Book Review: Age of Darkness

This book here combines two of the greatest things ever, short stories and the Horus Heresy!

The first story is Rules of Engagement by Graham McNeill. In this story we read about Captain Ventanus of the Ultramarines. He has been charged by his primarch to learn all he can about how to fight Space Marines. This is a pretty story and has a great ending.

Next up is Liar's Due by James Swallow. This is one of the best stories in the book, a small agricultural planet learns that the Emperor is dead and Horus has won. Hijinks ensue! Great read!

Forgotten Sons by Nick Kyme tells the story of two very different Space Marines as they attempt to bargain for the loyalty of the planet Bastion. This story was a bit odd. It felt a bit out of character to me. It felt as as Mr. Kyme was trying to squeeze a square peg into a round hole.

Next up is the Last Remembrancer, by John French. I haven't heard of Mr. French before, but he does a good job here. Horus sends the remembrancer into the Terran system to talk to Rogal Dorn. The story he tells will test Dorn's commitment to the Emperor.

Rebirth by Chris Wraight is up next. I just got done gushing over Wraight's book, Battle of the Fang, and he does another excellent job here. Captain Kalliston of the Thousands Sons has been captured and is being interrogated. I really don't want give any more away. This was another really good read.

Gav Thorpe writes The Face of Treachery. This book goes along with the audio book Raven's Flight. It tells a different side of the same story, the direct aftermath of Isstvan V as told by the Raven Guard. One of the things that I really liked about this one was the the Raven Guard captain from Raven's Flight, looks less like a D-bag in this one. Oh, and the ending is pretty cool!

Little Horus by Dan Abnett was an odd story, in it, we see, oddly enough, "Little" Horus Aximand is fighting brother Space Marines for the first time (we're gunna not count the Istaavn's) and he is having some second thoughts? This one was just an odd story, and not one of my favorites.

The Iron Withing, by Jonathan Keeble, on the other hand, was another one of the best stories in this book. It talks about an Iron Warrior that does not share his primarch's view on Horus or the Emperor. Very good fighty story and great ending!

The last story in the book is Savage Weapons by Aaron Dembski-Bowden. This one is a show down between Lion'El Johnson and the Night Haunter. It is another one of those, "the good guys win, or do they?" stories that I love. Great fight scene between two primarchs and the secondary Dark Angles character does a really good job as well. Well worth the read.

There really weren't any of the stories in here that I didn't like, and quite a few of the "new" authors (at least new to me) did a very good job! I give this book four potential patricides out of five.