‘Oaths of Damnation: An Exorcists Novel’ – Robbie Macniven (Black Library)
Now here’s a book that I’d been trying to read, on and off, and then Christmas happened and that was more or less that… Until now :o)
Like I said the other day, I’m trying to go a little easier on myself this year (as far as my reading goes) but I do want to read more of the books that I’ve already bought and ‘Oaths of Damnation’ felt like the best place to start for that. I’ve also read a couple of Macniven’s 40K short stories, fairly recently, and it felt like time to pick up something novel-length. ‘Oaths of Damnation’ it was then… :o)
The Exorcists are a Space Marine Chapter unlike any other. To combat the forces of Chaos, they willingly accept daemonic possession, knowing that once it is purged their shattered souls will no longer be susceptible to corruption. Those who fail the banishment trials become Broken Ones, living prisons for the terrors expelled from their brethren. Should such desperate measures become known to the wider Imperium, there is little doubt the Chapter would stand accused of the vilest of heresies. When a daemonic conspiracy sees a Broken One freed, the Exorcists dispatch their Vanguard elite, the Hexbreakers, in a desperate quest to hunt it down. But the connection between their quarry and the commander of the strike force, Daggan Zaidu, is more than it first appears, and the Hexbreakers find themselves in a race against time to find the Broken One before their secrets are revealed to the Imperium, bringing damnation to the entire Chapter.
‘Random Thought Time…’ Is it just me or did Games Workshop suddenly realise that the Grey Knights are just a little too good to be true and wanted another Astartes Chapter that more or less does the same thing, just a little bit rougher and dirtier? I’m saying anything about the book (I’ll do that in the next few paragraphs…), just reading about these guys made me wonder, that’s all.
Anyway…
‘Oaths of Damnation’ ended up being a gripping read and a sweet blend of ‘Grimdark’ warfare coupled with moments of dark horror. However, what I suspect were constraints forced upon the book made it a little tougher going than perhaps it should have been. I’ll try and explain myself ;o)
As far as I can gather (through one quick Google search…), ‘Oaths of Damnation’ looks like the only full length novel focusing on the Exorcists Chapter. There are a couple of short stories, where they briefly feature, but that’s about it.
This being the case, ‘Oaths of Damnation’ is as much about the Chapter itself as it is about the mission the Hexbreakers are sent on; and that’s where things might get a little tricky, I guess it depends on what you’re looking for here…
Basically, there’s a lot of lore here that needs to be introduced if the Exorcists are to stand out as a Chapter with its own identity. And that’s fair enough, and should happen, but I just came away with the feeling that Macniven was maybe told to go into this in as much depth as possible. Which again, is all good, but that detail got in the way of the plot for me. I’m all for a bit of lore but I don’t necessarily need to know about every single little rite and so on. If that’s your thing though, or you’re building an Exorcists force for the tabletop, then I think you’ll enjoy these parts of ‘Oaths of Damnation’, Macniven is nothing if not thorough here.
Moving on the plot itself and, when it gets going, there is a lot to recommend ‘Oaths of Damnation’; a book that opens up like something out of ‘Event Horizon’ and just goes from there. The Exorcists themselves are a little hard to stick with but given their initiation into the Chapter, that’s kind of the whole point and Macniven gives us some fascinating insight into these warriors, what they must go through and what they are left to deal with afterwards. And I was left wondering just how the Orison Cults, of the Exorcists, were any different from the old ‘Warrior Lodges’, that helped bring on the Horus Heresy, so there is plenty to think about here.
And once Macnoven lets the plot have its head, things rush along at a terrific pace. No matter where the fighting is (and who it’s between), it’s brutal and uncompromising and all set against a background where you honestly can’t tell who is winning overall, just as 40K fiction should be :o)
‘Oaths of Damnation’ doesn’t do itself a lot of favours, in the direction that it initially takes, but once it gets going, turned out to be well worth sticking with. Maybe this was the natural home for ‘Warhammer Horror’ the whole time...
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