Some time ago I decided to start collecting the audio books produced by the Black Library, seeing as I needed something new on my MP3 player besides the same old songs I’ve heard for ages now. I mean, you can only listen to “our” song so many times before it becomes an annoying background noise. So why not a few spoken books or whatever they are called? I’m glad Black Library started this range, as now we can enjoy a good story of bloodshed and violence while doing other things, such as painting, pretending to listen to spouses or perform dangerous manual labour that requires your complete attention.
While the medium is still an untapped spring for the Black Library they have already produced some excellent pieces. Perhaps a bit too noticeable when comparing the audio books they have produced one can notice that there is a nice and steady progression in quality and style. While the first dual audio book (the Dark King and Lightning Tower) featured mostly Dawn of War music and sound effects, they have since then added in their own audio and effects, though don’t look so surprised if you hear that familiar bolter rattling in the background.
Overall, their audio book range caters to the sci-fi crowd for the most part, with most of their stories mostly being about Space Marines with the exception of one. Here we have our first non-Loyalist Space Marine themed story written by super writer and New York Times Bestseller Aaron Dembski-Bowden, upping the ante for future audio book releases. This is by far one of the best of the entire range. It oozes with great atmosphere, style and setting. From the growling heavy booming voices of the Night Lords to the crackling vox transmissions between the ships, it makes good use of sound effects to give the story that extra bit of “oomph!” to make it great.
The voice cast also deserves kudos for great work. Beth Chalmers, who was the companion of the seventh Doctor and has featured in many BBC productions voices the female cast members: Octavia the Navigator, the Huntress and M’Shen, the assassin who killed Konrad Kurze. John Banks, who has a extensive theatre background and television work, does the narration and all male cast members, giving especially the Astartes a deep, scary voice that befits these power armoured giants. Both deliver their lines and narration well enough, this isn’t just someone reading from the pages of a book, but putting actual feeling into it. So no bad stuff here either.
The story is of course the most important part of this all. Nice effects are nice, but are nothing but padding for the bigger picture. The story itself takes place after the end of Soul Hunter, with Octavia still struggling to learn how to navigate the traitor vessel through the Warp while Talos and the First Talon are on the hunt for an assassin of the Callidus temple, who has information tied to the dark past of the Night Lords Legion itself, going back all the way to the end of the Horus Heresy and the slaying of Konrad Kurze, the Night Lords Primarch. Without giving away too much this short story does add some nice padding to the Night Lords series and gives some nice background on the Legion itself. The ending is quite surprising and well done, adding another interesting layer to the traitor Legion itself, which is quickly distancing itself from the established fluff and turning into something far more interesting.
Ave Dominus Nox!
Verdict: Is it worth getting? Yes. If you are a fan of the Night Lords series written by AD-B, a fan of the Traitor Legions or just a fan of the background as a whole, this is worth picking up. It is a bit low on action, but more than makes up for it with story, setting and atmosphere.
Score:
out of five Night Lords that have come for you! 
