Valdor: Birth of the Imperium (Horus Heresy)

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Our meeting, that day, was required due to certain disagreements over the correct course of action at that stage. The Sigillite had been involved closely with the Emperor’s labours, and advocated a radical course, or so it seemed to me at any rate. The Lord Malcador had, and has, great faith in genecraft. Our only failing, he argued then, was that we had not gone as far as we might have done. What is detailed though is a magnificent introduction of our Space Marines in perhaps first full defense of what will become Imperial Palace. one of the High Lords of Terra, the Grand Provost Marshal of the Arbites by the name of Kawandire, is secretly inspecting Mt. Ararat and has her suspicions confirmed. There was a massacre and coverup here Her privilege is on display once again, having lived in such comfort that the difficulty of transporting resources to this location has not occurred to her, as she is too wealthy to be affected by the consequences.

And again we see that exposure to Chaos has lasting effects. Some of the most commonly mentioned are lingering tastes and smells, and Custodes are not immune.With a small cast, and a short length, Chris manages to create enough scenes and moments to make the main outline of the story stay long enough, while still sustaining it in an entertaining way and developing the characters. The deeper we went, the more horror we witnessed. It was far worse than Maulland Sen, for this was in a place we had carved out ourselves. It was deemed safe, as secure as any mortal power could make. That was another lesson for us – there are no safe places. I had thought my intent was obvious. We were labouring to eliminate genetic instability. Had it succeeded, we would have created subjects with far greater control over their powers. They would have been the ones to whom the tasks of leadership could be delegated. There will be greater battlefields ahead, once this world is fully secured. Thousands of them. Pre-Crusade: Valdor stands “alone” in front of an Army (including some of the last Thunder Warriors) bent on overthrowing the nascent Imperium in Terra.

Valdor and Malcador are aware of Chaos in a very broad sense. I'm not sure if the rest of the Custodians are. To read about the remnants of mercenaries and Thunder Warriors marching to the Palace, gullibility of the good-intended people [in that eternal attempt to save the Republic, although Republic was never to be], Valdor's thoughts on the new (at the time) war-gear of the Custodes and need for such symbols, recalling how in beginning they fought with what was then standard field equipment, subterfuge of people with manias of grandeur (although they might have a reason for it mind you, since they were maybe second only to the Emperor in their fields) and finally emergence of the new Legions on the battlefield........

Despite Valdor's repeated mention of supernatural opposition, which again, Kandawire does not believe in at all, she does not interrupt him to ask for clarification or elaboration, likely because he is in the middle of confessing to presumably illegal action. Though the Primarchs are thought lost after the Scattering, we have seen firsthand that work continues on the Astartes. Valdor has likely continued to protest this, but the Emperor has not been moved. As her aircraft lands at the Tower, she is greeted by a party of Tower Serfs, aristocratic in appearance and bearing (she finds it hard not to hate them). They escort her to her meeting. The room is cavernous, with no decoration whatsoever, apart from enormous windows designed to look like huge arrow slits. There are two chairs facing each other. One is human proportioned. The other is huge, and its occupant is Valdor. He tells her to sit, and she obeys "before she knows what she is doing." After reading this I got the chills. I can’t imagine a better way to write in the the first appearance of the Astartes .

In the end, though, the worst did not transpire. The Emperor’s project was not entirely lost. All that we had learned over those long centuries of recovery did not disappear, though the body of it was gravely damaged. I carried vials from the flames myself, feeling the pulse of life within them through my gauntlets. Valdor makes explicit reference to the Emperor's psychic power here. At no point in the novel thus far has any other character mentioned it at all, or shown any awareness of the existence Psykers. I can just picture all the helm lenses igniting and the appearance of 20,000 glowing lights in the fog. Like spirits conjured out of nowhere, spelling your ultimate doom. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Emperor felt the collective “Aw shit” that emanated through every member of that army at the same time. Samonas and Valdor banter about the necessity and utility of the Emperor's decision to build his citadel in the Himalayan mountains. Both agree that it is "a ludicrous place for a city." Samonas wonders if Custodians are capable of sustained disagreement with the Emperor. Now down to the actual book itself. Do not think this book will be filled with epic lore filled conversations between the big 3. Both the sigilite and the emperor make some tantalising yet all too brief appearances, their conversations with our man are very interesting but this book is about Valdor and his legion. My guess is that the author didn't want anything to over shadow our main protagonist, so this is very much a story of Valdor and an insight into his and the early custodians own role in the creation of the empire, and to that the book does it very well indeed.Roboute Guilliman: Lord of Ultramar • Leman Russ: The Great Wolf • Magnus the Red: Master of Prospero • Perturabo: The Hammer of Olympia • Lorgar: Bearer of the Word • Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix • Ferrus Manus: Gorgon of Medusa • Grandfather's Gift • Perturabo: Stone and Iron • Malcador: First Lord of the Imperium • Konrad Curze: A Lesson in Darkness • Jaghatai Khan: Warhawk of Chogoris • Vulkan: Lord of Drakes • Sons of the Emperor • Corax: Lord of Shadows • Angron: Slave of Nuceria • Scions of the Emperor • Konrad Curze: The Night Haunter • Ghost of Nuceria • The Passing of Angels • The Abyssal Edge • Mercy of the Dragon • Lion El'Jonson: Lord of the First • Illyrium • The Revelation of the Word • Morningstar • Will of the Legion • Embers of Extinction • Alpharius: Head of the Hydra • Blood of the Emperor • Loyal Sons • Mortarion: The Pale King • Rogal Dorn: The Emperor's Crusader • Sanguinius: The Great Angel • Heirs of The Emperor

Valdor is consistently characterized as believing in the Emperor's original mission of an Imperium for baseline humans, and here we see that he believes in the spirit of civic governance and civilian oversight of the military. But ultimately, he will still kill you if you threaten the Emperor's design.The civilian governmental apparatus has been moved here only recently, as we learned early on in the novel, but here we learn that Himalazia was the original heart of the Emperor's domain.