‘The Binary Succession’ – David Annandale (Black Library)


Just a fairly quick post today… I took yesterday as leave and although I got stuff done, I would have had a quieter day if I’d stayed in the office. Today is looking like a busy one too. Oh well, just a few more hours and then it’s the weekend :o)

So not a lot of reading happened yesterday but I did take a little time out, in the evening, to sit and listen to a Black Library audiobook that I’d kept to one side, just for this sort of situation. In the real world, the ‘Horus Heresy’ series is done and dusted; even the ‘Siege of Terra’ series has more or less concluded now. My reading is all over the place though, jumping backwards and forwards over the timeline as the fancy takes me, and this time round, we’re looking at a pivotal event taking place within the Imperial Palace while the galaxy burns…

Even as the Imperium faces the renegade Legions of the Warmaster, the ruling Council of Terra is becoming paralysed from within by increasingly petty bureaucracy. Fabricator General Kane has seen his fellow Mechanicum adepts dismissed again and again by the High Lords - with his traitorous predecessor Kelbor-Hal still at large on the Red Planet, the political status of the tech-priesthood remains ambiguous. New alliances must be forged from the old if Mars and Terra are to survive the final battle.

You know, by now, that I like to have a little moan about ‘Horus Heresy’ tales that seem to be there just to plug a gap and don’t really do much for the actual narrative. You know, the whole point of the series… ;o) Well, I’m really pleased to confirm that ‘The Binary Succession’ isn’t one of those stories at all. I have to admit that it took me a little while to get my head round why the Binary Succession is a problem but it is clear that it is a big deal on a couple of levels relating to the current setting and what that might mean for the relationship, between Terra and Mars, going forwards.

The question of ‘Succession’ has to be solved then and Annandale explores the solution, and its ramifications, in an engaging tale that takes in high-level council negotiations and armed combat within the Palace itself (which I was glad to see, politicking is fun but it wouldn’t have made for a particularly exciting audiobook). While the Imperium crumbles, there’s a sense of tragedy in that humanity still cannot unite against a common threat with factions continuing to try and advance their own agendas. It seems to go in the opposite direction with factions splintering into smaller and smaller groups.

The conclusion may not be in any doubt but it’s still fun to watch disparate Loyalist factions try and work it out. And ‘The Binary Succession’ is another Black Library audiobook that has been produced superbly with great work from the cast complemented by special effects that really got me into the story (I love the detail, especially the tannoy announcer telling Council Members to take their seats). Not a bad way to round off a Thursday then, I might just have to keep my Audible subscription open for a little longer.

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