The House of Night and Chain by David Annandale, a review. A great Haunted House novel in the Warhammer 40k universe, takes some of the great tropes and twists them to their own brand of horror.

 

The House of Night and Chain by David Annandale. A review.

    
    After reading several Warhammer Horror novels, I have come to expect solid writing from each of their authors. David Annandale does not fail to meet that expectation. This book proved to be better than I had expected, using the familiar tropes of Haunted House stories and yet managing to incorporate them to fit into the Warhammer universe setting. I was so impressed that I immediately dived into another of his works, The Deacon of Wounds, which I am part way through. Being familiar with the Warhammer 40k universe and horror in general I went into the story with certain expectations. The story took turns that I did not see coming and followed a narrative that ensured you are never sure how it will play out. 

    A great Haunted House story works well as a mystery. You are drawn into the mystery of the house along with the protagonist, spiralling down with them and unable to pull yourself away. This book does that brilliantly, at least in my opinion. I couldn't put the book down, and considering I read it whilst off sick with the flu, that is quite an impressive feat. The story follows Colonel Maeson Strock as he returns to the planet Solus and takes his position as Planetary Governor. This is a man that has been broken by events of war and personal loss, he is holding himself together, but it is a tentative hold. He has been given the duty of seeking out corruption within the council, informed that the tithes from the planet have fallen below what they should be. Upon returning to Solus, and the city of Valgaast, Maeson is to take up residence in the ancestral mansion of Malveil. It is Malveil that his uncle ruled from, and Malveil where his wife resided once she took up a council seat in his stead. The place where she died whilst he continued to serve off-world. Maeson is a man wracked with guilt, both for the death of his troops and the part, he believes, he played in his wife's suicide. In many ways, he is a man on the edge, but he holds tightly to his duty, firm in his belief that he can root out this corruption. He is also attempting to reunite with his estranged children, children he hasn't seen in close to thirty years. This inner turmoil and his desire to reconnect to his family make him a compelling character, though it makes him open to the manipulations of the dark forces of Malveil.

    From the outset, the mansion begins to work on him. It attacks his certainty in his reality, showing him things that threaten to disassociate him from the present and those around him. It begins subtly at first, infiltrating his dreams as the horrors of the war work on him, digging deeper into his psyche over time. It is difficult to tell what is real and what is imagined. Maeson's ability to tell the two apart falters over time as the essence of the mansion works on his fractured mind. He often believes that his children are in the mansion seeking his protection, seeing them as young children rather than the adults they have become. Over time, Maeson sees his dead wife, following her throughout the house. She leads him to her journal in the Librarium, and he finds himself compelled to read it, convinced she is trying to communicate with him. This belief becomes his dominant thought. So consumed by it that it fractures his hold on reality. 

    Maeson's mission to seek out corruption brings him into direct opposition with the head of the council and the descendent of his family's ancient rivals, Veth Montfor. She is at the root of the corruption. She controls the other council members but is far too insulated for Maeson to make a move directly. He needs to find a way to weaken her position, and he has only a few allies to call upon. One of those is Adrianna Veiss, a friend of old, and without her, he would flounder in his attempts to bring the other council members to heel. The political situation and his duty to bring the tithes back to where they had been during his uncle's tenure, added more pressure to the new Governor. A pressure that pushes at his already fragile mind. It often seems that he is being assaulted from many different angles, and it isn't until further into the story that we discover how they are all interconnected. Nothing in this story is as simple as it first appears.

    This book is simply brilliant. It kept me hooked from the get-go, and the mystery behind the house and the family connected to it was enough to keep me reeled into it throughout.  I highly recommend this book to any fan of horror, and that goes double for those that enjoy Haunted House stories specifically. The slow decay of Maeson's grip on reality is done fantastically, the depth of his madness is only revealed to him in the closing pages. This is a story where no one comes out unscathed, where the House wins, and only a sort of stalemate is reached. It is a dark tale where the light is unable to push back the night for long.

    This book is an easy 9 out of 10 stars. It is a great read and will keep you hooked right until the end. Give this book a go, you won't be disappointed.

Yarrick: Imperial Creed by David Annandale. A review and look at one of the most famous of Warhammer 40k's character in the years before his battle at Armageddon.

 

Yarrick: Imperial Creed, a review.

    Commissar Yarrick. A legend in the universe of Warhammer 40k. The Old Man that saved Armageddon, that stood against the great Waaagh! of the second war for Armageddon. Many are the tales of his indomitable will, of his refusal to bend or break against his many foes. He is the bearer of the 'Evil Eye' that Orks fear and the man determined to bring an end to the 'Beast of Armageddon'. The Commissar in this tale is not yet that man. He has yet to face the many trials that will shape him into the figure of legend. Much of this story is told from the perspective of Yarrick as he recounts the events of his youth, the older Commissar noting his own views on his actions within the events as they unfold. It is a narrative that works well as we also switch to other characters to relay events that Yarrick did not witness firsthand. David Annandale does a great job of moving between these characters and holds the story together well overall. This was a far better story than I had been expecting.

    The prologue begins with the events surrounding the doom of Mistral. Detailing the events that will drag in Yarrick and continue to be felt many years after their initiation. It starts with a preacher of the Ecclesiarchy, a small man that preaches with little more than bitterness and resentment towards all those around him that have rubbed him the wrong way. This man falls afoul of an accident as he wanders from one hab to another. He walks a path less frequented and falls down a narrow chute, injuring himself badly on the way down. It is here that the whispers begin, and in this moment of weakness, the preacher accepts the aid of something he should have stood against. The story proper opens up with Yarrick, beginning his time as a new Commissar, having only recently completed his time amid the Schola Progenium and having earned his new position and identity. No longer does he stand with the soldiers of the Imperium, it is his place to guide them, to stand apart and usher them as the will of the Emperor dictates. Yarrick is placed with the 77th Mortisian Infantry Regiment and watches them for the first time onboard the Scythe of Terra as we are introduced to him. He stands there with his peer, Seroff, and the Lord Commissar Simeon Rasp, the older man seeking to teach the new officers as they watch the forces mustered beneath them. This story is very much centered around Yarrick coming to grip with his new role, about the lessons the events teach him, and how they will shape the man that he will eventually become. These forces have come to Mistral to put down a heretical uprising by one of the Barons of this world, though things will rapidly spiral beyond their initial intent and expectation. What starts out as something small becomes far greater and deadlier than any had anticipated, leading to death and chaos on a grand scale.

    The character work here is solid. Yarrick is an interesting enough protagonist, the young commissar shaped by the horrors that emerge upon this world, retelling the tale from his point of view. I enjoyed how the older man reflected on his previous choices with the wisdom of age and experience. His handling of Saultern, the Captain of the Third Company, highlights his own views on how to tackle his role and how he views how the Commissariat should function. The story, in general, is focused on corruption and faith, though that is something of a simplification in many regards. It is interesting to see how the elements of Chaos and Daemons are handled from the position of a Commissar. It is a unique approach that deviates greatly from that of such forces as the Space Marines. The use of the character Wangenheim is done with just the right amount of weight, his innate sense of self-worth, and his use of the Ecclesiarchy to his own ends is handled well by Annandale. The selfishness of Wangenheim and his abuse of his position of power play heavily into the overall arc of this story. Without him, it is safe to say that much of this would have played out differently. Though, how differently is open to debate. I liked the conflict between Yarrick and Inquisitor Krauss, of how they clashed on a very fundamental level whilst working, largely, to the same ends. Krauss is a very unforgiving character, bound to the rules of his position with no amount of leeway given for those that fall under his gaze. The use of a squad of the Sisters of Battle, the Adepta Sororitas, is interesting as we see how they appear to the rank and file of the Warhammer universe. The power-armored warriors of the Ecclesiarch are bound to Wangenheim through his politicking and are caught between their duty and their desire to do more. It is only as a specific kind of threat arises that they are freed from their duty to Wangenheim.

    The action within this book is done in the typical fashion of the Warhammer 40k universe. It is brutal and well written throughout, not too graphic but provides enough detail to feel the weight of these events. The scale of the battles escalates as the book unfolds, the fights carrying more weight and import to them as the depth of corruption is unveiled. The fighting, as it reaches the climax of the book, becomes more focused and detailed, as Yarrick and the others clash with a piece of the Realm of Chaos itself. Seeing how these mere mortals face off against this terror is a perspective that is both interesting and terrifying. The Realm of Chaos has always been something that has been shaped by the perspective of the author, Annandale does a great job with his descriptive work of such a fell influence. The twisting, mutating nature of this perverse Realm seeps into the 'real world, and they fight desperately to prevent it from spreading to the entirety of the planet.

    Yarrick: Imperial Creed is a solid read with some great set pieces, along with a character that is interesting with a decent amount of development throughout. I am looking forward to reading through the rest of the series, though that is tempered somewhat by the reviews of the books. Yarrick has always been a character that I have wanted to learn more about, and this is a good place to start. It lacks a certain something that would push it into being a great book but is well worth a look for those interested in the central character.

    This book is a solid, 3.5 out of 5 stars, in my opinion. Any fan of Warhammer 40k should give this book a read, though I would say there are better options out there. David Annandale is a decent author, and I've read several of his other novels over the years. I am looking forward to what other works he has yet to come out.