Cold Blood: An Apocalypse Short Story by David Guymer
Hey folks, Doctor Xiox here,
I
picked up Cold Blood the other day, and upon noticing it was only 33
pages - did not initially establish very high expectations of it. But oh
how wrong I would be.
To start with, Guymer really knows how to write from the
perspective of a Chaos Space Marine. Chainaxes? Tick. Bolt pistols?
Tick. Overuse of the word "blood"? Tick.
However
it is this repetition of the insatiable thirst for violence of the
traitor marines truly embodies how crude they have become. And yet,
perhaps the most satisfying moment of the short story is how these blood
lusting behemoths are actually malnourished from the lack of it.
Without spoiling too much of the story, the Chaos Space Marines of the
Bloodlords land upon a desolate moon of Ixus IX save for one location which seems
to be Imperial.
Of course, the next most logical step for any loyal
follower of the Blood God is to assault said outpost with fury and raze
it to the ground, cackling in maniacal laughter as blood seeps through
the streets beneath his feet. (I think the heretic within got the better
of me for that sentence).
Anyhow, the Bloodlords are initially surprised to
meet no resistance... Yes, the Chaos Space Marines assault an outpost that seems completely abandoned...
Or so they thought. General rule of thumb for all things 40k, just when
everything is going under control, always expect something to turn the
tide against you. Especially on the tabletop (curse the dice gods).
And without spoiling too much, they meet an ancient
foe who just can't bleed and is the very face of death itself. They are
not called by their name throughout the short story but you can guess
who they are - let's face it, nobody else zaps you with gauss guns. And
without spoiling the plot, expect blood curdling clashes between the
Chaos Space Marines and Necrons - a fierce fight to the death between
two enemies of the Imperium.
This is perhaps the first time I've heard of a CSM
vs. Necron encounter, and for me thats pretty swell. It's lovely to see
two different races - albeit neither of which we can easily empathise
with - interact with one another and I do think David Guymer deserves to
be applauded for that fact. I'm also loving this particularly because
I'm about to play a narrative campaign with my Chaos Space Marines
against my friend's Necrons.
My only criticism is that we aren't given enough
description and action of the Lord of Skulls that was teased on the
cover. In fact, it's teased throughout the whole book, but only really
revealed at the climax. I was hoping for more, but of course there's
only so much you can expect from a short story. But it is packed with
Michael Bay-esque action sequences, and for a 30 page or so story it's
well worth your time.
Anyways here's a link so you can all purchase it online @ Black Library:
Hope you enjoyed this review and look out for more on its way!
Doctor Xiox
