‘Dark Apostle’ – Anthony Reynolds (Black Library)

 

Page Count: 415 Pages

This weekend was not a good one for reading or blog posts, you probably noticed ;o) Lets just say that it was far too hot and Cat 1 finally lost all patience with Cat 2. Not that Cat 2 really cared much at all, she just got on with the important work of polishing off Cat 1’s breakfast when she got the chance. Honestly, I’m just glad that both of them are back with their owner and no longer my problem ;o)

(I miss them…)

I did manage to read one book though, just the one (and mainly whenever the cats took themselves off to find a shady spot)… I found a copy of Anthony Reynolds’ ‘Dark Apostle’, Greenwich Oxfam (again), the other day, and while it was a re-read, that worked for me as it was just too hot to read something new. And I say ‘re-read’ but does it count if the last time you read it was seventeen years ago?

Anyway…

While I’d say never trust a Heretic Astartes (although the World Eaters are surprisingly honest about their aims), the Word Bearers are particularly nasty bastards; very likely the whole reason the galaxy is in the state that it’s in. Lets take a look at what these spiky-armoured zealots get up to on any given day…

Chaos Space Marines are feared for their savage brutality, and with just cause. When ungodly visions drive Dark Apostle Jarulek, of the Word Bearers, to the unsuspecting Imperial planet of Tanakreg, he and his force attack without mercy and brutally ensalve the population. With the planet in ruins, they set their new slaves a mysterious task: to build a hideous tower of monumental proportions. What is Jarulek’s vile purpose, and can he achieve it before the Imperial forces arrive to reclaim the planet?

If you’re coming to ‘Dark Apostle’ for the first time, and especially if your copy isn’t the omnibus edition, I’m going to do you a big favour and tell you, right now, that ‘Dark Apostle’ is the start of a trilogy of books. While ‘Dark Apostle’ does stand on its own, that’s only up to a point and reading it as such will leave you with a plot that has an explosive finale… followed by a few pages where you think, ‘oh, what happens next?’

No worries, you’re welcome ;o)

Read ‘Dark Apostle’ for what it is; a slightly more in-depth look at the Word Bearers Legion and a lot of scene-setting for events that are going to play out over another couple of books (and one short story). The drawn out nature of the war for Tanakreg is a bit of a slog and while it wasn’t short on spectacle, did leave me wondering whether the Astartes are as effective as they’re made out to be, not if they can be beaten back by essentially swamping them with Imperial Guard. But like I said though, there’s plenty of spectacle to enjoy and you do get a real feel for the stakes here. Jarulek absolutely must have the planet and while the Imperial relief force may not understand just why, just the fact that the Word Bearers are on Tanakreg at all means that they must be removed.

What I came back to ‘Dark Apostle’ though was for a little reminder of what the Word Bearers are all about. And to be fair, Anthony Reynolds more than delivers on that score. I came away from this book with a real sense of the betrayal that the Legion still feels and how this eventually led them into the service of the Ruinous Powers. What I found really interesting, on this readthrough, is that while the Word Bearers constantly seek to advance the worship of Chaos, once they’ve subjugated a world, they will literally work the populace to death on whatever comes next. You would have thought that these particular Marines would understand that faith grows through the size of a congregation. Oh well, we get to see just how brutal the Word Bearers can be and that makes for more eyecatching moments as Tanakreg slowly slides into Chaos.

Better than that though, is the picture that Reynolds draws of a Legion seemingly united in purpose but riven by numerous factions seeking to advance their own ambitions in line with the stated purpose of the Legion itself. Honestly, you’ll be surprised that the Word Bearers manage to find the time to take Tanakreg, what with the amount of backstabbing etc going on. I can’t remember what happens over the next two books but the amount of intrigue here means that finding out should be most enjoyable.

‘Dark Apostle’ takes a while to get going then but you can see that a lot of groundwork is being laid out for events, that will play out later, and to be honest, fair play to Reynolds for doing that ground work and fitting a plot around it. Hopefully the next two books will flow a little more smoothly...