Censured at the Council of Nikea for his flagrant use of sorcery, Magnus the Red and his Thousand Sons Legion retreat to their homeworld of Prospero to continue their use of the arcane arts in secret. But when the ill-fated primarch forsees the treachery of Warmaster Horus and warns the Emperor with the very powers he was forbidden to use, the Master of Mankind dispatches fellow primarch Leman Russ to attack Prospero itself. But Magnus has seen more than the betrayal of Horus and the witnessed revelations will change the fate of his fallen Legion, and its primarch, forever.
The ground-breaking Horus Heresy series continues with Thousand Sons, the tale of Magnus the Red and his psychically gifted legion. Graham McNeil weaves a wonderfully crafted tale of arrogance, hubris and forces beyond the comprehension of mortal beings bringing about the tragic downfall of a loyal and gifted son, along the way revealing yet more layers to the already immersive universe.
The Thousand Sons are quickly set apart from their fellow legions by more than just their powers, their quasi-Egyptian naming structure lending them an exotic, mysterious edge (even if it is hard to remember who is who at times) whilst the obvious warrior-scholar nature of the Thousand Sons clearly contrasts with the purely martial bearing of other legions, notably the Thousand Sons bitter rivals- the Space Wolves. Fans of the legion will no doubt find this book a feast of information and back-history, though hardcore Space Wolves fans may smart a little at the almost bestial descriptions of the warriors of Russ.
The ...Sons themselves come across as intelligent and often likeable, 3-dimensional persona’s rather than simply vile traitors, lending an even more tragic feel to their inevitable doom, which any fan of WH40k knows is coming but can’t help wishing it could end some other way. The ...Sons fall, though born of their refusal to meet the edicts given by the Emperor himself at the Council of Nikaea, is brought about with grim resignation as Magnus receives visions of Horus’ treachery and knows the only way to warn his father would bring doom to his legion and his world, Prospero. Thus, the reader is left moved by the tragic fate of a legion, and a primarch, whose role in future of mankind, the Emperor tells us, was vital. We do not learn what that role truly was, and may never do, adding yet more tragedy to the situation.
Magnus personifies his legion tenfold- it is his pride and vanity, his colossal ego telling him he could best whatever the warp could throw at him that ultimately leads to his demise.
If I could make a single complaint about this book, it would be that the powers wielded by even the newest line-troops of the Thousand Sons seem somewhat outlandish and outsized- in almost every combat enemies are dispatched with thunderbolts and fireballs, or crushed with psychic force or their blood boiled in their veins. Whilst their psychic powers are the stamp-mark of the legion, here it seems the Thousand Sons are way more powerful than their counterparts in other legions, who have only bolters and chainswords to fight with. I’m sure this is a difficult balance to achieve, but one that fell slightly on the wrong side here.
Aside from this issue, however, Thousand Sons is a powerful, intriguing and moving narrative that fans of the legion, the Horus Heresy series and, I’m sure, a few outsiders will surely enjoy.
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