Book Review // Horus Heresy: Scars by Chris Wraight
I got lucky and found Scars in my local library. I still find it weird to discover Black Library novels in Canadian libraries. The titles seem random, and they never seem to be in order.
Title: Scars
Author: Chris Wraight
Publisher: Black Library
Format: Paperback
Page Count: 349
Fluff: Of all the Legiones Astartes, the White Scars of Jaghatai Khan remain the most enigmatic and elusive. Born of a civilisation that prizes honour, speed and fearsome loyalty, their allegiance has yet remained unclear even as the galaxy is torn apart by Horus’s treachery, and both sides have apparently counted them among their potential allies in the war to come. But when the Alpha Legion launch an unexplained and simultaneous attack against the White Scars and Space Wolves, the Khan must decide once and for all whether he will stand with the Emperor or the Warmaster... or neither.
Review
The book begins by following two inductees to the White Scars Legion. One is Chorgorian (from the homeworld of the White Scars), whilst the other is Terran-born. Throughout the book, we follow each of their viewpoints. This way of storytelling helps showcase the racial divide within the legion- those born of the Legion homeworld progress quicker and gain higher ranks than off-worlders. In these first few chapters, we get introduced to some lore and general fluff about the White Scars and discover why they haven't played a role in the Heresy. The main reason seems to be they suffer from a strong independent streak and prefer to work alone. Due to this streak, Horus could manipulate and isolate them from the greater galaxy. They started the book completely unaware that civil war had even broken out!
We then randomly take a break from the White Scars to be reintroduced to Leman Russ and his Space Wolves and find out what they have been up to since the book 'Prospero Burns' and how they feel about the whole manipulation of Horus tricking them into destroying the Thousand Sons Legion. Licking their wounds after that conflict, the Space Wolves don’t have much time to brood as the Alpha Legion (another legion fallen to treachery) hunts them down to stop Russ and the Space Wolves from reaching Terra. It was fun to revisit characters like Russ and Bjorn; if anything, their appearance seemed too brief. This section contains some ruthless shipboarding actions. Their part of the tale ends suddenly, being more of a cameo even though they take up a few chapters. This was maybe the biggest letdown of the book for me; it seemed forced in and wasn't needed, in my opinion.
Getting back on track and ignoring this part of the book, we follow the confusion that the Scars suffer upon hearing the news of the Civil War. Part of the Scar's force can't believe Horus would rebel and feel the other brothers must be the traitors, whilst some choose to wait for the Khan to choose for them all. This leads to Khan questioning who he should ally with: Horus, who is a friend, brother, and Warmaster, or his father, who is an emperor, a tyrant, and an aloof manipulator. This sets in motion the rest of the book as the Khan and his forces must work out who to trust and which liars to follow. Ultimately, this was the best type of intrigue. Having missed the start of the war and receiving broken communication what would you do, who would you trust? This is when the two troopers at the tale's beginning come back into play, as they each pick a different side and now have to deal with the consequences of their actions. I loved this storytelling style as you can't help but feel for the troopers who picked the wrong side, rushing to make bad choices due to the lack of information and relying on gut feelings.
At this point, I will stop writing before I ruin the plot too much. But expect Thousand Sons, Death Guard, Salamanders and Iron Hands all appearing, along with two more unmentioned Primarchs. This book was enjoyable and was the fastest book I've read in the series. It was quick-paced, and each chapter read like a weekly short tale, which was nice. It was also lovely to go back to the start and rediscover the reasoning behind the Heresy and how the perfect sons weren't so perfect after all, and how the Emperor is a bit of a dick!
Thanks for reading this review. As always, please drop me a comment here or on Discord.
