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hellishlyawkward's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
What a bloodbath!
"Of course, once they reattached his face, all he ever really looked was angry."
Being completely unfamiliar with The Horus Heresy series previous to this, I was initially surprised by the jump into bloody slaughter quite quickly in the first story. While the desire for dominion was made clear as the motivator for the conflict, I hadn't yet formed an attachment to any of the characters and didn't realise we'd be diving straight into things! But after a quick adjustment to the pace and overall atmosphere, it was easy to settle in and listen while they scythed through their opposition.
". . . they engaged individual, segmented force shields . . . the shields were annoyingly effective and deflected most gunfire over a certain range. When an Adeptus Astartes bolt round did pierce them, either through a direct hit or by finding the joint between segments, the compulsory inside detonated, and his explosive demise was contained, pressurised inside the shield, like a firecracker destroying a piece of soft fruit inside a bottle. . ."
This had plenty of gore, action, conflict, and outright massacre. Definitely points awarded for the vivid, grisly descriptions of the carnage.
"Blood exploded from the yawning wounds under pressure, jetting into the morning air, hosing Aximand and the great columns of the colonnade with arterial spray. Each sword stroke made an explosion of viscera. A puff of red in the air, as if a bag of blood had been detonated and it's contents particulated."
I'm sure I would have rated this higher if I had more familiarity with the original series and it's characters. But in any case, I enjoy a good, gory sci-fi audio drama, and this was no exception. It was well produced and engaging.
(Audio drama collection of seven stories.)
"Of course, once they reattached his face, all he ever really looked was angry."
Being completely unfamiliar with The Horus Heresy series previous to this, I was initially surprised by the jump into bloody slaughter quite quickly in the first story. While the desire for dominion was made clear as the motivator for the conflict, I hadn't yet formed an attachment to any of the characters and didn't realise we'd be diving straight into things! But after a quick adjustment to the pace and overall atmosphere, it was easy to settle in and listen while they scythed through their opposition.
". . . they engaged individual, segmented force shields . . . the shields were annoyingly effective and deflected most gunfire over a certain range. When an Adeptus Astartes bolt round did pierce them, either through a direct hit or by finding the joint between segments, the compulsory inside detonated, and his explosive demise was contained, pressurised inside the shield, like a firecracker destroying a piece of soft fruit inside a bottle. . ."
This had plenty of gore, action, conflict, and outright massacre. Definitely points awarded for the vivid, grisly descriptions of the carnage.
"Blood exploded from the yawning wounds under pressure, jetting into the morning air, hosing Aximand and the great columns of the colonnade with arterial spray. Each sword stroke made an explosion of viscera. A puff of red in the air, as if a bag of blood had been detonated and it's contents particulated."
I'm sure I would have rated this higher if I had more familiarity with the original series and it's characters. But in any case, I enjoy a good, gory sci-fi audio drama, and this was no exception. It was well produced and engaging.
(Audio drama collection of seven stories.)
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