Audio Review // The Damnation of Pythos by Pythos David Annandale

I’ve decided to stick with the audiobooks for the following few Horus Heresy titles. This is mainly because I am enjoying other novels and not ready to return to reading the series. It will also make my walks to work a lot more enjoyable. I doubt I will miss out on much, as Black Library creates fantastic audiobooks. The cover alone on this title looks impressive, and the author has made some tremendous tales in the past. We should get a real treat.

Title: The Damnation of Pythos (The Horus Heresy #30)

Author: David Annandale

Buy via audible, aka Amazon affiliate

Fluff:

In the aftermath of the Drop Site Massacre at Isstvan V, a battered and bloodied force of Iron Hands, Raven Guard and Salamanders regroup on a seemingly insignificant death world. Fending off attacks from all manner of monstrous creatures, the fractious allies find hope in the form of human refugees fleeing from the growing war, and cast adrift upon the tides of the warp. But even as the Space Marines carve out a sanctuary for them in the jungles of Pythos, a darkness gathers that threatens to consume them all…

Review

Firstly, we need to discuss the cover. Space Marines of Iron Hands and Salamander legions fight a giant multi-eyed Lizard/dinosaur beast! This grabbed my attention, and I was excited to listen! Will we get sci-fi dinosaur action or maybe Exodites?

This story did something other stories have failed to do; it made me like the Iron Hands. David Annandale achieved something with the characters that others have been unable to do: to make them relatable. Other authors seem to get stuck to the idea of them being more machine than man, but Annandale managed to make them cold and calculating like machines but still have humanity in them. He also managed to make the darkness of space scarier, it is easy to get absorbed into the civil war, but at the end of the day, the galaxy was still largely unexplored and more dangers exist out there, more than Horus vs Emperor.

Pythos is one of those worlds, having been corrupted way, way, way back by a force of chaos. Having failed to find a higher intelligence here, it lurked and manipulated the life forms, creating plans and scheming for the day it could be released into the galaxy properly. Here, enter our space marines. Beaten, broken and scattered, Captain Atticus of the 111th Company of Iron Hands has created a force from the survivors of Isstvan. His goal is to strike back at the enemy and beat them with a thousand cuts, but first, his forces need a rallying point, a base, and Pythos is that key.

The world of Pythos is the piece's villain, an actual death world. Full of Fauna and Flora manipulated to be alpha predators. We get lots of dinosaur-style creatures, ranging from standard sizes up to Imperial Knights scale (Godzilla could easily live here), all the way down to waves of roving moss that will suck the blood out of its victims, yep you read that right, vampire moss! This made a world full of life and deeply terrifying. I could happily just read about the planet more. But the story's heart was Loyalists vs. Chaos and the warp. This main arc was beautifully played out, leaving you knowing what would happen but still amazed and shocked when it hits home.

Overall, this is a beautifully written piece, and David Annandale did an amazing job. If you are looking for Space Marine on Space Marine action, you will be disappointed. But if you want Grim Dark, this is the book for you.

I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to comment below or reach out to me on one of the many social platforms that I use. Cheers to reading this.