What do you think?
Rate this book
Night Lords #Audio Drama
Throne of Lies
The Night Lords are among the most feared Chaos Space Marines in the universe. They prey on their victims from the shadows, stalking the faithful of the False Imperium in their ultimate quest to destroy the Emperor. The warband of the Exalted, travelling aboard The Covenant of Blood, are recovering from the events at Crythe Primus. But their dark crusade against the loyal Imperial forces continues, and they will leave a trail of blood and terror behind them.
30 pages, Paperback
First published August 5, 2010
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
December 11, 2019
Cool short story that bridges the gap between book one and two of the Night Lords trilogy but ultimately raises more questions than it answers. A good reminder of just how good a writer Dembski-Bowden is in either long or short format.
January 4, 2020
“You can’t fool a Space Marine… wait… what just happened?”
The opening of Throne of Lies is just delicious and really got me pumped for the rest of the story – thankfully this tie-in to Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s classic Night Lords trilogy delivers in spades. This is rather a detour from the last 3-4 audio dramas I’ve listed to – that being they were all last stand stories. Throne of Lies audio drama starts off to a strong atmospheric opening with a sequence that introduces Octivia’s (Navigator) efforts to control a turbulent transition from the warp to real space.
The story centres around a Night Lords warband, who are searching for a hololith which provides some secret information that is valuable to the Legion. I rather enjoyed the scene that involved a Callidus assassin who executed a local cultist high priest – thinking that she has succeeded with her mission prepares to leave the scene but is swiftly discovered by the Night Lords and Talos and duly subdued.
The following scene isn’t for the faint-hearted, it’s one of torture and deceit – which go hand-in-hand with the history between the Night Lords and Imperial assassins (that being a Callidus assassin killed Konrad Kurse, their Primarch and father). Talos tortures the assassin to get the information of the location of the Callidus temple he seeks to get this Hololith from. The voice acting is excellent, I rather enjoyed the female assassin’s accent who is voiced by Beth Chamber’s – though Talos is voice from the mainstay Jonathan Banks is great as well.
The final part of the audio drama is handled expertly and you almost feel a tinge of sympathy for the Night Lords and Konrad Kurze when you see what the Hololith contains – which for such dark and brutal characters is a testament to just how good ABD is at writing his characters. I would mention The First Heretic which just oozes this sentiment. Thorne of Lies is a memorial to Kurze’s death and it just seems fitting. If you haven’t read The Night Lords trilogy by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, then please give it ago… there’s a great scene that involves a boarding torpedo and a lot of chanting which has just stuck with me for years… yes Night Lords do comedy as well!
The opening of Throne of Lies is just delicious and really got me pumped for the rest of the story – thankfully this tie-in to Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s classic Night Lords trilogy delivers in spades. This is rather a detour from the last 3-4 audio dramas I’ve listed to – that being they were all last stand stories. Throne of Lies audio drama starts off to a strong atmospheric opening with a sequence that introduces Octivia’s (Navigator) efforts to control a turbulent transition from the warp to real space.
The story centres around a Night Lords warband, who are searching for a hololith which provides some secret information that is valuable to the Legion. I rather enjoyed the scene that involved a Callidus assassin who executed a local cultist high priest – thinking that she has succeeded with her mission prepares to leave the scene but is swiftly discovered by the Night Lords and Talos and duly subdued.
The following scene isn’t for the faint-hearted, it’s one of torture and deceit – which go hand-in-hand with the history between the Night Lords and Imperial assassins (that being a Callidus assassin killed Konrad Kurse, their Primarch and father). Talos tortures the assassin to get the information of the location of the Callidus temple he seeks to get this Hololith from. The voice acting is excellent, I rather enjoyed the female assassin’s accent who is voiced by Beth Chamber’s – though Talos is voice from the mainstay Jonathan Banks is great as well.
The final part of the audio drama is handled expertly and you almost feel a tinge of sympathy for the Night Lords and Konrad Kurze when you see what the Hololith contains – which for such dark and brutal characters is a testament to just how good ABD is at writing his characters. I would mention The First Heretic which just oozes this sentiment. Thorne of Lies is a memorial to Kurze’s death and it just seems fitting. If you haven’t read The Night Lords trilogy by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, then please give it ago… there’s a great scene that involves a boarding torpedo and a lot of chanting which has just stuck with me for years… yes Night Lords do comedy as well!
October 20, 2024
Another near perfect offering from ADB, only marred by unnecessary misogynistic language and disparaging terms for sex workers.
(This could never be my AuDHD, hyperfixated self) Sometimes, the adjacent and side stories for series aren't necessary or essential, and this one might not be exactly essential to the main narrative of this series, but it absolutely is central to Talos and the Night Lords as a whole, as well as being one of the most exquisite audio dramas Black Library has produced.
Talos and First Claw hunt and torture a Callidus Assassin to gain information as to the whereabouts of the recording of the assassination of their progenitor, the Night Haunter.
John Banks and Emma Gregory's performances are fantastic with Banks embuing so much emotion in ADB's wonderful words.
Anything that can make me almost tear up about an unprecedented amount of brutal torturers and murderers marching in the snow is going to get top marks in my book.
(This could never be my AuDHD, hyperfixated self) Sometimes, the adjacent and side stories for series aren't necessary or essential, and this one might not be exactly essential to the main narrative of this series, but it absolutely is central to Talos and the Night Lords as a whole, as well as being one of the most exquisite audio dramas Black Library has produced.
Talos and First Claw hunt and torture a Callidus Assassin to gain information as to the whereabouts of the recording of the assassination of their progenitor, the Night Haunter.
John Banks and Emma Gregory's performances are fantastic with Banks embuing so much emotion in ADB's wonderful words.
Anything that can make me almost tear up about an unprecedented amount of brutal torturers and murderers marching in the snow is going to get top marks in my book.
February 16, 2012
Shadowhawk reviews the second installment in the Night Lords series, an audio drama, that continues the tale of Talos and his brethren of First Claw.
“An audio drama that is just on the cusp of potential that delivers its goods in a rather roundabout way.” ~ The Founding Fields
Of all the Black Library audio dramas I have listened to in the last half year or so, there has been only one that I didn’t really like: Nick Kyme’s Fireborn which is part of his Tome of Fire series. I am quite a big fan of the novels but that audio drama just didn’t work for me, either story-wise or voice-work-wise. And so given my apprehensions after finishing Soul Hunter, the first novel of the Night Lords series, I was hesitant about Throne of Lies. It came highly-recommended of course, just like its predecessor, so I wasn’t overly optimistic about this one either at the start.
Regretfully, unlike Soul Hunter, I didn’t like Throne of Lies. And that’s a combination of things too.
The audio drama starts off well enough really as we are treated to a rather atmospheric opening with Octavia, the Tenth Company’s latest Navigator, guiding the company’s strike cruiser through some extremely turbulent warp tides and what could have been a very Cthulhu-ish warp-monster. Its a very tight and enjoyable sequence and I did rather get quick a kick out of it. The interactions between Octavia and the strike cruiser’s machine spirit as well as the actual act of guiding a vessel through the warp are very much untouched material in the larger body of Black Library fiction. Incidentally, the former of those is another good reason for why Sarah Cawkwell’s The Gildar Rift was so damn awesome. A strike cruiser’s machine spirit, whether loyalist or traitor, is a very potent being in its own right. And both John Banks as the narrator and Aaron as the writer join hands really well to deliver on it.
After that however, the audio drama goes mostly downhill. The biggest culprit here is the medium. Throne of Lies is a short-ish audio drama and unfortunately for it, the story is quite clearly part of a larger whole that has been edited and cut to make it fit the audio format.
One of my criticisms of the audio drama as a whole is why Octavia and Septimus are actually in it for? We have that fantastic opening scene by her and then that’s it because later on my interest in her character waned entirely. She didn’t have anything significant to add to the story either because her conversation with Septimus later on is pretty much echoed in a conversation between Talos and his First Claw brethren. It became redundant. They are both filler characters, commenting as outside observers into the legion and their contribution adds nothing to the whole. I would have preferred for the conversation between the two of them regarding Octavia’s headstrong and defiant attitude to be explored further. What really are the effects and where is this bullheadedness going to take her?
Another is that Beth Chambers’s voice doesn’t do anything for me at all either after, again, that fantastic opening scene. She does three different voices for the audio drama and regretfully, they all sound the same. The only way you know they are different characters is because you are told they are different characters. Contrast to John Banks’s excellent work, both for Throne of Lies and The Madness Within or any of the other voice-over artists who have performed for Black Library audio dramas. The noticeable variation in tone and pitch and style as it should be just isn’t there. Eerily, her second and third voices are pretty much exactly the same. This really dragged down the audio drama for me.
The second half of Throne of Lies is also sort of a jumble and lackluster as well. The plot involves the gathering of all the nearby warbands of the Night Lords legion and a joint-assault against an old, old enemy. But the sense of scale just isn’t there and what little there is doesn’t have any impact on me. Aaron uses both Septimus and Talos to reflect that aspect but all we get are numbers, not images. Again, this is very much down to the fact that the audio drama has clearly been edited/cut down to fit the medium as well, I would hazard to guess, a certain time limit. Another 20-30 minutes would have worked really well and most of the issues that I am addressing wouldn’t be there to begin with.
Another thing is that there was a little too much reliance by the plot on Talos’s unique gift: his visions. They were a curse borne by Konrad Curze himself and they are a curse borne by Talos as well. We had at least two instances of Talos using his visions to the benefit of the Tenth Company in Soul Hunter and it is something that has continued here. I’m all for good and interesting plot hooks but I am sorry to say that this didn’t really work for me. The repetition is what got me. It is used too conveniently in fact and it just works to further hammer in that there is a lot more backstory going on. When compared to The Madness Within or Thorn and Talon, this was a big negative for Throne of Lies.
The pacing also threw me off since there are so many differences in points of view throughout the novel, flowing endlessly between the omniscient narrator and the various characters and over a significant amount of time as well. Throne of Lies, in this respect, is more like several flash fiction stories connected together by a thiny-arcing plot that only really serves up at the end.
However, enough with the negativity and on to positive things. Such as what did I like about this audio drama?
The first of course would be that opening scene with Octavia. Masterfully written and masterfully performed by both Beth and John, although it could have been a smidge better if Beth had kept Octavia rather more aggressive than she was towards the end of the scene. Octavia is a defiant-in-the-face-of-authority character in this scene and her edge should have been sustained throughout. That said, still a damn good opening scene.
John Banks. He was magnificent voicing the Crimson Fists in Steve Lyons’s The Madness Within and he is magnificent here as well voicing the omniscient narrator and, I believe, Talos as well among others. He definitely brings the audio drama to life and it is something that I quite enjoyed. He gets that arrogance, the contempt of the characters just right.
A bit before the climax and the “big” action starts, there is a particular scene where the Night Lords all gather and find an inconvenient enemy opposing them. The, well, “subjugation” of said enemy was interesting to see because for me it highlighted the scavenger mentality of the legion and really hit that point home. Without cohesion, without a strong leader, the Night Lords are all split off into multiple warbands and they do what they have to survive and replenish their multitude of losses. This is a theme that is carried on from Soul Hunter and just as in the novel, it is an integral part of the legion post-Heresy.
The climax itself, involving Talos, the Exalted, other Night Lords and a particular hololithic recording. This was the most eerie scene in the entire audio drama. Just like the opening with Octavia, this one is poignant and very, very emotionally strong if you are familiar with the legion’s history. Of course, there is also the “end” of the climax when all the helmeted Night Lords are chanting their ages old mantra inside that empty room: “Ave Dominus Vox“. Over and over again. Repetition of certain dialogue snippets over and over in quich succession can be very useful and appropriate and it is used to great effect here. You can’t help but start chanting alongside the Night Lords. That’s how good this scene is.
And finally, there is the difference between the voices of the Night Lords when they are wearing their helmets and when they are not. It is a small subtle difference and you may even miss it on a first listen-through but it is there. Few people, whether writers of readers/listeners or voice-actors realise that that difference is there. Aaron is one of the writers who uses such small things to his advantage and combined with the work of the voice-actors, this is another positive for the audio drama.
With that said, I would rate Throne of Lies at 6/10. All the positives of the audio drama unfortunately do not outweigh the negatives for me. And this is mostly the story itself which failed for me. It could have been tighter, especially if we had had more “action” from the Night Lords themselves and a bit stronger dialogue. But it is what it is. Aaron has another audio drama coming out this year, Horus Heresy: Butcher’s Nails, which is about Primarch Angron of the World Eaters. This one should be quite interesting since it is a completely different timeline and different characters altogether.
Finally, I would recommend Throne of Lies only to people who are familiar with Aaron’s previous work for Black Library, that is, you have at least read Soul Hunter. The audio drama is not a strictly integral part of the Night Lords series but it does require you to know about events and characters from Soul Hunter. For everyone else, I leave it to you to decide if you should pick this up if you haven’t read the novel preceeding it. I wouldn’t recommend but then, your mileage may vary.
“An audio drama that is just on the cusp of potential that delivers its goods in a rather roundabout way.” ~ The Founding Fields
Of all the Black Library audio dramas I have listened to in the last half year or so, there has been only one that I didn’t really like: Nick Kyme’s Fireborn which is part of his Tome of Fire series. I am quite a big fan of the novels but that audio drama just didn’t work for me, either story-wise or voice-work-wise. And so given my apprehensions after finishing Soul Hunter, the first novel of the Night Lords series, I was hesitant about Throne of Lies. It came highly-recommended of course, just like its predecessor, so I wasn’t overly optimistic about this one either at the start.
Regretfully, unlike Soul Hunter, I didn’t like Throne of Lies. And that’s a combination of things too.
The audio drama starts off well enough really as we are treated to a rather atmospheric opening with Octavia, the Tenth Company’s latest Navigator, guiding the company’s strike cruiser through some extremely turbulent warp tides and what could have been a very Cthulhu-ish warp-monster. Its a very tight and enjoyable sequence and I did rather get quick a kick out of it. The interactions between Octavia and the strike cruiser’s machine spirit as well as the actual act of guiding a vessel through the warp are very much untouched material in the larger body of Black Library fiction. Incidentally, the former of those is another good reason for why Sarah Cawkwell’s The Gildar Rift was so damn awesome. A strike cruiser’s machine spirit, whether loyalist or traitor, is a very potent being in its own right. And both John Banks as the narrator and Aaron as the writer join hands really well to deliver on it.
After that however, the audio drama goes mostly downhill. The biggest culprit here is the medium. Throne of Lies is a short-ish audio drama and unfortunately for it, the story is quite clearly part of a larger whole that has been edited and cut to make it fit the audio format.
One of my criticisms of the audio drama as a whole is why Octavia and Septimus are actually in it for? We have that fantastic opening scene by her and then that’s it because later on my interest in her character waned entirely. She didn’t have anything significant to add to the story either because her conversation with Septimus later on is pretty much echoed in a conversation between Talos and his First Claw brethren. It became redundant. They are both filler characters, commenting as outside observers into the legion and their contribution adds nothing to the whole. I would have preferred for the conversation between the two of them regarding Octavia’s headstrong and defiant attitude to be explored further. What really are the effects and where is this bullheadedness going to take her?
Another is that Beth Chambers’s voice doesn’t do anything for me at all either after, again, that fantastic opening scene. She does three different voices for the audio drama and regretfully, they all sound the same. The only way you know they are different characters is because you are told they are different characters. Contrast to John Banks’s excellent work, both for Throne of Lies and The Madness Within or any of the other voice-over artists who have performed for Black Library audio dramas. The noticeable variation in tone and pitch and style as it should be just isn’t there. Eerily, her second and third voices are pretty much exactly the same. This really dragged down the audio drama for me.
The second half of Throne of Lies is also sort of a jumble and lackluster as well. The plot involves the gathering of all the nearby warbands of the Night Lords legion and a joint-assault against an old, old enemy. But the sense of scale just isn’t there and what little there is doesn’t have any impact on me. Aaron uses both Septimus and Talos to reflect that aspect but all we get are numbers, not images. Again, this is very much down to the fact that the audio drama has clearly been edited/cut down to fit the medium as well, I would hazard to guess, a certain time limit. Another 20-30 minutes would have worked really well and most of the issues that I am addressing wouldn’t be there to begin with.
Another thing is that there was a little too much reliance by the plot on Talos’s unique gift: his visions. They were a curse borne by Konrad Curze himself and they are a curse borne by Talos as well. We had at least two instances of Talos using his visions to the benefit of the Tenth Company in Soul Hunter and it is something that has continued here. I’m all for good and interesting plot hooks but I am sorry to say that this didn’t really work for me. The repetition is what got me. It is used too conveniently in fact and it just works to further hammer in that there is a lot more backstory going on. When compared to The Madness Within or Thorn and Talon, this was a big negative for Throne of Lies.
The pacing also threw me off since there are so many differences in points of view throughout the novel, flowing endlessly between the omniscient narrator and the various characters and over a significant amount of time as well. Throne of Lies, in this respect, is more like several flash fiction stories connected together by a thiny-arcing plot that only really serves up at the end.
However, enough with the negativity and on to positive things. Such as what did I like about this audio drama?
The first of course would be that opening scene with Octavia. Masterfully written and masterfully performed by both Beth and John, although it could have been a smidge better if Beth had kept Octavia rather more aggressive than she was towards the end of the scene. Octavia is a defiant-in-the-face-of-authority character in this scene and her edge should have been sustained throughout. That said, still a damn good opening scene.
John Banks. He was magnificent voicing the Crimson Fists in Steve Lyons’s The Madness Within and he is magnificent here as well voicing the omniscient narrator and, I believe, Talos as well among others. He definitely brings the audio drama to life and it is something that I quite enjoyed. He gets that arrogance, the contempt of the characters just right.
A bit before the climax and the “big” action starts, there is a particular scene where the Night Lords all gather and find an inconvenient enemy opposing them. The, well, “subjugation” of said enemy was interesting to see because for me it highlighted the scavenger mentality of the legion and really hit that point home. Without cohesion, without a strong leader, the Night Lords are all split off into multiple warbands and they do what they have to survive and replenish their multitude of losses. This is a theme that is carried on from Soul Hunter and just as in the novel, it is an integral part of the legion post-Heresy.
The climax itself, involving Talos, the Exalted, other Night Lords and a particular hololithic recording. This was the most eerie scene in the entire audio drama. Just like the opening with Octavia, this one is poignant and very, very emotionally strong if you are familiar with the legion’s history. Of course, there is also the “end” of the climax when all the helmeted Night Lords are chanting their ages old mantra inside that empty room: “Ave Dominus Vox“. Over and over again. Repetition of certain dialogue snippets over and over in quich succession can be very useful and appropriate and it is used to great effect here. You can’t help but start chanting alongside the Night Lords. That’s how good this scene is.
And finally, there is the difference between the voices of the Night Lords when they are wearing their helmets and when they are not. It is a small subtle difference and you may even miss it on a first listen-through but it is there. Few people, whether writers of readers/listeners or voice-actors realise that that difference is there. Aaron is one of the writers who uses such small things to his advantage and combined with the work of the voice-actors, this is another positive for the audio drama.
With that said, I would rate Throne of Lies at 6/10. All the positives of the audio drama unfortunately do not outweigh the negatives for me. And this is mostly the story itself which failed for me. It could have been tighter, especially if we had had more “action” from the Night Lords themselves and a bit stronger dialogue. But it is what it is. Aaron has another audio drama coming out this year, Horus Heresy: Butcher’s Nails, which is about Primarch Angron of the World Eaters. This one should be quite interesting since it is a completely different timeline and different characters altogether.
Finally, I would recommend Throne of Lies only to people who are familiar with Aaron’s previous work for Black Library, that is, you have at least read Soul Hunter. The audio drama is not a strictly integral part of the Night Lords series but it does require you to know about events and characters from Soul Hunter. For everyone else, I leave it to you to decide if you should pick this up if you haven’t read the novel preceeding it. I wouldn’t recommend but then, your mileage may vary.
May 10, 2026
We are back! With just 20 pages to work with Aaron had me drawn in from the first line, building atmosphere, tension and pulling me back into the story of the Night Lords, I can’t wait for Blood Reaver.
Aarons writing grips my attention like few authors can and takes me away to the world of 40k. I love our cast here and can’t wait to continue this reading journey in the next book.
Aarons writing grips my attention like few authors can and takes me away to the world of 40k. I love our cast here and can’t wait to continue this reading journey in the next book.
April 5, 2025
Another vignette~ didn’t add a lot to anything in particular but it was a good little short story, giving a little insight into motivations of the Night Lords.
January 13, 2026
good god, I mentioned daddy issues in the Soul Hunter review, but, sweet googly moogly, did I grossly underestimate how bad it could get for these sad scary boys
March 26, 2025
TALOS MY DARLING BLOOD THIRSTY VENGEFUL SPRITE. loved this story so much for it showing the night lords reverence for the primarch
August 26, 2021
Read this as a short story rather than it’s original intended audio book format, so that may have affected my enjoyment. I still enjoy the writing style of the this author and series but I just didn’t get the same enjoyment out of this one. It was good for what it was, but coming off of reading Soul Hunter which was great made this one seem a little lackluster and “meh”.
In this short story they are after a holo-recording from the Imperium’s assassins. Not a whole lot of tension or world building or character work in this one. Mainly just a straightforward story, with a little side of showing some more of the Night Lords Legion and a few of the characters from the previous book
In this short story they are after a holo-recording from the Imperium’s assassins. Not a whole lot of tension or world building or character work in this one. Mainly just a straightforward story, with a little side of showing some more of the Night Lords Legion and a few of the characters from the previous book
April 11, 2023
3.5 An atmospheric audio drama that can be listened to in one sitting and bridges the gap between Soulhunter and Blood Reaver very well. In ways I feel like this is semi-required listening as none of the events are revisited during the rest of the trilogy but are referred to.
It is not as good as Soulhunter but still very worth your time if you are as into the Night Lords as I am. An additional half star off as I found some of the distorted voices effective but difficult to understand. The rest of the sound design was very well done!
It is not as good as Soulhunter but still very worth your time if you are as into the Night Lords as I am. An additional half star off as I found some of the distorted voices effective but difficult to understand. The rest of the sound design was very well done!
April 28, 2024
-Simple entremés.-
Género. Relato.
Lo que nos cuenta. En el libro Trono de mentiras (publicación original: Throne of Lies, 2010), la nave Pacto de Sangre se desplaza por la disformidad con destino a un lugar donde unos poco Amos de la Noche están llevando a cabo una misión especial. Trabajo que transcurre entre el primer y el segundo volumen de la saga Los Amos de la Noche.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Relato.
Lo que nos cuenta. En el libro Trono de mentiras (publicación original: Throne of Lies, 2010), la nave Pacto de Sangre se desplaza por la disformidad con destino a un lugar donde unos poco Amos de la Noche están llevando a cabo una misión especial. Trabajo que transcurre entre el primer y el segundo volumen de la saga Los Amos de la Noche.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
February 10, 2019
Short and excellent. I think it fits the Night Lords that they would be hunting this last recording of their Primarch. It fits with their personality to remove all traces of any weakness on their part from the Imperium to make themselves even more an unknown force of terror. The motivation and dedication sparked by that last vision of the Night Haunter will stock with them for decades I bet.
January 21, 2023
This is a nice addition to the fan favorite Night Lords collection. The story is well paced and easy to follow. The final ten minutes have a great pay off and pave the road for many different next reads to help expand the lore and universe. The production values were great but it was difficult to understand Talos sometimes. I would have to rewind just to make out what he said at times.
December 30, 2024
I just love the short story supplement economy of 40K. This was perfect. It was a 30 min read, super vivid, and it served as a “what happens next” from Soul Hunter while tying into the Night Haunter novella (which came later so I really I should say it the other way around but who fkn reads these but me when I come back to remember what I thought about a book)
Sensational
Sensational
August 13, 2022
A book that shows some of the assassins skills but also the mentality and view of chaos from the Chaos marines side. Having not read the full Horus Heresy it was still interesting to see the warping of the minds in many forms as well as the effects on the worlds in different ways. Works as a stand alone story but also as a world building look into the Chaos Marine chapter.
February 13, 2025
Los amos de la noche brutal como siempre. Por algo es una de las legiones más interesantes de leer. Octavia y Septimius, Talos y la asesina Callidus. El asedio del templo de Callidus. Todo perfectamente escrito.
January 17, 2017
Good read. Not a perfect score this time, as it didn't grab me as much as the first short story and novel, but still good.
October 3, 2017
Good but weird short story. Read it, didn't listen to the audio book. Curze/Night Haunter is just such a weirdo that it's hard to really make sense of him.
November 27, 2022
This short gives more insight into what drives the Night Lords than the book and short story that came before. A worthwhile jaunt.
February 8, 2023
This is the best 40K story series
October 27, 2023
Quite fun.
September 23, 2024
Great as an audio book and as a short story. Nice little exploration of the characters and some deeper lore to the Night Lords. Certainly one to read if you are into this series.
October 16, 2024
fuck the assassins
March 10, 2025
3.4 stars. Enjoyable short story in the Night Lords omnibus.
February 11, 2026
Nice audio effects, but okay story.
June 23, 2026
ADB doing what he does best.
April 13, 2024
A fun little short story detailing how cunning, conniving and vicious the Night Lords can be when they really want something...
March 7, 2017
Throne of lies is a short audio drama that takes place between Soul Hunter and Blood Reaver. We get to see some of our favourite edgy bastards at play, as well as some pretty awesome places and scenes. The voice acting was fairly well done, though I think the Night Lords voices felt a little off(compared to The Long Night or The Painted Count), and the sound effects were spot on. The story was overall short and concise, but added enough to the characters and their setting that it was still immensely enjoyable. I think the Chanting was a very cool addition, but think the actual audio for it could have been MUCH better.
October 20, 2019
A confluence of skilful pros and passionate sound direction continue to make this easily the best Black Library audio drama to this day (2019)
A Masterpiece of science-fiction.
Aaron Dembski-Bowden is a Wizard; lets face it. This story is yet another master stroke from the author who made taking on trouble characters seem like a breeze. This Night Lords drama goes in conjunction with the Authors Night Lords trilogy of novels, another highly recommended read.
There is little to say about this story other than it is incredible to experience, I am pretty sure I experienced goose bumps at one point, it really is that thrilling! Dont spoil this for yourself, go get your hands on it and give it a go; you will not be disappointed.
A 5 out of 5.
A Masterpiece of science-fiction.
Aaron Dembski-Bowden is a Wizard; lets face it. This story is yet another master stroke from the author who made taking on trouble characters seem like a breeze. This Night Lords drama goes in conjunction with the Authors Night Lords trilogy of novels, another highly recommended read.
There is little to say about this story other than it is incredible to experience, I am pretty sure I experienced goose bumps at one point, it really is that thrilling! Dont spoil this for yourself, go get your hands on it and give it a go; you will not be disappointed.
A 5 out of 5.
November 30, 2021
Great audio book, voice acting in during the read was pleasant and fitting for the most part. I did notice a few times where accents changed mid sentence which I found very odd. The story was short and to the point and the progression kept pace and didn't feel rushed. My only real complaint is the ending was a very "gimme" ending. Things resolved themselves in a somewhat unsatisfactory manner which prevents me from giving the book anything more than and 3 star. However a must listen to fans of Talos and the Night Lords.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews