Am I becoming a Blood Angel fan? I know it's hard to believe, but I have enjoyed these Sons of Sanguinius stories. To the point where I have just purchased a set of short stories on audible featuring mainly Blood Angel and Flesh Tearer stories set within the 40k verse. I also have a copy of the 2nd Edition 40k box set, which I feel is begging to be painted in the classic schemes.
But back to the review.
Title: The Herald of Sanguinius
Author: Andy Smillie
Blurb: Crowned as the new Emperor of Imperium Secundus, Sanguinius of the Blood Angels faces the very real threat of betrayal from within his new realm. As ever, it falls to his Sanguinary Guard to protect the primarch, and Commander Azkaellon must resort to the most dire of measures.
Not only is this story a fascinating glimpse into the mind of the Blood Angels Primarch, it also shines light on the origins of another well known character in the history of the IX Legion...
Review
It's another short tale at just under twenty minutes long. But Smillie manages to squeeze in a lot of detail into this short amount of time. This feels like a prologue to another story, some currently unknown tale that hopefully Smillie is working on? Otherwise, it is just an amazing teaser piece for the 40k nerd in me.
Set within the Imperium Secundus, Sanguinius rest uneasily as tensions build among the mismatched gathered legions. Cracks are forming, and the weight of rulership is threatening to crush both Sanguinius and his sons. This is very obvious within the character Azkaellon leader of the Sanguinary Guard, who has to weigh protecting his gene father whilst attempting to help build a new empire.
This building tension is played out amazingly well within the story, before the reveal at the end. There is no big bolter action or fight scenes, just some true character development, that focuses on the bleak and dangerous setting of the civil war. We see the birth of a future hero for dark times, created in the dying embers of a golden age.
A solid listen, just needs a book to go with it!
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