Bloody Books Review: Garro: Knight of Grey

So, here we are. Some 30 years after his first mention in the lore of Epic Space Marine, the final fate is revealed of Nathaniel Garro. Battle-Captain of the Death Guard 7th Company. Commander of The Eisenstein. Agent Primus of Malcador The Sigalite. First Martyr of The Imperial Faith.

It’s fitting that James Swallow dips into The Siege of Terra to round out Garro’s tale, a story he has shepherded across novels, short stories and audio dramas for nearly 15 years, and it ends the only way it ever really could. With one last confrontation between the last Dusk Walker and Nurgle’s Chosen. And gosh it’s good. A brisk read, this novella ideally should have released before Warhawk given where it takes place chronologically, and how it feeds into the showdown between Mortarion and The Khan, but equally it’s somehow fitting that after the brutality of Echoes of Eternity we take a moment before The End and The Death to tie off one last narrative thread that’s been hanging, to understand the why of Garro’s choices as he faces a fight that everyone, from his gene-father, to Typhus, to Keeler, to Garro himself know that he could never win, but that no one else could stand where he must.

And I’d be remiss in not mentioning the stirling work that Swallow does once again in providing insight into the mind of Mortarion, both prior to Istvaan and as he arrives on Terra for The Siege. His begrudging respect for Garro inspite of Callus Typhon’s (nee Typhus) arrogant dismissal “Straight-Arrow-Garro”, as well as into how Barbarus was viewed by an outsider like our titular Knight of Grey.

Overall a difficult book to contemplate recommending for a newcomer to GW fiction, but if you’ve followed either the Heresy as a whole or just Nathaniel Garro’s journey across it, this is an essential read.

-Assistant Bookenhammerer Dawfydd “Big Swingin’ D” Kelly