Audio Review 28 // Garro: Legion of One by James Swallow

Look at me, I managed to continue a series for once. If you didn't see last week's review click here. Let's do a quick refresh. In story one: we joined Garro as he travelled to Calth in search of an Ultramarine, whilst searching Garro ends up assisting in a battle against the traitorous Word Bearers. This was a great intro and I am hoping the stories continue to be of this high quality. Let us dive in and see what the commercial fluff has to say.

Nathaniel Garro continues his mysterious mission in the latest Horus Heresy audio drama.

Nathaniel Garro, loyalist Death Guard, and hero of The Flight of the Eisenstein has found a new calling in his service to the Emperor. Surrounded by a cloak of secrecy, Garro travels the galaxy in pursuit of his new goal. His quest will lead him to the heart of the most destructive warzones and reveal a secret that will change the course of the Horus Heresy itself.

Legion of One was once again read and acted by Toby Longsworth and was so enthralling. We join Garro and Rubio from the first tale, Oath of Moment, travelling with Macer Varren of the World Eaters. The trio is travelling to the Istavaan system in search of another Space Marine, one who has fallen far and taken on the name Cerebrus. Throughout the story, we get to experience some of Garro's own ghosts of the past and his regrets of the Istavaan massacre. As the trio searches through the ruins of a gutted city, the trio is surprised to discover humans have somehow survived the battle and fallout. The ragtag survivors inform Garro of a Beast that hunts them at night and wishing to protect the people Garro and team go off to confront the Beast.

Comically Garro chooses to leave Varren defending the survivors (a task not suited to a World Eater), whilst he and Rubio explore the Beast's lair. Soon the pair are ambushed by the beast and in the following combat, a krak grenade is used to collapse a building upon them. Varren in a state of shock is left alone to face the creature and is only saved when a remerging Rubio drives off Cerberus with a psi-attack. With Garro recovered the trio realizes that Cerberus is the goal of their mission and though in the grip of madness it is plain to see he is still loyal to the Emperor.

Then the story takes a bit of a plot twist, the dead refugees rise as plague zombies of Nurgle each marked with a triple pox mark. With the trap sprung, Garro now understands why Cerberus was killing the refugees. Soon the Marines are outnumbered and fighting for their lives, it is only by the timely reappearance of Cerberus that they are saved. But the action doesn't end there, with the last zombie dead Cerberus turns on Garro and blades clash once more. It is during this battle that the big reveal happens but no spoilers of that, you will have to listen for yourself.

The new character Varren is really interesting, he comes across as an intelligent and likeable World Eater rather than just a blood-thirsty killer. It's like the early versions of Kharn, a warrior with noble attributes and controlled restraint. This is how I would have liked the World Eaters to have been portrayed in general, only becoming blood-thirsty once combat is joined. A claim outer shell with an inner boiling rage.

This was a great follow-up tale, well written and amazingly read/performed and it helps move along the story in an interesting way. I can't wait to get into the next story Sword of Truth soon. As always cheers for checking in and feel free to sign up to get notifications and use any of these links to support me.

Kindle Edition: Garro

Audible: Garro: Legion of One by James Swallow

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