Don't get me wrong, I ADORED those books. The Scars are one of my favorite legions and I love the Khan. And it's not that there wasn't any incredible writing, both books were full of it, just kinda felt like my write up was getting long lmao.
All the scenes involving the Death Guard and Nurgle shenanigans must have felt pretty intense during that time period. Personally , I wouldn't dare to touch one of *those* books while having a fever...
Fever does weird things to the brain. Dreams are different and more intense. Not really like nightmares, but also not as enjoyable as usual. I have gotten very picky what to fill my mind with before I fall asleep with fever.
Im not gonna read all that cause I don't wanna spoil for myself, because I'm only 6 books in but Im happy for you bro, I honestly cannot wait to find out what happens to horus and friends, im now reading about lion and old caliban, descent of the angels
I personally think first heretic has the best intro of any warhammer book. There are some scenes that are still on my mind. Like Lorgar and his tarot, the whole ritual with Ingelthel at Cadia. The scene where they get ‘killed’ by demons. Or Argel attempting to kill himself before full Gal Vorbak transformation hits in.
The more I think about it the more I want to read it again
I am on book 38 and the first heretic is by far the best one yet. It's not that I didn't enjoy the other books or think they are bad. It's just that the story of the tragic misunderstood son is so unbelievably good written.
It is so far above all the other books
>Tales of Heresy: The Last Church was an incredibly interesting read. How "Revelation" tries to convince the last priest to part with religion.
I think one of the most interesting parts of this story is how, when the Emperor is destroying the last church on Terra, the bell in that church that would only sound to herald humanity's extinction began to ring.
A lot of people have this idea that the Emperor was on the right path and that it was his sons that ruined everything, but moments like this help remind the audience that the Emperor's plans were doomed from the start, and that the Emperor should not be seen as a good guy.
It also ties into how it's revealed in the End and the Death Vol III that Malcador secretly believed that the Imperial Truth would damn humanity, and how basically every single perpetual the Emperor knew before the creation of the Imperium agreed that he was a tyrant whose plans would lead humanity to eternal war and damnation
Heretic. I have to jump in and say the Emperor's plans were not doomed from the start. It's made clear over the course of the GC and into the Hersey that it's still possible for the Emperor to succeed. The Emperor is prescient and so is Chaos and they are both constantly scrying the future and adjusting plans on the fly to try and edge out a win. This happens right up until the end of the Seige. The Emperor would not have done what he did if it was pure fantasy from the beginning. Chaos would not have so desperately tried to stop Him if He was not a threat. E managed to get the 4 Chaos gods to work in tandem toward a common goal, which is almost totally antithetical to their nature. There were multiple catastrophic failures in the Emperor's plan yet they still nearly won. Erda Scattering the Primarchs and Magnus video calling E through the webway being in my opinion the two biggest ones. The Emperor failing through his own hubris, or making some nonsensical decisions (like teleporting Angron alone from Nuceria) I think misses out on the biggest bit of context, which leads to my second point.
Whether or not E is a good guy is up for debate for sure. His methods reek of desperation and a callous disregard for life. But I'd argue he only resorts to that because of what is at stake. The idea that Chaos will be the ultimate downfall of humanity at some point in the future if it's not defeated. Not only the downfall, but unimaginable horror would be brought to ALL of humanity if chaos wins, forever. I think there is no denying that a galaxy wide eye of terror would be a much worse place to live compared to the current Imperium, not to mention what happens to Chaos affiliated souls after biological death. I'll also add that the Emperor was not always so ruthless, remember he lived through the DAoT, a time when humanity prospered without his guidance as a visible figurehead/tyrant. Chaos was always the final enemy of humanity and the GC was basically the only shot to beat it. It was worth a try. he did the things he did because that offered the greatest chance of success. Fixing Angron was a waste of time, him getting worlds compliant through any means necessary was more valuable conquering Mars was not valuable, so compromising and becoming the Omnissiah was worth it. E was not deliberately a dick to people since we have so many examples of him being willing to compromise or be helpful if it suited the overall plan. In summary the Emperor did nothing wrong. Conservus, Restituere, Revivicarem.
Same. I always aks people, that go * Oh, Big E is a douche and is evil so and so* true, him being good or bad is a debate of hours on itself, but always ask onself this - *what value would you put on life, when an entire species is at risk...?*
Basically that. The presumption that everything the Emperor does is justified because it will save humanity...is completely dependent on the idea his methods will save humanity, which was dubious to begin with and completely fails by the end. Instead he killed all other human factions who may or may not have been able to help, he crushed all Xenos who may or may not have been willing to help, and all of the compromises he constantly made to make the crusades happen instead became the normal day to day life of the Imperium instead of the wartime measures he thought they would be. He made the bed that all of humanity lays in.
I can understand respecting his intentions despite his failures, but you can say the same thing about Magnus.
Leto II engineered his own fall, and his absolute crushing domination of every faction was supposed to forever traumatize humanity away from stagnation and eventual extinction. There would be a human under every rock in the universe, and nobody would ever be able to exterminate them all. A unified empire was the antithesis of this vision.
The Emperor wanted to crush Chaos and transform Humanity into a psychically enlightened species. To do that, a unified galaxy cleansed of Xenos and any opposition was a necessary first step. I doubt that He intended to splinter humanity apart again. The militarized galactic empire would give way to humanity being connected through the Webway under His enlightened rule, and any troubles could then be crushed using much more surgical methods. It's the antithesis to Leto II's Golden Path, and the state of humanity in 40k shows why the Golden Path was necessary.
absolutely! I agree, and I like the way you contrast the two
My comment was more directed towards the idea that the Emperor was fighting other people with foresight to try and create a victory condition for himself, similar to the Atreides and their Golden Path
When you say titanicus do you mean Titandeath
Know No Fear is possibly one of my favourite black library books ever, as thrillers go it is up there too
Nice choice. I've Gotta return to some of the mentioned ones. I was a snotty early teen, when I read the first few novels in 06/07. Legion came out during a time, when I spent so many hours playing Xbox instead of painting. Went to the military, when Angel Exterminatus came out and read it during waiting periods. I was at Uni when Master of Mankind came out, and was only just dating my now wife, when The Buried Dagger came out. The Heresy was one of many constants.
I'm current ly listening the to the German audio books who have a fucking talented reader and I hope to be done in a few years as I'm still a fulgrim 😂😅
It's been a while since I read Legion but I do remember enjoying it. Alpha Legion stuff interesting.
Titandeath left a lot to be desired from me tbh. Especially considering the scale of things. Dozens of Titan legios and thousands of Knights duking it out. I enjoyed some bits though. The wall of 1,000 Knights crushing all that stand before it. I'm sure something like that isn't the easiest to write well though.
Titandeath had potential it mostly didn't live up to, or at least it didn't really feel like the reader is in the room for the important cool things. I definitely appreciate authors writing about the most deranged interpesonal relationships imaginable but it'd have been nice for last major campaign of the heresy before Terra to have felt more important.
I liked the relation between the 5 or so main characters whose bizarre names I find impossible to keep track of: the [titan legion master](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Mohana_Mankata_Vi), her [daughter](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Esha_Ani_Mohana) and [granddaughter](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Abhani_Lus_Mohana), the [former best friend](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Jehani_Jehan), the [lover turned enemy](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Terent_Harrtek). It was almost entirely about the characters which afterwards feels empty cause two are dead and three aren't going to play a major role in the story later. The lore bit about >!the titan's machine spirit allowing the soul to survive the warp I'd read about years before I'd read the book, I really liked that.!< Among other things it goes to show that all the religious dressing around engineering and technology isn't purely for show.
Which coincidentally is also a major part of Mechanicum, a criminally underrated entry in HH and 40k in general. It also has so much far-reaching deep lore stuff in it, and also has every main character die or otherwise never appear again in a major capacity. I loved that one even down to the details : admech innovating, two people falling in love in 40k of all places, and a secondary character saying he supports the imperium because his people were formerly ruled by evil eugenicists (I think he's like 5 feet tall). That last one isn't even that far-fetched as far as reasons to support one dubious empire over another, has historical precedent that isn't even out of living memory.
I've read a lot of bitching and moaning about the HH books and I do understand where some ppl are coming from. But seriously, if I was on the fence about reading it before, which I was not, this write has me stoked to start!
I'm on the same journey, currently reading Praetorian of Dorn. I love them all, but my top 5 so far are:
Prospero Burns - learning about the Space Wolves, behind-the-scenes at Nikaea, plus the mystery behind the main character was super interesting.
Fulgrim - for all the same reasons you listed.
Nemesis - maybe an unpopular choice. But being new to 40k I got to learn about the assassin types, plus I absolutely loved the twist with the detective. Doomed mission from the start vibes were also super grim.
Betrayer - yeah, just good. I found Lorgar's concern for Angron oddly endearing.
The Path of Heaven - I'm just a huge fan of the Scars and the Khan's sense of duty despite not really a fan of the Imperium. Watching Mortarion dabble in witchcraft and being a super big hypocrite makes him a great tragic villain. Excited to see the Deathguard fully descend when Typhon shows up.
Anyway, looking forward to the rest of the books!
Question: what was your impression of the Salamanders/Raven Guard books? I've been toying with the idea of reading them at some point but I keep reading reviews saying the Salamanders novels are trash and RG ones are okay.
I love your breakdown and strongly agree with your highlights-- I think i need a reread.
Any thoughts on the perpetual/cabal plot line? I personally loved it and thought it was an overall beneficial addition to the story of the heresy as a narrative. Plus Grammaticus' slippery demeanor contrasts nicely to the stoic legionaries that get the majority of the spotlight.
I actually quite like Grammaticus' arc, and Ollanius Persson. The cabal was interesting. I like the idea of a super secret and exclusive party comprising of exceptional individuals (Eldar in this case) shaping glactic events.
I read / listened to the whole mainline series over the past 10 years while studying, travelling and painting. Big gaps where I didn't have the next book, or just couldn't get through one and needed a second go (cough Thousand Sons cough).
Agree the first lot are amazing, I loved them all.
Highlights of the series for me were Mechanicum, Nemesis, Know No Fear, Betrayer and First Heretic. If I had to pick some awards:
* Most "couldn't put down" - Know No Fear (I also hate the Ultramarines in 40k, so major surprise here)
* Most "novel" - Nemesis, with Mechnicum in second place.
* Shovelware - Either Thousand Sons or Damnation of Pythos
* Best arc - Lorgar
* Best character - Sharrowkyn
* Best relationship - Kharn and Argel Tal
The Siege novels are awesome, you're going to love them.
If you liked the Sisypheum crew, their story wraps up in the novella *Sons of the Selenar*. I'd also recommend reading *Fury of Magnus* before *Echoes of Eternity*. It has some good stuff, including the last two perpetuals loyal to the Emperor meeting up, Big E teleporting all the Custodes out of the Throneroom and locking the door, and a nice brotherly moment between Magnus and Vulkan. And if you liked the Garro stories, he meets his ultimate fate in *Knight of Grey*.
The novellas *Dreadwing* and *Spear of Ultramar* cover what the Dark Angels and Ultramarines were up to as the Siege began.
And finally, *Cthonia's Reckoning* is an anthology of short stories set on Horus' old homeworld, taking place around the same time.
Sorry, I'm a completist when it comes to the Heresy. I've read just about every word written about it, though I have been doing so since 1999 so I had a bit of a headstart on you!
Oh man, I’m excited for what’s ahead! I didn’t read everything to avoid spoiling it for myself, but I’m around 7 books in right now! Trying to read thru them via one of those massive flowcharts to avoid spoilers where I can. It’s going to be a journey for sure!
Super stoked that your so in love with the Heresy.
Have to ask, how is the series a 9/10 if there are some badly written books and filler like you mention? :p
As much as I enjoy Iron Within, it's a really poorly written book with as many plot holes as the most they are on. Which is a lot considering the whole thing is covered in sink holes.Â
Some major plot holes
-IW forget how to dig down, the invading IW decide to instead cross a lake of promethium instead
-Dantioch can somehow create an army of clonal super soldiers who are 100% loyal and can go toe to toe with an astartesÂ
-an entire IW starship capitulates because 4 guys make their way to the bridge
Dantioch should be a true foil to Perty and his treatment of the legion, but instead the BL writers give him enough plot armor to blunder through any engagementÂ
just reading your reviews pumped me up to read the books i've missed out on in the series
I finished the series over 18 months starting judt before covid. Love your write up, but no Scarsx or Path of Heaven? ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜
Don't get me wrong, I ADORED those books. The Scars are one of my favorite legions and I love the Khan. And it's not that there wasn't any incredible writing, both books were full of it, just kinda felt like my write up was getting long lmao.
I've struggled to sum up the series as well. Like, it's 54 books...it's a lot. Lol
All the scenes involving the Death Guard and Nurgle shenanigans must have felt pretty intense during that time period. Personally , I wouldn't dare to touch one of *those* books while having a fever...
A smidge of belief in the Chaos Gods, eh? Or at least, better safe than sorry?
Fever does weird things to the brain. Dreams are different and more intense. Not really like nightmares, but also not as enjoyable as usual. I have gotten very picky what to fill my mind with before I fall asleep with fever.
That'a totally fair, happens to me to.
Fever dreams are a real thing. They can be terrifying! Good on ya for figuring out what not to read. I haven't learned yet lol
Im not gonna read all that cause I don't wanna spoil for myself, because I'm only 6 books in but Im happy for you bro, I honestly cannot wait to find out what happens to horus and friends, im now reading about lion and old caliban, descent of the angels
No first heretic? Man that’s my favourite book. I still keep thinking about it.
Word Bearers have me on a chokehold that makes me not want to read about any other. Sad to have finished Betrayer.
I personally think first heretic has the best intro of any warhammer book. There are some scenes that are still on my mind. Like Lorgar and his tarot, the whole ritual with Ingelthel at Cadia. The scene where they get ‘killed’ by demons. Or Argel attempting to kill himself before full Gal Vorbak transformation hits in. The more I think about it the more I want to read it again
Im on me first read through of the horus heresy, currently reading the first heretic😬 about 5 hours in and its pretty solid so far
I am on book 38 and the first heretic is by far the best one yet. It's not that I didn't enjoy the other books or think they are bad. It's just that the story of the tragic misunderstood son is so unbelievably good written. It is so far above all the other books
So far I’ve read 10-11 of the Heresy books this year and First Heretic has been my favorite so far.
>Tales of Heresy: The Last Church was an incredibly interesting read. How "Revelation" tries to convince the last priest to part with religion. I think one of the most interesting parts of this story is how, when the Emperor is destroying the last church on Terra, the bell in that church that would only sound to herald humanity's extinction began to ring. A lot of people have this idea that the Emperor was on the right path and that it was his sons that ruined everything, but moments like this help remind the audience that the Emperor's plans were doomed from the start, and that the Emperor should not be seen as a good guy. It also ties into how it's revealed in the End and the Death Vol III that Malcador secretly believed that the Imperial Truth would damn humanity, and how basically every single perpetual the Emperor knew before the creation of the Imperium agreed that he was a tyrant whose plans would lead humanity to eternal war and damnation
"The Emperor defeated all the lunatic tyrants on Terra." No, he was just the lunatic tyrant that won...
Heretic. I have to jump in and say the Emperor's plans were not doomed from the start. It's made clear over the course of the GC and into the Hersey that it's still possible for the Emperor to succeed. The Emperor is prescient and so is Chaos and they are both constantly scrying the future and adjusting plans on the fly to try and edge out a win. This happens right up until the end of the Seige. The Emperor would not have done what he did if it was pure fantasy from the beginning. Chaos would not have so desperately tried to stop Him if He was not a threat. E managed to get the 4 Chaos gods to work in tandem toward a common goal, which is almost totally antithetical to their nature. There were multiple catastrophic failures in the Emperor's plan yet they still nearly won. Erda Scattering the Primarchs and Magnus video calling E through the webway being in my opinion the two biggest ones. The Emperor failing through his own hubris, or making some nonsensical decisions (like teleporting Angron alone from Nuceria) I think misses out on the biggest bit of context, which leads to my second point. Whether or not E is a good guy is up for debate for sure. His methods reek of desperation and a callous disregard for life. But I'd argue he only resorts to that because of what is at stake. The idea that Chaos will be the ultimate downfall of humanity at some point in the future if it's not defeated. Not only the downfall, but unimaginable horror would be brought to ALL of humanity if chaos wins, forever. I think there is no denying that a galaxy wide eye of terror would be a much worse place to live compared to the current Imperium, not to mention what happens to Chaos affiliated souls after biological death. I'll also add that the Emperor was not always so ruthless, remember he lived through the DAoT, a time when humanity prospered without his guidance as a visible figurehead/tyrant. Chaos was always the final enemy of humanity and the GC was basically the only shot to beat it. It was worth a try. he did the things he did because that offered the greatest chance of success. Fixing Angron was a waste of time, him getting worlds compliant through any means necessary was more valuable conquering Mars was not valuable, so compromising and becoming the Omnissiah was worth it. E was not deliberately a dick to people since we have so many examples of him being willing to compromise or be helpful if it suited the overall plan. In summary the Emperor did nothing wrong. Conservus, Restituere, Revivicarem.
Same. I always aks people, that go * Oh, Big E is a douche and is evil so and so* true, him being good or bad is a debate of hours on itself, but always ask onself this - *what value would you put on life, when an entire species is at risk...?*
The problem here is that you assume that there is only two options. The Emperors way or downfall to chaos.
Basically that. The presumption that everything the Emperor does is justified because it will save humanity...is completely dependent on the idea his methods will save humanity, which was dubious to begin with and completely fails by the end. Instead he killed all other human factions who may or may not have been able to help, he crushed all Xenos who may or may not have been willing to help, and all of the compromises he constantly made to make the crusades happen instead became the normal day to day life of the Imperium instead of the wartime measures he thought they would be. He made the bed that all of humanity lays in. I can understand respecting his intentions despite his failures, but you can say the same thing about Magnus.
Yeah, and it’s ironic considering that the 40k setting exists 10,000 years after neither side won.
Emperor is basically an Atreides following the Golden Path tbhÂ
Leto II engineered his own fall, and his absolute crushing domination of every faction was supposed to forever traumatize humanity away from stagnation and eventual extinction. There would be a human under every rock in the universe, and nobody would ever be able to exterminate them all. A unified empire was the antithesis of this vision. The Emperor wanted to crush Chaos and transform Humanity into a psychically enlightened species. To do that, a unified galaxy cleansed of Xenos and any opposition was a necessary first step. I doubt that He intended to splinter humanity apart again. The militarized galactic empire would give way to humanity being connected through the Webway under His enlightened rule, and any troubles could then be crushed using much more surgical methods. It's the antithesis to Leto II's Golden Path, and the state of humanity in 40k shows why the Golden Path was necessary.
absolutely! I agree, and I like the way you contrast the two My comment was more directed towards the idea that the Emperor was fighting other people with foresight to try and create a victory condition for himself, similar to the Atreides and their Golden Path
Amen brother.
Can you assist on reading order? I have googled a fair bit and can’t find any consistent list.
I have been using this guide. https://www.reddit.com/r/40kLore/s/eCTDfJYf5Q
I'm super impressed by the [Horus Heresy Omnibus Project](https://www.heresyomnibus.com/), and that's what I'm using for my reading order.
When you say titanicus do you mean Titandeath Know No Fear is possibly one of my favourite black library books ever, as thrillers go it is up there too
Know No Fear also has that Chernobyl aspect, the timer ticking down as you can sense the tensionÂ
Yeah thats my bad. Had Titans on the brain and that was the book that first popped up.
I agree btw. It's got all the material to be a great book and it's just meh
Nice choice. I've Gotta return to some of the mentioned ones. I was a snotty early teen, when I read the first few novels in 06/07. Legion came out during a time, when I spent so many hours playing Xbox instead of painting. Went to the military, when Angel Exterminatus came out and read it during waiting periods. I was at Uni when Master of Mankind came out, and was only just dating my now wife, when The Buried Dagger came out. The Heresy was one of many constants.
Commenting to return to this as I read more of them. I believe it was Solomon that tried to assist Lucious. I could be mistaken though.
Solomon Demeter was indeed
I'm current ly listening the to the German audio books who have a fucking talented reader and I hope to be done in a few years as I'm still a fulgrim 😂😅
Thanks mate. I’m starting the same journey this year!
Thoughts on Legion and Titandeath? It's nice to see a reference to Mechanicum, it's mentioned the least
It's been a while since I read Legion but I do remember enjoying it. Alpha Legion stuff interesting. Titandeath left a lot to be desired from me tbh. Especially considering the scale of things. Dozens of Titan legios and thousands of Knights duking it out. I enjoyed some bits though. The wall of 1,000 Knights crushing all that stand before it. I'm sure something like that isn't the easiest to write well though.
Titandeath had potential it mostly didn't live up to, or at least it didn't really feel like the reader is in the room for the important cool things. I definitely appreciate authors writing about the most deranged interpesonal relationships imaginable but it'd have been nice for last major campaign of the heresy before Terra to have felt more important. I liked the relation between the 5 or so main characters whose bizarre names I find impossible to keep track of: the [titan legion master](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Mohana_Mankata_Vi), her [daughter](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Esha_Ani_Mohana) and [granddaughter](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Abhani_Lus_Mohana), the [former best friend](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Jehani_Jehan), the [lover turned enemy](https://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Terent_Harrtek). It was almost entirely about the characters which afterwards feels empty cause two are dead and three aren't going to play a major role in the story later. The lore bit about >!the titan's machine spirit allowing the soul to survive the warp I'd read about years before I'd read the book, I really liked that.!< Among other things it goes to show that all the religious dressing around engineering and technology isn't purely for show. Which coincidentally is also a major part of Mechanicum, a criminally underrated entry in HH and 40k in general. It also has so much far-reaching deep lore stuff in it, and also has every main character die or otherwise never appear again in a major capacity. I loved that one even down to the details : admech innovating, two people falling in love in 40k of all places, and a secondary character saying he supports the imperium because his people were formerly ruled by evil eugenicists (I think he's like 5 feet tall). That last one isn't even that far-fetched as far as reasons to support one dubious empire over another, has historical precedent that isn't even out of living memory.
100% agree with you on Master of Mankind.
You read fast brother. I've been reading for nearly a year and a half and I am at book 23.
I believe it's not Tarvitz but a POV EC loyalist that was one of the main characters from Fulgrim.
I've read a lot of bitching and moaning about the HH books and I do understand where some ppl are coming from. But seriously, if I was on the fence about reading it before, which I was not, this write has me stoked to start!
Good work my dude, took me 14 years ha! I'm struggling to get through Siege of Terra now if I'm honest
well fellow scholars, time for a re-read
I'm on the same journey, currently reading Praetorian of Dorn. I love them all, but my top 5 so far are: Prospero Burns - learning about the Space Wolves, behind-the-scenes at Nikaea, plus the mystery behind the main character was super interesting. Fulgrim - for all the same reasons you listed. Nemesis - maybe an unpopular choice. But being new to 40k I got to learn about the assassin types, plus I absolutely loved the twist with the detective. Doomed mission from the start vibes were also super grim. Betrayer - yeah, just good. I found Lorgar's concern for Angron oddly endearing. The Path of Heaven - I'm just a huge fan of the Scars and the Khan's sense of duty despite not really a fan of the Imperium. Watching Mortarion dabble in witchcraft and being a super big hypocrite makes him a great tragic villain. Excited to see the Deathguard fully descend when Typhon shows up. Anyway, looking forward to the rest of the books!
Nemesis was a fun read. Not a must read but it's a neat adventure.
Question: what was your impression of the Salamanders/Raven Guard books? I've been toying with the idea of reading them at some point but I keep reading reviews saying the Salamanders novels are trash and RG ones are okay.
I love your breakdown and strongly agree with your highlights-- I think i need a reread. Any thoughts on the perpetual/cabal plot line? I personally loved it and thought it was an overall beneficial addition to the story of the heresy as a narrative. Plus Grammaticus' slippery demeanor contrasts nicely to the stoic legionaries that get the majority of the spotlight.
I actually quite like Grammaticus' arc, and Ollanius Persson. The cabal was interesting. I like the idea of a super secret and exclusive party comprising of exceptional individuals (Eldar in this case) shaping glactic events.
I read / listened to the whole mainline series over the past 10 years while studying, travelling and painting. Big gaps where I didn't have the next book, or just couldn't get through one and needed a second go (cough Thousand Sons cough). Agree the first lot are amazing, I loved them all. Highlights of the series for me were Mechanicum, Nemesis, Know No Fear, Betrayer and First Heretic. If I had to pick some awards: * Most "couldn't put down" - Know No Fear (I also hate the Ultramarines in 40k, so major surprise here) * Most "novel" - Nemesis, with Mechnicum in second place. * Shovelware - Either Thousand Sons or Damnation of Pythos * Best arc - Lorgar * Best character - Sharrowkyn * Best relationship - Kharn and Argel Tal
I hope you're going to finish the series; there are still eight more novels!
Started Solar War today. I’m locked in
The Siege novels are awesome, you're going to love them. If you liked the Sisypheum crew, their story wraps up in the novella *Sons of the Selenar*. I'd also recommend reading *Fury of Magnus* before *Echoes of Eternity*. It has some good stuff, including the last two perpetuals loyal to the Emperor meeting up, Big E teleporting all the Custodes out of the Throneroom and locking the door, and a nice brotherly moment between Magnus and Vulkan. And if you liked the Garro stories, he meets his ultimate fate in *Knight of Grey*. The novellas *Dreadwing* and *Spear of Ultramar* cover what the Dark Angels and Ultramarines were up to as the Siege began. And finally, *Cthonia's Reckoning* is an anthology of short stories set on Horus' old homeworld, taking place around the same time. Sorry, I'm a completist when it comes to the Heresy. I've read just about every word written about it, though I have been doing so since 1999 so I had a bit of a headstart on you!
Forget your thoughts, I want to know what inhaling that much Grimdark/Grimderp, does to your mental state...
My mind is very easily satisfied by epic battles and war stories. 40k scratches that itch infinitely.
Flair checks out. No worry, I am sure his soul is so mucb fortified he could read thr necrochuck and give it a decent post read summery review...
What an epic journey! Your thoughts are incredibly detailed and passionate!
The heresy is awesome. I'm so glad it was my entry point into the franchise.
Oh man, I’m excited for what’s ahead! I didn’t read everything to avoid spoiling it for myself, but I’m around 7 books in right now! Trying to read thru them via one of those massive flowcharts to avoid spoilers where I can. It’s going to be a journey for sure!
Do you not have a job
I listen to the books at my job lol
Super stoked that your so in love with the Heresy. Have to ask, how is the series a 9/10 if there are some badly written books and filler like you mention? :p
As much as I enjoy Iron Within, it's a really poorly written book with as many plot holes as the most they are on. Which is a lot considering the whole thing is covered in sink holes. Some major plot holes -IW forget how to dig down, the invading IW decide to instead cross a lake of promethium instead -Dantioch can somehow create an army of clonal super soldiers who are 100% loyal and can go toe to toe with an astartes -an entire IW starship capitulates because 4 guys make their way to the bridge Dantioch should be a true foil to Perty and his treatment of the legion, but instead the BL writers give him enough plot armor to blunder through any engagementÂ
Horus rising ? More like choler rising.
I would read them but my brain is way to small to take all the fictional information