Promethean Sun by Nick Kyme – A Book Review

Promethean Sun by Nick Kyme

In Promethean Sun, Nick Kyme takes “his” Salamanders Space Marines out for a pre-Heresy novella about their Primarch Vulkan, hostile dinosaurs and the value of compassion.

The book almost succeeds in marrying the pulp of dinosaur-fighting-Space-Marines with a moral (philosophical?) reflection on the (in-)human nature of Primarchs and Space Marines, yet somewhere, somehow, something appears to have gone off-track (for me at least).

Promethean Sun by Nick Kyme
2.5 / 5 stars      

As the Great Crusade sweeps across the galaxy, the forces of the Imperium encounter a world held in thrall by the alien eldar. While the Iron Hands of Ferrus Manus and Mortarion’s Death Guard battle against the hated xenos, it is the Salamanders who brave the deepest and most deadly jungles, encountering monstrous reptilian beasts and foul witchery along the way.

Ultimately, it falls to their primarch Vulkan himself to thwart the sinister designs of the eldar, if the Legions are to liberate this world and bring illumination to its inhabitants.

The following review will inevitably contain spoilers. You’ve been warned.

I am dead serious this time!

I will discuss the ending of this book in this review, thus there are serious spoilers!

You’ve been warned.


#1 – The Format

Promethean Sun is one of Black Library’s 128 page hardback premium novellas, a new format Black Library introduced less than a year ago with the Dark Vengeance novel.

Over the past year, I sort of warmed up to the format. Though expensive, the books are good quality. They offer a nice, quick read (especially for authors I don’t know). They can usually be sold off on eBay without loss and sometimes there are true gems, such as Yarrick: Chains of Golgotha.

Clearly, I wasn’t the only Black Library customer who kept buying these “novellas”.

For Promethean Sun, Black Library slapped on a 25% price-increase, selling the book for £15.00 instead of the £12.00 for earlier hardback novellas.

I am not sure yet if the extra 3 quid pay for the (somewhat misleading) Horus Heresy label or presage a price increase on all Black Library novellas. Only time will tell.


#2 – The Story

Though it is only a 120-something page story, there are two narrative layers to Promethean Sun.

First, the liberation of a world defended by Dinosaur-riding Eldar Exodites. Second, told through flashbacks, Vulkan’s own “youth” on Nocturne, his first fight with the dusk-wraiths (Dark Eldar) that periodically raid his home world and the meeting with his (true) father, the Emperor of Mankind.

Using dinosaurs – not dinosaur-like mega-aliens as in Flesh of Cretacia, but actual Stegosaurus, Petrodactylus, etc… – as an enemy that first crushes the Imperial Army, before facing down no less than three Space Marine Legions, Primarchs and all, seems a bit quaint.

Better not to think too hard about that one.

More importantly, and more interestingly perhaps, there is a the moral question of sorts that keeps recurring throughout the dinosaur-fights: Should the Space Marines make greater efforts to protect the native humans of the planet?

Where Vulkan’s Primarch brothers Mortarion and Ferrus Manus go at the task of “liberating” the planet with inhuman efficiency, showing little concern for the tribal human natives, Vulkan continues to arguing in favour of a more temperate approach. At one point,Vulkan even jumps in personally to shield a mother with child from an explosion.

The flashback-scenes set on Nocturne mirror this theme. First, Vulkan takes up arms against the Dark Eldar to defend women and children. Later the Emperor, after having bested Vulkan in a contest of strength and skills, convinces Vulkan to leave his home world Nocturne to join the Great Crusade, arguing above all that the Emperor has need for Vulkan because “Of all my sons, you are the most compassionate.”

Then comes the twist-ending.

As Vulkan finds towards the end, having successfully defeated the Eldar Exodites and their dinosaurs in battle, the Exodites were actually helping protect the native humans from Dark Eldar raids, the very same Dark Eldar (somewhat groan-worthy, down to the very same Wych Vulkan had let get away on Nocturne centuries earlier) that prey on Vulkan’s own home world.

Finding that the native humans, those he had protected from the more brutal warfare of Death Guard and Iron Hands, had looked to the Xenos-Eldar for protection, Vulkan orders all of them killed and the planet burned.


#3 – The Verdict

To be honest, I don’t get this book.

Sure, the ending to Promethean Sun is suitably grimdark. But that does in no way work with the oddly uplifting praise to compassion and humanity that the story keeps harping on about, especially towards the end.

He had wanted to save these people and though he could not, Vulkan had rediscovered a part of himself he thought lost. Compassion was seen as a flaw by some. Certainly, Ferrus Manus thoughts so. But an Outlander had opened Vulkan’s eyes and shown him it was his greatest strength.

How does that work?

How does a story, which ends with showing Vulkan that his earlier compassion for the humans was misguided and (by the dark logic of the 40K Imperium) extermination the prudent path teach Vulkan that compassion is his greatest strength?

There are two parts of this book I can’t for the life of me get together. The dire, grimdark twist-ending, which would be fine without the schmaltz about compassion. Or the schmaltz about compassion and Vulkan as the “most human” of Primarchs, which would be fine without a story hell-bound to prove the contrary.

I don’t get this book. Perhaps I am simply missing something crucial and you can help me out!

Z.
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Zweischneid

Zweischneid

I am Zweischneid. Wargame Addict. Hopeless painter and founder of Pins of War. I hope you enjoyed this article. Don't forget to share your favourite miniature pictures and wargaming videos at www.pinsofwar.net.
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