February 2024 Review as part of story of Horus Heresy Omnibus Project reading guide Omnibus III: The Burning of Prospero
(https://www.heresyomnibus.com/omnibus/iii-the-burning-of-prospero) as part of my Oath of Moment to complete the series.

So, I stand by the below review in content, if not as enthusiastic as I was before, which I'm surprised about because my initial listening was of knowing nothing of Magnus and his Thousand Sons between the end of Prospero Burns (or maybe Thief of Revelations) and being they become the dusty blue and gold inferno bolt bois of the Dark Millennium, beyond some lore, which meant I had absolutely no context for this, making even the mentioning of Morningstar a revelation.

Now, I'm coming right off the back of finishing Magnus The Red: Master of Prospero by Graham McNeill, which is both all about Morningstar and Shai-Tan, and absolutely bloody brilliant, I'm honestly more confused.

Having read a lot more Horus Heresy in the almost a month between listens because I first heard it randomly and now part of doing the whole, like an embarrassing amount, thing in storylines, I've dropped the grading on a curve I usually do for Warhammer stories because this series opens so unbelievably strongly and still hits those heady heights, despite the quality vacillating along the way, so it deserves a more honest scoring a critique. This also had the effect of me enjoying this a lot less because of the it's vagueness, which I'll talk about more below after the spoiler warning, and having a wildly different tone and characterisation of Magnus and Ahriman than strongly established in previous works.

Ultimately, it's an interesting tidbit that both feels over dramatised and undeveloped with the actual important elements almost glossed over. It is what it is and that is incredibly Black Library Advent Calendar coded.

***Spoilers for Thousand Sons and Magnus The Red: Master of Prospero - I would advise you to not read further or listen to this audio drama without reading those two first, but you do you***



After puzzling for longer than I would like to admit I think I am less confused about one thing, maybe. So, Shai-Tan is the Terran colony ship discovered on Morningstar that Magnus buried under his pyramid before it was destroyed and then both the ship and pyramid were transported to the Planet of the Sorcerers when Magnus bamfed the survivors and a some big ole chunks of Prosperon architecture at the end of the Battle of Prospero. This is what Magnus is is showing Ahriman in this audio drama, as he reminds his Favoured Son of Morningstar. But Shai-Tan is also the name of warp entity created from the tortured psyche's of the people on the ship who got Mrs Coulter and the Obltation Boarded. The malevolence that began the destruction of Morningstar, which the Thousand Sons and Iron Warriors finished.

The Shai-Tan gestalt went into the Book of Magnus and seemed to get on surprisingly well with Magnus like a less cruel reflection of the whole Fulgrim/ Mirror Fulgrim situation. Both the novel and this indicate that Shai-Tan didn't stay in the book and this talks about not being able to isolate corruption, so where was Shai-Tan? Magnus vowed to never open the ship, despite collecting it, presumably in reference to the nightmare contraption within, and the ship was sealed. The Shai-Tan entity foretold that Ahriman would be the one to unseal it, so why is Magnus showing it to him? It really feels like a plot device so Ahriman knows about it again and where it is, I'm guessing so he can use the nasty tech inside as a part of the eventual Rubric kerfuffle.

So many questions!

Where has Shai-Tan been since being in the Book? Did Magnus seal them in the ship? Was this before or after he vowed to not open it again. Why is he showing Ahriman? Why is he telling Ahriman about Morningstar and then just continuing to fucking lie right to his fucking face in the next breath? Is Shai-Tan the weapon to use at the Siege or the psychic castrator?

These are less the interesting things to ponder, but genuinely being baffled by what even the point of the story of this audio drama is? I'm truly perplexed and rather frustrated as I was so excited to return to this with context, but that did not help lmfao.

I will say that I am low on brainpower and high on pain right now, so maybe I'm missing some really obvious stuff that makes me look very silly. If that's the case, I'll wear it. I absolutely get things wrong and confused sometimes, and I'm happy to hold my hands up.

I'm just a bit bummed out that I had a much worse time, but onwards and upwards to Leman Russ: The Great Wolf and Prospero Burns!

***SPOILERS END - ORIGINAL SPOILER FREE REVIEW BELOW***

***

First Listen Review 5/5

Absolute banger audio drama alert!

Magnus and Ahriman walk amongst the ruin and detritus of their world. The Crimson King makes a shocking confession that almost breaks the heart of his chief Librarian, telling a tragic tale and revealing an immense dark power he intends to draw from for use in the coming Siege of Terra.

I think this might be my first time seeing Magnus post burning of Prospero, but before he got even more horny and red, which was fun for me.

There are few things I enjoy more than seeing the 'Traitors' humanised by the tragedies their service to the Imperium forced upon them, as well as the endlessly frustrating hubris on display and getting beaten up by dramatic irony. The post humans in these stories are tragic monsters and sometimes broken heroes within their nightmare context with tales worthy of the muses. When they are portrayed as Avengers in Power Armour, literal Hulkbuster Terminators, everything is cheapened and the poing of the and the various Dark Millenia is missed entirely. Thankfully, McNeil and Morningstar understood the assignment!

The confession is truly awful and heartbreaking in a couple of different ways that perfectly capture the oppressive horror and impossible choices forced up those in this grimdark galaxy, as well as the atrocities and trespasses enacted out of duty, necessity, and compassion. *chef's kiss*

The revelations are absolutely wild and there is some top level, if not understanding, at least immense power of magic front the Warp wielded by Magnus. It also raises some questions as to how we got to this moment and how we get to where we get to.

Magnus (and Ahriman after him) is such classical tragic figure and another son damned and corrupted by unwillingness of his father actually talking to him like an adult about the Warp and magic. Not to mention the true tragedy befalling him and his ultimately being their doom from actions enacted in the best intentions.

This is absolutely my shit. Hell. Yeah. ( )