Now Peals Midnight (Heralds of the Siege)

I'm re-reading the Horus Heresy, and this is my review of Heralds of the Siege , book 52 in the series. Heralds of the Siege is an anthology, consisting of several short stories, and I'm going to review each one. Now Peals Midnight is the fourteenth short story in the book, written by John French.

Of all the very good short stories in this book, this one is probably my personal favourite. It's neither story nor historical documentation. It's an impression. More accurately, it's lots of impressions. That makes it particularly unfocused, and if you try to force this to act as a chapter in the story arc of Heralds of the Siege, then it won't work. This chapter is that momentary flutter of the stillness just before anxiety sinks in, but it's stretched across several pages. It lets you linger on that feeling, meditating and pondering it.

The feeling, in this case, is the acceptance that everything's about to change. Forever.

Throughout the Horus Heresy series, the characters in the books have believed that was an end to Great Crusade. Even when civil war breaks out among the Space Marine legions, it's assumed that once that setback gets resolved, the Great Crusade will continue, and all humans throughout the entire Galaxy will unite. In this story, though, that illusion is finally, finally, truly shattered.

We don't see that exact realisation, but we do see the acceptance that Horus is going to reach Terra through many many different viewpoints. That's the genius of this story. It's like Richard Linklater's Slackers of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The narrative switches from one person to the next, giving us a glimpse of how their lives have changed in preparation of invasion, and the realisation that this is their new reality. They don't know exactly what that reality is, yet, but they can tell it's different than before and that, most importantly, it's probably not going back to the way it was ever again.

There are lots of good "scenes" in Now Peals Midnight, but the one that consistently pops back into my memory is the woman and her elderly father. They've been drafted into the Astra Militarum because "they were able to walk". They cling to the ammunition they've been issued, because they've been told that there would be random inspections and anyone who's lost their ammunition would be shot. Her father thinks it's a drill, that soon they'd be sent home again after the cost of housing and feeding everyone had been too burdensome. She knows better.

There are lots of small stories like that that in this short story. They're all beautifully written, with characters you instantly befriend. Everyone has a kind of empathetic compassion in these hours leading up to midnight, so the text paints an almost beatific picture of impending tragedy. Everybody in this story takes on the role of a martyr in a religious mural, and while you read their stories you feel a hypnotic peace of martyrdom.

Now Peals Midnight is a moving story. It's probably not for everyone. I can imagine that its lack of focus and inconsequential non-story probably doesn't make for great reading if you're looking for a story about space marines gearing up for the next big battle. I find it vaguely experimental in its expression of tranquil dread, and while it may seem like just another historical document to some readers, it's the story out of the entire book that contains the most story for me.