The Dark Imperium trilogy is a series set during the Cicatrix Maledictum era (which, at the time of this writing, is more or less the "current" time of Warhammer 40,000). It's notable because it features Roboute Guilliman, the primarch of the Ultramarines, risen from a centuries-long coma. This is my review of the third book, Godblight by Guy Haley.
This review contains spoilers.
This is the third book of a trilogy, so it's the big finish. Frankly, it has to be big because this series has made some big promises. Nurgle is waging war on the Imperium with such diligence that Mortarion himself has pledged to kill the only [at that point in lore] living Primarch, Roboute Guilliman.
Roboute Guilliman is still around today, so we know Guilliman can't actually die in this book, but he has in turn vowed to vanquish Mortarion, the demon prince and Guilliman's own brother. Mortarion is one of my favourite Primarchs in the Horus Heresy series, and as a major general in the god Nurgle's ranks, he's kind of a big deal in the Warhammer universe. It's kind of unthinkable that he could be put to rest, and yet other Primarchs are out of the picture so why not Mortarion?
The book does deliver on its promise, and there is a definitive showdown between the two Primarchs. There's a winner, and there's a loser. And one of the Primarchs makes an inglorious exit from the Warhammer universe. At least, for now. That's not so bad, because there's a lot of characters in the Warhammer universe, and boy does this book contain a lot of them.
I think many Black Library novels assume you have a little black notebook on your mythical reading desk, where you keep track of every name you encounter and map it back to the main plot. For the life of me, even though I tend to binge read a book, I just can't keep track of two-thirds of the people in them or who's important to the plot. I'm very much of two minds about this, though, and I mean that earnestly. On the one hand, I wish there was an obvious trio of characters in each book so I could keep track of where they are in relation to the story. It's a comforting idea, like a Star Trek novel. And it's also THE WORST IDEA, like something out of Star Wars. It's trite and obvious and it disgusts me that I think I want it.
What's great about Black Library books is that there are way too many characters to keep track of. You don't know who's important, just like in real life. You like Decimus Androdinus Felix? Well, don't get too close to him because he could die in the next chapter. You don't know.
Yes, there's character bloat. There's arguably story bloat. And believe it or not, these are strengths of the genre.
The real star of the book, and arguably the trilogy, is Ku'Gath the Plaguefather. As the first favoured son of Nurgel, Ku'Gath is a feared and respected Great Unclean One, and he's got terrible self esteem. He's a miserable and insecure daemon and he tries so darned hard to do his part in Nurgle's great crusade. If you're not cheering for Ku'Gath by the start of this book, and then fervently all the way up to the end, then you may well be a daemon yourself. Sure, Ku'Gath is a disgusting, infested, daemon whose only goal is to spread disease, but you have literally never met a nicer guy. You want to hang out with him, buy him a coffee, and just listen to him. Of course, you'd die almost instantly from all his noxious fumes and toxicity, but I guess you could look him up in the afterlife?
Ku'Gath doesn't just conjure up plagues magically. He studies, he learns about them, he experiments and mixes reagents together and brews them at just the right temperature. He's an intelligent guy, a true scientist. Arguably working for the wrong side (unless you prefer bacteria to humanity) but of all the daemons I've met in Warhammer, he's definitely the most relatable. I'm team Ku'Gath.
Not enough team Ku'Gath to spend $296 on a Great Unclean One plastic model (and anyway that's technically, apparently, Rotigus) but at least team Ku'Gath in spirit.
Was this the first Warhammer trilogy I've read? It might have been. I enjoyed this trilogy, and I feel like it was especially epic even though I've certainly read a larger epic (Horus Heresy).
Maybe the limited scope of Dark Imperium is exactly why it feels epic. Horus Heresy feels less like an epic than a genre, and arguably that's what it is. It's an ongoing series, a setting that's been established in fiction and can now be explored in more books, not just one but two tabletop games (Horus Heresy and Imperialis), video games, and whatever else. Dark Imperium was one story, told over the course of three books, and then it was over. The Plaguewar started and ended, and I was there from start to finish. That's epic.
All images in this post copyright Games Workshop.