Audio Drama // Templar by John French
I'm getting really into audio dramas at the moment. They're absolutely brilliant to listen to while I'm at work and, weirdly, they actually help me concentrate. There's something about having a story playing in the background that keeps my brain occupied without distracting me from what I'm doing.
Today's drama also happens to follow one of my favourite Chapters...The Imperial Fists: The Chosen of the Emperor!
These fine warriors have arguably missed out on a lot of the fun of the Horus Heresy, being stuck on Terra and around the Sol System while everyone else is off having their galaxy-spanning rebellion. But things are starting to change, and in Templar, we get to spend some proper time with one of the most important Imperial Fists of them all...Sigismund.
The Commercial Fluff: Sigismund, First Captain of the Imperial Fists, is one of the Imperium's greatest swordsmen. Once the peerless duellist and champion of Rogal Dorn, he's recently fallen out of favour with his Primarch and is looking for a way to atone.
When treacherous Word Bearers are discovered abandoned on a comet-shrine within the Solar System itself, Sigismund and his warriors are called to action. With the Horus Heresy raging across the galaxy, there's no way Dorn is going to allow these traitors to sit practically on Terra's doorstep.
And this is where our story begins.
The Review
I really enjoyed this one (I say that a lot. It’s like I purposely only pick titles I will enjoy). It's great getting a story focused on the Imperial Fists, who, compared with some of the other Legions, can sometimes feel like they've been left sitting in the background while everyone else gets to have all the fun. But this is really just a Sigismund story.
We get to spend time with this interesting character, and learning about the man, but we also get to see how other Legions view him. And honestly, the duelling sections were probably my favourite parts of the whole drama. We get to see Sigismund go up against warriors from other Legions and learn how they perceive him. The White Scars, for example, see him as far too rigid. Someone who has become so focused on duty and discipline that he's forgotten how to actually enjoy life. And then you've got the World Eaters...who basically think he's missing the passion and sheer bloody-minded determination required to win at absolutely any cost. Which I found really interesting, because we obviously know where Sigismund is heading.
This is the man who will eventually become the Emperor's Champion during the Battle of Terra and the founder of the Black Templars. So listening to these earlier encounters, you can almost feel the story moving him towards that destiny. We're seeing the foundations being laid, and that's what makes those duels work so well. They're not just there because, well...Sigismund hitting people with a sword is pretty cool. They're actually showing us the man behind the legend, and how he is viewed in the wider galaxy. We get to discover what he believes, what he lacks, and most importantly how his obsession with duty is beginning to shape the warrior he's going to become.
Then we finally get to the main story. The moustache-twirling, comical villains, aka the Word Bearers, turn up. They're traitors, so they must be purged. They're somehow on a “comet-shrine” (WTF) practically on Terra's doorstep. And, because this is the Horus Heresy after all and apparently things weren't complicated enough already...there are Daemons running around. Yes. Daemons.
At this point, the Imperial Fists have got enough problems without adding those into the mix. The action really kicks off and, again, the audio drama does a fantastic job of bringing everything to life. The music is excellent. The sound effects are great, and because it's an audio drama rather than simply someone reading a book, there's a real sense of being dropped into the middle of the action. You can hear the weapons. You hear the fighting. You can hear the atmosphere around the characters, and that's exactly what I want from an audio drama. My only real complaint is that the main story feels a little rushed, a classic line for a short story haha.
Once we get into the Word Bearers and the Daemons, things move incredibly quickly. The Word Bearers are dispatched rather sooner than I'd have liked, and I couldn't help thinking that the story could have really benefited from another thirty minutes. Give us a bit more time with these characters. Let the situation breathe. Let the threat build.
Because just when things are getting really interesting...it's over, I wanted more.
Ultimately, this is exactly why I'm getting into audio dramas. It's full of interesting characters, great action and fantastic atmosphere, and it really sucks you into the story, and getting to spend time with Sigismund before he becomes the legendary Emperor's Champion is a real treat.
For me, this is a B+.
A really enjoyable listen that gave me plenty of Imperial Fists, plenty of Sigismund and plenty of sword fighting...I just wanted another thirty minutes of it. and honestly? That's not a bad problem to have.
