'Dreams of Unity' – Nick Kyme (Black Library)



Sometimes, it feels like the more Warhammer 40K fiction I read, the more I want to side with Horus and march on Terra myself. I've said this before but I wouldn't expect anyone to scroll back through a couple of weeks of posts so... The Emperor wasn't the best at his job, was he? Alienating his greatest general, being omnipotent but apparently not omnipotent enough to see what was coming and actually do something about it, the list goes on...
One of the Emperor's biggest cock ups though has to be the whole debacle with the Thunder Warriors, proto-space marines used in the earth conquering Wars of Unity and then gunned down by their own side because... they weren't quite what the Emperor needed to take the fight to the stars? Because they weren't built to last? Really? Just imagine how things could have gone if the Emperor had thought to himself, 'why don't I take a little more time and get these Thunder Warriors just right? Then I can conquer the Earth and the Galaxy without having to create more super soldiers...' Just imagine.
Which brings me rather neatly to Nick Kyme's 'Dreams of Unity', a tale of Thunder Warriors who made it through the massacre and are scraping a living in the shadows of a world that they helped build. Yes, it's WH40K short story time again...

It has been many long years since the fall of the Thunder Warriors. After the last battles of Unity, the legions of genhanced warriors were slaughtered by the Emperor's Custodian Guard on the Master of Mankind's orders. But a handful survived… Now one of the last few Thunder Warriors gets caught up in dangerous events that engulf the Throneworld – even as he is hunted by one of the Emperor's praetorians.
'Dreams of Unity' is a sobering tale of old warriors living out past glories (quite literally) and looking to die on their own terms. It's also a tale that loves to set false expectations and then catch you out when you least expect it, from the very first page onwards. It's a clue to what you, and the Thunder Warrior Dahren Heruk, will face towards the end of this tale. It's not the most subtle clue ever but when you figure it out, a lot of this tale will suddenly make sense. So yes, not the most subtle clue but amazing sleight of hand, by Kyme, at the same time. Heruk is the most unlikely detective that you will find but he takes you through the twists and turns of this plot nevertheless and you can't help but root for a man on his last legs but still trying to do the right thing by his brothers.
Dahren Heruk is pretty much the ideal character to take you through the exploration of eking out a living in a world that no longer wants or needs you. Heruk is in command of his faculties enough that he can, and does, carry the story very well but he is starting to lose control and you get a sobering feel for what his eventual fate will be. The moments Heruk spends in his memories are a tantalising look at a pre-Unity world that we will likely never see all of; I'd still like to see more though, I really would.
'Dreams of Unity' is also a look at the realities of life on the outermost fringes of Imperial society, where the best stories are always found. 'Dreams of Unity' is a great story, in it's own right, anyway but it really feels like Kyme takes it up a level by exposing that filthy underbelly (adding just the right gloomy atmosphere) and making us ask, was Unity worth this? When you look at the cost for people like Heruk then the answer has to be 'well, no, not really'.
I hadn't expected to be reading 'Dreams of Unity', until a chance snoop through Amazon landed me right on it, but I'm really glad that I did. It's examination of the tragedy of the last Thunder Warriors will stay with me for a few days and Heruk's quest made for a compelling read.

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