I get asked a lot about Honsou, and will we ever see a novel about him. The short answer, and the one I hope is the right one, is yes. This story was a means of getting my favourite anti-hero off the surface of Calth after the carnage wreaked by the Bloodborn on Calth. The story, The Beast of Calth, showed he was still alive and the cleverness he’d use to get off that doomed world, but I felt as though I’d be cheating just to have Honsou turn up somewhere else in the galaxy without explanation of how he got out of Ultramar. Of course, sometimes it’s fun to leave those gaps and leave the readers a mystery, but this didn’t feel like one of those times. So, plotting this story out was a fun way of setting Honsou off on a new trajectory, as I don’t imagine he’ll cross paths with Uriel Ventris again. After all, he’s had his fun in the realm of the Ultramarines. Uriel kicked over his fortress, so Honsou kicked over the Ultramarines’ empire. Sure, they didn’t destroy it, but as Honsou says, they didn’t really expect to. And how many other foes have done the amount of damage they did? From Honsou’s point of view, the invasion was a success, a chance to bloody the nose of someone who bloodied his and make him suffer for that. Yes, he’s a Chaos Space Marine, but that’s not to say he’s above petty spite and revenge. As to where the story will take him next, well, I foresee a future where Honsou delivers a kick up the arse to Perturabo and galvanises him out of his bitter reveries in the Eye of Terror…