Legion by Dan Abnett

by Dan Abnett - a spoiler-filled review

Having worked my way through a couple of the Alpha Legion books and shorts I thought I would re-read Legion, the big Horus Heresy story of the Alpha Legion. But of course, it isn’t as simple as that, as nothing is with them. Instead of simply following space marines doing space marine things, the Alpha Legion are far more subtle. Abnett introduces a complex cast of characters and plot points that have significant repercussions for the Horus Heresy, the Alpha Legion, and potentially the fate of the galaxy during the Horus Heresy.

The book is a little slow getting to some of the key findings, such as that the Cabal has been influencing the Horus Heresy and working to ensure Horus’s victory, because they have foreseen that chaos will simply become too strong if chaos loses. This is hugely important, since it also explains why the Alpha Legion are so divided. When the Cabal asks the Alpha Legion whom will they fight for, they have a truly difficult decision to make. They are also perhaps served with the most interesting dilemma: are they so loyal that they will even betray the Imperium simply to save the universe? Is this higher goal, the cost of the Imperium and humanity, the only real choice to make?

By the time the book reaches this apogee, we have had to navigate through several hundred pages navigating what’s going on at Nurth. John Grammaticus, Lord Commander Namatjira, Soneka, Hurtado Bronzi offer an interesting cast of differing personalities. The plot gets rather messy, and if you listen to the audiobook you may find it difficult to keep up. For example, when Hurtado Bronzi gets taken to the desert it is implied that he might get killed there, but of course he does not, or understanding when characters are taking on disguises might require paying more attention than the usual Warhammer book.

Legion tends to be divisive because it stands out in these ways I’ve discussed so far. It doesn’t take the usual approach of object the protagonists want, impending threat, defeat and big battle. Instead, it weaves through plenty of characters, and their confusion, determination and machinations culminating in the meeting of John Grammaticus with the Alpha Legion. Some people may find it a bit of a chore at times, and it’s as if you want to tell them that the wait is well worth it. Unless, perhaps, you watch a spoiler review and know about the revelations already.

Too clever for your own good?

Nevertheless it is important for books like this to push the bar a little. It sometimes fails in doing so. Personally, I have always found John Grammaticus quite an irritating character, erratically jumping between perpetual-gifted to seemingly idiotic or arrogant. Part of him is that he’s struggling with the immensity of what he’s caught up in, but it often isn’t balanced out with real motivation for him to do what he’s doing.

Similarly, one could question the readiness of primarchs to suddenly listen to xenos who just tell them to compromise their entire beliefs, loyalties and purpose, to turn against all that simply by being shown a vision? No matter how ‘real’ it felt to the Alpha Legion, I think more groundwork needs to be laid before that being sufficient for them to begin acting against the Imperium. In fact, in Alpharius: Head of the Hydra, (albeit, a book written much later) Alpharius is, if anything skeptical of most situations. Yet here he, almost instantly agreeing to compromising all of his beliefs and purpose because of a xenos vision? To my mind although it gets quite exciting around these parts there isn’t enough justification for the decisions made.

It can be a problem to have different writers write characters and factions. If factions are going to have such strong and polarised beliefs, it’s also necessary to give cast iron reasons why they may switch sides or go against everything they’ve done up to that moment, and if different writers are to write them, certain consistencies need to remain else justification be given for change in, say, personality or decision making.

A strange decision of the Horus Heresy is how little the Cabal pops up also. The Cabal and the Perpetual storyline seem to have plenty of gravitas but then seem to jump in and out in terms of their role. I think the Horus Heresy has a challenge in telling so many stories across so many books, but it’s a shame they didn’t either pick and develop it more effectively or constrain it to certain books and ensure the threads running through them are clear and related. Instead, they seem to just pop up here and there, although I do expect in the final siege of terra book the perpetuals will be important.

This might sound like a damning indictment. But in reality, the big question of the Alpha Legion is a riveting one. And there is an exciting journey where, some strands leave you guessing. It’s as if Abnett really embodied the Alpha Legion when writing this book, and although sometimes you might be confused or frustrated, it does seem to pay off in the end as a book. This is why it’s so divisive though: it is written in a unique way. But undeniably characters like Soneka, Hurtado Bronzi are likeable and interesting, and contrasted against the stern, cold determination of Namatjira. You really feel for these imperial soldiers caught up in strands that they aren’t really equipped to deal with, especially when the Lucifer Blacks start showing up. But some, like Hurtado Bronzi, you can tell are curious and like stepping where they’re not supposed to, fitting perfectly into becoming a pawn for the Alpha Legion – as ends up happening.

Abnett remains a brilliant writer: he’s great at writing dialogue, at describing settings and making everything feel very ‘warhammer’. He pushes the bar, and sometimes it doesn’t pay off, but his books are almost always a high standard and pushing the boundaries. Here, in some ways it really pays off. The book keeps you guessing, and personally I think it works, even if you have to suspend your disbelief for the seeing lack of incentive for the characters. It’ll turn some off for sure. But I remember reading for the first time, the revelations about the Cabal and the Alpha Legion, although flawed, still felt massive. And re-reading for the second time you still feel some awe at some of the moments in Legion.

Final Score

Despite its flaws then Legion simultaneously illustrates the brilliance of Warhammer, the horus heresy but also its folly. It has great, interesting characters, some lovable some less so, and plot points or factions like the Cabal carrying gravitas and a sense of scale which then aren’t fully capitalized on. But Legion is a book that sticks with you.

8/10