‘The Shattered and The Soulless’ – Graham McNeill (Black Library)

 

Page Count: 418 Pages

‘The greatest conflict this galaxy has ever seen reaches its climax and the players in this drama must congregate. From the lead actors to the chorus, where else in this melodrama could any soul of consequence be drawn?’ - ‘The Fury of Magnus’

I’d blame it on middle age, if I could, but the truth is that I’m naturally awkward so when I saw these lines in ‘The Fury of Magnus’, my first thought was, ‘Really? Does everything have to be tied off neatly…?’

Because, really, does it? That’s not how life works, for everything that does come to an end, everything else keeps on moving and not necessarily in the same direction. When you’re looking at a ‘mega-series’ like ‘The Horus Heresy’ though, I guess there’s some justification for it, and I’m not just talking about the need to eke a few more coins out of readers. With a series of this length and the resulting size of the cast, everyone is going to have favourites that they follow and I guess it’s only fair to round off as many plot-lines as possible. Maybe, I’m still thinking about it ;o)

Anyway, that approach has resulted in the novellas ‘Sons of the Selenar’ and ‘Fury of Magnus’ being collected in ‘The Shattered and The Soulless’ and that is what I’ve been snatching moments, here and there, to read over the last couple of days. It’s not a bad read at all but your enjoyment of it will depend on a fair bit that’s outside the book itself. I’m running on ‘not a lot of sleep’ right now, lets see if I can explain myself a little more clearly…

As Horus lays siege to Terra, the Emperor's primarchs and their fractured Space Marine Legions stand on the precipice of the Throneworld’s destruction.

In Sons of the Selenar, the Shattered Legions have come to Terra – but when the Kryptos delivers a message of doom, the crew of the Sisypheum are drawn into their most dangerous mission yet, deep beneath Luna, where a long-buried secret will be revealed.

Fury of Magnus follows Magnus the Red as he embarks on a very personal mission to the Imperial Palace – one that will bring him face to face with the Emperor once more.

Explore ancient secrets, tragic choices and brutal war that will alter the fate of the galaxy in this action-packed omnibus.

I haven’t read a bad instalment yet, of ‘The Siege of Terra’, so I was looking forward to picking this book up and on the whole, I enjoyed the read. Both novellas have everything that have made the ‘Siege of Terra’ such an engaging series so far; constant wall to wall warfare and ‘no holds barred’ detail of not only what this has done to the Throneworld but also what this means for the Imperium itself. It’s undoubtedly powerful stuff but I did find myself enjoying one novella far more than the other… Lets take them in order ;o)

‘Sons of the Selenar’ was an unfortunate victim of my getting back into the ‘Horus Heresy’ at a time when my wallet was unable to keep up. If you’ve read the ‘Shattered Legions’ anthology (and I’m guessing, other assorted short stories etc), you’ll already know about the crew of the Sisypheum and their guerilla war against the traitors. You’ll get to see how it all ends and I think you’ll appreciate the bitter-sweetness a lot more than I did. Because if you’re me (and don’t worry, there’s a very good chance that you’re not), you haven’t read any of the ‘Sisypheum’ storyline so you’re coming in right at the end of all that and… It’s as you’d expect. There’s a lot going on here and it’s a bit of a treat to follow but without that backstory, I spent too long looking for the point to really get the most out of the plot. It was no-one’s fault, certainly not the fault of the story, that’s the way it goes sometimes.

‘Fury of Magnus’ though… That was a superb read and not just because I’m far more familiar with Magnus the Red’s story. Poor Magnus by the way, he really does not deserve his fate and that’s what makes his tale here all the more powerful, it’s possibly the only point where Magnus gets any say in his destiny. There’s a touch of the hero about Magnus (yep, I said it!) and even though you know how it will end, McNeill does really well here to make you wonder if maybe, things might turn out different. You’ve probably guessed it already but I’ll say it again, I really enjoyed ‘Fury of Magnus’, well worth the read.

So, does every story need to be followed to a conclusion then? It feels like a ‘cop out’ to say but it really does depend on where you’re sat. What I can say with ‘The Shattered and the Soulless’ is that while it was a ‘half and half’ read for me; even when it didn’t quite hit the target, there was still plenty there to keep me invested. When it really hit its stride though, ‘The Shattered and The Soulless’ was superb.