Take a photo of a barcode or cover
ratgrrrl 's review for:
Garro: Legion of One
by James Swallow
May 2024 Read using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order (https://www.heresyomnibus.com) as part of my Oath of Moment to complete the Horus Heresy series and extras - Now in Immaterium of everything outside the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project, before moving on to the last Omnibus XXI The Siege of Terra.
I'll never forget getting my hands on this when it first came out and genuinely knowing nothing about it, resulting in me having my mind absolutely blown! I've mentioned before about stories that hit initially hard, but lose a lot of interest in repetition, but I've heard this so many times over the years and I still love it.
Garro is off on another mission for the Sigillite, now no longer a Legion of One with the newly freed from the Dictate of Nikaea and former Ultramarine, Rubio, and the former World Eater Captain, Varren. The unlikely trio are head to an even more unlikely place to recruit an Astartes to Malcador's cause, Isstvan III...
I feel like I'm going to be repeating myself throughout the Garro series, but the audio drama Longworth is just giving more than audiobook Longworth and, regardless of how just like a chainsaw the chainsword effects are, I find the whole production positively charming.
The story is simple, but great with classic fakes outs and the epic reveal, but the things that really shine are how distinct and rendered each Knight Errant feels and the way their character is actually shown through their words and actions, rather than generic Space Marines with their character traits listed, as is the case sometimes, unfortunately. This shouldn't be impressive, but it is done well in such a short period of time. The other really great and heartbreaking element is [Cerberus] and his tragic monologues to his fallen comrade and the assumed persona and fractured thoughts as a result of his extreme trauma.
In both these cases the credit has to be shared between Swallow's writing and Longworth's performance. My appreciation for Swallow has grown exponentially over the course of reading the series and I've always loved Longworth, despite truly coming to appreciate Keeble as an audiobook narrator, so it's a real treat to return to these.
It's definitely bizarre this came out before the story that sees Varren join Garro, but can totally understand being too excited to not release this ASAP.
One of the all time classic Horus Heresy audio dramas.
Through the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project and my own additions, I have currently read* all 54 Horus Heresy main series novels (+1 repeat), all 25 novellas (+2 repeats), as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, all 17 Primarchs novels, 3 Characters novels, and 144 short stories/ audio dramas across the Horus Heresy (inc. 10+ repeats). Plus, 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels and 1 short story...this run, as well as writing 1 short story myself.
I couldn't be more appreciative of the phenomenal work of the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project, which has made this ridiculous endeavour all the better and has inspired me to create and collate a collection of Horus Heresy and Warhammer 40,000 documents and checklists (http://tiny.cc/im00yz). There are now too many items to list here, but there is a contents and explainer document here (http://tiny.cc/nj00yz).
*My tracking consistently proves shoddy, but I'm doing my best
***
Initial Review:
A year after pledging kimself as Knight Errant to Professor 'Malcador' Oak, Ash 'Garro' Ketchum has searched across the galaxy, far and wide, to find the very best there ever was. His travels bring him, Brok Rubio and Misty Varren, to charnel world in search of the last pokemon he will catch, a Dracovish, a fossilised dinosaur near the head of a fish fossil, going by the name of Cerberus.
The second Garro audio drama has all the hallmarks of the Heresy and everything that made the first one great, but with the addition of a complex and tragic figure whose reveal seems very obvious now, but when I first heard this upon release, my mind was absolutely blown!
All of which elevate this to a bloody brilliant listen that, like most of the audio dramas, novellas, and short stories, aren't essential to the main plots of the Horus Heresy saga, but certainly colours and contextualises some things, including a the most epic and (again, probably just for me) unexpected call back to the opening trilogy.
The production is great and Toby Longworth absolutely kills it as usual. He seems like he is having so much fun with Cerberus and I love that for him!
A solid audio drama however you slice it, but the emotional and narrative impact, especially the first time I heard this, make it so much more!
I'll never forget getting my hands on this when it first came out and genuinely knowing nothing about it, resulting in me having my mind absolutely blown! I've mentioned before about stories that hit initially hard, but lose a lot of interest in repetition, but I've heard this so many times over the years and I still love it.
Garro is off on another mission for the Sigillite, now no longer a Legion of One with the newly freed from the Dictate of Nikaea and former Ultramarine, Rubio, and the former World Eater Captain, Varren. The unlikely trio are head to an even more unlikely place to recruit an Astartes to Malcador's cause, Isstvan III...
I feel like I'm going to be repeating myself throughout the Garro series, but the audio drama Longworth is just giving more than audiobook Longworth and, regardless of how just like a chainsaw the chainsword effects are, I find the whole production positively charming.
The story is simple, but great with classic fakes outs and the epic reveal, but the things that really shine are how distinct and rendered each Knight Errant feels and the way their character is actually shown through their words and actions, rather than generic Space Marines with their character traits listed, as is the case sometimes, unfortunately. This shouldn't be impressive, but it is done well in such a short period of time. The other really great and heartbreaking element is [Cerberus] and his tragic monologues to his fallen comrade and the assumed persona and fractured thoughts as a result of his extreme trauma.
In both these cases the credit has to be shared between Swallow's writing and Longworth's performance. My appreciation for Swallow has grown exponentially over the course of reading the series and I've always loved Longworth, despite truly coming to appreciate Keeble as an audiobook narrator, so it's a real treat to return to these.
It's definitely bizarre this came out before the story that sees Varren join Garro, but can totally understand being too excited to not release this ASAP.
One of the all time classic Horus Heresy audio dramas.
Through the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project and my own additions, I have currently read* all 54 Horus Heresy main series novels (+1 repeat), all 25 novellas (+2 repeats), as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, all 17 Primarchs novels, 3 Characters novels, and 144 short stories/ audio dramas across the Horus Heresy (inc. 10+ repeats). Plus, 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels and 1 short story...this run, as well as writing 1 short story myself.
I couldn't be more appreciative of the phenomenal work of the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project, which has made this ridiculous endeavour all the better and has inspired me to create and collate a collection of Horus Heresy and Warhammer 40,000 documents and checklists (http://tiny.cc/im00yz). There are now too many items to list here, but there is a contents and explainer document here (http://tiny.cc/nj00yz).
*My tracking consistently proves shoddy, but I'm doing my best
***
Initial Review:
A year after pledging kimself as Knight Errant to Professor 'Malcador' Oak, Ash 'Garro' Ketchum has searched across the galaxy, far and wide, to find the very best there ever was. His travels bring him, Brok Rubio and Misty Varren, to charnel world in search of the last pokemon he will catch, a Dracovish, a fossilised dinosaur near the head of a fish fossil, going by the name of Cerberus.
The second Garro audio drama has all the hallmarks of the Heresy and everything that made the first one great, but with the addition of a complex and tragic figure whose reveal seems very obvious now, but when I first heard this upon release, my mind was absolutely blown!
All of which elevate this to a bloody brilliant listen that, like most of the audio dramas, novellas, and short stories, aren't essential to the main plots of the Horus Heresy saga, but certainly colours and contextualises some things, including a the most epic and (again, probably just for me) unexpected call back to the opening trilogy.
The production is great and Toby Longworth absolutely kills it as usual. He seems like he is having so much fun with Cerberus and I love that for him!
A solid audio drama however you slice it, but the emotional and narrative impact, especially the first time I heard this, make it so much more!