Book Review – Tallarn: Executioner

It’s been quite some time since I did a book review for the Horus Heresy; the simplest explanation is that it’s been some time since I read a Horus Heresy book. I’ve been digging in self-improvement and history for the past few months, and I only just returned to the lighter side of reading. I started out again this week with the novella Tallarn: Executioner, by John French.

As always, I preface with the warning that there may be spoilers ahead. Read on at your own risk!

Executioner opens with a pair of tank crews that have been stationed on the forgotten world of Tallarn. Rather than the desolate wasteland that 40k’ers know this planet to be, it is a more habitable place (as many fluff heads know). Very soon after the novella opens we read of the Iron Warriors bombarding the planet, using the virus bombs that bring sudden death to virtually the entire population. A handful of survivors make it to the shelters, where they begin the process of resisting. What ensues is a series of tank battles, in which a squadron of Leman Russ tanks do battle with Iron Warrior Predators, Land Raiders, and at one point a Titan.

There are several things wrong with this book, chief of them being the length. This plot deserved an entire full-length book, and was instead given a little more than one hundred large-font pages to convey its message. We are never told why the Iron Warriors chose to attack a world they had virus bombed into oblivion, and we’re never told what is truly at stake on the planet. Characters come and go quickly, with no development and very little attachment from the reader. Rather than a story, it reads like a series of snippets from the fluff sections of an Astra Militarum Codex.

In the end, we’re given veiled references to how the Alpha Legion had something to do with something, and that caused reasons to happen on the planet. I wish I could be more descriptive, but the author chose the same approach. While the sleeper cell aspect of the XX Legion is interesting, it has to have substance to be truly appreciable.

The combat was also incredibly stilted, with Iron Warriors vehicles rolling to point-blank range, waiting to fire their ordnance until the Imperial crews had conveniently lined up their next shot and destroyed the enemy at the last possible moment. The Titan fight was especially poorly written, showcasing nothing from the Titan except, “Oh no, it is huge. Shoot it quickly.”

I know this review comes across as snarky, but Executioner seems like nothing more than an exploitation of what was once a great series. With time the Horus Heresy stories have stagnated, though some writers have kept the flame going in their personal work. I only hope that sales show through on novels of this quality, and convince Black Library that we’re looking for something more when we delve into their universe.