Let’s Talk Guy Haley’s “Dark Imperium.”
Damn, feels like a long time since I’ve finished a book. Last one I gave my all to was Josh’s “Soul Wars.” I did try my hand at the Witcher novels, but book one didn’t really feel like the end of a book- SO, yes, let’s shift over to Dark Imperium:
Chapters 1-3 are a beautiful work of art. I’ve personally read these chapters around eight times now, out loud, fully acting it out with friends and family, on audio and to myself. If you are not aware, these three chapters make up the death of Roboute Guilliman at the hands of the daemonic traitor Fulgrim. My recommendation is to read this with your eyes. The audiobook is actually pretty swell, but it misses a beat with how Fulgrim is read. I honestly can’t say much more to you about this, just, please. Read this. It is a condensed look at the Imperium, the Galaxy as a whole, the nature of conflict in an uncaring universe, and the life and death of a son who has lost everything. It is Gods and Monsters at its finest, and is a world apart from anything else in this pretty good book.
Now, on to everything else:
I will not be reviewing this novel, no. That’s not my intent, so know now I enjoyed it. I can tell you I found myself a little bored from time to time, especially with scenes that were clear set up for the sequel novel “Plague War,” but, but despite that this book is very much worth a read. No, review is not my intent. I want to talk about characters and events as shown in this novel.
Guilliman, Lord Regent of Terra, Commander, the living Primarch, and to some: a true Demi-god and Living Saint. I loved him. I truly, truly loved Guilliman. He stole the show, entirely so, even in his own book. If Guilliman was on screen, you were damn near mystified. THIS, this is how a primarch is written. It feels completely different from the stoic man I knew from the Heresy.
He’s grown so much, and lost so much of himself. He’s tired, old, so very sad, and so very angry. You see Guilliman make some very bold moves in this book: outright making a new organization to undo the damage against history the Inquisition has done. Outright oppose the Codex Astartes, drag the Sisters of Silence and Custodes into the light of day, gives his active support a madman who would play Emperor with his biocraft, curses everyone and everything around him for not doing more. Guilliman has awoke to his worst nightmare: true ignorance, true stagnation, and a terrible regime that spits in the face of everything human he had once believed in.
You can feel it. His rage is barely contained, it’s right at the surface even as he’s a clever, kind politician to some, and a father to others. He’s so over it all, yet, he can’t let it stand like this. His Imperium, humanity’s destiny, done in by his father’s lies and his brother’s treachery. He will not back away, he will rise up against ignorance, and take the mantle of Regent and Lord- but in doing so, I see him damn himself.
Guilliman is no fool. He’s not Magnus, not by a long shot. Yet, a lot of his decisions throughout the book seem to lack an awareness for how truly terrible things have gotten. He uses his autocratic power to go over the heads of 10,000 years worth of stagnation, and you see it infuriate. You watch people yell, protest, and look on in horror as a man they once prayed to as a saint breaks their rules and traditions without thought: some of which people believed he even came up with. This is, I admit, only a small part of the book… but it was important. It was a view of an Imperium who may, eventually, ignore the near god-like presence of a Primarch and say “No.” when that day comes, I don’t think Guilliman will be ready for it.
Before I move on, let me just say I love that Guilliman spent a hundred damn years trying to make Cato learn what a joke is. He tried so hard, and got so far, my friends.
Cawl will be my next subject, and damn… Haley, if you ever read this, my dude, I beg you and the Black Library to let you do a Cawl novel series. Look, everyone, after reading this and Wolfsbane, I am smitten. Cawl has changed dramatically between novels, oh sure, but he’s still Cawl. Haley has made a remarkable character here, and I was on the edge of my seat the entire time Guilliman was talking with the Cawl Inferior.
Something that drove me wild in that scene was Cawl overtly making two things clear: 1. He wants to be made Fabricator General, and 2. He wants to use both the traitor legion geneseeds AND the two lost Legion geneseeds to swell the ranks of Primaris. He makes a damn good argument for the seeds, I’ll say, but the Primarch says a firm “NO.” Oh well, I love the mental image of loyal Emperor’s Children meeting their ancient, twisted kinsmen.
Out of everyone, though, you know what perspective hit me the hardest? The single view I was most interested in was Calgar’s, which… I wasn’t expecting. He shows up near the end of the book, and two or three chapters are centered around him, his relationship to the Primarch and his relationship to his realm. Those chapters are… golly, I don’t want to spoil much, but… I would never have expected this reaction from him.
Haley did something phenomenal with this book. He brought a Primarch into 40k and didn’t make it some huge, gritty civil war in the Imperium. He didn’t make the Imperium roll over and perfectly accept Guilliman’s rule, no. He made it feel alive, natural even.
It was beyond interesting reading about such an uncertain time, in a future that was set in stone only a few years before. 40k and Guy have truly breathed life into not only reading about Primarchs, but reading about the Imperium, about Chaos, and even war. I was engrossed, and I could barely put the book down at times because I needed to see what new things and new concepts were just around the corner!
Guilliman has a damn crisis of faith about his father, for God’s sake! That’s something I never expected, not once, and that’s just it: we could have always picture what would happen if Guilliman or the Emperor woke up. I’ve talked about this sorta thing endlessly with friends, and never would I have guessed it would be written so… well, WELL.
Guilliman is a man of logic and reason thrown into an illogical, ignorant future. That is his hell, my friends, and I highly recommend watching this man attempt to fix hell itself.
I fear I can’t say more without giving out any big spoilers, so I urge you to check it out. If you like Nurgle, there is some CHOICE Nurgle scenes in this book. Ku’gath, Mortarion, and Typhus all show up for a bit, and their conversation together is a must-read if you feel anything about the Death Guard. Spoiler: Typhus calls Mort a “Trophy,” and burns his ass with some of the harshest disses I have ever read in Warhammer.
Damn, Guy… you wrote a book. I’m glad I already have the second one, ‘cus I am not in the mood to wait for more of this. Let’s get reading!
because by fate even the gods are cast down 