'Ghost of Nuceria' – Ian St. Martin (Black Library)

I told you there'd be a book review coming along :o) Well, I say 'book'... 'Ghost of Nuceria' is only twenty one pages long, it counts though and not just because it's all I've had time for today what with coaxing my youngest daughter into doing school work and trying to get my own work done. The weekend seems so long ago now, when's the next one coming along?

Back to the story at hand... I've been enjoying the Black Library short stories (they're a great way to kill half an hour when you need a little time out) and Angron is probably my favourite of the Traitor Primarchs... 'Ghost of Nuceria' pretty much chose itself then as I've heard about Angron's first meeting with the Emperor but never read anything that focussed on that fateful day. Until now...

Angron, former gladiator and slave, and now leader of a rebellion against the High-riders of Nuceria, prepares to sell his life dearly in the name of freeing his people from torture. But fate has other plans and Angron must face a future under the eye of an uncaring father... A seed of rebellion is sown...

I've got to admit, as much as I love and enjoy reading the 'Horus Heresy' books, there are times when this series pokes a finger in my sense of plot and gives it a good old wiggle. How can an omnipotent Emperor get it so wrong with his greatest creations? Alienating half of the Primarchs (and whatever happened to the two lost Primarchs) can't be easy but the Emperor manages it when you would have thought that it would actually be easier to just pay a bit of attention to your sons and keep them on the straight and narrow. You know, get them doing what they were made for and all that.

With canon being, well... canon, I can't help but feel a little sorry for the writers who get to write these stories but who are also pretty much tied to the narrative and can't really get away from the fact that the Emperor isn't good at his job and pretty much relies upon being bailed out by the Astartes. There are two ways round this that I've seen Black Library writers take. You can either fill your plot with questions, and hope that these distract the reader from the incompetence of the Emperor (maybe he's screwing up for a reason...) or you can just tackle these failings head on and tell the best story you can with what you have. Ian St. Martin goes for the second approach and it goes really well.

What do you do when you're faced with an Emperor who could have rescued the Nucerian slaves, for Angron, but misjudged his son utterly and chose not to? If you're Ian St. Martin, you take the reader's eye away from that and show them instead the tragedy of what Angron could have been, came so close to being, but never had the chance to become. Angron is a hero to his army, and could have been a hero to the Imperium, but the events of that final day push that side of him deep down and let the vicious energy of the Butcher's Nails take over instead. St. Martin captures that sadness and really makes you feel Angron's despair as he is taken away from those that he promised to die with. It is sad and you can totally get why Angron eventually chose the side that he did.

Put that together with some very well written fight scenes and you have a short that hums with energy and although you know where it's going to end up, you can't help but be invested in Angron and what he needs to do for his army. The ending is painfully sad but the one thing I couldn't help but think (after putting the book down) was just, 'what the hell did the Emperor think he was doing?' That to one side though, 'Ghost of Nuceria' is a thought provoking read that sheds real light on Angron's wost day and confirms that, at least once, there was more to this Primarch than just rage.