‘Child of Night (Horus Heresy)’ – John French (Black Library)

So, last night was all about me enjoying ‘Eater of Dreams’ (review Here or just scroll down the page a little, either works) and over on Twitter, Marc Collins very kindly pointed me in the direction of it’s prequel. Now, I’m always up for new stuff to read, on the commute to work in particular, so I was all over this recommendation and just about managed to save it for my trip into work this morning. And… Let me tell you about it,

In the dark hive sumps beneath Terra, Chief Librarian Fel Zharost of the Night Lords Legion is being hunted. Having abandoned his insane Primarch and brothers many years ago, he doesn't know what he's done wrong, but he's sure he doesn't want to be captured. What will happen when he discovers that his Legion has fallen into heresy? And where will his loyalties lie?

My trip into work is a grim journey shared with grim people and as such, I’m always grateful for anything that can take me away from that (even for a few moments). I’m happy to report then that ‘Child of Night’ did just that, for a large chunk of my journey I was getting to know Fel Zhargost, just exactly what he was capable of and that it is actually possible to go to ground so thoroughly, in the depths of Terra, that news of an entire Galactic Civil War can just pass you by. Seriously, just consider that for a moment, a planet so built up that you can effectively shut out an entire galaxy just by going deeper. French does really well to give us a sense of that along with a darkness that I’m pretty sure you could actually cut with a knife.

It’s not just that though, French makes use of the limited space to give his readers a tale that not only demands your attention but makes sure that the payoff is well worth your time. Whether it’s the horror of a childhood in the hive sumps (and yes, I finally got to visit Albia and it was just what I’d been looking for) or the horrors that Zharost commits as an active Legionary of the Night Lords (and bloody hell that was intense, hints of ‘Sandman’ there…), French really makes sure that our eyes stay on the page.

I would like to have got a better feel for what made Zharost go into exile (although to be fair, I was only half awake while reading so could missed anything in that state…) but that’s a minor quibble when you look at what’s on offer here. We get a feel for what led Zharost to Albia and he gets to the bottom of why he is being hunted. That’s all we need really and it sets things up nicely to play out in ‘Eater of Dreams’. Yep, I read things out of sequence (again) but both tales are self-contained enough for this not to matter.

‘Child of Night’ ended up being a fascinating look into the mindset of a Legion, that I’m not too familiar with, through the best kind of eyes; ones that see fault and are ready to challenge it. And it has pretty much set the bar for all Warhammer 40K short reads going forwards, it’s that good.