From the beginning Legion Champions were the warriors tasked with defending the honor and most sacred places and rites of their Legions. They were the only ones that would engage in combat with the other Legion's champions or representatives to defend their own Legion honor. In these duels fight was never to the death but was serious enough to make these champions seek isolation from their brethren for a sole reason fighting against their own brothers was anathema in its own.

So when Horus Heresy erupts it is no wonder that Champions are warriors that rest of Space Marines and Imperial Army see as those that already have blood of their kin on their hands.

This story follows Sigismund, champion of the Imperial Firsts as he leads his squad into combat on a wandering comet-turned-to-shrine against the war-band of Word Bearers. Through entire fire contact Sigismund is fighting with his own feelings and trying to find his new purpose. Being an Imperial Fist (meaning rather single-minded) the very situation where brother turns against the brother is a mark of very troubling times and great martial shame for all Space Marines. Finally he comes to terms to now changed way of things but, as it is case with almost everything during the Heresy, future already starts to look very bleak.

And did I mention that Malcador's team is fighting alongside the Sigismund and his team. Man, I need more stories centered around these mysterious gray-clad warriors.

Highly recommended to fans of Warhammer 40k and Horus Heresy in particular. ( )

I have to question whether my disinterested hatred of the Imperial Fists and Black Templars played a part here, but this was a rare John French story I didn't love.

Apparently Obnoxious Obi-Wan is worried about how Sigismund will fair against traitor Astartes as he's never faced them outside of the practice cages...which is, like, the same for everyone beyond maybe a mjod-fuelled Space Wolves punch up or that time Sigi's papa got Curze stomped. Anyways, Scheming Sidious has a fellow psyker do mind training on him to recreate the WTF training moment from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

There's Word Bearers on the incredibly Chaotic-aesthetic commemorative shrine on comet who have always been there, but now Lorgar's lads are the baddies so Mundo has to go kill em to death, while day dreaming about the far more interesting and charismatic Khârn and hope the Colchisian chaps having got more nefarious things on the books...

This definitely isn't bad, but it just didn't do it for me. It was a little by the numbers and not exactly groundbreaking. Chaos stuff going down so close to Terra is admittedly wild and the story was worth it for me to get to spend more time, even in imaginary form, my favourite gay, polyamorous berzerker boy. It's always fun to see big figures in either Dark Decem Millennium interact pre-Heresy.

I feel like calling something competent is almost worse than saying it's bad, but that's what this is. It truly is decent enough and, while it's absolutely not essential to the story of the Horus Heresy, I can definitely see Sigifans, Imperial Fisties, and Black Templayers getting a kick out of it. For me, it just needed some more sauce or spice in any direction, but your mileage may vary and I've listened to so many of these in the last couple of months that maybe I'm getting more picky. ( )