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

It's never a good sign when you feel a palpable sense of relief, like the weight of ceramite-clad razorwing lifted from your shoulders, when a book is finished...

Following the Battle of Calth, as illuminated wonderfully by Dan Abnett and Graham McNeill's in Know No Fear and Calth That Was (in Mark of Calth), The Honoured follows survivors of the initial devastation and attack by the Word Bearers as they race to escape the scouring solar flares from Viridian (caused by the XVII's infernal rites) within the underground arcologies. The safety of the subterranean network is relative for the Ultramarines as the Sons of Lorgar lurk in the dark. The Honoured Captain Aethon is particularly conflicted about the atrocity that has be fallen one of the beacons of the Five Hundred Worlds, as at one time he had a friend in the Word Bearers Chaplain, Kurtha Sedd.

I really don't want to be too disparaging of Sanders' novella, it's certainly not as actually offensive and disturbing to see published by Black Library like Illyrium by Darius Hinks, which has no redeeming qualities in my opinion, it doesn't have the casual, at times pointed and upsetting misogyny of a number of Dan Abnett's otherwise brilliant books, and it doesn't get into some really weird bioessentialist and worrying sexism and misogyny, particularly in Fulgrim, of the otherwise great Graham McNeil. (My calling Abnett otherwise brilliant and McNeil otherwise great in no way condones or excuses the harmful aspects of some of their writing, which I will always call out in reviews. It is simply making the point that when they aren't doing that I thoroughly enjoy their writing, so I have to suffer through that unacceptable bullshit it I want to be able to read the Horus Heresy, cool stories about the Inquisition, etc.)

What The Honoured does do is fundamentally not reach anywhere near the bottom of the bar for the Horus Heresy series in my personal opinion. On the rare occasion this happens I always point out just how much I love this series and that reading the opening quadrilogy again recently, after getting back into reading...everything in the last year, after lacking the capacity and drive for a long time, made me realise just how good this series is, not 'for Warhammer books', which I otherwise grade on a curve, but without qualifier. They are at least as good, if not better (if such a thing can actually be quantified when discussing art) than many well-respected and classic books, in general literature as well as within fantasy and science fiction. They set themselves standards in the work and established expectations in their readers, so I do my best to meet each one, at least the books (I am sometimes swayed by just having a lot of fun with a short story or audio drama) with this in mind.

I feel like this could be a fault that should be laid at Black Library's feet, rather than Sanders', as I am not sure I believe this novella, released alongside David Annandale's The Unburdened, collected together at Betrayal at Calth, were ever planned to be a part of the Horus Heresy series. I believe their primary intent was to be supporting stories for and including the characters seen in the Horus Heresy: Betrayal at Calth box set that marked the first release of plastic Heresy Era models, which was a huge deal in the hobby side of things as previously these kinda of models had only been available as premium resin releases through Forge World, making them prohibitively expensive for many. But they were released as officially part of the Horus Heresy series, despite not being collected into any anthology, as all previous novellas and stories only available in limited edition and/ or event only releases.

I haven't read a huge amount of the specific release tie-in books, after finding the Assault on Black Reach novel by Nick Kyme that accompanied the 5th edition Warhammer 40K starter set of the same name, although I do remember Ascension of Balthasar audio drama by C.Z. Dunn, a tie in to the Dark Vengeance starter set that was used for both the 6th and 7th editions of 40k was pretty good. I think it's fair to say, at least historically, that the tie in stories haven't been viewed or received with the same expectations and praise as the other Black Library releases. With this in mind, if The Honoured were to be released as purely a box set tie in that just happened to take place during the Horus Heresy, I would view it much more positively, as I would, as I have mentioned before when works haven't achieved the Heresy standard, if it had been released under the Space Marine Battles title, which is a huge, mostly very loosely connected, series that tells the stories of significant battles and events previously only referred to in the lore and background books that has a greater variance in quality in my personal opinion.

I hate to say it, but I really struggled with this book and, if I wasn't the autistic completionist I am and hadn't caved and bought the Betrayal at Calth the audiobooks yesterday, I don't think I would have gotten through it. Jonathan Keeble's narration and his unique ability to embue the narration of action with such energy made a huge difference, but, even with that, by the end I was checked out and running down the clock. I dislike using a term that is used to diminish Warhammer 40K stories, but here it seems apropos. This novella is largely 'bolter porn', meaning that it almost entirely over the top action and violence, things you absolutely do want and have to expect in stories in the 31st and 41st Millennia, but the term makes sense in that pretty much being all that this is.

As a Horus Heresy book it seems to miss the essence that has charged the Heresy isn't simply that many of the Legions fought and lived and died together, but rather it's the emotional weight of relationships established within these testing crucbles of war--the substantiated, variously intense and interwoven relationships between Loken, Tarvitz, and Garro in the opening books being a perfect example--and the intensity of pain and grief felt by personal perfidy of former friends turning on each other and aligning themselves with regimes neither one can understand as a thing but wrong and evil. The purported friendship between Aethon and Kurtha Sedd is referenced a bunch and the Ultramarines Captain has a memory of battling Orks alongside Sedd and the Word Bearer saving his life, but there is not deeper connection beyond us being told there is, and even when we are in Aethon's thoughts there isn't any significant sorrow or heartache expressed in a meaningful way. This relationship is a step up from referencing bringing a nest of gundarks to Compliance (my go to Star Wars reference for making the mistake of telling, not showing), but as presented it is barely warmer than the scene Lorgar receiving Illuminarum from Ferrus Mannus as "thanks for the “reinforcement”" (he refuses to call it a "rescue") in The First Heretic by Aaron Dembski-Bowden.

Ultimately, this came across like a brilliant write up on a Zone Mortalis narrative campaign of the tabletop wargame, rather than a Horus Heresy novella. I can't in good faith recommend it to anyone beyond the absolute completionist, someone so in love with Cobalt Bois from Imperium Secundus who has consumed everything else, or simply someone looking for some decent enough action and inspiration for their Betrayal at Calth box set, ignoring the Horus Heresy branding.

Honestly, if I was a touch less neurodivergent and didn't want to maintain the integrity of my almost complete Horus Heresy Collection on Audible, I would ask for my credit back. But, again, that's purely from my perspective at wanting and expecting more from a Horus Heresy title.

I have enjoyed David Annandale's work in the past, so I am truly hoping The Unburdened will have some more meat on its bolter.

This quote blew my mind and made me exclaim, What in the Ignace Karkasy would never is this?!

"Urcus slows. His plate is giving him away...he hears the Dreadnought searching chambers and forking tunnels...It can smell him – it can smell the honour of his plate, the nobility of his primarch’s blood, his loyalty and his genic fortitude"

What does honour on ceramite, nobility in blood and loyalty and fortitude in genes smell like, is ask you?

This was the Remembrancer, Ignace Karkasy's olfactory response to coming into contact with Astartes for the first time in Horus Rising by Dan Abnett:

"The Astartes save us from the brink, the brink, but oh my life how they stink, they stink" -

I was starting to lose my mind towards the end and I was daydreaming about some 'who's on first?' stuff with Kurtha's confusing name:

Aethon: Kurtha said what?
Dardanus: ...K-Kurtha Sedd
Urcus: DUDE, WHAT DOES MINE SAY?! ( )