Thursday, May 28, 2015

Short Story Review - The Wolf of Ash and Fire

Short Story - The Wolf of Ash and Fire
Writer - Graham Mcneill
Series - Horus Heresy
Published By - Black Library


This one tells of a tale before the Horus Heresy, even before Ullanor, a battle during the Great Crusade, of a time when Horus was an ideal son of the Emperor. It is one of the few stories featuring the Emperor and also features him in battle. While the story was a bit slow at times these two characters and the action really makes it a fun read.

The Wolf of Ash and Fire follows Horus Lupercal, fighting alongside the Emperor Himself, as the Luna Wolves fight for control of the Ork-held planetoid of Gorro. But the story actually has two specific parts, one where the Luna Wolves battle Ork ships in a skill against numbers fight in space warfare. And then the sequence where Horus with his Luna Wolves along with the Emperor and his forces fights on the surface of Gorro against tech-orks. 

While the focus was on Horus and the Emperor it was interesting to read about Hastur Sejanus who was killed in the start of  the first Horus Heresy novel. The characters while only portrayed through battle were still fleshed out quite skillfully and their dialogues were enjoyable as well.

The action on the other hand was a mixed bag. The first half while lacked action compared to the second did have some unique aspects of   space warfare by the Empire army. On the other hand while the second half was packed with action it seemed to drag a bit at times.

Overall, this was quite an enjoyable read and makes the readers really wish for more stories during the Great Crusade.

This gets 4 out of 5 stars from me.

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