Book Review // Horus Heresy: Daemonology by Chris Wraight
Finally, some Death Guard action. Honestly, where have they been? At this point, I feel like I know more about the Alpha Legion than I do about Mortarion’s sons. Hopefully, Chris Wraight can start to correct that.
Daemonology (The Horus Heresy – Short Story)
Author: Chris Wraight
Official Fluff:
Chagrined by his defeat at the hands of Jaghatai Khan, Mortarion abandons the pursuit of the White Scars and instead leads the Death Guard on a bitter, punitive rampage across the remnants of the Prosperine empire.
On Terathalion, the truth of Mortarion’s sinister heritage begins to surface, and the future of the XIV Legion is set upon a darker path.
The Death Guard have already embraced treachery, but this tale follows their Primarch as he continues along the road that will eventually doom his Legion to plague-ridden damnation.
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The Review
Well… that was brief. A quick check shows this story clocks in at around fifteen pages, and honestly, even at a few dollars, it feels overpriced for the length.
That said, it’s a surprisingly strong little piece. At last, we get some much-needed insight into Mortarion. Fresh from his failure against the White Scars, he turns his bitterness outward and begins dismantling what remains of Magnus’s old domains. Along the way, we’re given a clearer understanding of his hatred — and fear — of psykers, as well as his deep reluctance to accept daemonic assistance.
Ironically, that resistance makes what follows all the more effective. The encounter with a daemonhost is brief, but it marks a crucial turning point, forcing Mortarion to take the first real step toward the very damnation he despises. Chris Wraight does something important here: he makes Mortarion feel like a character, not just a symbol.
My only real complaint is that I want more. What have the Death Guard been doing since Isstvan? Why do they feel so absent from the wider Heresy narrative? This story almost feels like it arrives too early, without the larger context it deserves. Still, as a snapshot of a Primarch sliding into corruption, Daemonology is effective, unsettling, and frustratingly short.
What do you think? Why has the series given so little attention to one of the largest Traitor Legions so far?
