Bloody Books Review: Dark Imperium (by Guy Haley)

New beginnings are a daunting challenge, and to have to take the reins to move 40k into the future is an undertaking that is subject to heightened scrutiny. Dark Imperium  is a fascinating lurch into a brave new world, that both acknowledges the past of the setting both in and out of universe and sets up many a glimpse of things to come.   It is a book both brave in the nature of how it tackles the tome but also not brave enough to be a "First Book" introduction to the setting, though it does attempts to do so. 

The tale moves at a fair clip, scaling down from a galaxy wide view to a smaller, personal take on Roboute Guilliman.  We see how the tragedy of his fall plays out in the distant past and how Fulgrim affects such a fall. We see how Guilliman is the Warrior, The Lynchpin, but he already a man at odds with the Imperium he helped build. He struggles with the decisions he made and the mistakes that haunt him, but mostly he is set against the reverence in which his sons are viewed in.  He intends to break this when confronting Fulgrim, but flounders in the attempt.  

We jump forwards in time to a point not when Guilliman awakens, but deep into the Indomitus Crusade, where we see the Primarch is ground down by the universe around him. He is absolutely the man out of time, hating with a passion the religious fervour that is omnipresent around him, and we see each doubt laid bare, each misgiving. He has done the unthinkable and taken communion with his Father, the results of which have left him shattered. He hates his power and placement, but knows not what to do apart from what he has always done. He wishes to see himself as more than the tool his father see the Primarchs as.  He understands the the Emperor loves humanity as a whole but never to the individual. Guilliman has to rationalise how the Emperor's plan affected the universe, all the while the Ministorum casts a sharp light on the lies and betrayal Roboute sees around him.   

This is not just a tale of meditative contemplation however, and the combat that burns in the latter days of the 41st Millennium is on full display here. The Death Guard and Iron Warriors get some focus, with horror, grotesque vignettes and time spent between Mortarion and Typhus.

Dark Imperium is a book of incredible concepts and moments, but they hang in a whole that has a disjointed feel, but is well worth the read.