The Outcast Dead is the 17th book in the Horus Heresy series and it tells the story of Astropath Kai Zulane. One of only two survivors of the ship Argo which was besieged by the horrors of the warp after it’s shields failed. Wracked with guilt Kai has shut down and is unable and unwilling to use his powers. Through events beyond his control Kai becomes the keeper of a secret which could shake the imperium of man with it’s implications and effect the war effort against Arch Traitor Horus Lupercal. Soon the hapless and damaged Astropath finds himself the subject of a hunt by the Black Sentinels determined to learn the knowledge buried in his mind and unintentionally allied with the Outcast Dead a cadre of alleged traitor marines who want to take Kai to Warmaster Horus.
The Horus Heresy series first launched in 2006 with Horus Rising by Dan Abnett, telling the story of a galactic civil war (the aftermath of which is the setting for Warhammer 40,000) and has fast become one of the Black Library’s most celebrated series.
There are several criticisms which can be aimed at the series, due to it’s sprawling nature and the way that the books are mostly non-linear it’s sometimes hard to contextualise things with previously occurring events featuring in stories as the reader is given a different perspective from a different character or characters. The Outcast Dead being an example with Magnus the Red, Primarch of the Thousand Sons cataclysmic visitation to the imperial palace being a fundamental part of the story here despite it happening in book 12 A Thousand Sons (also by Graham McNeill ).
Another criticism is that the vast majority of the books mainly deal with the various chapters of the Adeptes Astartes or Space Marines despite there being other factions in the story. Although there are rare occasions when this isn’t the case and they’re definitely amongst the better offerings of the series with Mechanicum telling of the civil war on Mars and Nemesis featuring a plot by the officio assassinorum to take down Warmaster Horus Lupercal amongst others.
The Outcast Dead is definitely a success both from a character perspective but also as an impressive display of world building. In a first for the series the entire story takes place on Terra (Earth) and not in some far flung corner of the galaxy or aboard a space vessel, which to some would cause alarm, won’t basing a story on Terra be boring? The answer in a distinct no. McNeill goes into great detail explaining the world that Kai inhabits. The City of Sight, the home of the Adeptes Astropathicus is where Kai spends most of his time (Kai himself points out that whoever came up with the name was a master of irony given the vast majority of the city’s inhabitants are blind). After narrowly avoiding becoming fuel for the Astronomicon he is under the tutelege of Astropath Athena Diyos who has been charged with getting Kai back to his old self by facing his personal demons. There are numerous detailed flourishes like the indentations carved into the walls to help the newly inducted Astropaths navigate their way through the labyrinthine buildings whilst getting used to using their second sight after losing their eyes ( a side effect of the soul binding process).
As well as the City of Sight, there’s also a more in depth view of the Imperial Palace which has only been featured in the occasional reference previously. Here we learn the awe inspiring scope of the palace which is more akin to a city in it’s own right than a mere building. With one character remarking how despite flying over the palace dozens of times he always find something new to be enthralled by.
As a contrast to the marvel and splendour of the Imperial Palace, it is adjacent to the Petitioners City. A vast sprawling, crumbling network of slums built up by citizens waiting for their chance to see the Emperor, with more and more adding to the densely packed population everyday. The inhabitants having to deal with grinding misery, disease and being under the dictatorship of a brutal and sadistic gang war lord. There are several characters inhabiting the Petitioners City the main ones being Palladis Novandio a priest of a sort at the Temple of Woe and his supplicant Roxanne Castanna. The Temple of Woe is where the inhabitants of the Petitioners City bring their dead to grieve for them and also to cremate their bodies. The temple of Woe is also the resting place of the Vacant Angel an unfinished statue of a forlorn faceless angel which is the centre piece of the temple . Babu Dhakal has carved out his own territory within the Petitioners City and relies on his fearsome reputation for grizzly sadism and that of his enforcer Ghota to keep his subjects in line.
The damaged Kai being somewhat indifferent to the war raging out in the depths of space is also bitter and angry about his experiences and is definitely not a hero character and just wants to be left alone. Through no fault of his own gets embroiled in a sequence of events of mind boggling scale and consequence. Upon discovering why Kai is so bitter and withdrawn it’s hard not to feel some sympathy for the beset astropath and his journey is a credit to McNeill’s talent for character building.
One of the stand out characters is Yasu Nagasena one of the hunters for the black ships, a sort of distant future version of the samurai of Japan’s pre industrial era. Living his life via a code of honour and wielding a katana named shoujiki. Despite being charged with the capture of Kai Zulane he finds himself questioning whether it’s the right thing to do.
The Outcast Dead themselves, comprised of several Space Marines from chapters that have gone rogue and turned their back on the Emperor are interesting in the way that they are guilty purely by association and the characters we encounter bring up an interesting moral ambiguity. Cut off from contact with their primarchs due to their incarceration in a max secuirty facility they’re completely unaware of the motivations behind their chapters actions and assume that clearly their primarchs must have a sound reason for committing such unprecedented actions.
The leader of the Outcast Dead is Atharva an adept of the Thousand Sons whose intelligence and mastery of the warp is key in how he orchestrates their escape from the max security prison and is testament to his meticulous attention to detail and patience and an encounter towards the end has Atharva thanking his opponent for making him have to rely on his physical prowess rather than his psyker powers . Another interesting member of the group is Tagore a sergeant of the World Eaters chapter with the Butcher’s Nails implant which amplifies his already considerable physical might with a cocktail of powerful stimulants and painkillers. Typically the World Eaters are portrayed as unhinged, psychopathic and murderous shock troops straining to unleash carnage and bloody ruin on any unfortunate enough to be their opponent and their primarch Angron is the very definition of this made flesh. So it’s refreshing to see Tagore whilst still being brutal and impatient also has a code of honour of a sort. When at one point the idea of leaving one of the mortally wounded behind is raised it prompts a profound sense of disbelief in the World Eater , whilst he may be more than happy to rip someones spine out through their chest and revel in seeing the recognition in their fading eyes at the ruin he’s made of their body he’s also steadfastly loyal to his brother marines and vows vengeance on any that cause them harm.
The Outcast Dead definitely belongs alongside the best books in The Horus Heresy series.
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