Abnett does well enough, but endnig something so wast so massive as is Horus Heresy is not easy task.

At this stage, it's better to listen to and support your loved one rather than to risk upsetting them or starting an argument. What else is there to talk about aside Valdor fighting demons and someone helping Dorn out of the desert? From what I've read of other reviews, I'm deeply, deeply sceptical that there's 18 hours of story left to be told in both books combined, let alone 30 or more. But that’s not all this one is, because there’s a great deal of symbolic importance to the End above and beyond it being the first half of the End itself.It's the beginning of the ultimate conclusion to the Horus Heresy, and hope still remains for the Loyalists! While we're unlikely to see the God-Horus sitting on the Silver Throne, I have absolutely no doubt at all there's going to some kind of shock swerve or twist. The POVs of Malcador and the Primarchs are somewhat interesting (no mean feat after 60+ books), and at least we do not get any new out-of-character revelations or derailings on that front.

So I loved writing Malcador and other characters who I’ve never really had the same level of time to spend with. Dan does a amazing job of bringing together a vast cast of characters from across the series and giving them all their due. I have read every book, short story and novella in both the Horus Heresy and Siege of Terra series and this is a fitting beginning to the end if ever I heard one. It’s a conclusion book and a setup for the presumed Scouring series, and of course only part one, but the many trailing threads leave sections of the book without a focus.

I admit that I haven't finished it yet - I'm up to Chapter 21, which is nearly 5 hours into this 18+ hour monster - and I think I might have to come back to it another day.

A lot of that is done through a cultural code-shift for the traitors which runs throughout the book but is strongest and most immediately evident in the Horus first/second person chapters. Even plotlines Abnett seems to be actively attempting to continue are done so with significant amounts of unnecessary repetition that usually doesn't achieve anything. There have been tensions between JG and OP for some time now - perhaps these will boil over resulting in (presumably) JG getting eliminated. Depending on their beliefs, certain practices, rituals, and customs can be steps along the end-of-life timeline. To be clear, in my view Dan Abbnett is not to blame here: it is BL and their poor planning because I bet he is tying up so many loose threads from older HH novels in this monster.They’ve rarely all stood and interacted in a single space, and the sections describing their journey to the Emperor and the decisions made in his presence are compelling stuff that capitalizes on the years of build up to the moment the plan comes together. The privilege of being part of such a long-term commitment, forming such a close creative bond with the whole Heresy team, and building out the huge scope of the universe. So I’d like to think that with Volumes 2 and 3 readers will see the architecture of a whole novel that’s simply built on a much bigger scale than they are used to. Perhaps the point of all the other references was to distract, so that when the curtain drops and the twisting narrative briefly straightens, we were busy thinking about Alexander the Great, Eigyr Pendragon or Jesus.

This did not need to be two books but at least every part of the model range was mentioned so thats good. That at this point Horus has devolved into a delusional, almost mindless husk doesn't help the series either.They definitely can't make a mega book, but if each volume is ~600 pages, they certainly could fit it into two books instead of three. Unfortunately, the Oll Persson subplot is decaying in quality, mainly due to John Grammaticus' pestiferous presence. It is difficult to recommend this book to anyone who hasn't read the rest of the Siege of Terra but it is a great start to the final series in the Horus Heresy / Siege of Terra series and - whilst we don't know how many volumes it is - I eagerly look forward to the next installment. They are mostly bolterporn addicts and wouldn't recognize good writing if it slapped them in the face. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising.