Picked up the book last evening, finished reading and turned out the light at exactly 3:33am. Coincidence?
My review? Go out and buy the book, absorb it in one sitting.

That’s it?

I have to admit that is this is a difficult book to read and review as I am forced to set aside any fanboy glee for what is my personal favorite Legion (1ksons) and the Horus Heresy novel I’ve been waiting for since the beginning. Deep breath. I’m a pro. Objectivity. GO!

Dark Apostle is the third in the Word Bearers series and the culmination of a massive plot. Of course when you consider that the Word Bearers and other Traitor Legions are over 10,000 years old and their schemes stretch over millennia it’s hard to grasp the scope of such a “plot”. Wheels within wheels and the Word Bearers are plotters in the extreme.

The story of Dark Apostle Marduk continues and his goal of using the ancient Necron technology to essentially propel himself higher up the food chain and bring as much chaos to the Imperium as possible is fought with peril from within and without.

It’s a familiar tale: enemy warriors fighting a desperate battle only to be snatched up and put through a grueling series of tests and implantations to become Astartes. Eventually they learn to be a team and work together (or die) as scouts, neophytes, etc. If you’ve read the Space Wolves Omnibus (specifically Space Wolf) by William King then you know the story. Honestly, if you’re a Space marine fan of any sort you likely are familiar with the story already. That’s all there is to know, right?

Wrong!

A few months back Gav wrote a post in his blog regarding cutting out “faffy” words. A lot of writers use a lot of excess language to get a point across where Gav tends to cut to the meat of the story and carves his way through the pages at a fevered clip.

The Shadow King is another great example of this. To be honest I was hesitant about whether Thorpe could pull that off. I mean…over 500 pages. That seems pretty wordy to me. So I sat down and set about consuming and digesting this thick tome (larger than anything he’s written to date I believe page-wise. Don’t quote me but I *think* that is accurate.)

As per usual Gav gets right to it. The stage is set and things start going to hell…fast. This is the second book of The Sundering, following Malekith.