The Sigillite – A Horus Heresy Audio Drama Review

Oh Black Library and their Horus Heresy! I’ve been reading a good number of Black Library books recently and I enjoyed the majority of them. Yet every time I try to get back into their Horus Heresy series – nominally their flagship line – I can’t help but feel trolled by them. The Sigillite is a perfect example for that: an incredibly shallow and jaded product that sells on the catchwords of the title and “Horus Heresy” label alone, but offering absolutely no substance or value to the reader.

THE STORY

The galaxy is divided, but while his armies prepare for battle the Emperor himself remains curiously absent. In his place stands Malcador – legendary Sigillite, First Lord of Terra and regent to the throne – now arguably the single most powerful man in the Imperium. Army officer Khalid Hassan reports back to the Palace after a disastrous secret mission into the wastelands of Gyptus, but soon learns an awful truth about the destiny of mankind. Where do Malcador’s true loyalties lie?

#1 – The Format

The Sigillite costs GBP 10,- off Black Library (or GBP 8,- off Amazon), only 2/3rd of the cost of the Bloodspire/Deathwolf Audio Drama.  As with books, Black Library runs several different formats.

However, while the latter comes in a fully styled cardboard folder full of artwork and a second CD with the scripts as pdf, wallpapers and other bonus material, The Sigillite is just a bare-bones basic CD in an early 1990s-style plastic box (see pic above). Both run slightly over an hour.

Paying less is always nice, though 10 quid is still expensive. I enjoyed having the scripts for Bloodspire and Deathwolf, though they probably aren’t worth an extra 5 quid.

Both formats are expensive, so it’s hard to make a definite call.

The speakers and the audio production itself are again top-notch.

#2 – Managing Expectations

Managing expectations is obviously a big part of approaching a title like this. Despite the cover art, I never really thought they’d spoil much about the lost Space Marines legions (they certainly don’t).

Still, Malcador the Sigillite IS a central figure in the Horus Heresy cosmology, even if he occupies a less visible role than .. say .. the Primarchs. I was expecting an audio drama dedicated to this figure to move the Horus Heresy plot forward at least a tiny little bit.

It didn’t even do that.

#3 – The Sigillite – The (Lack of a) Story

The story is simple enough. Khalid Hassan, a clandestine operations officer of the Guard, is sitting in an antechamber waiting to meet with Malcador. After much foreboding he meets with Malcador, who takes him for a stroll through the lower dungeons of the Imperial Palace (complete with lots of mysterious insinuations and hinting).

At the end, Malcador asks Khalid Hassan if he’d be willing to work for him, as he’s in need of “men and women with special talents” to preserve his life’s work. The Captain dutifully accepts.

That’s it. They might have called it “The Job Interview – A Horus Heresy Audio Drama” instead.

#4- Complaints and Spoilers

Of course, the whole “story” is just a vehicle for Malcador to vex ominously about the Emperor, Primarchs and other developments in the Horus Heresy.

• As was to be expected, Malcador briefly stops at a pillar inscribed with 20 roman numerals (and 2 etched out) to appear “briefly lost in thought”.
• He refers to conversations with the Emperor himself in a casual and familiar manner that is – of course – deeply unsettling to the Guard Captain.
• Every so often, Malcador adds a sentence such as “If I could’ve saved one of them, it would have been Lorgar” or “It is Magnus I am most disappointed with“.
• Etc..

I am not sure if I read too much Horus Heresy or not enough Horus Heresy.

There was a time, when hints and references like the ones found in the Sigillite felt important… as if something were to come of them.

Not anymore. To me, they have all the quality of Horoscopes in the Sunday Newspaper.

If you want them to mean something, they will. Yet the way Black Library adds them to their story doesn’t seem “planned” anymore, but simply a scatter-gun approach of throwing in names, hints and veiled meanings to create an illusion of depth and interconnectedness.

Even the “job” Khalid Hassan is interviewed for – presumably the Inquisition – isn’t named. He might as well start working as Malcador’s personal butler for all the reader listener is told.

That, in the end, makes me feel “robbed”. To “enjoy” this Audio Drama, you are expected to bring all that background knowledge of the Heresy, the Primarchs, etc.. with you. Only than will you be able to place the references. Yet if you do, you’re not rewarded with anything. The Sigillite is simply adding more mysterious hints to the pile, without moving any of them forward, resolving anything.

Hell, The Sigillite doesn’t even tell a compelling, self-contained story of its own underneath all those references.

Ultimately, the Sigillite has all the substance of those anemic “release teasers” Games Workshop puts on YouTube (I am sure the Tau one will be up soon). Everybody watching them knows what’s coming (because the pic’s have usually leaked), but the teaser itself is uniquely uninformative.

I was expecting more than that.

Z.