This is a perfect introduction to Vulkan as a character. In very little time, this story has shown me the type of human Vulkan is. I cannot wait to see him interact with other Primarchs in the future, and the inevitable tensions that will arise. But I also can't wait to see how Vulkan will change the other Primarchs, for the better I hope.

It is also nice seeing more of Ferrus Manus, who we never had the chance to see much of in non Iron Hands stories, due to, well, circumstances.

This is the grimness I want from my Warhammer stories. Not some great epic description of a galaxy-spanning war, but a very personal and intimate look at the suffering of the people who inhabit this universe. But also their resilience and humanity, even if it is twisted nearly beyond recognition.

A book that really shows the brutality of the Space Marines, and does a really good job at it. But also a really confronting look at what Nostraman humanity was like and what shaped the VIIIth Legion. I especially enjoyed never being able to guess what was going to happen next due to the wildly unpredictable behaviour of the main character, Sevatar. Can't wait to read more of him and his Legion.

It's not a bad short story necessarily, but it feels very uninspired. The characters feel like caricatures of what they could be and I especially disliked how whole parts of an earlier story were just copied, it felt somewhat insulting of the reader's intelligence. I get reminding us of the events of the previous story by paraphrasing or quoting the most important part of the other story but this was nearly a whole page just taken from the other story.

I feel like this could have been a perfect Horus Heresy story, but maybe because of that the faults were also more noticeable. The decision to focus on the Honour Guard of the Primarchs instead really worked in the stories favour, as did the somewhat minimal focus on the actual fight. And I loved Aaron Dembski-Bowden's descriptive work in scenes such as the fight scene and made them seem much more engaging compared to many of the action sequences in other Horus Heresy stories, but in other parts the descriptions really only distracted me from the main story, instead of being engaging and creating a feel of immersion it felt more like I was reading someone trying to be too fancy with his writing.

An intriguing teaser for a story yet to come, but it feels like it could have just been the epilogue or prologue of another story instead.