Book Review // Horus Heresy: Allegiance by Chris Wraight
Time to pick up the pace with these audio reviews. I managed to get through a trio of them over the weekend, so expect a few extra posts this week. To kick things off, we have a Thousand Sons and White Scars tale.
Allegiance (The Horus Heresy – Short Story)
Author: Chris Wraight
Want to read? Use this link to support the blog. This is an Amazon affiliate link so thank you for the support.
Official Fluff:
After the Second Battle of Prospero, the White Scars carry a lone sorcerer with them — Revuel Arvida, the sole survivor of the Wolf King’s wrath. Guided by the Stormseer Yesugei, he slowly regains his esoteric powers and relives the memories of a world turned to ash.
But the sons of Chogoris are wounded too, fractured by treachery and hard choices. As Jaghatai Khan passes judgement on those who swore the blood oath, Arvida must also decide where his true allegiance lies — with those who saved him, or with the broken legacy of his own Primarch.
The Review
This is a quiet, introspective story following Revuel Arvida as he recovers aboard the White Scars vessel Swordstorm. Throughout the narrative, he is repeatedly invited to join the Scars, yet he refuses to break his oath to the Thousand Sons. As the story unfolds, Arvida feels the pull of his Legion more strongly, even as he witnesses the White Scars wrestling with their own internal betrayal. During a trial before Jaghatai Khan, he is ultimately faced with an impossible choice: abandon his past and join the Scars, or face death.
Unable to betray his brothers, and equally unable to ignore the visions that haunt him, Arvida chooses neither. He is last seen fleeing aboard a small craft, following a destiny symbolised by a raven. The implications are clear, and heavily suggest a link to the origins of the Blood Ravens Chapter.
While intriguing in concept, the story does feel a little overlong, and the middle section drags more than it should. Still, it’s an interesting piece of Heresy lore, even if it doesn’t fully stick the landing.
Hope you enjoyed it. Have you read this one? Let me know in the comments.
