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A review by ratgrrrl
Chirurgeon by Nick Kyme
5.0
February 2024 Read using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order - Omnibus IV Shattersong (https://www.heresyomnibus.com/omnibus/iv-shattersong) as part of my Oath of Moment to complete the Horus Heresy saga and extras.
This was a delightful surprise and a wonderful way to end the Shattersong Omnibus!
Nominal Chief Apothecary of the Emperor's Children, mockingly named the Spider by his battle brother bullies (seemingly retroactively through Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix by Josh Reynolds, though I defer to Reynolds as the the Master of the Manflayer) due to his ubiquitous many-appendage Chirurgeon (https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Chirurgeon), broods in his Vivisectorium replaying his old medical logs from the earliest days of Legion when they only had a numbered designation, before Fulgrim had name named them in dedication to his father. He reminisces about the tragedy of the III's unstable geneseed and the horror of the consigning so many of his kin to death, illuminating just how broken and enured to the death and dissection of his brothers he had to become, as well as how embittered their unwarranted scorn.
This does everything I want from a Horus Heresy short stor; we learn a lot more about the Primogenitor, including some monumental reveals that I absolutely do not want to spoil that knocked me for six, we get a look at the past of the Legion and a more intimate look and discussion of the effects of the initial geneseed flaw for this first time (for me, unsure of this is also true for chronological release and reading order), after so many allusions and references in other stories, and we gain an understanding and explanation of how the Repairer of Ruin went from Legion Apothecary to one of the most maniacal figures who was wrought suffering on such a scale for so long that barely any other being or even group come close.
I really needed this. Like Lucius, Fabius is one of those wonderful characters that fascinating and are so easy to hate without really knowing anything about them--that quintessential 'cool factor' a lot of Warhammer 40K characters have, but this, especially combined with the brief insights in Palatine Phoenix, does a brilliant job of actually fleshing him out and making him a deeper, and in many ways a more insidious and omenous, figure than the apotheosis of the 'mad scientist' and 'evil doctor' archetypes.
Chaos, Daemons, Elder Gods, and Monsters are unknowable and alien, and all the more interesting and scary for it, but in my opinion that is far less effective when dealing with character we can comprehend. Humanising the horror of beings with a comparable cognition to us is something I absolutely adore and make the horror all the more harrowing and effective for me.
The tail end of the Shattersong omnibus had been a little disappointing after the heady heights of perfection that is Angel Exterminatus, but along comes Kyme and Bile (who sound like an occult detective agency) with an absolute belter. I am an absolute sucker for the character study stories, and when they are written and performed so well, I'm an extremely happy heretic!
Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 11 Horus Heresy novels, 5 novellas, 23 short stories/ audio dramas, as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, 6 Primarchs novels, 3 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels...this run. I can't say enough good about the way the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project suggestions. I'm loving it! Especially after originally reading to the releases and being so frustrated at having to wait so long for a narrative to continue.
This was a delightful surprise and a wonderful way to end the Shattersong Omnibus!
Nominal Chief Apothecary of the Emperor's Children, mockingly named the Spider by his battle brother bullies (seemingly retroactively through Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix by Josh Reynolds, though I defer to Reynolds as the the Master of the Manflayer) due to his ubiquitous many-appendage Chirurgeon (https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Chirurgeon), broods in his Vivisectorium replaying his old medical logs from the earliest days of Legion when they only had a numbered designation, before Fulgrim had name named them in dedication to his father. He reminisces about the tragedy of the III's unstable geneseed and the horror of the consigning so many of his kin to death, illuminating just how broken and enured to the death and dissection of his brothers he had to become, as well as how embittered their unwarranted scorn.
This does everything I want from a Horus Heresy short stor; we learn a lot more about the Primogenitor, including some monumental reveals that I absolutely do not want to spoil that knocked me for six, we get a look at the past of the Legion and a more intimate look and discussion of the effects of the initial geneseed flaw for this first time (for me, unsure of this is also true for chronological release and reading order), after so many allusions and references in other stories, and we gain an understanding and explanation of how the Repairer of Ruin went from Legion Apothecary to one of the most maniacal figures who was wrought suffering on such a scale for so long that barely any other being or even group come close.
I really needed this. Like Lucius, Fabius is one of those wonderful characters that fascinating and are so easy to hate without really knowing anything about them--that quintessential 'cool factor' a lot of Warhammer 40K characters have, but this, especially combined with the brief insights in Palatine Phoenix, does a brilliant job of actually fleshing him out and making him a deeper, and in many ways a more insidious and omenous, figure than the apotheosis of the 'mad scientist' and 'evil doctor' archetypes.
Chaos, Daemons, Elder Gods, and Monsters are unknowable and alien, and all the more interesting and scary for it, but in my opinion that is far less effective when dealing with character we can comprehend. Humanising the horror of beings with a comparable cognition to us is something I absolutely adore and make the horror all the more harrowing and effective for me.
The tail end of the Shattersong omnibus had been a little disappointing after the heady heights of perfection that is Angel Exterminatus, but along comes Kyme and Bile (who sound like an occult detective agency) with an absolute belter. I am an absolute sucker for the character study stories, and when they are written and performed so well, I'm an extremely happy heretic!
Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 11 Horus Heresy novels, 5 novellas, 23 short stories/ audio dramas, as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, 6 Primarchs novels, 3 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels...this run. I can't say enough good about the way the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project suggestions. I'm loving it! Especially after originally reading to the releases and being so frustrated at having to wait so long for a narrative to continue.