Angron: Slave of Nuceria: Slave of Nuceria (Volume 11) (The Horus Heresy: Primarchs)

Product Information

Angron: Slave of Nuceria is published by Black Library, available from tomorrow as a Limited Edition hardcover, and due in May 2019 in eBook and ‘regular’ hardcover. Reading this novel, I was left with a niggling question: How on Terra did the Emperor not purge this Legion? Several other forces are also at work within the World Eaters legion, and the book helps to show how the Nails' inclusion wasn't quite so cut and dry as one imagined.

One in ten of the warriors who had survived, who had fought and bled for each other, for him, would yield their throats as punishment. This book gives a glimpse into Angrons past, showing how he was before the nails poisoned his mind: Kind, calm, and it seems he might have even had some latent psychic abillities. It's interesting to see that at Angron loathes the tactic of the pre-Nails World Eaters with their slow advancement as he prefers them to attack with sheer rage and fury.

The three black pages I mentioned before are Kharn getting the Butcher's Nails literally hammered into his brain and experiencing a violent psychotic break so atrocious we're not allowed to see what happens, and as the nails are installed and begin to rewire his brain the black pages start and end only when his slaughtering is complete. This serves to compare and contrast each state of the legion, but curiously it is left up to the reader as which was truly better. My main gripe with it is that I just didn’t feel overly excited throughout like I have in the past for other BL titles. What could a creature that only knows violence and carnage have much to offer in terms of backstory.

And this is the tale about how the XII Legion chose the path to damnation too, embracing their father’s path and hammering the Butcher’s Nails inside their skull. As such, Angron: Slave of Nuceria was a book which was both going to face an uphill battle while also being desperately needed to flesh him out a little more. It's probably not an easy feat to make Angron, a character defined by just being endlessly filled with rage and not having much of a personality beyond that, a sympathetic and perhaps even tragic or heroic figure. Several times we see his younger self in the fighting arena, watched by degenerate spectators as he's forced to butcher his fellow slaves and the horrors unleashed upon them in the grim semblance of Ancient Rome’s most popular attraction – the spectacles of indescribably inhuman cruelty that effectively put Hunger Games and its likes to shame.The book shows us how the imprint of gene seed effect the Legion on the emotional level and how will the majority of them took some really drastic way to understand their gene sire.

The first part is set after Angron takes over his legion, as his people prepare to accept the butcher's nails and attempt to subjugate a rebel planet. However, view Angron’s struggles in context with his Primarch brothers, some of whom start in at least as difficult circumstances. Aside from that consideration, the novel is also just really good: well-written, good characters all around, great action sequences and some interesting examination of the Legions, World Eaters, Primarchs and the setting in general.

In general, the style St Martin chose for this story, action-heavy and dialogue-rich in equal measure, perfectly matches the spirit of the 12th Legion. And as that's going on, youve got the World Eaters split in those that desire the nails to be like their father, and those who fear what the nails will do to the legion. Much like Mortarion and - to a lesser degree - Vulkan he is one of those figures who ultimately has shown up in no shortage of books, but has often been left playing second fiddle to other characters.

As the Emperor travels the galaxy at the head of his Great Crusade, few events are as important as rediscovering his scattered sons, the primarchs, and bestowing them as the masters of their Legions. While Angron himself is certainly at fault, and many cite shortcomings among the World Eaters attachment to the Nails, it doesn't forget their strengths.Though his backstory is explained, namely why he has a head full of angry wires instead of brains, I would say the story is focused far more on the consequences of that on his Legion-- on the exploration of the impending damnation of the entire Legion and its culture. Its a trope Warhammer does from time to time: tell a flashback story that you already know the outcome of, yet you still root for the protagonists and hope that their doomed cause isnt destined to failure. As the Emperor travels the galaxy at the head of his Great Crusade, few events are as important as rediscovering his scattered sons, the Primarchs, and bestowing them as the masters of their Legions. Mistakenly believing that this twisted archeotech would make them better warriors more deserving of Angron’s respect, the majority of the legionaries crave their blessings – while the smaller, wiser part sees them for what they really are: a debased, horrible means of torture and punishment.