It’s no secret that Prospero Burns is probably my favorite Warhammer 40k book to date, that I have an unabashed man-crush on Dan Abnett, and that the Space Wolves are my army of choice on the tabletop. With all of that in mind, one could probably expect that I’d enjoy Battle of the Fang, the newest Space Marines Battles novel by Chris Wraight, particularly considering his Iron Company has been my favorite Empire Army novel. They’d be right of course, as I found Battle of the Fang to be the strongest entry in the Space Marine Battles series to date, both for its strong prose and characterization, but also due to the timeline in which the story takes place.
So far, the Space Marine Battles books span the entirety of the post-Heresy timeframe, with no set time period in which they fall. Consequently, Battle of the Fang enters as the earliest of the post-Heresy novels, taking place a mere 1000 years after the fall of Horus and, more specifically to this instance, the Razing of Prospero. Baited by a feint from Thousand Sons Primarch Magnus the Red, Great Wolf Harek Ironhelm is led away from Fenris, leaving the Fang, home of the Space Wolves, attended by a single great company. What ensues is the siege of Fenris by a fleet of Thousand Sons, an attempt to revenge their own home world and inflict the same amount of pain on the wolves of Russ.
Wraight’s narrative is clean and concise, but what is most impressive is the manner in which he retains much of the history Abnett created in Prospero Burns. The history and culture of the Vlka Fenryka is ably retained; in fact, Wraight’s Battle of the Fang reads much like an extension of Abnett’s previous work, down to the customs and vocabulary used by characters, both human and Astartes alike. It is this sense of depth that elevates Battle of the Fang above some of the previous entries in the Space Marines Battles series: Wraight took a brilliant template established by Dan Abnett, added his own nuances, and further developed that history.
The history of the Space Wolves is on full display in Battle of the Fang, highlighted by a nominal role by Bjorn, the Fell-Handed. As the last remnants of the XIII legion that walked with Leman Russ, Bjorn offers a great perspective when contrasted with the newer Wolves. There is a particularly poignant scene in which Bjorn laments his relegation to a Revered Fallen which gives some nice insight both on his relationship with Russ and his entombment in the Dreadnought armour.
Finally, Wraight abstractly addresses the much debated “There are no wolves on Fenris,” statement Graham McNeill introduced in A Thousand Sons. While his answers are vague, they are no less satisfying; it continues to become less ambiguous what exactly the wolves of Fenris are. Though I doubt that the Black Library will ever give us a definitive answer to that question, it’s an ambiguity I’m okay with as a reader.
Battle of the Fang is a great addition to the Black Library. It stands as the best example of what the Space Marine Battles series can be, and Chris Wraight does a superb job creating an extension to Dan Abnett’s brilliant Prospero Burns, while allowing Battles of the Fang to stand proudly on its own merit.
Highly Recommended.
