After thousands of years of expansion and conquest, the human Imperium is at its height. His dream for humanity accomplished, the Emperor hands over the reins of power to his Warmaster, Horus, and heads back to Terra. But is Horus strong enough to control his fellow commanders and continue the Emperor’s grand design, or will such incredible power corrupt him? Read it because It all begins here. …
It all begins here. Witness Horus the hero, humanity’s greatest champion and the Emperor’s favoured son, before it all goes horribly, tragically wrong…
The eBook edition includes integrated illustrations of characters and events from the story, and an afterword that places the story in context within the series.
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If you haven’t read the Horus Heresy series put out by The Black Library…. You’re missing out. Some of the best world building in science fiction/fantasy, and a big favorite of mine. Highly recommended.
This book is a great example of combat fiction, opening a large series in the vast world of Warhammer.
The review will present an assessment of various aspects of the book on a scale of one to five. I also use the rating 6 as extremely high.
Plot. Rating 5
Despite its small size, ‘Horus Rising’ has a rather branched plot, filled with various events, both military and peaceful. There are, of course, more military events, but the book is quite diverse and may appeal to many readers.
The book is the first introduction for readers to this stunning universe. Its responsibility is high, because it must attract the reader to further absorb the following books in the series. The plot, it seems to me, copes with such a difficult task brilliantly. Various storylines show the world in all its diversity and gradually and accurately explain various plot riddles; however, they continue to captivate the reader with military operations, multi-level intrigues, and the incessant secrets of Warhammer, both modern and hidden in the distant past.
I also liked the end of the book. It creates a lot of intrigue which I believe will develop in the next few books.
Characters. Rating 5
I think there are at least a hundred characters included in the book, but I guess more than half of them are well described. The main character Loken is shown from various angles. There are a few more POV characters in the book, but I think the second main character is Horus. He seems natural with excellent leadership qualities. Almost every general in Horus’s entourage has distinctive traits. Of course, in such a short book it is extremely difficult to deeply reveal all the characters, but the book has a solid foundation for their further development or change.
Episodic and minor characters, such as the chroniclers, Eidolon Space Marines, or various opponents of the heroes, are well remembered.
The physical appearance of many of the characters is well described, although perhaps more differences in appearance could have been shown.
Dialogues. Rating 4
The character’s dialogues are good. I enjoyed group dialogues such as Horus’ war councils. The behavior of the characters portrayed in the dialogues logically develops them. The slight decrease in the score was due to the number of the dialogues which seem to me to be a bit excessive, especially at the beginning of the book where they could be shortened in my opinion.
Writing style. Rating 5
I enjoyed the combat operations described in the book. They are shown quite realistically if you suspend disbelief and accept the initial conditions of this original universe. The book is easy to read with beautiful and accurate descriptions of weapons, combat vehicles, streets and palaces, and ceremonial and battle decks of spaceships. Despite the tough conduct of hostilities, the book contains detailed descriptions of various civilizations that are unlike each other.
Worldbuilding. Rating 6
My assumption is that the goals of this book were lofty. The military machine of the Great Crusade, or rather its Sixty-third Expedition and some other expeditions, is shown excellently. In fiction, it is rare to find such a thorough description of the various types of troops, as well as their interaction and rivalry during military operations. The power of the Imperial armies is very impressive and prompts further reading.
Also, the book has features of science fiction. It has many ideas, but mostly concentrated in the military sphere. It is impossible to describe the gigantic complexity of Warhammer in one book, but in my opinion there has been considerable effort to do so. In addition to events in the present, much is described in the memoirs of heroes and ancient books. I suppose there are a lot of plot hooks hidden there that will work in the future.
Conclusion. Overall rating 5
This is an excellent book, and I guess one of the best books in the series. I will continue to read ‘Horus Heresy’ in the future.
For anyone who wants to read up on the world of warhammer40k I can’t think of a better place to start than here!
This series brings so much from so many different angles. The universe is rich and full of action.
You won’t be disappointed
While I liked the first few of these, this series is basically a milk machine. They move the storyline forward by just a little bit in each book.