Book Review 184 // The Serpent's Dance by Mike Brooks

I recently got my hands on some more Horus Heresy short stories. I like to break up my longer novels with some shorter tales as a refresher. This tale, for me, was an interesting one as it continued the adventures of Amendera Kendel, who I believe we met in Garro or was it Flight of the Eisenstein? Either way, let us get into the meat!

Title: The Serpent's Dance part of the Black Library Advent Calendar 2020.

Author: Mike Brooks

Fluff: A Horus Heresy short story

Amendera Kendel – once an Oblivion Knight of the Silent Sisterhood, now an agent of Malcador the Sigillite – seeks treacherous souls in the heart of the Solar system. Visiting the Jovian shipyards, she is determined to root out whatever nest of Horus' followers lurks there, awaiting the arrival of the Warmaster's armies. Yet what awaits her will test Kendel to her limits… and beyond.

Buy a copy: Amazon

Format: Kindle Edition, 30 pages

Review

It's funny that this is Mike Brook's first story in Horus Heresy. I have really enjoyed a lot of his Necromunda pieces, so I was hoping he could bring that energy into this setting. And boy did he! The thing you need to remember about this title is that it is kind of a teaser piece for Inquisitor fans. 

Amendera Kendel, alongside Garro, has been tasked by Malacador to be his secret pawns in future wars. For Kendel, it is to become the OG Inquisitor, while Garro was a proto-Grey Knight. But back to Kendel, we follow her on one of her early missions, taking her to Jupiter and the Jovian dockyards. Painfully close to the heart of the Imperium. Surely the heretics aren't this close?

Brooks manages to create an immensely readable story that I quickly absorbed. The main character is engaging and seems realistic in a world of heroic Space Marines. It read like a 40k novel but did not seem out of place in the 30k. I really hope this is just the start, and we will see more of Kendel and Brooks novels for her soon.

Have you read this? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. As always, thanks for reading.

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