First published in 2014, Gav Thorpe’s Blood Angels short story Sanguis Irae acts as a companion piece to the novella Sin of Damnation, and is available either bundled with the novella or as a standalone e-short. It follows the exploits of Librarian Calistarius as, many years after the Sin of Damnation mission, he boards another space hulk and uses his powers to search for answers within the mind of a dying Blood Angel. What he finds there, amongst the fractured recollections of Sanguinius brought on by the Black Rage, shows him the grave danger he and his brothers are in.
You might assume this is another space hulk story in the same vein as Sin of Damnation, but in fact it’s something a little different. Calistarius straddles three timelines – in the ‘present’ he’s desperately trying to understand what’s at stake as his brothers increasingly come under attack, while as he unravels the damaged mind of his almost-dead battle brother he has to unpick a confused muddle of Rage-induced psychic memories of Sanguinius and recollections of frantic battles within the hulk. It’s characterful and slightly creepy, cleverly plotted to maintain the tension associated with a space hulk story, and the teasing flashes of Sanguinius’ final moments add a frisson of additional excitement to a highly satisfying story.
Click here to buy Sanguis Irae.
