I don't want to hate the Space Wolves, but The Wolftime does the faction no favours. As a novel, it's got awkward pacing, a strangely anticlimactic story, and several unlikable characters. It left me disinterested in a faction that's pretty interesting on paper. I like the idea of space vikings, I like the chapter's look, and I like that they're willfully not codex compliant. As a palate cleanser, I decided to read Leman Russ: The Great Wolf of The Primarchs books from the Horus Heresy series. This is my review of Chris Wraight's book, and it contains no spoilers unless you have no knowledge of basic 40k lore.
Before the review, though, I should mention that it's not lost on me that I seem to resort to the Horus Heresy novels a lot. Whether I'm looking for reliably good fiction about Space Marines, Adeptus Mechanicus, or Imperial Knights, my main resource is frequently 30k instead of 40k, and I'm not entirely sure why. I have some theories. It could be because Horus Heresy was my first exposure to Warhammer, so it's got a nostalgia and familiarity factor. Or it might be that Horus Heresy happened earlier in the fictional universe than 40k, and there's often a tendency to look to the [fictional] past for clarity. Could be that I own more Horus Heresy than 40k lore. Or, finally, it could just be that Horus Heresy content is really really good.
Whatever the reason, I think a chapter of Space Marines might be "best" with its Primarch in tact. It's just a theory, but I have to admit that the Ultramarines are more interesting to me now that Roboute Guilliman's returned. Too soon for me to say one way or the other about the Dark Angels, but I suspect Lion El'Jonson's return is going to also have a positive lore effect on the chapter. Many of the traitor legions got to keep their Primarch (in some form, at least), so it seems like having some Primarchs on the Imperium side is not a bad idea.
But speaking of Lion El'Jonson, this book is about Leman Russ (and that's not as non-sequitor as it seems).
With just 176 pages, Leman Russ: The Great Wolf is a short book that tells just one story. I'm kidding, this is a Warhammer book, so even with just 6 chapters this book manages to tell two stories! The good news is that its cast of characters is pretty small, so the stories it does tell are focused and easy to follow. And the stories it tells aren't the stories you might think they are. There's a little twist at the end that initially confused me but that, upon further reflection, helped me understand the Space Wolves chapter.
The main story is a story-within-a-story that Leman Russ himself is telling to a young Space Wolf who's all ready to go into the galaxy and make a name for himself. The little Space Wolf is out wandering in the cold, getting some fresh air after prom night, when he comes upon Leman Russ. The little Space Wolf gushes over Leman Russ and how cool he is, and how nobody but the Emperor himself managed to beat Russ in battle. The primarch says that actually somebody else bested him in battle, and so begins chapter 2.
There's long been a rivalry between Leman Russ, the Primarch of the 6th legion Space Wolves, and Lion El'Jonson, the Primarch of the 1st legion Dark Angels. As is often the case, the attitudes of a Primarch is inherited or adopted by his legion's marines, and so there's a rivalry between the Space Wolves and the Dark Angels. (Then again, from my exposure to the Space Wolves lore so far, it seems there's a rivalry between the Space Wolves and everybody.)
Ultimately, the cental plot of this book is an argument between Leman Russ and the Lion. It's a pretty good argument, which is no small task for a Heresy author. The trouble with the rivalries between Primarchs is that it often comes across as two schoolyard children bickering, when the Primarchs are meant to be demigods. This is simultaneously the problem and the point. The point (or anyway, one of the points) is that these supposed demigods are subject to the same petty concerns as each one of us. But the problem is that when they start arguing, there's the threat that the reader loses faith that the Primarchs are meant to be demigods. This story balances it pretty well, I think. Just when you think the Lion has the upper-hand (if ever you do), he does or says something that makes you side with Leman Russ. And then Leman Russ does something Fenrisian (take that as a euphemism for "stupid") and you're back the Lion's side.
Their argument reaches its peak eventually, and it must be settled. And by that, I mean they literally come to blows. It's Primarch against Primarch, but not in the usual Horus Heresy sense. It's not loyalist against traitor, it's just a barroom brawl, but between warrior gods. It goes on for a while. It's not a great fight scene but it is a good fight scene, and what elevates it in the end is how it's resolved. Well, that and the tension you feel throughout the fight because you, as a Warhammer fan, know that neither one can lose and yet neither one can win. But then again, this story is about Leman Russ losing a fight, so maybe he does lose? But if he loses, then why does it seem that they're equally matched?
This fight is the climax of the entire book, and like so many Black Library stories this one nails the payoff better than you dare hope. It's a great scene, and you think the two Primarchs have, in their feud, mutually reached a new and possibly life-changing revelation about violence, disagreement, and ego.
And then you remember that this is a story within a story, and we cut back to the audience.
To serve the framework, and also probably to fit into established lore, the outcome of this book can't be that Leman Russ and Lion El'Jonson learn to overcome their own egos and to communicate and to respect one another. That's some cool real life stuff that ideally the reader gets, but that just doesn't fit in with the need for dramatic tension. The strained relationships between Primarchs must exist.
The characters in the book get a different lesson from the Primarch's feud. For the in-world battle brothers of the Dark Angels and the Space Wolves, Leman Russ's fight with Lion El'Jonson isn't about overcoming a rivalry. On the contrary, it's about honouring tradition. Because Leman Russ and Lion El'Jonson fought one another, so the captains of the two chapters must duel before going to battle together. It's a ritual, now. They fight, ceremonially but with the ferocity you'd expect from an Astartes, to honour their gene fathers. It's the most Space Wolves lesson you could possibly get from a story about how your dad fought the neighbour's dad until realising that fighting was pointless. The Fenrisian lesson? Fight your neighbour just like dad did.
Overall, the Space Wolves felt better to me in this book than they did in Wolftime. This book was, overall, better than Wolftime in its story and delivery, and I think if I re-read any Space Wolves fiction, this would be on the shortlist. Like most Horus Heresy books, I'd recommend this one.
All images in this post copyright Games Workshop.