Black Library Review: “The First Heretic”
The newest addition to Black Library’s Horus Heresy novelization series is all about the Word Bearers. We’ve got the review.
It’s fair to say that I’m a little….obsessive….when it comes to my hobby and my enthusiasm for the 40k background. I own all of the Horus Heresy novels, all of the Index Astartes books, the Liber Chaotica, the Horus Heresy artwork books, numerous other Black Library artwork books, novels, the list goes on. What can I say, no matter what problems the game itself may have, the background is awesome. I’m not kidding when I tell you that when I saw Bigred had The First Heretic to pass out for review, I basically demanded he let me be the one to do it.
This installment is written by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, one of Black Library’s newest authors. The plot is all about the Word Bearers legion and their descent into treachery. The time period spans from some 50 years before Istavaan III to just after the Istavaan V dropsite massacre. We learn the details of Lorgar’s turn from worshiping the Emperor to worshiping the Chaos Gods. We find out the roots of the Word Bearers’ enmity for the Ultramarines. We see much of the inner workings of the Word Bearers’ legion. Like most of the Horus Heresy novels so far, we see most of this from the perspective of a new character rather than the named personalities we already know (Abbadon, Erebus, Bjorn, etc). In this book, most of the action is through the eyes of Argel Tal. Also unlike some of the other novels, our main character is very aware of what is happening, and is all too ready to change his allegiances.
The book was good. Not as superb in my mind as, say, Legion, or Mechanicum, but a solid addition. Like in Fulgrim, I enjoyed seeing Chaos and the Heresy from the traitors’ point of view. The writing style was easy to follow and had a good pace throughout the book. When the perspective does change, it’s stated very clearly. It wouldn’t be a 40k novel without battle scenes, and they are scattered throughout the novel, with several big ones at the climax. The author did a good job here avoiding the “first this happened, then that happened, then that happened” mentality during the fighting, and tried to show some of the emotions and feelings of the combatants.
Where I feel the book doesn’t quite measure up is in the character development. For instance, the perspective changes to that of Lorgar, the Word Bearers’ primarch, after the Emperor rebukes him and the legion for worshiping him as a god. The fact that it was Erebus and Kor Phaeron who convinced Lorgar to change his devotion to the Chaos Gods has been established in 40k lore for years. In the book, that takes all of 10 pages that span maybe 5 minutes of conversation. The change of loyalties for the rest of the legion feels just as quick. It felt a bit too fast to me, too easy. One minute the characters are singing the praises of the Emperor, and the next, they’re all for Chaos. Now, I appreciate that how the Emperor rebuked the legion has some influence in this, but even then, I think the author could have done far more with this seminal moment of heresy . I also think that plot also robs the reader of some of details of the plot to corrupt the other legions, including Horus. Although we see the personal side of the main character embracing Chaos, we never see how the heresy takes root in the rest of the legions. Argel Tal is actually on the other side of the galaxy when Erebus is moving against the Warmaster, and Lorgar is purging his legion of its loyalists. We hear about some of those events second hand, after they happen. I feel like the story could have been altered to allow the reader to see that. After all, the Word Bearers are the first legion to “fall”. I know I would’ve liked to have seen more about how it happened, and how they spread that corruption to others.
3.5 Stars (out of 5)
