Audio Review // Horus Heresy: Chirurgeon by Nick Kyme

Excited to dive into another Fabius Bile story. As one of my favourite villains of 40k, it is always enjoyable to experience the 30k "Loyal" version. I'm keen on Reynold's version of him, so I genuinely hope Kyme does him Justice.

Author: Nick Kyme
Format: Audible (available via Amazon)

Fluff:

In its earliest days, the III Legion was blighted by a genetic flaw that threatened to end the Phoenician’s bloodline forever. Through tireless effort—and the miracle of a primarch’s genetic perfection—visionaries like Apothecary Fabius were able to halt the corruption and restore the Emperor’s Children to glory.

Except, it seems, a terrible secret has been kept from the rest of the Legion, and the threat of further degeneration is far from over…

Review

I’m always excited to dive into a Fabius Bile story. As one of my favourite villains in 40K, it’s fascinating to experience his “loyal” 30K incarnation. I’m particularly fond of Josh Reynolds’ take on the character, so I went into this hoping Nick Kyme would do him justice, and for the most part, he does.

As one of the most infamous traitors of the Heresy, it’s easy to forget how highly regarded Fabius once was. During the Great Crusade, he was among the most important figures in the Emperor’s Children, second only to Fulgrim himself. Without Fabius’ work, the Legion would have succumbed to genetic corruption long before the Heresy, likely joining the ranks of the forgotten. There’s a cruel irony in how this noble drive to save his Legion ultimately becomes the same obsession that drags it deeper into the arms of Chaos.

Kyme presents Fabius as a fully realised and unsettling character. Much of the story unfolds as Fabius operates on himself, attempting to excise the genetic flaws ravaging his body. Through these moments of agony, we revisit fragments of his past and uncover some genuinely intriguing lore about a Legion that could have been truly great. This is very much a body-horror piece: the surgical detail is vivid and uncomfortable, and it quickly becomes clear that Fabius is less a physician and more a necromancer with a scalpel.

Overall, Chirurgeon is a compelling and disturbing listen, one I’ll be revisiting again before long.