Shadows of Treachery (The Horus Heresy, #22) by Christian Z. Dunn

Shadows of Treachery (The Horus Heresy, #22) Reviews

• 
  Olethros

  -Irregular en lo narrativo y también en la importancia de los detalles desarrollados.-
  
  Género. Relatos.
  
  Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Sombras de traición (publicación original: Shadows of Treachery, 2012) es una antología de cinco relatos y dos novelas cortas, con Christian Dunn y Nick Kyme a cargo de la edición, centrados en distintos momentos de la guerra civil del Imperio de la humanidad en el universo del rico trasfondo del juego de estrategia con minaturas Warhammer 40.000, todos con relación a, explicando algo de, ampliando aquello que o profundizando más en distintos aspectos de tramas ya ofrecidas en la saga. Vigésimo segundo volumen de la serie La herejía de Horus.
  
  ¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
  
  
  https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...
• 
  Veronica Anrathi

  I finally finished all of the shorts that I skipped back in the day, now I can say that I’ve read Shadows of Treachery and it turned out to be my favorite anthology so far. It was also very pleasing to re-read some of my all-time favorites like The Dark King and The Prince of Crows. This book contains seven powerful stories, some stronger than the others, but still engaging and entertaining. Some definitely become the real classics of the Horus Heresy, and rightfully so. I am happy to finally write a proper review for each of them.
  
  1 John French - The Crimson Fist -*****
  
  I was delaying this one for the longest time and I was oh so wrong to do so. Expecting a lot of Iron Warriors vs. Imperial Fists action scenes, I was very pleasantly surprised to read extremely interesting pieces of lore around Alexis Polux, a character I truly enjoyed in Pharos, and Sigismund, the absolute legend of a man. Very, very nice.
  
  2 Graham McNeill - The Dark King - *****
  
  For me, a Night Lords fan, this is a classic. I can’t remember how many times I’ve read it or listen to the audio, it gets me every single time. Curze is an amazing, complex character, an absolute madman, yet the only person who seems to see the truth. This is written exceptionally well, and in audio format – performed perfectly. One of the very few pieces in Horus Heresy where Night Lords are presented as the main focus of the story, it’s captivating, full of both important lore and amazing atmosphere. One of my absolute favorites, forever.
  
  3 Dan Abnett - The Lightning Tower - ****
  
  This one was first released in 2007 and it shows… somehow. Even though I only read it about 5 years ago for the first time, I am definitely getting this feeling with the way characters and events are being described here. It is interesting how we just recently got Now Peals Midnight and The Board Is Set shorts, 11 years later Dorn is still there, waiting, and the main event is finally coming. However, I digress. It is a good atmospheric piece and I enjoyed reading it again.
  
  4 Graham McNeill - The Kaban Project - *****
  
  I personally loved this one a lot. I’ve heard about this story a long time ago, but reading it now, when I finally found deep interest in Adeptus Mechanicus, was a good time for sure. The Kaban Machine being presented as this pet/child-like persona, seemingly naïve, but lacking basic human traits alike to sociopaths, viewing people’s words and deeds strictly in black and white, was fascinating. I ended up having a few questions at the end, but overall I enjoyed it very much.
  
  5 Gav thorpe - Raven's Flight - ***
  
  Not bad, but sadly this short does not live up to the glory of others surrounding it in the anthology. A prequel to Deliverence Lost. Corax reflecting on the tragedy of astartes fighting and killing each other was the highlight of it.
  
  6 Graham McNeill - Death of a Silversmith - *****
  
  This one I just read for the second time. I find it amazingly captivating. A master of his craft dying, not knowing why, while being a tiny part of the grand game at play. All the little nods to the early Heresy novels, little hints and foreshadowing, makes this short story a rather enjoyable experience. I’d love to someday read it again.
  
  7 Aaron Dembski-Bowden - Prince of Crows - *****
  
  To me this one is a masterpiece, one of the few Horus Heresy pieces that I am never tired of re-reading or listening to. This novella had an impact on me and became a source of inspiration. Sevatar is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating characters in the franchise and it is always extremely interesting to follow him both in action (as in Prince of Crows) and in loneliness (as in the Long Night). He is one of the most well developed, multinational, complicated astartes, even though we don't have much written about him. This is the reason why I cherish every little piece of lore that shows more of his personality. I can properly share my initial thoughts from the first time reading it since it was a long time ago, but this story will always have a special place in my heart. The scene that describes his background on Nostramo, a boy talking to the crows, is what I always have in mind when thinking of Jago, it is eerie and beautiful, frightening and luring, just as he is as a whole. I can't find words to truly represent my love for this piece so I will leave this review just like that. I love it with all my heart.
  
• 
  Dawie

  Another solid anthology, it kinda pisses me off how frequent these things happen and how much they spoil or give away to things we have not even come accross in the main novels. Lots of Nightlords and Imperial Fists featured stories in here, not sure what they all imply but I had a decent time going through them.
• 
  Abhinav

  You can find my full review over at The Founding Fields:
  
  
  http://thefoundingfields.com/2012/09/...
  
  Shadowhawk reviews the latest Horus Heresy anthology, containing two brand new novella-length stories, as well as several reprints of old audio dramas and a formerly exclusive short story.
  
  “One of the best anthologies that Black Library has put out, each story a perfect thematic fit to each other.” ~The Founding Fields
  
  Shadows of Treachery is the fourth anthology in the Horus Heresy series, following on from the highly successful Tales of Heresy, Age of Darkness, and The Primarchs. It also marks a slight departure in terms of content from these anthologies, for where the first two contain only short stories and the third only novellas, this one contains two novellas and five short stories, an eclectic mix of tales from across the Heresy lore, both old and new alike. And so the stage is set for what promises to be a really great anthology, despite my earlier reservations as about a good 45% of the anthology is reprint of older material.
  
  The lead-in story is Crimson Fist by John French, an Imperial Fists novella through and through by the man who gave us the downright excellent The Last Remembrancer in Age of Darkness. John French is among the newer crop of Black Library authors and has yet to have a novel of his own published, but given how good his short fiction has been so far, I’m sure one is in the works. Crimson Fist is a tale of two halves, the first dealing with the vengeance fleet that Primarch Rogal Dorn dispatched to Isstvan after learning of Warmaster Horus’ betrayal in Flight of the Eisenstein, and the second deals with Dorn himself, and his favoured son, the legion’s First Captain, Sigismund the Templar.
  
  What struck me the most about Crimson Fist is just how well John has captured the personalities of Sigismund and Dorn, making these into so much more than they have been before, except of course in the excellent short stories (formerly audio dramas) by Dan Abnett and Graham McNeill that are also contained within the pages of this anthology. The scenes on Terra as Dorn begins the preparation of fortifying the Imperial Palace to deal with the traitors’ eventual invasion, are laden with emotion as John gets into the head of the Praetorian, Dorn. The interplay between him and Sigismund is well and truly that of a father and son in a galaxy of war, and is a very personal relationship rather than some of the more impersonal ones we have seen so far, like Horus and Abaddon which is a one-way trip of unbridled admiration and fraternal love. Dorn is someone who cares about his genetic sons, much in the same way that the more compassionate/passionate Primarchs like Sanguinius do.
  
  And as was later revealed, John really did his homework on this part of the story, for these scenes fit in extremely well with Dan’s The Lightning Tower and Graham’s The Dark King, in terms of the mood, the various references to characters and places, etc. Definitely the best part of the novella.
  
  The second part, told in first person through the eyes of Alexis Polux, one of the remaining senior commanders of the vengeance fleet, and the future first Chapter Master of the Crimson Fists, is written well, but it does not match up to the novella’s second half. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the insight into what happens in the Phall system, one of the more defining battles of the Imperial Fists prior to the Siege of Terra (and some might say the only one of note undertaken by the legion), but it was still lacking in a few places. For one, the actual void battle doesn’t happen until much later in the story and that disappointed me somewhat. The cover sets up a really fantastic look into what went on in Phall, but the event itself is rushed through. Its even more disappointing for me as when I had first seen the cover, I had expected this anthology to be anovel about Phall, which I think would have been a bloody fantastic job, but unfortunately not so. Still, this is a pretty good entry into the series, and one of the better ones in fact.
  
  Rating: 9/10
  
  Next we have The Dark King by Graham McNeill. This is one of the older stories in the series, possibly the oldest alongside The Lightning Tower. And it used to be an audio drama too. I found this to be a truly fascinating story because of the fact that this one really gets into the head of Primarch Konrad Curze of the Night Lords legion, one the traitors during the Heresy. It marks that final rift between Dorn and Curze, the one where the latter murderously assaults the latter, and essentially goes renegade, until he marks an appearance at Isstvan as part of the second wave of attackers and betrays the legions of the first wave. This is a story that is all about the relationships between the Primarchs. Curze is confronted by first Dorn’s apparent naivete (in Curze’s eyes) about the goal of the Great Crusade and the legions’ place among it, and then is betrayed by Fulgrim to Dorn where Curze’s prescience is concerned. It is an almost heart-breaking story, almost because even though this is set in the 31st millennium, it echoes the full mood and atmosphere of the relentless 41st millennium where treachery and war are supreme. This also shows off Curze’s other psychic power, the one that grants him power in darkness and over shadows, to use as he sees fit. Ultimately, it is about the dichotomy of the Primarch, his frailty where his prescience is concerned, and his lethality where his physical prowess as a hand-crafted warlord is concerned. Well and truly a Heresy classic story.
  
  Rating: 10/10
  
  Then we have Dan Abnett’s The Lightning Tower, which is quite possibly the best Heresy short story to date, although Matt Farrer’s After Desh’ea, John French’s The Last Remembrancer and Graham McNeill’s The Kaban Project are strong contenders. This is another story that concerns Dorn and is all about him coming to terms with his worst fears about the Heresy. This is a somewhat concurrent story to John French’s Crimson Fist, but more towards the other extreme of the timeline therein. With nothing but Malcador the Sigillite’s counsel at his disposal, the Emperor being busy in his deepest vaults within the Imperial Palace, Dorn is a conflicted man because he cannot grasp what it is that could have turned Horus traitor. And I loved this story start to finish. This is a character study about Dorn, one where we really get to feel and experience what he does, his hopes and dreams and his nightmares. Together with the other two stories so far in the anthology, it forms a trilogy that is bound tightly in its themes and characters. It might as well have been subtexted “Shadows of Treachery” for Dorn has to come to understand and wrestle with that concept where it concerns his traitor brothers
  
  Rating: 10/10
• 
  David

  Took longer than expected. It was a good read though.
• 
  Jacob

  This might be the best collection of Horus Heresy short stories there is.
• 
  Gianfranco Mancini

  Maybe best Black Library antology ever.
• 
  Xev

  By the Emperor — I didn’t think I’d ever read an anthology where every story was a 5-star read. I was wrong.
• 
  Andrew Fletcher

  I think this is the best short story collection I have read for the Horus Heresy so far. I am not a huge fan of the mechanicum but the short story ‘The Kaban Project’ was very enjoyable.
  
  I also enjoyed the ‘Crimson Fist’ and felt this gave a good account about the Imperial Fists and what their legion is all about.
  
  I was slightly disappointed with ‘Prince of Crows’ as I had heard great things but it was still good. My favourite from this collection was ‘Death of a Silversmith’ a short but interesting account from a remembrancer about the Heresy and his death aboard an infamous ship.
• 
  Matthew Hipsher

  Another perfectly timed "anthology" of short stories to launch the next set of books in the Horus Heresy series. We get several short stories focusing on many different Legions, but the best of the group is the story "Prince of Crows" which focuses on Konrad Curze, the Nighthaunter, and his legion after his battle with Lionel Johnson.
  
  Great read, all well paced and each adds a necessary view into the developments of the heresy.
  
• 
  Tarl

  Another Horus Heresy anthology. Honestly, when I came to this book I was a bit concerned that I would have to slog through a bunch of stories that really wouldn't interest me. Sure, previous anthologies in this series have had their good stories, but all in all most have been just average, and I expected as much from this collection.
  
  'The Crimson Fist' was the first story in this collection, and arguably the one I had the hardest time slogging through. Much like the Imperial Fists themselves, this story was a test of endurance and stubborn drive to finish. There were points in it where I admit, the action, the betrayal, it was interesting to read. However, the over arching plot wasn't enough to keep my attention through the sheer size of this novella and the amount of character POV and first/third POV switches that were contained within. Almost half the collection in length, this is the longest story in the collection and a hard one to get through.
  
  The rest of this anthology collect together some of the previously published Heresy stories (Lightning Tower & The Kaban Project to name two) as well as some other stories. The later stories, with the exception of 'Death of a Silversmith' circle around the Night Lord legion and their Primarch, dealing with their conflict with Rogal Dorn and the effects afterwards, as well as the after effects with their clash with the Dark Angels. (from a previous anthology)
  
  The later stories are all handled well, each giving out just a little more of the history and conflict of the Horus Heresy, as well as bringing to light some of the Emperor's own flaws when he created his children and their eventual turn on him. The Night Lord's reasons for turning on the Imperium is handled well, and in the long run makes sense, especially when placed alongside their Primarch. No longer does it become the legion's fault for their turn, but rather a flaw in their Primarch's teaching of fear used for control.
  
  It's an interesting collection of stories, written by some of the better writers in the Horus Heresy and wider 40k novel series. Along the other books in the series, this collection is one of the stronger books and well worth the read. (more so if you are a Night Lords fan and want more details about their chapter/flaws/etc.) If you are reading the Horus Heresy series, you will already be picking this book up. If you are reading it as a one off book, you should be able to do so without knowing too much of the Heresy's history itself. (which you will probably already know parts of if you are a 40k fan.)
  
  All in all, it's a good anthology and well worth the read.
• 
  Jaye

  This was my first new entry in the Horus Heresy series in over a year, and what a book it is. One of the strengths of this series is that the frame is writ large, giving the authors freedom to explore multiple characters and plotlines. By the same token, there is a built-in limit, because we all know how the story ends, eventually. If you don't know that, I won't be sharing it here.
  
  The authors cover a lot of unfamiliar (to me) ground here: Rogal Dorn and the Imperial Fists, Corax and his Raven Guard, Konrad Curze and the Night Lords. Graham MacNeill even tackles the story of a forbidden sentient machine on Mars.
  
  There's good stuff here, but it's all just a tad depressing. Imagine that, depressing imagery in the Warhammer 40K universe.
• 
  Andrew Ziegler

  Three stars because three of the stories in here are printed versions of already published audio books. So, it felt like to me that this was a great set of two novellas, and one of them was vastly superior to the other. ADB's Night Lords are simply put the most sympathetic, bad ass, and down right approachable of the traitor marines. I have read the trilogy of novels he wrote and was floored by how much I liked really bad guys. Well, he did it again. Sevatar was amazing. This book is totally worth it for the Prince of Crows, but sadly lacking in the rest.
• 
  Nathan Balyeat

  This short story anthology was a little disappointing. Its not that any of the individual stories are poor - they're honestly average for short story anthologies in this universe. The disappointment is that half the content is from audiobooks or previously published stories. It is, like everything else in the series, a necessary part of the overall tale of the Heresy though and worth the read to someone who has been following it closely.
• 
  Aleksi

  
  
  "Prince of Crows" is quite possibly the best novella I have ever read. "The Crimson Fist" was also awesome.
• 
  David

  The Crimson Fist (Battle of Phall), the Kaban Project, and the Novella about the Night Lords, Prince of Crows, were my favorites in this collection.
• 
  Le monde de Stryx

  Ce roman est composé de plusieurs histoires, ce n'est pas un tome composé d'une seule histoire. Nous avons plusieurs histoires, certaines longues, certaines plus courtes dont deux ont eu droit à leur propre ouvrage, du moins deux histoires en un seul tome.
  
  La première histoire, Le poing écarlate, nous raconte l'histoire du capitaine Polux des Imperial Fists, allant punir les traîtres dans le système Isstvan avec plus de 500 vaisseaux mais les voilà contraint de faire halte dans un système car le Warp semble être contre eux et le voyage les oblige à faire halte. Mais il n'est pas seul car bloqué dans le système Phall, ils sont rejoints plus tard par leurs traitres de frères des Iron Warriors, qui voient ces « frères » Imperial Fists comme une belle proie, les détestant car les Iron Warriors se considèrent, entre autres, comme les meilleurs en défense et du fait que les Imperial Fists les relèguent dans l'ombre. On alterne aussi avec des passages sur Terra où l'on croise Rogal Dorn, primarque des Imperial Fists en discussion avec son premier capitaine, Sigismund, qui va s'attirer les foudres de son père génétique.
  
  La seconde histoire, Le roi sombre, nous montre un autre protagoniste, le seigneur de Nostromo, Konrad Curze. Après une querelle avec son frère Dorn sur une planète qu'ils venaient de soumettre, voilà que Curze est confiné dans ses appartements afin qu'il soit ramené sur Terra pour répondre de ses crimes envers la population de la planète qu'il venait de soumettre avec ses frères mais il en a décidé autrement, en apprenant la nouvelle que son monde natal, Nostromo, est sous l'emprise de la corruption. Etrangement, c'est l'un de mes Primarques favoris. Enfin, lorsque l'on voit le rapport sur la situation de Nostromo, j'avoue que ça fait froid dans le dos : « [...]un meurtre toutes les onze secondes, un viol toutes les neuf secondes, un taux de suicide qui double chaque année ... [...] ». Bref, c'est une histoire assez courte, à peine une dizaine de pages.
  
  La troisième histoire est intitulée La tour foudroyée de Dan Abnett. Il n'y a pas grand chose à y redire sur l'histoire, en dehors du fait qu'elle est très sympathique à lire et assez courte aussi, comme l'histoire précédente, Le roi sombre.
  
  Ensuite viennent deux ou trois autres histoires reprenant entre autre le Primarque Corvus Corax. Je ne vais pas détailler le reste des autres histoires ; je n'ai détaillé que les histoires qui m'ont le plus marqué, même si, bien sûr, toutes les histoires de ce tome sont vraiment bien écrites, passionnantes et addictives mais j'ai eu tout de même une préférence pour ces trois premières histoires. Cela fait vraiment du bien de se remettre dans l'univers de Warhammer 40k ainsi que d'avoir des détails concernant les relations entre certains frères, ce qu'il s'est passé sur certaines planètes, de quoi combler certaines « lacunes » ou questions que l'on pourrait avoir. En conclusion, ce fut un tome vraiment prenant, que je relirai sans doute avec plaisir dans quelques temps. C'est bien sûr un tome que je recommande chaudement.
• 
  Edward

  Been listening to this since new years. It's a short story collection so I'll go through each story one by one.
  
  The Crimson Fist - John French
  / This was the main reason for buying this collection. I wanted some Imperial Fists and I got them. This was probably the best first-person perspective story I've read in the HH so far. Space battles, intrigue, and a plot-hole filled. I can't remember why exactly it ended up getting called "the crimson fist" but I suppose it must've been important. - 3.5/5
  
  The Dark King - Graham McNeill
  /This story left my mind as soon as it entered it. It was fun getting introduced to Curze but really this story didn't do it for me. - 2/5
  
  The Lightning Tower - Dan Abnett
  /I don't remember anything from this one so I won't rate it.
  
  The Kaban Project - Graham McNeill
  /There are some interesting themes discussed in this one but the whole thing is basically one big trope with the whole "AI who acts like a child". The big reveal isn't particularly punchy either. 2.5/5
  
  Raven's Flight - Gav Thorpe
  /Action. Bang bang. 2/5
  
  Death of a Silversmith - Graham McNeill
  /Short and fun bit of wallpaper for the main plot. Didn't drag on and gave some nice insight into Sejanus. 3/5
  
  Prince of Crows - Aaron Dembski-Bowden
  /Dembski-Bowden's piece was certainly the best written of the lot. Sevatar was brilliant and a great main character to follow around the dysfunctional legion. Overall, though, the plot felt a little bit hamfisted but I enjoyed it. 3.5/5
• 
  fasz

  The Crimson Fist - John French ***
  
  Sigismund is a fun character, but his story is not particularly interesting.
  The other story, about the space battle is a great insight into how these things happen, and the characters are fun, the action is snappy. Perti is a petulant manchild as usual, that's why we "love" him.
  Dorn on the other hand is the MAN.
  
  The Dark King - Graham McNeill -
  
  My reader can't digest .wma files so I skipped this.
  
  The Lightning Tower - Dan Abnett -
  
  Same as above.
  
  The Kaban Project - Graham McNeill **
  
  Mars is a fun place, the tech was entertaining at times, but overall a shallow, pointless story not particularly well written.
  
  Raven's Flight - Gav Thorpe **
  
  Corax fighting is always fun. But not much to grab onto otherwise.
  
  Death of a Silversmith - Graham McNeill *
  
  Artsy as artsy gets. This is one big piece of screaming EASTER EGG like package.
  
  Prince of Crows - Aaron Dembski-Bowden ****
  
  Everyone loves Sevatar. The VA is genius. The characterization of Curze is fun. Overall not a bad story, but it has its flaws.
• 
  Hayley

  What a fabulous book. Every single story in here is wonderful. I'm not that big a fan of the Imperial Fists, but they also don't get a lot of attention, I feel like, and seeing them more fleshed out is really nice. I also loved the brief glimpse at Hastur Sejanus that we got - I wish we saw more of him (maybe Horus can have a primarch book and we can see them together, back before everything went to hell?). And the Night Lords! I didn't realize I was getting double Night Lords in this book! Sevatar is hilarious and charming and awful, and I am reminded of how and why I love those murderous bastards so much. Great collection!
• 
  Keith

  Definitely one of the better anthologies. There are 2 essential novellas in here. The Crimson Fist tells the tale of the battle of Phall between the Imperial Fists and Iron Warriors, which shapes things to come. Prince of Crows tells the culmination of The Thramas crusade from the point of view of The Night Lords, following on from The Lion novella in The Primarchs anthology.
  
  Both of the above are excellent, 4 and 5 stars respectively.
  
  Other highlights here are the short stories "The Kaban Project", which ties in nicely with "Mechanicum" and "Death of a Silversmith"
• 
  Gary Bake

  The Crimson Fist - Bit slow, not too bad 3/5
  Prince of Crows - Bit crazy, not too bad 3/5
  The Dark King - Small 2/5
  The Lightning Tower - Boring Dorn 2/5
  Death of a Silversmith - Nice bit of a human backstory 5/5
  The Kaban Project - What happens when your AI isn't 3 laws safe! 4/5
  Raven's Flight - Like reading a long shrug 2/5
  
  After this book I liked Dorn less and Curze more, who would have thought it.
  Overall 3/5
• 
  M O

  Sone rippers in this compilation. Lots of 8th legion action which I'm particularly nerding out on at the mo. It's no less heartwrenching 20+ books in how hurt some are when they first learn of the betrayal. We're definitely past the start now, at least for everyone other than the 5th legion who still don't know what has happened.
• 
  Brendan Davis

  This is a collection of short stories from Warhammer 40k, so if you're not looking for a 40k book don't take this for a recommendation.
  
  This is a solid collection of short stories from the Horus Heresy, so it's essentially delicious fast food. You eat it, enjoy it, and forget about it.
• 
  Victor Ward

  The first anthology of Horus Heresy that didn't leave me disappointed. The stories are a little more self-contained and the subjects are often interesting, even if there is still some of the running issue in every other character being a space marine with the same stock personality.
• 
  Peter

  The most consistent of the HH anthologies so far. The two Night Lords stories were my favourites: I didn't really know much about this legion and their primarch before so it was nice to get an insight into their surprisingly deep backstory. Aaron Dembski-Bowden's writing of Sevatar is brilliant.
• 
  Alfred

  A charming reintroduction (for me) of The Heresy. Darkly enthralling origins of traitor primarchs, filled with dystopian violence on the highest setting, this is 40k in a nutshell. "Happy" to be back reading these annals of the far future.
• 
  Griffin

  Good collection of stories, “Prince of Crows” is the standout. The rest range from great, like “The Lightning Tower” to just alright, “like Raven’s Flight”, which had me slow down on finishing the book, I’m giving this three stars.