Corax

Corax by Gav Thorpe is the fortieth installment in the Horus Heresy series. An anthology, it collects all of Thorpe's Raven Guard short stories and novellas into one volume, ending with the original novella Weregeld which brings the story of the Raven Guard within the Heresy to its conclusion.

*Note: Corax contains the novellas Corax: Soulforge and Ravenlord, which have already been reviewed elsewhere on this blog. Links are provided in the places where they would sit in the anthology.

Corax opens with the novella Corax: Soulforge, taking the reforged Raven Guard into the thick of the Heresy for the first time since the attack on Deliverance. The novella is followed by The Shadowmasters, a micro-story originally found on the inside of the dust jacket for Corax: Soulforge. The Shadowmasters is set during the same final battle from the novella and follows a squad of Raven Guard Mor Deythan commandos as they carry out a mission that aids the loyalist victory.

The story takes a darker turn in Ravenlord as Corax and his followers confront the darkness within their own Legion, and this mood prevails throughout the rest of the anthology. The Value of Fear is a simple short story in which a Raven Guard sergeant and a loyalist Night Lord who has joined his squad exchange battlefield banter while pursuing a fleeing foe, but Raptor confronts the issue of Corax's mutated sons by placing them alongside another example of Astartes gene-seed gone wrong, the Wulfen of the Space Wolves. The Raven Guard discover the Space Wolves holding out against Sons of Horus in a remote keep and assist them in destroying the foe, but knowing that the Wolves' mission was to assess Corax's loyalty and report back to Malcador, Raptor leader Navar Hef decides to kill the surviving Wulfen to keep the Raptors secret and his primarch safe.

Corax closes with the original novella Weregeld. Set at the very end of the Heresy, it follows Corax and his ragtag army of Raven Guard survivors and loyalist allies as they decide what their last actions in the war might be. Increasingly fatalistic and guilt-ridden over his creation of the mutated Raptors, Corax leads his forces to the aid of the Space Wolves on Yarant III, where Leman Russ lies badly injured and comatose while his men fight a last stand against Sons of Horus, Thousand Sons and Alpha Legion. Deciding on death in combat, Corax joins the suicidal last stand but at the last minute is reminded of his greater duty to the Imperium, ordering a retreat. Later, after the Heresy has ended, Corax confronts his failure and puts the mutant Raptors out of their misery, finally ending the sad, heroic sage of the Raven Guard in the Heresy.

Corax provides a fitting ending to the Raven Guard arc, carrying the series closer to its looming finale. The stories it contains were originally presented in a number of different formats and this makes the anthology and the overall Raven Guard narrative feel disjointed, and part of me wishes it could have been tied up with a second novel. However, it is the nature of the Raven Guard to be overlooked, fighting against all odds and doing their duty without need of recognition. Weregeld brings their guerrilla campaign against Horus through its darkest moments to a suitable conclusion, leaving nothing left but one final, famous word.

Nevermore.