Nick Kyme

Re-Listen February 2024 as part of a Heresy Omnibus+ complete readthrough of the Horus Heresy series, as additional to the Shadow Crusade II The Underworld War (https://www.heresyomnibus.com/omnibus/vi-shadow-crusade-ii-underworld-war):

One of these things is not like the others.

I have been deep in the Calth mines for a while now, and with the intense narrative focus the Heresy Omnibus approach gives, I can confidently say I have absolutely no idea what Kyme was thinking with writing 'what show more if Calth was an early 2000s dudes rock action war movie'. I also have no idea how the audio drama director had Gareth Armstrong, a phenomenal voice actor and narrator, do such a 'one of your dad's friends who's a smug prick and is a bully, but gets the I'm just hading a laugh pass because he and your dad were in the army together' voice for Thiel.

I get that this comes after Macragge's Honour, so maybe there is something that activates his latent arsehole gene. Is this a hitherto unrecorded curse or the Ultramarines geneseed? I'm mean, that genuinely would answer why there is such a fundamental dichotomy of character in the warriors of Ultramar - good, honest, salt of the Five Hundred Worlds Space Marines and insufferable old money military men with stiff upper lips and Hapsburg jaws instead of a personality. But this isn't the Thiel from Know No Fear and also not even the Thiel from Kyme's other audio dramas. No longer is the Fred Durst of the XIII's difference to his battle brothers his individuality and his own thoughts, rather than the sycophantic secular zealotory and constantly quoting their daddy...at their daddy, now the energy is 'not like other Sons of Guilliman'.

Thiel also seems to be auditioning for Ciaphas Cain's job as the Harry Flashman of Dark Millennia, but with the classic Know No Fear rule. I have said before on many occasions that 30K/ 30K has a lot of space for silliness and comedy--just look at most of the stuff we're supposed to take seriously--and that we could do with more of the satire the galaxy was founded on, as more of the creepy, weird, silly, horrible Blanchean vibes. However, the relationship between the Word Bearers and Ultramarines, much like the tonal choice for Horus Heresy Orks, has been serious, especially with the trauma the XVII were left with after Monarchia and the absolute atrocity and heartbreaking perfidy of Calth has always been played as extremely, sombre, and like the huge tragedy it is. Changing a character who was witnessed the initial attack into a quipping comedy action hero is a...choice.

He literally confronts the villain of the piece with this absolute ripper of a line:
"‘I have a word for you,’ Aeonid Thiel replies. ‘I’ll let my bolter speak it for me.’"

This unintentionally hilarious quote sums it up for me:
"It is intended as a joke, but [Kyme] doesn't sell the humour well"

Honestly, I had to look up when this was released because I thought maybe it was before the other Calth stories and the tone was set, but it came out in 2013, right in the sweet spot between Know No Fear and Mark of Calth.

I would say that I stand by most of the original review below, with the exception of my pulling my head out of my arse and apologising for getting such a weird and inaccurate bee in my bonett about Gav Thorpe's Honour to the Dead, which is good, actually, regardless of what past me says.

The action is decent and there is a fun vibe here, but it's like having a fun vibe at a funeral being held a place recognided for the historic tragedies have taken place. In this case, not particularly historic at all.

Ultimately, the tonal dissonance and the, in my opinion, mischaracterisation of Thiel ruin this for me. This is another classic would work better and has the vibe of a regular 40K story, not a Horus Heresy one.

***

This was my second listening as I work through the Treachery and Betrayal collection and, while I enjoyed it, having listened to so many Horus Heresy short stories and audio dramas in the time since its release and not being in the heady Calth-mania of 2012-2013 with Know No Fear by Dan Abnett and the Mark of Calth anthology, I have cooled on it somewhat. It's definitely a decent story, one of the better (read: more restrained) audio drama productions, and worth a listen, especially if you are an Aeonid Thiel, the bad boy of the XIII Legion, stan, Ultramarines, and/or Calth completionist, but this is far from required reading for the core Horus Heresy Saga.

I'll also be honest that between its release, listening to Stratagem also by Kyme, and the ordering of Stratagem, Censure, and Red-Marked in Treachery and Betrayal, I have absolutely no idea if this is set before or after Strategem or if there is any rhyme or reason to the order of these stories. All that matters is that we a following the red-helmeted stepchild of Guilliman on Calth during the Underground War, Calth 2: Radiation Boogaloo, somewhere between 007 to 014.M31 (according to Lexicanum it's two years after the initial Battle of Calth, making it 009.M41 to be exact) [Why did I include this detail that even I couldn't give a squig's arse about!?].

The story is, things continue to be rotten on Calth with the Ultramarines fighting the Underground War from the arcologies that run below the blasted surface. The Word Bearers have the upper hand with superior numbers, equipment, and their Chaos boons. Sargeant Anoeid Thiel is shown to be a genius by playing the classic empty suit of armour gambit and murderising a cultist sniper pair, presumably stark, bollock naked and getting a sweet radiation tan in the bargain. Because Thiel is the War-Born Theoretical Fuccboi, he can't follow the rules or get on with his Superior Arsehole, Captain Vultius, and is likely responsible for the Word Bearers following him back to his ragtag company's underground base. An explosion conveniently 'Professor Xs' Thiel's battle brothers, leaving him and 'Rowdy' Imperial Army Trooper Rowd, who Black Library calls "lowly" in their summary, a fellow bad boy and coscript for killing his boss for fridging his wife--can I get some Simones and Bechdels in the chat?!--the only survivors, lone wolf brothers if you will. Sargeant Smith and Trooper Lawrence Bad Boys their way across Calthnobyl to take back a Stronghold from Dark Apostle Kurtha Sedd and his Book Bopper warband by themselves.

***SPOILERS***

They do it baybee! Just in time for Captain Vultius and the survivors to 'Reverse Professor X' and appear in time to hail Thiel and Rowd as truly good bois really, on account of them doing killing so good and all. But in truly shocking and unexpected bittersweet garnish on this triumphant sundae, poor Rowd is all sorts of dead because his suit was ruptured in the initial blast and he's been an absolute...trooper this whole time! (Honestly, I'm so very glad he died so quickly and relatively peacefully because, regardless of suit integrity, that man was going to die a long and agonising death from the all the radiation he was exposed to. The all the radiation that is almost too much for Astartes, remember?).

Now, obviously this was a rather sarcastic summary, but it's not inaccurate, and in reflecting on the story and writing it out my opinion has cooled further. It's still an average and fun story, but it's now lower average, rather than higher average in my mind. It's funny, I was actually thinking of this as an interesting counterpoint to the abomination that is Honour to the Dead by Gav Thorpe, but it's actually just a much more fun and slightly less obvious oohra! tropefest. At least this is just a heroic war story, while Honour felt much more jingoistic Marvel propaganda.

This isn't bolter porn, but I think it probably is hero/ bad boy porn, which is not what I want from Warhammer, especially 40K and the Horus Heresy. There is a place for the hero narratives in the Hellenistic mythological epic that is the Horus Heresy, but I think it needs to be paired with the tragedy and grimdarkness of this universe.

Numbers and art are silly, but when my score went from an unposted 5/5 when I first listened to it, down to 4/5 when posting my reflection on that listen, to 3/5 on my initial reaction to listening again to 2/5 (though admittedly high in that bracket) upon actually stopping to think about and review it, I think it bears mentioning and shows how much our perspective can change with time, reflection and context. show less

A mixed bag. Now theoretically I have read this before but most of the stories here I couldn't remember! Blood Games is a good story, it looks at bits of the Imperium we don't ususally see and is fine worldbuilding. Wolf At The Door is pretty decent, but doesn't really make sense. Scions of the Storm doesn't make a lot of sense either but is also decent. The Voice is James Swallow doing things to Sisters of Silence that don't make sense and manages to be a boring horror story. I have another show more of his books in my immenant To Read pile and this makes me dread it a bit. Call of the Lion fits nicely into the over-arching Gav Thorpe Dark Angels storyline that I've been reading and has all usual GT faults but is still satisfying. The Last Church is a horrible story, badly written and containing every bad cliche of writing about religion going. It gives theological debate a bad name. Graham McNeill should be ashamed of himself. Finally After Deshea is pretty good but leaves a lot of unanswered questions. show less

Wow.

Two sigmas have a brief chat about military organisation…but somehow I love it? Am I OK?

It's been a while since I returned to the Warhammer well as I work through the audio drama and short story collection, Treachery and Betrayal, after having a ball previously with, Lupercal's War–a fantastic bunch of stories woefully inappropriate in how it is advertised as an entry point into the ridiculous epic Horus Heresy saga. Admittedly, I was put off by just how much I (and I rarely say show more this, especially about the work of authors I usually love and by all accounts is a thoroughly good guy) absolutely hated Honour to the Dead by Gav Thorpe, which was everything I don't want from Warhammer, especially the Horus Heresy–bald-faced, depthless, emotionally manipulative Marvel movie propaganda for the Imperium without a modicum of self-awareness or satire, and from one of the Black Library's best. You hate to see it.

Stratagem was originally published in the Black Library Advent Calendar 2014, which I can't help but scratch my head at why this story precess Censure, also by Kyme, also about Thiel, both set and published before Stratagem–during the Underworld War waged in Calth's subterranean arcology network following the Word Bearer's devastating assault upon the Five Hundred Worlds, and 2013, respectively. This seems particularly relevant due to the discussion presaging the Codex Astartes incorporating Thiel's theoreticals, at least somewhat influenced by his experience on Calth. (There is absolutely a chance I am totally off here and I am mixing up events from Know No Fear, Mark of Calth,and Censure. Despite the precision of the Mark, the timeline is timey wimey, especially if you're a potential Gal Vorbak run being tested by running full immersion Demonic VR training of post Calth invasion missions to test your worth [If you know, you know]).

Full review: https://ko-fi.com/post/Stratagem-by-Nick-Kyme--Audio-Drama-Review-T6T7RIDOU

***

Initial Reaction

Two sigmas have a chat about military organisation...but I love it?

More thoughts later. It seems I have shake to process. show less

This is both a classic Horus Heresy short story and classic Nick Kyme, in all the best and, not worst, but not best ways. Like so many of the Heresy shorts and audio dramas I've been listening to recently I felt all sorts of different things about the story and the quality of writing over its telling. It's interesting to see just how many anthologies and collections have contained this story, four according to Lexicanum.

As with many HH short stories, Immortal Duty is a story within a story show more with a member of the Iron Hands' Immortals, the Iron 10th's own Suicide Squad, facing execution and recounting the story of their squad's attempt to break a blockade over everyone's favourite holiday destination, Isstvan V, Istvaan if you're feeling spicy, as the third edition second edition (Yup!) Chaos Space Marines codex apparently was. The Immortals being where Iron Hands who have been shamed or brought shame upon the Legion are shoved off to with a breaching shield in their hand and potentially one last bum pat as they are hurled into boarding actions to gitterdun or die trying -- In the books and stories I've read so far, individual Iron Hands are as lovely as indoctrinated and abused adolescents manufactured into weapons of mass destruction can be, but the legion itself and ole Iron Mannus himself seem unbelievably awful. I know I have so much sympathy for two Primarchs whose legions are responsible for more deaths and terror between them that the rest of the traitor extremis, but fuck Ferrus, I'm glad he lost his head, and he's much more fun dead or otherwise anyway. The fact that Immortals lose all name, rank, clan, everything is so brutal with the detail of the squad sergeant having conspicuous gaps in his armour where a servo arm should be, as a former Iron Father Techpriest is wonderful, awful, but wonderful.

The Immortals were tasked with taking out a World Eater ship that was apparently the lynchpin of the blockade. Our protagonist feels all sorts of ways about their situation and what went down, and a lot of it is very clangy, jammy, and on the nose. Frontloading with big emotional reflection is not necessarily playing to Kyme's strengths, but soon we are away in the action, which is where they shine (I just realised I've been confusing and amalgamating Nick Kyme and Nik Vincent in my head for so long). The action throughout is cinematic and...I don't really know how to describe it beyond it really feels like you are seeing everything take place in a way that feels real, without feeling overly cartoon and bolter porn. It's tough because World Eaters are mighty grumpy and powerful and things go awry.

We get some reflections on what got out guy whacked with the shame hammer, including a brief but interesting reflection of another alien culture not seen in Warhammer 40K, which is something I always enjoy. No spoilers for it, but I will say the cause of shame is utter bullshit and cements my dislike of the X Legion, if not its actual Astartes, especially not my precious shattered legion babies who get a nod at the end.

All in all, this is a good war is hell and many actions by and strictures of the legions are pointless and cruel, but isn't cool actions and sad times fun and cathartic? kinda story. And you know what, I wholeheartedly agree. If not for some cheesy lines and hitting my punishing uncanny valley of almost spectacular, I would be tempted to give this 5/5.

Horus Heresy Language check: We get two "actinics" and an impressive variation on a classic with a "charnal breath". show less