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A deeper darkness
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 4, 2024
This is a fascinating story that half way through I wasn't really having a good time with, but the second half is a a wonderful monster in the dark and the tragic horror of what one can or cannot be done for others in peril.
In the darkness of their arcology Ultramarines and their human wards and allies are hunting for a Dark Apostle. When a self-mutilated Word Bearer emerges from a vast, shadowed sea with cryptic words, Pelion takes a group to discover what secrets and possible vengeance waits beyond this dead sea. What lurks in the petrified subterranean gloom?
The opening account which really put the scale of how long the survivors of Calth, Ultramarines, Word Bearers, and humans, are trapped abandoned, unable to return to the surface or escape because of the atrocities committed by the XVII Legion. The details about the necessary expansion and infrastructure really brought home the the timescale of the Underground War, long after the beginning of the Mark of Calth and the Primarch and those who were able to leaving the scarred world for dead.
Beyond this detail, I actually found the first half of this story really tough going as it was presenting the aspect of the Sons of Guilliman, fully starched, 'stiff upper lip is actually our personality' that reminded me of Guilliman: Lord of Ultramar, which, along with Battle for the Abyss (BFTA), have been the stories I have least enjoyed and, in my personal opinion, fail to capture the context, content, tone, and quality I have come to expect from the Horus Heresy. This stoic, highborn, self-righteousness is nauseating to read, especially as Games Workshop and Black Library seem to be quick to forget the grimdarkness of the Dark Millennia and the satire of authoritarianism and colonialism when it comes to Roboute and his Warriors of the XIII. Simon Mee's review of Lord of Ultramar (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) discusses this, and my own review of Illyrium goes into it (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), though with how mercurial my mind has been and how confused and in the moment some of my review have been, I will be returning to Illyrium as part of finishing off Shadow Crusade I-II covering the Ultramarines and Word Bearers pretty much from the Underground war on Calth.
As much as the above point is about how there is this habit of portraying the Ultramarines as a whole as the 'good guys', rather than celebrating individuals and moments of personal triumph over adversity and tragedy, (which I'm totally on board for), lends itself to fashy propaganda and colonial/ war crime aplogia, it's also just incredibly boring to read. For all it's faults, at least BFTA didn't do this, and neither do, in my personal opinion, the greatest stories of the Ultramarines I have read so far, Know No Fear and Calth That Was, to their absolute credit.
The second half, portended by the Event Horizon Word Bearer, is a very different animal. It is a descent into darkness and borrow as the foreboding water from which the cryptic Heretic emerged is traversed into a nightmare of an unknowable Warpspawned monstrosity with a countenance so unspeakable as to be Medusan (and I don't mean like Perturabo, before he's had his recaff in the morning... Ah, we have fun, don't we?). The combined monster in the dark with the legends of ancient myth tone throughout this whole section as it focuses in to purely being told through Pelion's increasingly fraught perceptions is absolutely wonderful. It's not necessarily scary, but it does have that certain few Doctor Who episodes that are actually surprisingly effective and unsettling thing going on, the Weeping Angels feels apropos.
The way Annandale makes Pelion at the same time less vulnerable to the monster, while becoming more vulnerable on general through lack of sight, and channels the Astartes' distress through his ability to actually be able to be the weapon in defence of humanity the Space Marines are purported to be is really well done. At this point in the series the 'and they shall know no fear' element has been discussed and both deconstructed with it becoming more of a semantic argument, and upheld, essentially through force of indoctrination and strength of will, so the way this skirts the line, creating additional and external elements beyond Pelion's control is really effective.
I love that we are finally getting more Chaos in all its nightmare, eldritch and all other forms of horror, creatures of myth and legends of folklore taken to 11 in this Anthology, and how this and Know No Fear really made the first attempts, beyond the initial showing in The First Heretic, of grounding Chaos in the ritual and faith of the Word Bearers, as well as being so much beyond them and impossible to ground, because, and I know I have banged on a lot about this, when we see the maniacal XVII in BFTA with their, admittedly, freaking cool Warp-Tech and being cartoonish evil buffoons, without that connection to belief, bargains, and betrayal they lose all impact and interest for me, becoming very generic 'bad guys'. There's a huge difference to someone twirling their moustache evily for seemingly no reason and seeing someone else reduced to moustache twirling through ritual, sacrifice, and lust for power.
If the beginning was any better this would get full marks, but as it is it's a great story that expands the story, lore, and horrors so below as above on Calth.
In the darkness of their arcology Ultramarines and their human wards and allies are hunting for a Dark Apostle. When a self-mutilated Word Bearer emerges from a vast, shadowed sea with cryptic words, Pelion takes a group to discover what secrets and possible vengeance waits beyond this dead sea. What lurks in the petrified subterranean gloom?
The opening account which really put the scale of how long the survivors of Calth, Ultramarines, Word Bearers, and humans, are trapped abandoned, unable to return to the surface or escape because of the atrocities committed by the XVII Legion. The details about the necessary expansion and infrastructure really brought home the the timescale of the Underground War, long after the beginning of the Mark of Calth and the Primarch and those who were able to leaving the scarred world for dead.
Beyond this detail, I actually found the first half of this story really tough going as it was presenting the aspect of the Sons of Guilliman, fully starched, 'stiff upper lip is actually our personality' that reminded me of Guilliman: Lord of Ultramar, which, along with Battle for the Abyss (BFTA), have been the stories I have least enjoyed and, in my personal opinion, fail to capture the context, content, tone, and quality I have come to expect from the Horus Heresy. This stoic, highborn, self-righteousness is nauseating to read, especially as Games Workshop and Black Library seem to be quick to forget the grimdarkness of the Dark Millennia and the satire of authoritarianism and colonialism when it comes to Roboute and his Warriors of the XIII. Simon Mee's review of Lord of Ultramar (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) discusses this, and my own review of Illyrium goes into it (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...), though with how mercurial my mind has been and how confused and in the moment some of my review have been, I will be returning to Illyrium as part of finishing off Shadow Crusade I-II covering the Ultramarines and Word Bearers pretty much from the Underground war on Calth.
As much as the above point is about how there is this habit of portraying the Ultramarines as a whole as the 'good guys', rather than celebrating individuals and moments of personal triumph over adversity and tragedy, (which I'm totally on board for), lends itself to fashy propaganda and colonial/ war crime aplogia, it's also just incredibly boring to read. For all it's faults, at least BFTA didn't do this, and neither do, in my personal opinion, the greatest stories of the Ultramarines I have read so far, Know No Fear and Calth That Was, to their absolute credit.
The second half, portended by the Event Horizon Word Bearer, is a very different animal. It is a descent into darkness and borrow as the foreboding water from which the cryptic Heretic emerged is traversed into a nightmare of an unknowable Warpspawned monstrosity with a countenance so unspeakable as to be Medusan (and I don't mean like Perturabo, before he's had his recaff in the morning... Ah, we have fun, don't we?). The combined monster in the dark with the legends of ancient myth tone throughout this whole section as it focuses in to purely being told through Pelion's increasingly fraught perceptions is absolutely wonderful. It's not necessarily scary, but it does have that certain few Doctor Who episodes that are actually surprisingly effective and unsettling thing going on, the Weeping Angels feels apropos.
The way Annandale makes Pelion at the same time less vulnerable to the monster, while becoming more vulnerable on general through lack of sight, and channels the Astartes' distress through his ability to actually be able to be the weapon in defence of humanity the Space Marines are purported to be is really well done. At this point in the series the 'and they shall know no fear' element has been discussed and both deconstructed with it becoming more of a semantic argument, and upheld, essentially through force of indoctrination and strength of will, so the way this skirts the line, creating additional and external elements beyond Pelion's control is really effective.
I love that we are finally getting more Chaos in all its nightmare, eldritch and all other forms of horror, creatures of myth and legends of folklore taken to 11 in this Anthology, and how this and Know No Fear really made the first attempts, beyond the initial showing in The First Heretic, of grounding Chaos in the ritual and faith of the Word Bearers, as well as being so much beyond them and impossible to ground, because, and I know I have banged on a lot about this, when we see the maniacal XVII in BFTA with their, admittedly, freaking cool Warp-Tech and being cartoonish evil buffoons, without that connection to belief, bargains, and betrayal they lose all impact and interest for me, becoming very generic 'bad guys'. There's a huge difference to someone twirling their moustache evily for seemingly no reason and seeing someone else reduced to moustache twirling through ritual, sacrifice, and lust for power.
If the beginning was any better this would get full marks, but as it is it's a great story that expands the story, lore, and horrors so below as above on Calth.
June 8, 2025
Pelion the Lesser is a new favorite character of mine, a perfect marine to take on the horrors of the Deeper Dark. This was a great story finally showing the dangers to even 'the chosen' who delve into the immaterium. It is filled with horror, action, beautiful symbolism, and a grimdark ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 10, 2022
A bit longer than it needed to be, but had enough good moments.
October 30, 2024
I love the vibes this story gives. Such great moments. And an ending that makes you read twice. Solid stuff.
May 26, 2025
A bit too long for my taste but with a terrific ending - 3.5 stars
July 31, 2025
A dark and creepy story full of suspense. The action was fast paced and I felt it matched the despair of the damage done to Calth.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews