Xathrodox86 reviews: "The Seventh Serpent" by Graham McNeill

Oh look, there was supposed to be a movie review here. About "Black Death". With Sean Bean. What happened?

Well, since my unfortunate abduction by the strange, green-armored warriors, I was forced to write everything there is about the enigmatic XXth Legion Astartes. I already knew most of this stuff (I play them, for Throne's sake!), but there are always new things to discover, when it comes to the Sons of the Hydra. My second listen to the excellent "The Seventh Serpent" by Graham McNeill, is a great example of that.

WHAT IN THE THRONE'S NAME IS HAPPENING HERE AND WHY DOES IT LOOK SO AWESOME!

After the massacre at Istvaan V, the "Shattered Legions" continue their fight against the arch-traitor Horus, harassing his supply lines and causing havoc. When Cadmus Tyro, commander of the Strike Cruiser "Sisypheum", discovers a piece of intel which could potentialy lead to the downfall of one of the traitor primarchs, he decides to act. With his skeleton crew already stretched thin, and resources at an all time low, can Tyro really accomplish the goal of killing Alpharius? Fortuntaely the legendary warleader, Shadrak Meduson, is there to offer his help. Will they succeed in ridding the galaxy of another traitorous swine, or will their attempts fail miserably?

What can I say? I love this book. Love it, love it, love it. It's perfect. I've listened to it almost two years before buying my first Betrayal at Calth set, and I can safely say that the XXth Legiom implanted some kind of sleeper command which, in time, made me ditch the Ultramarines and change my allegiance to the Hydra. How did they do it? "The Seventh Serpent" is a perfect example of a special ops, spy-stuff novella, where the tensions are high and the game itself played for very high stakes. From the very first pages we can see that Tyro and his crew are on their last reserves of luck. Deep behind enemy lines and grossly outnumbered, the Iron Hands and their allies are fighting a losing battle. Sooner of later the traitors will box them in, but before that happens the "Sisypheum" will make sure that they'll pay a heavy price in blood.

McNeill surprises me once again, as he expertly portrayals a legion, which he almost never had worked with. His famous work centres around the Ultramarines, Iron Warriors and Emperor's Children, but his fascinating portrayal of the Iron Tenth is something to behold. Far from uncaring automatons, the sons of Ferrus Manus are full of character, passions (yes, really!) and personalities. Cadmus Tyro is desperately trying to fit in the role of a leader, knowing full well that he'll never be able to match his mortally wounded commander, Ulrach Branthan. Frater Thamatica serves as a slighltly comic relief character, but inside his steel heart there's sorrow and growing indifference, following the death of his primarch.

The support cast is strong as well. Atesh Tarsa, the Salamanders apothecary, brings a much needed human element to the cybernetics-obsessed Iron Hands, while Nykona Sharrowkyn of the XIXth Legion and Iron Father Sebik Wayland, continue their buddy cop routine, while Sharrowkyn proves once again that he's one of the most badass characters in the whole Horus Heresy series. No spoilers, but if you've read "Angel Exterminatus" and "Kryptos", then I can tell you that the stealthy Raven Guard legionnaire almost tops his performance in these stories, by being an absolute badass, and one whose actions are written in a very believable, non-Mary Sue way. This is often a hard thing to do, but the author managed to portrayal a professional, expertly trained killer in a excellent way, and one that makes the reader root for him all the way to very end of the book.

As for the Sons of the Hydra, I'll only say this - it's a damn shame that McNeill didn't wrote more about them, because their portrayal in the "Seventh Serpent" is excellent. Again - I can't really say anything more, for fear of spoilers, but the enigmatic XXth Legion really had been given justice in this book. I honestly think that it might've been this book, which ultimately made me choose the Alpha Legion as my first Horus Heresy army.

"The Seventh Serpent" is a real masterpiece and a must-read for any Wahammer 40,000 fans. I can't stress enough how good this title is, and it's a real shame that Graham McNeill is not writing any of the Siege of Terra books. I know that he's not really working for the Black Library anymore, at least not the extent that he used to, but it's a damn shame nonetheless. Hopefully we'll see some more work from him in the future. Now, I've finally been able to escape my bonds and grab a DVD copy of the "Black Death". Let's see if Sean Bean survives this movie, shall we?

Go get 'em, Sean!

Until next time!

Xathrodox86