Audio Drama Review: The Dark King &The Lighting Tower by McNeill and Abnett

The Dark King and The Lighting Tower are two short stories – or rather one story divided between two authors – published by Black Library as Horus Heresy audio drama in 2010. Just over an hour in length, it does an excellent job channeling key issues of the Horus Heresy into a tension-filled confrontation of the Primarchs Konrad Curze and Rogal Dorn. It is also an apt reminder that less can be more in telling the Horus Heresy.

#1 – What to expect from this audio drama

The twin-stories ‘The Dark King’ by Graham McNeill and ‘The Lighting Tower’ by Dan Abnett is, I guess, a short-story audio book by Black Library. The total running time – for both stories – is 76 minutes. It was published in 2010.

The Dark King by Graham McNeill

The acts of terror and warmongering by Konrad Curze, Primarch of the Night Lords Legion, have earned the ire of his brother primarch, Rogal Dorn. Wracked by terrible visions of the future, Curze is driven insane and attacks Dorn, setting the Night Lord on an inexorable course towards eternal damnation.

Like most Black Library products, it’s not cheap. The MP3 will cost you £8.50 and the audio cd’s on Amazon (no longer available from Black Library) currently go for £9.00.

The Lightning Tower by Dan Abnett

Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists Legion, faces a stark reality – he must tear down the magnificence of the Emperor’s Palace, a shining beacon in a galaxy of darkness, and turn it into a fortress. With the army of Horus drawing ever closer, as he blights the Palace with gunports and defence towers, Dorn must face a difficult question, ‘What are you afraid of?’

#2 – My take on the stories

The two stories – ‘The Dark King’ and ‘The Lighting Tower’ – are evidently meant to be go together. The first story, set truly before the Heresy, centers on a dispute between Konrad Curze and Rogal Dorn in the aftermath of conquering planet. The second story is set during the Heresy on Terra, as Rogal Dorn prepares the Emperor’s Palace for the coming siege and reflects upon the Heresy in a conversation with Malcador the Sigillite.

I believe I like the Graham McNeill’s ‘Dark King’ better, mainly because it has a bit more action. The Dark King starts off a bit strange, with some ponderously long descriptions and a few scene-cuts back and forth that aren’t that easy to follow as a first-time listener. But it settles into a nice story quickly.

The Dark King has just the right mixture of Curze and Dorn trading philosophical lines on how to best rule humanity in the name of the Emperor (demonstrated at an unfortunate prisoner at one point) and Primarch-fueled fighting scenes. The main action set-piece has Curze going all-out Night Haunter on a few unfortunate Imperial Fist.

Dan Abnett’s ‘The Lighting Tower’ is – technically – probably the better story. He takes the tarot-cards theme (shared by both stories) a bit further and brackets the story very fittingly with his “what do you truly fear?” motive. But it is a story solely about  Dorn’s introspection (with a bit of Sigillite help). And for that, it felt forced at times.

However, the most irritating thing about ‘The Lighting Tower’ – or both ‘The Dark King’ and ‘The Lighting Tower’ – was how effortless Graham McNeill and Dan Abnett jumped from early pre-pre-Heresy foreshadowing to “almost-Siege-of-Terra’ and back again.

Maybe I am just late to the party. Whatever the reason, these two stories really proved the point for me that the Horus Heresy would probably a better story, if it were told more economically, less bloated than series recently seems to have become.

#3 – My take on the audio presentation

I may not be the right person to judge this.

I am not really an “audio drama guy”. The main reason I even gave these a try was curiosity spawned by Black Library’s audio drama script book.

Overall, this audio drama of ‘The Dark King’ and ‘The Lighting Tower’ worked for me.

The main reason for this is that the stories are fairly short. At around 30 to 40 minutes each, they both made for nice “audio-snacks” to listen into on the road. There’s no need to schedule in ~20 hours of listening as you would with some of Black Library’s longer audio dramas such as A Thousand Sons.

And yet, neither story really felt like it was made for the audio format. Graham McNeill’s ‘The Dark King’ in particular started off a bit confusing. The quick changes of scenes, back and forth it time, would’ve worked a lot better in a written short story.

The narration by Danny Webb also felt forced. He was definitely trying a bit too hard to make it all sound epic, important and full of gravitas [The Culture kept creeping up on me listening]. I get that it is Warhammer 40K.. and Primarch’s on top.. but I don’t think I would fancy listening to Danny Webb for longer than half an hour or so.

Yet, as said above, it didn’t stop me from enjoying these two stories overall.

#4 – The verdict

Alright.

My personal quibbles with the audio-drama-format aside, this is good stuff. Two concise stories that deliver both action and Primarch philosophy. The Dark King and The Lighting Tower stand out, moreover, for throwing a light on very different phases of the Heresy and, not least, foreshadowing the Siege of Terra (how much longer?).

Pro

• Great, fun, to-the-point Warhammer 40K storytelling
• Fun “audio-drama-snacks” for those short on time

Con

• Expensive
• Narrator could be better

Still, if you’re looking to spice up your half-hour or so commute to work (or the gaming club) with a fun audio-drama, you could do a lot worse than this.

What is your opinion on The Dark King and The Lighting Tower?

Did you listen to it? Did you like it?

Share your thoughts and leave a comment!

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