‘Butcher’s Nails’ – Aaron Dembski-Bowden (Black Library)

Don’t get me wrong, as much as I enjoyed being at home these last few months I was really pleased and actually quite grateful to have the chance to get back into a job. It’s tough to find work right now, really tough, so I wasn’t shy about grabbing the opportunity when it came my way. So yeah, very glad to find work but I’d totally forgotten about what an absolute nightmare commuting in London can be (and I’ve got one of the easier commutes!) I’m sure all the commuters that I come across are lovely people when they leave the house in the morning; they’re just entirely different people by the time they get on the train… It’s a good job then that I’ve got audio books to numb the worst of the pain :o)

Aaron Dembski-Bowden has become one of my favourite Black Library authors and I’ll take almost any chance I get to read his work (I say ‘almost’, still can’t quite afford a Kindle…) The arrival of one of his audio books (and set in the Horus Heresy no less) felt like a real treat, especially with the rain hammering down outside and a dull air of negativity in the train carriage. The story itself was a good one, it was just a bit of a shame about the rest of the whole audio book experience…

Of all the Primarchs, Angron was ever the most bloody and warlike. With the Heresy casting the shadow of warfare over the galaxy Angron is now free to indulge in his brutal conquests, all in the Warmaster’s name. The Primarch and his World Eaters are tasked with a secretive mission alongside the Word Bearers and their Primarch Lorgar; secrecy that is constantly endangered by the World Eaters’ violent excesses. Tensions run high between the two Legions then, especially with what is at stake. Things are about to get a lot worse though as the alien Eldar take an interest in the World Eaters and their Primarch, a warrior destined to become ‘the Blood God’s son’…

If you pick up a work by Aaron Dembski-Bowden you are more or less guaranteed a thoughtful yet gripping affair that does a lot to remove the stigma of ‘bolter porn’ that surrounds Black Library fiction. Dembski-Bowden is not afraid to unload serious amounts of ammunition, over the course of the book, but he’s far more interested in telling a good story and I’m happy with that :o) ‘Butcher’s Nails’ is another good example of this with Dembski-Bowden cramming far more into the run time (seventy five minutes) than most other Black Library authors are capable of.

‘Butcher’s Nails’ is a tale of dark deeds carried out in the dark spaces between the stars and how such enforced isolation can play on a mind. It’s a story then of the conflict between doing ones duty and the urge to let loose and be true to what you are and this conflict is especially evident within Angon, a Primarch barely able to keep himself under control as it is. What a character to use to examine this conflict! Angron will quite happily jeopardise everything if there is a good fight to be had, full on combat (and cybernetic enhancements) being the only way to soothe a pain wracked mind. Not only does Dembski-Bowden give us a really clear view of what’s going on inside Angron’s head but he also leaves us with no real idea of what Angron will do next, only that it will involve blood and lots of it. This certainly kept me interested in finding out what happened next and I couldn’t help but feel a little sympathy for Angron at the same time. Here is a man forced to combat agonizing pain with a method that will eventually kill him, what’s not to feel sorry about? I couldn’t help but feel sorry for the rest of his Legion though, having to adopt that very same method… And why was the Equerry Kharn able to deal with it better than his Lord…?
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You never really find out what Angron and Lorgar’s mission involves, only that they must be quiet about it, but I think this will be fully covered later along the line in the ‘Horus Heresy’ series. That’s not a big deal here though as there is plenty to keep you occupied in the meantime. The sense of tension between Angron and Lorgar is palpable and I liked the way that this tension slowly began to trickle down to their Legions. The mystery of the Eldar unfolds at a decent pace, culminating in some awesome scenes of warfare both in space and up close. Again, there is no real closure here with events set up to play out at a later date. ‘Butcher’s Nails’ is self contained but is also very much a tale of transition that should sit nicely within the overall series. Just bear that in mind…

A great tale then but one that is marred, ever so slightly, by the actor playing Angron himself (I couldn’t tell who this was). Angron is supposed to be the embodiment of sheer rage and I have to wonder whether this is something that can only really be captured on the page rather than in an audio book. The actor playing Angron didn’t capture this at all, coming across as quite pissed off rather than consumed by rage (sounded like one of my old bosses in fact). This made it really difficult for me to take the character seriously when he spoke, not so good when you’re talking about the main character of the piece. Lorgar was a much more interesting character to follow in this respect.

‘Butcher’s Nails’ is an absorbing tale then, spoilt by an actor who didn’t (couldn’t?) meet the demands of the character whom he was playing. It made for some good listening but felt like a bit of a shame at the same time…

Eight and Half out of Ten