Review: Wolfsbane by Guy Haley

Book 49 in the Black Library Horus Heresy Series. A no spoiler review

"The time has come for Leman Russ, primarch of the Space Wolves, to fulfil his vow and attempt to stop Warmaster Horus before he breaks through to the Segmentum Solar. In the face of opposition from three of his brother primarchs, Russ withdraws the Space Wolves Legion from Terra and makes all haste for Horus’s position. Reports from Malcador the Sigillite’s agents suggest that Horus is utterly changed, and infused with a diabolical power so great that no man can stand against him. A warrior of Fenrus would never willingly abandon his oaths, but with Horus beyond the touch of mortal blades, the Lord of Winter and War may have doomed himself for the sake of honour…"

This Warhammer 40,000 book set during the Horus Heresy follows the Space Wolves, who have escaped ambush at Alaxxes and now make their way back to Terra. Space Wolves being the hounds of the Emperor they are, they are keen to find the throat of the traitor Warmaster Horus, and we join them as they abandon the imperial defence to confront the former Luna Wolves. The book also follows Belisarius Cawl, an adept (at this time) of the Adeptus Mechanicus, as he is impacted by the proximity of the traitor legions now close to the gates of Terra.

Chasing Horus

This book has a somewhat predictable and slow start. There’s been so many Horus Heresy books that you often get a sense for whether the book will be strong or not early on. Guy Haley has plenty of experience writing for Games Workshop over the years however, and I’m pleased to say my instincts, unlike the Space Wolves, deserted me this time, as this book improved over the course of its reading. The plot is quite predictable, but I think it was really salvaged by the exciting writing towards the end of the book when the story came to its conclusion. I was pleasantly surprised with the very tail end of the book despite it not really throwing any real twists or turns.

Some of the parts focussing on the Adeptus Mechanicus started a bit slow, and I did sometimes find myself losing interest in these sections near the start. Fans of the Adeptus Mechanicus might enjoy these more, since they feature Belisarius Cawl, but I did feel like his part of the story could be removed without really affecting the main point of this book. Why not make him more integral to what is going on? It felt like he was simply featured as a prelude to his pivotal role in current 40k, because he needed to be put somewhere, rather than him actually being important to the story of Wolfsbane.

Engaged

The setting is what we’d expect, and evokes the grim darkness of the 31st Millennium, but I did enjoy certain settings where engagements took place. Some of the descriptions of Fenris were vivid and enjoyable, and allusions to Norse mythology were done well without breaking the science fiction immersion. It receives good points on atmosphere: the space wolves definitely have their own feel to them, which helps create good atmosphere. Descriptions of settings are evocative.

Haley writes action and imagery well, fights are interesting, dynamic, and keep you engaged. The book seemed to be lacking some of this early on though, hence why I felt the book had a slow start. So although predictable and not the best paced, it’s important that the later action is good. Fights rattle at a pace that keeps you reading, building to a strong crescendo at the end.

Belisarius Cool?

Haley is sometimes guilty of trying a bit too hard to make certain things obvious. For example, we are repeatedly told the space wolves are arrogant and characters confirming this when its not needed. Instead I would prefer he show us they’re arrogant within their conversations and actions. Similarly some of the interactions between Hester Aspertia and Cawl felt belaboured and slightly one dimensional in that they didn’t like each other and that was about as deep as it got. Belisarius Cawl was shown as a lot more human than he is depicted 10,000 years later, and his interactions within the cowardly and hesitant Friedrich are a bit more interesting than the ones with Aspertia.

However, I do Haley captured the Norse - Viking feel of the Space Wolves well in their personalities and competitive camaraderie, and by contrast depicts the Sons of Horus effectively in their fall to darkness

However, I do think Haley captured the Norse - Viking feel of the Space Wolves well in their personalities and competitive camaraderie, and by contrast depicts the Sons of Horus effectively in their fall to darkness. They don’t come across too linear as the bad guys, particularly Horus, which is probably the danger in writing about them.

Readability

As with most Horus Heresy there are definitely a lot of terms used that one who does not understand Warhammer might struggle to understand. Disregarding that if you are a fan, the language isn’t particularly complex although I did find a couple of words I didn’t know which was interesting!

Worth your time?

I would normally discuss originality of the novel, but as part of a series spanning over 50 books let’s talk not talk about originality, but focus more in the sense of whether it is worth your while to read, especially if you have read a lot of Horus Heresy. Of course for obsessive fans like myself of the Horus Heresy it’s worth picking up, or for fans of the Space Wolves it features them heavily. It’s a solid entry but don’t expect any surprises, and don’t be put off by the pacing, which although is quite close to working well, just starts off a little slow for my taste. The book itself really only focuses on one key event, but it does fit well into the later arc of what is happening in the overall Horus Heresy story: Horus is at this time getting very close to Terra, and its discussed in this book about where he will attack. So it is probably a nice one to include but not necessarily essential.

Final Score

A solid entry to the Horus Heresy series. Not going to blow anyone’s mind away but very much readable after the initial hurdle I felt from the pacing. Belisarius Cawl’s sections could have been better involved with the rest of the book and been a bit more exciting, but I enjoyed the writing of the Space Wolves and their progression for the most part. I think this one just escapes a 6/10 as it really picked up in the last quarter of the book.

7/10