This is less of a review than a bunch of thoughts and reactions I had while reading the rather good Horus Heresy story.

Cool stalegtite fortress on a ridiculously deadly planet or moon, but it could have been described with more epicness and character, while still in keeping with the pre-heresy Iron Warriors mien. The sheer ridiculousness of it and its location making it such a ludicrous target is gloriously Warhammer.

When the lake of raw promethium it hangs precariously over was mentioned, which is so perfectly incredulous, I knew I recognised this as one of the stories originally contained in Age of Darkness, the 16th Horus Heresy book and its second short story collection. This story being included in the Lupercal's War collection is even more bizarre, being that it's not an audio drama or not readily available story, especially as there is an audiobook for Age of Darkness.

Space Marines being total bitches to each other is always so amusing to me, especially when written and performed with the tone of amateur Shakespeareans with mouths full of scenery. Speaking of scenery, stealth dreadnought hastily painted black is hilarious. This is not the only time Astartes use blending in with sculptures to get the drop on people. I'm pretty sure it's Little Horus who does it in another short story.

The Imperium is a fascist nightmare, but I really do have a soft spot for the orphaned loyalists from the traitor legions.

The overview of the large battle is described nicely, evoking 300 and Blade Runner's Tears in the rain, and makes me think this short story would have actually been a great novel with more time with the loyalist and traitor Iron Warriors, seeing what actually went down to bring shame on the Warsmith, and the immediate horrors of siege. Narratives and vignettes from these conflicts have been effective from Galaxy in Flames to Know No Fear, Betrayer and beyond. It could even show more of Perturabo, foreshadowing and building to the events of Angel Exterminatus.

The action is rather exciting and bloody, particularly with Sanders' brutal descriptions of violence elevated by the kinetic narration of Armstrong. As a Horus Heresy/ Black Library staple and one of their finest, Armstrong adds weight and vitality to any story they narrate.

Description of the dreadnought exhuming himself wonderfully disgusting with glorious body horror and confronting the reader with just how nightmarish dreadnoughts are. However "wrinkled and pruned" is redundant, but "womb tomb" is either the best of the worst phrase I've ever read.

The overwrought bookend speeches performed with a seriously hoarse voice in the audiobook were a bit too epic intensity for the quality of the writing.

Ultimately, tragedy, entertaining violence, a sliver of doomed hope, fellowship, and perfidy (and satire, but sadly no one seems to care about that anymore) are the heart of Warhammer 40K and the Horus Heresy, and The Iron Within has all of these elements in varying degrees. It's not in the absolute top tier of tales, but it towers over a lot of stories as a space marine does over a mortal. ( )