warmaster's great betrayal. Picking up as Horus gathers his fractured forces for the final push to Terra, John French presents a narrative brimming with war, chaos, and tension, yet one that ultimately lacks a good bit of character development for me. Thus the novel's biggest draw is undoubtedly the sheer number of Primarchs on display. Horus, Logar, Perturabo, Fulgrim, and Angron all take center stage, and their interactions alone make for an exhilarating read from the very start. As French does an excellent job of capturing the vast, nightmarish scope of the Traitor fleet and the twisted alliances that bind it together whilst in tandem the novel thrives on its massive battles, terrifying daemonic manifestations, and grandiose moments of destruction that reinforce the sheer scale of the conflict entirely. However, once again where Slaves to Darkness falters is in its character work. While the novel expertly portrays the different Primarchs and their growing divisions, there's little in the way of meaningful change or new insight into their personalities outside of like Horus but even still that takes quite a while to come around. That said, the sheer presence of all these legendary figures together is enough to carry the book as their conflicting ideologies, personal ambitions, and underlying resentments add layers of worthwhile intrigue, even if they don't necessarily lead to significant growth.
July 4, 2022
One of the worst in the series.
John French takes an overly verbose axe to anything resembling a cohesive plot in this book.
Don't get me wrong - every writer has a different style. I personally hate this one.
Basically, the plot is constantly interrupted by flights of descriptive fancy re. the warp and the webway. It matters very little to this author that these things have been done to death throughout the series. Critical plot points are interrupted time and again for pointless asides which do not drive the story, and critical moments such as the re-marshalling on Ullanor are skipped over with only vague details about events that occurred. There's always been a lot of characters in these novels but good writers focus on two or three and their experiences - French tries and fails to cover multiple at once, with only one or two plot lines being actually meaningful. Some of them are just rambling nonsense that add nothing to the story and interrupt events.
By this point in the series overly descriptive and pointless dialogue should be at a minimum. Things need to HAPPEN.
It's genuinely insulting to purchase an e book for this high a price and with this low quality. It's meant to be leading to the climax of the entire heresy and this book is a distracting and pointless footnote.
You'd be more than fine skipping this one. I will be skipping any John French novels in the series from here out, or simply pirating them as they're not worth the price.
John French takes an overly verbose axe to anything resembling a cohesive plot in this book.
Don't get me wrong - every writer has a different style. I personally hate this one.
Basically, the plot is constantly interrupted by flights of descriptive fancy re. the warp and the webway. It matters very little to this author that these things have been done to death throughout the series. Critical plot points are interrupted time and again for pointless asides which do not drive the story, and critical moments such as the re-marshalling on Ullanor are skipped over with only vague details about events that occurred. There's always been a lot of characters in these novels but good writers focus on two or three and their experiences - French tries and fails to cover multiple at once, with only one or two plot lines being actually meaningful. Some of them are just rambling nonsense that add nothing to the story and interrupt events.
By this point in the series overly descriptive and pointless dialogue should be at a minimum. Things need to HAPPEN.
It's genuinely insulting to purchase an e book for this high a price and with this low quality. It's meant to be leading to the climax of the entire heresy and this book is a distracting and pointless footnote.
You'd be more than fine skipping this one. I will be skipping any John French novels in the series from here out, or simply pirating them as they're not worth the price.
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