'Angron' – Matthew Farrer & Aaron Dembski-Bowden (Black Library)



So, I was writing yesterday's review and had got to the bit where I'm looking around for a nice cover picture to use. I found it but what I also found was mention of more Angron 'Horus Heresy' stories wrapped up in a neat little collection of three stories at a decent price. I didn't need much encouragement to grab a copy, I've got a bit of a soft spot for Angron anyway and have a lot of time for the tragedy of the character and his honesty as well. You know exactly what you're getting with Angron, even if most of the time it's just an axe to the head.
Like I said then, it didn't take a lot for me to get 'Angron' on my Kindle and get reading. And it was awesome as I expected it would be. You do need to bear a little something in mind, before you buy it, though but I'll get to that in a second...

Many are the legends surrounding the wrathful primarch of the XIIth Legion. From the bloody sands of the Desh'ean gladiatorial pits, to the battlefields of Isstvan and the farthest reaches of the Shadow Crusade, the name of Angron is a byword for carnage and berserk fury... This exclusive eBook collection contains three seminal tales of the World Eaters and their gene-sire, by Aaron Dembski-Bowden and Matthew Farrer. Alongside the classic 'After Desh'ea', the audio drama 'Butcher's Nails' is presented for the first time in prose rather than script format. Finally, the brand new micro-short story 'Lord of the Red Sands' gives a glimpse of the past, along with a vision of Angron's own hopes for revenge and redemption in an uncertain future.
The 'Horus Heresy' is a shambling behemoth of a series now, stretching into... a lot of novels and even more short stories, audio-books and so on. Black Library have a habit of bunging this series into as many formats as possible and that inevitably leads to duplication. I'm not sure if this approach is to give people more choice in accessing the series or if it's a bit of a cynical cash grab; either way the odds are that you've already read or heard a large chunk of this collection elsewhere so don't rush out and grab it, even though it's good.
'After Desh'ea' was one of the highlights (well, for me anyway) of the 'Tales of Heresy' collection while 'Butcher's Nails' was an audiobook long before it found another home here. I think 'Lord of the Red Sands' is the only 'new' story in this collection. I mean, it's only £2.99 for the Kindle edition but it's worth thinking about.
Anyway, on to the stories themselves...
All of the stories are good ones but the one that I came for is Matthew Farrer's 'After Desh'ea', the tale of Angron's first meeting with his Legion and Kharn in particular. I'd read it before but that was years ago now, I know I loved it then and wanted to see if it still had the impact that I remembered. It does.'After Desh'ea' is brutal and touching in equal measure with Kharn coming close to death, just to be able to tell a raging Angron that he has a legion waiting on his command, and Angron at the very limits of his self control. It's one of those stories where you go in thinking that it has already been spoilt by years of canon but you find yourself sticking around, just to see if these two warriors can find any common ground and move forwards. You know the ending already but all credit to Farrer then for making us want to stick around and see how this works out
The rest of the collection is all Aaron Dembski-Bowden and that's all you need to know really if you're wondering if the last two stories are worth your time. Of course they're worth your time.
If you blink then you might well miss 'Lord of the Red Sands' but you're not going to blink because it's a short and sharp affair that really demands your attention. It's Angron on Istvaan 3 and at his most reflective as he fights the ghosts of his past (and present) in an attempt to be the master of his own destiny. It's one massive fight scene (it's Istvaan 3, what would you expect?) but the difference is that we finally find out what Angron is fighting for and it is really refreshing to see him fight for a cause rather than just fight.
With that in mind then, 'Butcher's Nails' is all the more tragic as we see Angron reduced to a shell of his former might and about to have his future taken from him. You absolutely have to feel for the Primarch who could have been so much more.
Having said that though, this tale of ambushes in deep space, and shipboard actions, is great from a 'watching World Eaters take on the Eldar' perspective. Or are they Dark Eldar (could be, judging by the state of their bridge)? Either way, there is one hell of a lot of fighting going on here and I'm not ashamed to say that watching an Angron/Lorgar team up (and the resulting gore) was awesome and just what I needed.
The only thing that should stop you picking up a copy of 'Angron' is if you already have 'After Desh'ea' and 'Butcher's Nails'. Although, having said that, 'Lord of the Red Sands' is worth it even if you already have the other two stories.
So, the hell with it, just buy the book as it is crammed full of 'Angron and World Eater Goodness'. There is an argument to be made that 'Angron' is purely for the fans; I can see that but there is some great storytelling on view here that I think anyone could get something out of.

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