Review: Garro – Sword of Truth / Author: James Swallow / Publisher: Black Library / Release Date: Out Now

The Garro series is an interesting part of the Black Library’s Horus Heresy line; set apart from the intergalactic civil war in which the core series of novels are set, the Garro stories explore the silent world of espionage, treachery and paranoia that inevitably occurs when brother fights brother.

Actor Toby Longworth reprises his role as the titular Nathaniel Garro for Sword of Truth, and it’s clear that Toby relishes the role, lending a gritty and gruff vibe to the character. Garro is Knight Errant; the man who did not rebel when all his friends did, and stayed on the side of the angels. Bitter and duty bound, he’s quickly becoming one of the iconic heroes of the Horus Heresy. Longworth is no stranger to playing gruff superheroes; he also plays Judge Dredd in other audio dramas.

The plot is a nice mix of war-time paranoia and classic sci-fi drama. A ship filled with refugees has arrived at the edge of Earth’s solar system, and it’s up to the grey armoured Garro to find out if the ship is filled with genuine escapees, or if it’s an enemy trick. This is an extra long drama, running a little over two-hours, and this has allowed the author to come up with multiple twists and turns, which is the sort of thing you’d expect from a tale like this. One of the features of the Garro character is that no one who is on his side ever seems to trust him. Though this is a nice motif for the hero, (and reinforces his ‘Knight Errant/Ronin’ vibe) it is starting to become a bit formulaic. Maybe he just has one of those voices.

Like all of the Black Library’s audio dramas, it is extremely well produced, immersive and cleverly staged. It is very much more of the same, however, so those looking for the next new thing will be disappointed. Sword of Truth is a reasonable jumping on point for people looking to get into Black Library audios, and a very entertaining one at that.