Prospero Burns
I hate Dan Abnett.
I hate Dan Abnett because every time I read one of his books, a little part of me wishes I could write military sci-fi as well as he does. He is without doubt, one of the most consistent and compelling mainstream sci-fi authors out there, and certainly ranks as one of my favourite authors writing today.
His new book, Prospero Burns, certainly has a lot to live up to. It comes as the fifteenth book in the ever-expanding ‘Horus Heresy’ series — a mammoth set of background novels published by Black Library detailing the events that led up to the ‘Horus Heresy’: an epic betrayal at the very heart of Games Workshop’s dark and gritty Warhammer 40,000 universe.
With the likes of James Swallow’s excellent Flight of the Eisenstein as the series’ benchmark, my first impression when starting on Prospero Burns was, I have to admit, that of disappointment. Having just finished Dan Abnett’s excellent Blood Pact I was really expecting more of the same, and then some as Abnett takes on the task of writing about my favourite of all Space Marine legions, the Space Wolves. What I got instead however, was an awful lot of initially confusing back-story about a character I wasn’t particularly interested in, and a distinct lack of Abnett’s typically awesome set-pieces.
This book definitely requires a certain amount of perseverance.
It was only as the book progressed, and the players in the story started to show their hands that all the characterisation and back-story of the first two-thirds of the novel started to pay off. Just as I was starting to question my faith in Abnett’s generally stellar story-telling, I realised that what Abnett has done with Prospero Burns is make a fair attempt at ‘raising the bar’ — an attempt at ‘trying something new’.
But has he been successful?
I’ve given this question a lot of thought and to be honest, I’m still not sure. Maybe it’s the characterisation; perhaps it’s the way he’s told the story, but for me at least, the book lacks that certain ‘something’ that makes the likes of Double Eagle, Ravenor, and the Gaunt’s Ghosts series such gems.
While I’m yet to find an example of a ‘bad’ Dan Abnett book, I can’t help but feel as if in trying to tell this particular tale in such a unique way, there has been something lost in the telling. Maybe it’s just me, but Prospero Burns is certainly not Abnett’s best.
