by Various
What is Legacies of Betrayal, then?
An anthology, certainly. But more than an anthology, it is a collection – a collection of Horus Heresy stories, linked not only to one another but also to the wider narrative and to specific books within it. Some of you, for various reasons, will not have listened to every audio drama or read every eBook or limited edition. Rather than miss out on some of the vital connective material within this monolithic series, you can now read and enjoy all of these stories, and put this book on your shelf alongside all your other hardbacks.
The Horus Heresy series is a collection too, in a way, and every story is relevant.
As editors, we’re always looking for ways for our authors to better link the novels to the background (and vice versa), and many of these stories were born out of discussions about things that we want to see in future, or things that we feel might have been missed or misunderstood in the past. ‘Hunter’s Moon’ is an interesting one, since it takes the relatively new idea of the Space Wolves watch-packs and skips back in the timeline a bit to show something which otherwise appears to have relatively little bearing on the rest of the war.
(Or does it? That’s the thing with the Alpha Legion – you never quite know.)
Connections, collections, anthologies, novels. If you take your eye off the series for even one release, you might well miss the beginnings of something vital later on. Every story is laden with continuity, and ten thousand years of future import.
That brings us to another great thing about collections like this – new editions, different formats and so forth – in that they give us a chance to expand upon a story’s original format. If you compare any of the audio drama versions to the stories printed in this anthology, you’re going to find little tweaks and changes. In some cases this might be as little as a line of narration converted into sound effects direction, but in others it might be a character removed or an entire new section added in to better serve the specifics of the storytelling medium. Also, it goes without saying that the most recently published version of a story is always the most definitive version.
How, then, do you sum up a collection like Legacies of Betrayal in a visual way? How can an artist, even one as talented as Neil Roberts, hope to convey so many different themes and events in a single piece of cover art?
I have to confess, that did stump us for a while.
Originally, I drew up a list of awesome scenes from the stories in the anthology – the Salamanders ambushing the Night Lords bikers in ‘Strike and Fade’, World Eaters massacring eldar raiders in ‘Butcher’s Nails’, and the fearsome boarding action in ‘Riven’ – but none of these seemed to fit the anthology as a whole.
The answer was staring us in the face, of course. The characters in these stories are the future heroes (and villains) of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and so an ensemble reminiscent of The Primarchs cover gives the traitor Space Marines their first real taste of the limelight. Some of these faces are instantly recognisable, while some are a little more obscure. Some of them are just Neil’s fanciful work, and we’ll probably never find out what their stories might be…
Will we see the same sort of treatment for the loyalist characters in future? Almost certainly – there are plenty more stories that I decided not to include in this particular anthology, and the reasons for that will likely become apparent as the Horus Heresy series progresses.
Going forwards, there will always be more anthologies and collections. Black Library continues to deliver exciting new content across a range of formats, and we want as many people as possible to be able to enjoy it in the format/s that they like best.
Here is the proof. You’re holding it in your hands right now.
Laurie Goulding
July 2014
An extract from Child of Night,
by John French
Child of Night
John French
‘I submit to your judgement,’ I speak the words, and bow my head before the gun.
The legionary does not move. His finger tenses upon the trigger of his bolt pistol. A single twitch and the firing pin will strike the primer. The charge will ram the warhead down the pistol barrel and out into the still air between the muzzle and my skull. An instant later its secondary charge will fire. By the time it hits my skull it will be travelling at over a thousand metres per second. An instant after it has punched into my brain, it will detonate, scattering blood, bone and shrapnel into the air.
All it takes for that fatal chain to begin is for the warrior to twitch his finger. All it takes is for him to judge me as deserving to die. His green eye lenses stare down at me – I can feel them upon the bare skin of my scalp.
I am kneeling, my cloak of rags hanging from me like sodden feathers. He is armoured, of course, though the colour of his battleplate is lost beneath the skin of darkness. Here, nothing remains whole; everything corrodes to shadow in the end.
I was born down here, in the prison sinks beneath Albia, down here in the abyss, which is the realm of the banished and the condemned. I was raised from this night when the Great Crusade had already left the light of Sol, though only by a few decades. That makes me old compared to most, but young compared to some. The scent of destiny was thick in the air in those days. The dark ignorance of the past fled before the illumination of truth, and nothing could defy it. It was a time when the light of glory burned bright before us all. We felt it, every son of the Legions.
In truth, that light was the first light I ever knew. Perhaps it is the only light I have ever known? Now I exist here again, cradled in the blackness that bores my idle mind, hiding from my sins, and all light is lost to me once more.
I raise my head, and look up into the green slashes of light that are his eyes. ‘Would you at least know who it is that you have come to kill?’
‘I know who you are, Fel Zharost, dream-eater of the Eighth Legion.’ The warrior’s vox-grille clicks as he pauses. ‘I have come for you.’
Clever. If this was not a warrior who had tracked and hounded me through the dark for nights on end, then I would say he was being humorous.
‘You know my name, but that is not enough to judge a life before you take it,’ I warn him. ‘Trust me on this.’
‘I need know nothing else of you.’
‘Judgement should be blind, not ignorant.’ I take a long breath and look up into the barrel of the bolt pistol and the glowing green eyes beyond. I wonder what he sees: an old man kneeling in the dirt, a ragged beard falling from a face of scars and creases? Or does he see something else? Something less... pitiful. ‘You should know whom it is you punish. That was always the way.’ I raise my left hand and touch it to my forehead. ‘I would show you that.’
He does not move. His finger remains steady on the trigger, balanced between life and death.
‘No,’ he says.
I smile, but not in humour. If I am to die then it will be on my terms. After all, what are we if we abandon the truths we lived by?
‘It was not an offer,’ I say, and I show him the past.
Click here to buy Child of Night
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
David Annandale is the author of The Horus Heresy novel The Damnation of Pythos. He also writes the Yarrick series, consisting of the novella Chains of Golgotha and the novel Imperial Creed. For Space Marine Battles he has written The Death of Antagonis and Overfiend. He is a prolific writer of short fiction, including the novella Mephiston: Lord of Death and numerous short stories set in The Horus Heresy and Warhammer 40,000 universes. David lectures at a Canadian university, on subjects ranging from English literature to horror films and video games.
Aaron Dembski-Bowden is the author of the Horus Heresy novels Betrayer and The First Heretic, as well as the novella Aurelian and the audio drama Butcher’s Nails, for the same series. He also wrote The Talon of Horus, the popular Night Lords series, the Space Marine Battles book Helsreach, the Grey Knights novel The Emperor’s Gift and numerous short stories. He
lives and works in Northern Ireland.
John French has written several Horus Heresy stories including the novellas Tallarn: Executioner and The Crimson Fist, and the audio dramas Templar and Warmaster. He is the author of the Ahriman series, which includes the novels Ahriman: Exile and Ahriman: Sorcerer, plus several short stories. Additionally for the Warhammer 40,000 universe he has written the Space Marine Battles novella Fateweaver, plus a number of short stories. He lives and works in Nottingham, UK.
A prolific freelance author and journalist, Guy Haley is the author of Space Marine Battles: Death of Integrity, the Warhammer 40,000 novels Valedor and Baneblade, and the novellas The Eternal Crusader, The Last Days of Ector and Broken Sword, for Damocles. His enthusiasm for all things greenskin has also led him to pen the eponymous Warhammer novel Skarsnik. He lives in Yorkshire with his wife and son.
Nick Kyme is the author of the Horus Heresy novel Vulkan Lives, the novellas Promethean Sun and Scorched Earth, and the audio drama Censure. His novella Feat of Iron was a New York Times bestseller in the Horus Heresy collection, The Primarchs. For the Warhammer 40,000 universe, Nick is well known for his popular series of Salamanders novels and short stories, the Space Marine Battles novel Damnos, and numerous short stories. He has also written fiction set in the world of Warhammer, most notably the Time of Legends novel The Great Betrayal for the War of Vengeance series. He lives and works in Nottingham, and has a rabbit.
Graham McNeill has written more Horus Heresy novels than any other Black Library author! His canon of work includes Vengeful Spirit and his New York Times bestsellers A Thousand Sons and the novella The Reflection Crack’d, which featured in The Primarchs anthology. Graham’s Ultramarines series, featuring Captain Uriel Ventris, is now six novels long, and has close links to his Iron Warriors stories, the novel Storm of Iron being a perennial favourite with Black Library fans. He has also written a Mars trilogy, featuring the Adeptus Mechanicus. For Warhammer, he has written the Time of Legends trilogy The Legend of Sigmar, the second volume of which won the 2010 David Gemmell Legend Award, and the anthology Elves. Originally hailing from Scotland, Graham now lives and works in Nottingham.
Anthony Reynolds’s work for Black Library includes the Horus Heresy novella The Purge and short stories ‘Scions of the Storm’ and ‘Dark Heart’. He is perhaps best known for the Word Bearers trilogy and the Knights of Bretonnia series. Originally from Australia, Anthony moved to the UK where he worked within Games Workshop for many years before returning to his homeland. He is currently settled on the west coast of the United States.
Gav Thorpe is the author of the Horus Heresy novel Deliverance Lost, as well as the novellas Corax: Soulforge, Ravenlord and The Lion, which formed part of the New York Times bestselling collection The Primarchs. He is particularly well-known for his Dark Angels stories, including the Legacy of Caliban series, and the ever-popular novel Angels of Darkness. His Warhammer 40,000 repertoire further includes the Path of the Eldar series, the Horus Heresy audio dramas Raven’s Flight and Honour to the Dead, and a multiplicity of short stories. For Warhammer, Gav has penned the Time of Legends trilogy, The Sundering, and much more besides. He lives and works in Nottingham.
Chris Wraight is the author of the Horus Heresy novel Scars, the novella Brotherhood of Storm and the audio drama The Sigillite. For Warhammer 40,000 he has written the Space Wolves novels Blood of Asaheim and Stormcaller, and the short story collection Wolves of Fenris, as well as the Space Marine Battles novels Wrath of Iron and Battle of the Fang. Additionally, he has many Warhammer novels to his name, including the Time of Legends novel Master of Dragons, which forms part of the War of Vengeance series. Chris lives and works near Bristol, in south-west England.
A BLACK LIBRARY PUBLICATION
Brotherhood of the Storm first published in hardback
© Games Workshop Ltd. 2012
Serpent first published in the Horus Heresy Weekender Programme
© Games Workshop Ltd. 2013
The Divine Word first published in the Black Library Weekender Anthology Vol. I
© Games Workshop Ltd. 2012
Heart of the Conqueror first published in the Horus Heresy Weekender II Programme
© Games Workshop Ltd. 2014
Veritas Ferrum, Strike and Fade, Butcher’s Nails and Warmaster first published as audio dramas
© Games Workshop Ltd. 2012
Riven and Kryptos first published as eBooks
© Games Workshop Ltd. 2012
Honour to the Dead, The Eightfold Path, Guardian of Order, Censure and Lucius, the Eternal Blade first published as audio dramas © Games Workshop Ltd. 2013
Lone Wolf first published as an eBook
© Games Workshop Ltd. 2013
Hunter’s Moon, Wolf’s Claw and Thief of Revelations first published as audio dramas
© Games Workshop Ltd. 2014
This edition published in 2014 by Black Library, Games Workshop Ltd., Willow Road, Nottingham, NG7 2WS, UK.
Cover by Neil Roberts.
Internal illustrations by Tiernen Trevallion.
© Games Workshop Limited 2014. All rights reserved.
Black Library, the Black Library logo, The Horus Heresy, The Horus Heresy logo, The Horus Heresy eye device, Space Marine Battles, the Space Marine Battles logo, Warhammer 40,000, the Warhammer 40,000 logo, Games Workshop, the Games Workshop logo and all associated brands, names, characters, illustrations and images from the Warhammer 40,000 universe are either ®, TM and/or © Games Workshop Ltd 2000-2014, variably registered in the UK and other countries around the world. All rights reserved.
A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-78251-753-5
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