Ashes of Prospero Book review spoiler free...ish

 

Ashes of Prospero by Gav Thorpe.

Prospero was home to the Thousand Sons, the place where Magnus the Red finally landed after the Primarchs were scattered across the galaxy. Its capital, Tizca, was a glittering city built on learning, packed with knowledge the legion had gathered during the Great Crusade. But not everything in Tizca was as bright as its spires suggested. Hidden beneath one of its great temples was a secret Webway Gate leading into the twisting paths beyond realspace. When the Space Wolves came to burn Prospero, a Thousand Sons psyker named Izzakar Orr fled into the Webway with warriors of the Wolves’ 13th Great Company close behind. He didn’t make it out. His death left his spirit trapped inside those impossible tunnels, along with the Wolves who pursued him.

On the ice world of Fenris Magnus the Red, in his daemonic form, has re-entered the materium and his first blow against the Imperium landed at Fenris, looking to avenge the destruction of Prospero. After a hard-fought defense, the Wolves prevailed, but the damage to Fenris and its people was severe. Once the Daemon Primarch had been repulsed and his minions of change banished, the Wolves had to try to repair the damage left in their wake. Now the Wolves are spread thin, dealing with a multitude of threats, and these threats just keep pressing in on them. Njal the Stormcaller has been on a spirit journey to try to find a clue to the path for the Wolves to thrive, but this leaves him with his defenses lower than they ever have been, and because of this, the events in this novel become possible.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters are surprisingly well developed, even Njal, who already has a ton of established lore behind him, gets some meaningful growth. But the standout for me was Lukas the Trickster. He’s basically the Loki of the Space Wolves: all mischief, chaos, and charm. The way he’s written makes him feel genuinely alive on the page. And the fact that he’s someone who constantly tests the patience of his own pack, while the Wolves themselves sit on the fringes of the wider Imperium, just highlights how much his brothers still value him, even with his antics usually frustrating all involved. The desperation the Great Wolf shows in trying to find some kind of support in the current troubles assailing the chapter brings a completely new character trait to the forefront for Grimnar, which was very intriguing.

The plot takes a little while to really get moving, but once it does, it keeps a solid pace and turns into a genuinely great read. One thing this novel makes absolutely clear is that if you thought Fenris was a terrible holiday destination before Magnus attacked, it’s even worse now. The climate, the wildlife, the weather, everything has shifted, and not in a good way. So many places where the veil between the warp and the materium has thinned that there’s real doubt about whether the Ice Clans can keep supplying the chapter with new Aspirants any time soon. That kind of disruption could become a serious problem for the Wolves going forward.