Horus Heresy anyone?

[Calibandar]

In the last few months I have been trying out the Horus Heresy novels.

Now, I was not previously familiar with Warhammer outside of basic details, because I am not interested in the tabletop gaming/hobby aspect of it.

As such I naturally dismissed the series as tie-in stuff, not worth a look.

This appears not to be the case. It is a very interesting universe that they set up, and some of the stories in it are excellent and to my mind as good as the best military sci-fi out there. It has some fantasy elements as well, but if you were going to qualify it as anything, it would be sf.

Best writers? Dan Abnett, known for many other works. Aaron Demski Bowden, possibly the best out of all of them, and Graham McNeill.

One of the things that really appeals to me is the lore. This stuff has some serious, serious depth. There are few things being published today with such an interesting and extensively laid out background. If anyone wants to know a little bit about this, I'm happy to explain.

[Ser Drizztos]

I don't think it qualifies as SF as it's not even trying to scientifically explain what's going on. In the Imperium, machinery works as if by magic, space travel happens by means of "the warp", pretty much like in standard fantasy. It's certainly a fascinating and very rich setting. I'd simply describe it as proto Grimdak Fantasy (in space).

Horus Heresy was surprisingly good considering how trashy novelizations of games and the like often are. I think I've only read the first few novels in the series (just saw that there's a whooping 32 of them, and tons more in the BL) and then set them aside for some reason. Gonna have to pick them up again at some point.

[SkynJay]

I have read a fair share of WH4K but not much from the Heresy line of novels.  Part of that for me is I have learned I am not that big a fan of reading about Space Marines (although playing on on my PS3 has provided much entertainment). 

But I have really enjoyed the most recommended books from the series; Gaunt's Ghosts, Caphiaus Cain, and Abnett's novels of the Inquisition.

Ties-ins do have some advantages that other series can't have and depth is the biggest one.  There is no need for editing word count and deciding to drop certain aspects of world building, just do another book.  I sometimes enjoy falling into a familiar world and the stuff from Warhammer beats my old fall back (Star Wars) in quality by leaps and bounds.

[Antonius Pius]

Be aware, the Horus Heresy novels are a bit of a mixed bag. They are specifically designed to give all the different legions their own backstory. Several authors are working on different books at the same time, which accounts for the prolific publishingrate. You can try anything by Aaron Dembski-Bowden or Dan Abnett without risk, Graham McNeill is a bit more iffy and some are downright bad. Vulkan Lives, Deliverance Lost and Fallen Angels were absolute rubbish IMHO. There is a lot of plumbing the rich Warhammer lore in these novels (part of why they're so successful), but some of that lore is quite silly, to say the least. So be ready for that.

For your Warhammer fix, feel free to give Gaunt's Ghosts and Ciaphas Cain a try. They're about normal humans in the grim, dark future.

[Jon AS]

I'd say 40k is woefully lacking in the science aspect of the science fiction designation. It's sort of part of the mission statement, even:

 

Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war.

The setting started essentially with the idea of "what if we took all our elves, orcs and knights and gave them guns and spaceships?". There's magic, demons, ancient artefacts of evil, there are space orks and space elves, there used to be space dwarves... it's fantasy with a sci-fi paintcoat, like Star Wars.

I don't think the setting is that deep, to be honest, it's just been around for 30 years (plus of course it drew on Warhammer that preceded it) and can draw on all that accumulated background material. It can be a lot of fun, but I don't consider it particularly thought-provoking. Everybody is a bastard and Chaos will ultimately triumph (unless the Nids eat everyone before that happens).

 

I've kind of drifted away from the Black Library output. They're terribly slow with putting out paperback versions of their more recent novels. Aaron Dembski-Bowden's Talon of Horus has been out for over a year with no paperback version in sight, and while I think he's the best writer in the BL stable, I've got too long a list of stuff I want to read to pay hardcover prices for 40k novels.

 

The Heresy series itself kind of seems to be slowing down, both in terms of publication and in terms of quality, though the latter was always very variable. Now they really seem to be milking it for all it's worth, though.

I read somewhere that when they originally launched the series, they assigned key events and certain factions to the original writing team in advance, which means that a lot of the stuff I want to read about has been (and will be) written by fairly mediocre writers (James Swallow apparently gets to write all things Blood Angels related...). ADB (for a completely random example ) wasn't part of the original group, so he basically gets to write stuff nobody laid immediate claim to. The fact that his stories are still amongst the best in the series just makes this worse.

 

Anyway, I enjoyed most of the stories by Abnett, Dembski-Bowden and to some extent McNeill, but I'm currently wary of picking up stuff from anyone else.

 

ETA: Since I'm lazy, I meant to ask: is there a list of future releases for the Heresy series? The last one I read was Unrembered Empire, which was okay-ish, but having a slightly clearer idea how much they're going to stretch the story would help keep me interested, I think.

[Calibandar]

 

 

ETA: Since I'm lazy, I meant to ask: is there a list of future releases for the Heresy series? The last one I read was Unrembered Empire, which was okay-ish, but having a slightly clearer idea how much they're going to stretch the story would help keep me interested, I think.

This list has them all. The one you read was book 27 and the last one by Abnett, it has had mixed reviews.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Horus_Heresy_(novels)

Scars by Chris Wraight is about the White Scars and that has received a lot of praise.

There are apparently a lot of duds in the range, which you would expect as well. It really seems like you have to look at who wrote it more than what legion or war its about.

After a quiet 2015, there are a couple of very good ones coming out next year by the way.

The next one is Pharos, by Guy Haley, book 33. Out before the end of this year apparently. key words: Night Lords, Ultramarines, Yellow Fists, Primarch battles.

Then next year we are very likely to get Master of Mankind by Dembski Bowden, the book everyone is looking forward to, The Crimson King by Graham McNeill, which follows Magnus the Red's story leading up to the Siege of Terra, and the sequel to Scars by Chris Wraight is also due in 2016. So a couple of big hitters in the next 12 months.

I personally really, really enjoy the wildly expensive but utterly stunning Horus Heresy editions by forgeworld, starting with this one:

http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-ES/The-Horus-Heresy-Book-One-Betrayal

I have books 1, 2 and 5 in that series. They give superb detail on the legions, the illustrations are tremendous, and the write-ups of the campaigns, while much briefer than in the novels, are sometimes better and more exhilarating.

 

 

 

 

 

[Calibandar]

I don't think it qualifies as SF as it's not even trying to scientifically explain what's going on. In the Imperium, machinery works as if by magic, space travel happens by means of "the warp", pretty much like in standard fantasy. It's certainly a fascinating and very rich setting. I'd simply describe it as proto Grimdak Fantasy (in space).

Horus Heresy was surprisingly good considering how trashy novelizations of games and the like often are. I think I've only read the first few novels in the series (just saw that there's a whooping 32 of them, and tons more in the BL) and then set them aside for some reason. Gonna have to pick them up again at some point.

Well I see it as SF in the same sense that many books are labeled SF.

It's not really that different in how unbelievable and unexplained some of the downright awesome stuff is.

I like that it has a Fantasy vibe as well, but it definitely leans a lot more towards science fiction, obviously.

 

The setting started essentially with the idea of "what if we took all our elves, orcs and knights and gave them guns and spaceships?". There's magic, demons, ancient artefacts of evil, there are space orks and space elves, there used to be space dwarves... it's fantasy with a sci-fi paintcoat, like Star Wars.

I don't think the setting is that deep, to be honest, it's just been around for 30 years (plus of course it drew on Warhammer that preceded it) and can draw on all that accumulated background material. It can be a lot of fun, but I don't consider it particularly thought-provoking. Everybody is a bastard and Chaos will ultimately triumph (unless the Nids eat everyone before that happens).

 

I've kind of drifted away from the Black Library output. They're terribly slow with putting out paperback versions of their more recent novels. Aaron Dembski-Bowden's Talon of Horus has been out for over a year with no paperback version in sight, and while I think he's the best writer in the BL stable, I've got too long a list of stuff I want to read to pay hardcover prices for 40k novels.

 

The Heresy series itself kind of seems to be slowing down, both in terms of publication and in terms of quality, though the latter was always very variable. Now they really seem to be milking it for all it's worth, though.

I read somewhere that when they originally launched the series, they assigned key events and certain factions to the original writing team in advance, which means that a lot of the stuff I want to read about has been (and will be) written by fairly mediocre writers (James Swallow apparently gets to write all things Blood Angels related...). ADB (for a completely random example ) wasn't part of the original group, so he basically gets to write stuff nobody laid immediate claim to. The fact that his stories are still amongst the best in the series just makes this worse.

 

Anyway, I enjoyed most of the stories by Abnett, Dembski-Bowden and to some extent McNeill, but I'm currently wary of picking up stuff from anyone else.

 

1) Agreed on some of the races, Orks in space, Eldar being elves with space weapons etc

2) I still think that despite such obvious stuff there is a huge amount of depth to the Imperium, its enemies, the many and varied battles, the relationships between the legions in Horus Heresy, the use of the Mechanicum and assorted legions of Knights and Titans, the relationship between the Primarchs. They do the writing of a future history better than nearly anyone else I have seen.

3) Black Library is known as extremely cynical business wise. It is known. Recently they have been doing a lot of 40 dollars Limited Edition novellas. They love doing Limited Editions and making people pay through their nose more than even normal publishers in SFF.

4) The Writers do get together once or twice a year to discuss amongst others who writes what. Some of the stuff has been decided upon early, but others not. For instance after writing Betrayer ( about the Shadow Crusade), ADB indicated that he wanted to write the book about the Emperor himself and that is what we're getting next year. So there is definitely room for new authors, as the new Guy Haley book proves ( it was originally supposed to be done by ADB). I think this process is fine really.

If there is a problem it's that Abnett's output for BL has come to a grinding halt, and McNeill has moved to Riot Games, now only writing partially for BL. After Crimson King I would not expect more books from him for a good while.

[Jon AS]

   Scars

by Chris Wraight is about the White Scars and that has received a lot of praise.

Hm, that is out in paperback. Might give it a try.

    After a quiet 2015, there are a couple of very good ones coming out next year by the way.

The next one is Pharos, by Guy Haley, book 33. Out before the end of this year apparently. key words: Night Lords, Ultramarines, Yellow Fists, Primarch battles.

Then next year we are very likely to get Master of Mankind by Dembski Bowden, the book everyone is looking forward to, The Crimson King by Graham McNeill, which follows Magnus the Red's story leading up to the Siege of Terra, and the sequel to Scars by Chris Wraight is also due in 2016. So a couple of big hitters in the next 12 months.

Not sure how you know they'll be good in advance, but that is nice to learn.

I'm rather iffy about Night Lords not written by ADB (and I'm sure you meant Imperial Fists ), and I'm not that interested in seeing Primarchs whose fate has been known for more than 20 years punching each other until one inevitably runs away to await their ultimate doom, but I'd forgotten that Master of Mankind was announced ages and ages ago. That should be good.

 

I don't feel like there's much to say about Magnus and the Sons until the Siege, but then the same is true for virtually all the legions. The Siege is the key event of the Heresy, everything hinges on that and all other things are secondary*. They've managed to wring some good stories from the spaces in between the big events, but we've also gotten crap like Nemesis or Angel Exterminatus, and even some of the big moments (as well as, for example, the entire backstory of the Dark Angels) have been fairly underwhelming.

 

I still kind of want to see the Battle of Tallarn (even by M41 still considered the biggest tank battle in human history, though I'm admittedly not sure how that turns into a compelling narrative...), Russ and Jonson teaming up on the way to Terra and the final showdown.

 

I also want to know what happens to Sevatar (guess I'll have to read Pharos for that...) and, uh, some other minor characters I can't recall at the moment.

4) The Writers do get together once or twice a year to discuss amongst others who writes what. Some of the stuff has been decided upon early, but others not. For instance after writing Betrayer ( about the Shadow Crusade), ADB indicated that he wanted to write the book about the Emperor himself and that is what we're getting next year. So there is definitely room for new authors, as the new Guy Haley book proves ( it was originally supposed to be done by ADB). I think this process is fine really.

I know that, but I assume nobody is simply going to take away an already assigned project from a writer. Not necessarily because BL are so respectful towards their employees, but presumably it'd piss off the other writers in the room. Plus, much as I'd like him to, ADB can't write every book. So the problem of a lot of the writers involved not being very good will remain.

And of course, as long as they put the words 'Horus Heresy' on the cover it'll sell reasonably well.

2) I still think that despite such obvious stuff there is a huge amount of depth to the Imperium, its enemies, the many and varied battles, the relationships between the legions in Horus Heresy, the use of the Mechanicum and assorted legions of Knights and Titans, the relationship between the Primarchs. They do the writing of a future history better than nearly anyone else I have seen.

The big thing about the Imperium is that you kind of expect them to be the nominal good guys of the setting, but they're as bad as most of the enemies they fight. There's also the pervading sense that, after the Heresy screwed everything up, this was the best humanity could hope for: a long, slow decline under a brutal theocratic police state until Chaos overwhelms the whole galaxy.

The factionalisation of the Imperium has its roots in the fact that it's providing the background for a miniature wargame: there needs to be a ready-made reason why anyone would fight anyone. Some of these clashes remain more convincing than others.

 

The other factions are more monolithic and single-minded, though there's some superficial variety thrown in for flavour (and different paint schemes, complete with proprietary Games Workshop colours!), essentially the Eldar just want to protect their own interests (they're almost never on the offensive), the Orks just want to fight everyone (but then, what do you expect from humanoid fungi bred for war?), the Tyranids just want to eat everyone etc.

 

 

The logistics, strategies and tactics in the setting run on rule-of-cool: priority number one is always to have any conflict devolve into skirmishes and battles that can be simulated through a game of 40k.

The setting is also usually stagnant, for fear of driving away customers. Of course every time they actually tried to move the story forward, be it with player input or without, it's been almost uniformly terrible. No wonder they're embracing the Heresy era to the degree they do, it's a narrative with the illusion of forward momentum that doesn't threaten the status quo of M41 at all.

 

I personally really, really enjoy the wildly expensive but utterly stunning Horus Heresy editions by forgeworld

Ah, ridiculously priced products that still find customers. GW's defining trait. You know what's fun? Digging through old issues of White Dwarf and checking the prices. This stuff was insanely expensive back then, and it's only gotten more so.

 

*The short story telling the tale of the Siege of Terra in WD161 is the text that made me realise I'd picked up enough English to read for fun. It's also responsible for the fact that, had I ever gotten around to painting my Space Marines, they'd have been Blood Angels. My pre-teen self thought Sanguinius was totally badass...

 

 

As a final word: man do I feel stupid spending this much time on a post when it's all going to be wiped away by the next database update in a few days...

[Rhom]

Sounds like I fit in with others here.  I've read the Ciaphus Cain omnibuses to great enjoyment and Abnett's Ravenor/Inquisition books.

I enjoy the setting overall and would probably read more if I didn't feel overwhemed on where to jump in.

[Jon AS]

Sounds like I fit in with others here.  I've read the Ciaphus Cain omnibuses to great enjoyment and Abnett's Ravenor/Inquisition books.

I enjoy the setting overall and would probably read more if I didn't feel overwhemed on where to jump in.

I'd suggest Aaron Dembski-Bowden's Night Lords trilogy (I was going to list the individual titles, but of course there's an omnibus edition).

 

It follows the (mis)adventures of a company/band of marines from the titular Night Lords legion (aka the guys who turned on the Imperium before it was cool). I don't want to oversell it, but there's a pretty neat thread of them trying to figure out why the hell they're even doing what they're doing throughout, while never pretending that we should actually be rooting for these guys.

Random detail alert: one thing I remember finding pretty good in the first book was the varied use of their battlecry "We have come for you" (you're not a proper legion of genetically engineered super soldiers unless you have a themed battlecry, after all). At various points it conveys the usual and expected sinister threat, triumphant defiance and even hope.

 

Other ADB books are generally a safe bet. The Heresy series is, as has been mentioned, a mixed bag. You could probably cherry pick the best, though there's also really no way around the opening trilogy, despite it already dropping off in quality pretty steeply, particularly in the third book.

If you want to take that plunge, after those first three you should get Legion (there's this meta story of a grand conspiracy operating in the background that's almost certainly going to be hugely disappointing, but this is where it starts), Mechanicum (I just love the idea of the Adeptus Mechanicus, but I honestly don't remember if the book was particularly good), A Thousand Sons (no reservations here; plus it's a key event), The First Heretic (yet another important story, more of a prequel, though), Know No Fear (kind of a big budget battle, slightly bland, but sets up the next one) and Betrayer (continues the sub-plot from KNF; gives the origin story of one of 40k's most beloved lunatic mass murderers).

Slightly questionable: Fulgrim (really, the whole "heroes falling to Chaos" part of the stories tends to be among the weaker aspects), Prospero Burns (sort of tells the other side of ATS, but it's an inferior novel and Abnett's take on the Space Wolves comes across as both trying too hard to distance them from the jolly werewolf viking image [despite that being already established in the abysmal Battle for the Abyss] and being a knock-off of the Night Lords) and The Unremembered Empire (this whole arc is going to be meaningless in the long run, feels more like it's supposed to be a "what could have been" scenario to contrast with the eventual outcome of the Heresy).

Totally avoid the aforementioned Battle for the Abyss, Nemesis, Descent of Angels and Fallen Angels. I can't quite bring myself to add Fear to Tread to that list, but it probably deserves to be on it.

 

Some of the short stories in the various collections are pretty good, but I don't remember which off the top of my head. The general rule about most BL authors not being worth your money apply, so unless a collection has something by ADB, Abnett or possibly McNeill just don't bother.

[SkynJay]

I got to searching their site and see they have finally started putting their omnibuses in e-book form.  This is a step in the right direction.  Now if they could get them on Amazon so I could directly send them to my kindle they may get some more of my money again someday.  I hate not having my books on the cloud.

[Darth Richard II]

I tried one Warhammer book once. Non 40k.. Gortrex and Felix or something? It was awful. Like mind blindingly Goodkind level awful.

[Ser Drizztos]

Prolly depends on the author. D&D novelization can range from pretty good to fucking awful too.

[Jon AS]

Yeah, the few Gotrek & Felix stories I've read were fairly inoffensive, pulpy sword & sorcery stuff. Kind of outside the scope of this thread, though.

[SkynJay]

I tried one Warhammer book once. Non 40k.. Gortrex and Felix or something? It was awful. Like mind blindingly Goodkind level awful.

Agreed.  I tried two series from the fantasy side, the other being a Witchhunter novel.  It too was horrible.  Stick to Abnett's Sci-fi man, should you choose to try again.

edit: Hey I got my post count back!

[Calibandar]

Be aware, the Horus Heresy novels are a bit of a mixed bag. They are specifically designed to give all the different legions their own backstory. Several authors are working on different books at the same time, which accounts for the prolific publishingrate. You can try anything by Aaron Dembski-Bowden or Dan Abnett without risk, Graham McNeill is a bit more iffy and some are downright bad. Vulkan Lives, Deliverance Lost and Fallen Angels were absolute rubbish IMHO. There is a lot of plumbing the rich Warhammer lore in these novels (part of why they're so successful), but some of that lore is quite silly, to say the least. So be ready for that.

.

Which of the HH novels were your favorite AP?

 

 

[Calibandar]

Hm, that is out in paperback. Might give it a try.

Not sure how you know they'll be good in advance, but that is nice to learn.

I'm rather iffy about Night Lords not written by ADB (and I'm sure you meant Imperial Fists ), and I'm not that interested in seeing Primarchs whose fate has been known for more than 20 years punching each other until one inevitably runs away to await their ultimate doom, but I'd forgotten that Master of Mankind was announced ages and ages ago. That should be good.

 

I don't feel like there's much to say about Magnus and the Sons until the Siege, but then the same is true for virtually all the legions. The Siege is the key event of the Heresy, everything hinges on that and all other things are secondary*. They've managed to wring some good stories from the spaces in between the big events, but we've also gotten crap like Nemesis or Angel Exterminatus, and even some of the big moments (as well as, for example, the entire backstory of the Dark Angels) have been fairly underwhelming.

 

I still kind of want to see the Battle of Tallarn (even by M41 still considered the biggest tank battle in human history, though I'm admittedly not sure how that turns into a compelling narrative...), Russ and Jonson teaming up on the way to Terra and the final showdown.

 

I also want to know what happens to Sevatar (guess I'll have to read Pharos for that...) and, uh, some other minor characters I can't recall at the moment.

I know that, but I assume nobody is simply going to take away an already assigned project from a writer. Not necessarily because BL are so respectful towards their employees, but presumably it'd piss off the other writers in the room. Plus, much as I'd like him to, ADB can't write every book. So the problem of a lot of the writers involved not being very good will remain.

And of course, as long as they put the words 'Horus Heresy' on the cover it'll sell reasonably well.

The big thing about the Imperium is that you kind of expect them to be the nominal good guys of the setting, but they're as bad as most of the enemies they fight. There's also the pervading sense that, after the Heresy screwed everything up, this was the best humanity could hope for: a long, slow decline under a brutal theocratic police state until Chaos overwhelms the whole galaxy.

The logistics, strategies and tactics in the setting run on rule-of-cool: priority number one is always to have any conflict devolve into skirmishes and battles that can be simulated through a game of 40k.

The setting is also usually stagnant, for fear of driving away customers. Of course every time they actually tried to move the story forward, be it with player input or without, it's been almost uniformly terrible. No wonder they're embracing the Heresy era to the degree they do, it's a narrative with the illusion of forward momentum that doesn't threaten the status quo of M41 at all.

 

Ah, ridiculously priced products that still find customers. GW's defining trait. You know what's fun? Digging through old issues of White Dwarf and checking the prices. This stuff was insanely expensive back then, and it's only gotten more so.

 

*The short story telling the tale of the Siege of Terra in WD161 is the text that made me realise I'd picked up enough English to read for fun. It's also responsible for the fact that, had I ever gotten around to painting my Space Marines, they'd have been Blood Angels. My pre-teen self thought Sanguinius was totally badass...

 

 

As a final word: man do I feel stupid spending this much time on a post when it's all going to be wiped away by the next database update in a few days...

Yes, my feeling as well on posts disappearing. I hope I can copy useful content from here in a new thread.

Ridiculous prices yes, that is GW. But some of the stuff Forge World puts out is gorgeous and I must have it. And they know fans feel that way. The Codexes, like for instance a Space Marine codex, retails for USD 45.00.

Their pricing is one of the things that shows you what their demographic is, which is partly young adults, and largely adults with jobs.

I agree with your opinion of the Imperium post-heresy and what that means for the universe. If only the Heresy hadn't happened. But considering HH is IMO the best part of the whole universe, we wouldn't have a superb storyline.

Re: Tallarn. John French released a novel on that earlier this year, specifically about that battle. However it was a limited edition and no regular hardcover or paperback has become available since. If you're eager you can get the "Tallarn Executioner" novella, also by French, on the BL website. But ideally you'd want the novel.

Re; Magnus. Well he is one of my favourite characters in HH universe. And this is McNeill telling his story after "Thousand Sons". Sign me up. The lore doesn't really tell us what happened after Propsero, leading up to Magnus suddenly being amongs the traitors during the Siege of Terra. How did that happen? This novel will presumably tell us.

As for how I know the ones that are coming will be good, they sure look good content wise.

[Antonius Pius]

Which of the HH novels were your favorite AP?

 

 

The ones I liked are A Thousand Sons (didn't really know anything about it), The First Heretic, Know No Fear, and Betrayer. Most of these concern the Word Bearers-Ultramarines conflict. And aside from A Thousans Sons all by ADB an DA.

There are also some "anthologies" of short stories/novella's like Shadows of Treachery (which I liked), Mark of Calth (OK) and The Primarchs (havent't read it). You could check the new and improved website of BL for that.

Fear to Tread and The Unrembered Empire had some good parts, Angel Exterminatus scratched my Iron Warriors itch, but it's a bit messy. And the conclusion a tad dumb.

I'd also recommend the Night Lords trilogy. Feel free to get the omnibus. Frankly, I think that's the best Space Marines book I've read.

[Jon AS]

Ridiculous prices yes, that is GW. But some of the stuff Forge World puts out is gorgeous and I must have it. And they know fans feel that way. The Codexes, like for instance a Space Marine codex, retails for USD 45.00.

Their pricing is one of the things that shows you what their demographic is, which is partly young adults, and largely adults with jobs.

The old 2nd edition codices retailed for £12 back in the day. And Abaddon has more than doubled in price, and I'm pretty sure they never even redesigned the miniature since it first came out almost 20 years ago (in other news: I feel particularly old right now).

And yeah, most of their customer base has probably grown up with the games, kind of like superhero comics. One of the reasons they're trying very hard not to change too much, I assume.

Re: Tallarn. John French released a novel on that earlier this year, specifically about that battle. However it was a limited edition and no regular hardcover or paperback has become available since. If you're eager you can get the "Tallarn Executioner" novella, also by French, on the BL website. But ideally you'd want the novel.

I assume it's going to go the same way as Scars then. I think I liked French's Imperial Fist short story, so maybe I'll check that out when it's available to sane people.

Re; Magnus. Well he is one of my favourite characters in HH universe. And this is McNeill telling his story after "Thousand Sons". Sign me up. The lore doesn't really tell us what happened after Propsero, leading up to Magnus suddenly being amongs the traitors during the Siege of Terra. How did that happen? This novel will presumably tell us.

He already accepted Tzeentch's assistance at the end of A Thousand Sons. Once embraced, you can never turn away from Chaos, so he's already on the traitor side by virtue of that decision.

I guess the quality of ATS should earn it the benefit of the doubt, but I really don't see much of interesting happening plotwise.

[Calibandar]

 

The ones I liked are A Thousand Sons (didn't really know anything about it), The First Heretic, Know No Fear, and Betrayer. Most of these concern the Word Bearers-Ultramarines conflict. And aside from A Thousans Sons all by ADB an DA.

There are also some "anthologies" of short stories/novella's like Shadows of Treachery (which I liked), Mark of Calth (OK) and The Primarchs (havent't read it). You could check the new and improved website of BL for that.

 

Fear to Tread and The Unrembered Empire had some good parts, Angel Exterminatus scratched my Iron Warriors itch, but it's a bit messy. And the conclusion a tad dumb.

 

I'd also recommend the Night Lords trilogy. Feel free to get the omnibus. Frankly, I think that's the best Space Marines book I've read.

Bought Fear to Tread, Betrayer, Know no fear, Prospero Burns, Thousand Sons last month.

Also got Fulgrim, Mechanicum, Tales of Heresy & Shadows of Treachery.

I already had Horus Rising and First Heretic. Also got the much praised Night Lords trilogy, Talon of Horus and The Emperor's Gift. And Chris Wraight's War of the Fang, which looks superb.