The Reflection Crack'd by Graham McNeill follows the Emperor's Children and their primarch Fulgrim in the days after the Isstvan V Dropsite Massacre. Written from the deliciously arrogant perspective of Lucius, vilest of traitors and swordsmaster extraordinaire, The Reflection Crack'd paints a portrait of the Emperor's Children corrupted by hedonistic worship of Slaanesh but not yet fragmented into the ravening warbands we know and hate. Though not light on action, The Reflection Crack'd is largely a psychological thriller as Lucius comes to suspect that Fulgrim is not who he seems to be. Gathering together the Legion captains to voice his concerns, Lucius organises a bold attempt to capture Fulgrim and submit him to torture in order to drive out the daemon possessing him. What follows is fifty pages of some of the best Heresy fiction written as the eclectic Emperor's Children captains ambush, subdue and torture their own primarch in order to free him. Graham McNeill returns to familiar ground in exploring Fulgrim's psyche, having penned the novel Fulgrim close to the start of the Heresy series, and it pays off tremendously at the end of this novella as the primarch casually discusses matters of philosophy whilst being tortured by his subordinates. The twist at the end is masterful, and while the final scene is blatant set-up for McNeill's next novel it also brings to a close possibly the best novella in the Heresy series.
Feat of Iron by Nick Kyme sees the author return to the feral world of Ibsen first introduced in his limited-edition novella Promethean Sun, this time following the Iron Hands Legion and their primarch Ferrus Manus as they struggle to subdue the planet's desert continent. Everything about this novella is unforgiving, from Manus's war-ethic to the Iron Hands' treatment of their human auxiliaries to the environment itself. Manus's towering pride drives much of the action and neither he nor his Astartes come across as particularly likeable, the Iron Hands forcing their human allies to keep up or die. Whilst the main plot involves the Iron Hands seeking out and destroying an Eldar node, a more interesting second plot kicks in partway through as an Eldar Farseer essentially kidnaps Ferrus Manus and imprisons him in a surreal subterranean cave system in a bid to alter his fate. That this bid is doomed to failure is made clear from the start, not just from a second Farseer's adamant statements that it will but also from Manus's unbending nature. The picture of Manus we get is one of a primarch storming stubbornly towards his own doom, but his time in the caves does offer a few tasty glimpses of some of the 30K universe's biggest mysteries. Up on the surface the Iron Hands' struggle to continue the campaign without their missing primarch foreshadows the disaster yet to befall them in the larger timeline, but in this story at least Manus returns in time to save the day. That the Iron Hands are forced to rely on their 'weak' human allies in the final battle is a typical storytelling reverse, and by the end of the day they have learned their lesson and come to realise that not all flesh is weak. Sadly, this lesson will not be of any use on the plains of Isstvan V.
The Lion by Gav Thorpe takes us to the Thramas Crusade, where the Dark Angels of Lion El'Jonson wage unending war across the stars against the despicable Night Lords Legion. And then it takes us away on a side quest to the Perditus system, where a force of Death Guard battle a contingent of Iron Hands for possession of a bizarre sentient machine. Lion El'Jonson seems to like leading strike-forces to recover super-powerful devices (see Fallen Angels) and decides to intervene, taking a sizeable chunk of his Legion away from the continuing Thramas Crusade towards Perditus. En route they become stranded in the Warp with no protection and the action picks up quickly as daemons materialise throughout the ship and the Dark Angels meet them head on. The fighting here is archetypal Warhammer, Space Marines going mano-a-daemano with unreal fiends, and the Lion's punching of a sword through Kairos Fateweaver's chest is a suitably visceral end to the battle, but ultimately the entire episode is just a distraction there to fill up pages before the Angels reach Perditus. Once they do the quality of the action drops; desultory scenes of Grave Wardens led by Calas Typhon duking it out with a random company of Iron Hands are soon ended by the Lion's arrival and complete takeover of the situation. Gav Thorpe's Jonson seems to be only out for himself in this novella, to the point where the (as ever) enigmatic dialogue surrounding the Dark Angels' allegiances implies that Jonson opposes everyone except his own Legion and, perhaps, the Emperor. The Dark Angels bring the biggest guns to the Mexican standoff at Perditus and thus get to waltz away with a sentient Warp-engine named Tuchulcha that is capable of great feats of teleportation. but predictably the Death Guard make a last-ditch attempt to steal it back. The Lion is a simple action story that engages in most places, but it lacks the substance of a truly good novella.
The Serpent Beneath by Rob Sanders follows a secret operation carried out by Omegon of the Alpha Legion against a Warp-influencing base held by his own legion. The tale weaves back and forth and forces readers to piece things together themselves, but this effect translates well to make readers feel like they are watching a heist movie in the style of Ocean's 11 rather than reading a Horus Heresy novella. For his mission Omegon recruits Sheed Ranko, a legion veteran; Sigma Squad, a team of ruthless Alpha Legionnaires with no qualms about killing their battle-brothers; Volkern Auguramus, a Mechanicum Adept and Alpha Legion agent; and Xalmagundi, a rogue psyker-girl with devastating telekinetic powers. Together this team infiltrates Tenebrae Base, a high-security outpost built into a remote asteroid that houses a pylon array capable of influencing the Warp. Everything goes according to plan until it doesn't, at which point all hell breaks loose. Omegon in this novella is a straightforward commando, capable of feats of combat and skilled in many other areas without any of the vainglory other Legions bring to battle. But of course this is the Alpha Legion, so even complex infiltration plot aside there is far more going on than meets the eye. Omegon's reasons for wanting to destroy Tenebrae Base are more than he claims, and indeed Omegon might not even be Omegon. Trying to keep everyone's motives straight in this novella can get a little hard as Rob Sanders gives nothing away easily, but the action is excellent in a style not seen before in the Heresy and if you pay attention there are truly shocking implications to be perceived. The Serpent Beneath is an engaging and masterful novella that speaks promisingly of Rob Sanders' involvement in the series.
Overall,The Primarchs is a strong anthology. Like all anthologies it varies in quality, but by containing four novellas rather than a larger number of short stories it allows its contributing authors to give the readers four different, well-crafted tales that are long enough to have real substance but can be read in a fraction of the time it takes to finish a novel. The Reflection Crack'd and The Serpent Beneath in particular make this an anthology that is definitely worth reading.
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