Horus Heresy - False Gods

I wasnt much of a fan of Warhammer 40k, untill a friend recomended the Horus Heresy series of novels. All of them are a fantastic read, very entertaning, intreging, and smart. Those this book, like most other warhammer 40k novels, is not for the faint of heart, they contain awsome battles, valiant heros' and gory results. I give this book 5 stars

The seed that ultimately blooms into what has to be the most grim future of Warhammer 40k fiction, the Horus Heresy, does not disapoint. "False Gods" picks up the pace after the end of "Horus Rising", seeing the Warmaster Horus leading his forces to the moon of Darvin, where the fate of the "thirsting gods" ultimately catches up with the Emperors most favoured son. For any good fan of that dark and grim future of Warhammer 40K, this book (and the rest in the series) are a definite _must_ as the tale is told in detail how those charged with the defence of humanitys sanctity and superiority, ultimately turns to corruption and false gods, the very backbone of the Warhammer 40k mythos. This is a must for any warhammer fan and a good edition for any sci fi-lovers. But do yourself a favour and begin with book one, "Horus Rising" before reading "False Gods" - the road to corruption is winding and long and takes time to tell. And furthermore, the artwork gracing the covers are very nice with inlays of gold and bronze and will look good in any bookshelf.

Honestly, in these times of adaptation and licensing of franchises and 'rights' being sold off to companies that know NOTHING about the source material - there's alot of stuff out there (especially 40k related) that just doesn't cut it. 90% of what you find out there is stagnant, often the remains of a great idea stripped down to the bones by censorship and idiotic amounts of editing that leave the consumers with a product that feels malnourished and unsatisfying. I'm glad to say that this product does not fall into those abominable circumstances. The nature of the writing and the way in which the story is directed and told throughout the novel is deeply faithful to not just the factual basis of 40k, but more importantly (and this is where alot of the time there are massive failures) the atmosphere. It is a dark, frightening, and corrupted journey, and the atmosphere stays true to the nature of its underlying events all the way through. Even people who do not have an intimate or even basic knowledge of Warhammer 40k will appreciate the depth of the relationships and characterisation - both of which are kept unbelievably consistent throughout the novels in this series. Definite 5-Star.

False Gods is the second book in the Horus Heresy Trilogy from Games Workshop's Black Library division. The first book in the trilogy was Dan Abnett's excellent Horus Rising which introduced the Imperium's newly appointed Warmaster, the Primarch of the Luna Wolves Legion and the Emperor of Mankind's favored son. Horus Rising showed the personality of chief architect that would someday plunge the galaxy-spanning Imperium of Man into its darkest hour. Graham McNeill takes over the writing duties for the second novel of the trilogy. False Gods details the little doubts Horus brought up during the first book and how these doubts gave those powers in the Warp the opening they needed to deceive, inveigle, and obfuscate their way into Horus' heart and mind. The Chaos Powers are not alone in their endeavor for a traitor within Horus' inner circle plots with these powers to sway the Imperium's Warmaster to their cause against the Emperor of Mankind and the Imperium. McNeill does a very good job of showing Horus' inner turmoil concerning the responsibilties heaped on his shoulders by his father the Emperor. McNeill also introduces Horus' growing resentment towards his father and thus infecting his own Legion whose admiration and loyalty to him is akin to deity worship. There's a major section of the book where Horus and his Crusading force first begin to fight the minions of the Chaos Powers on the moon of Davin. There's a sense of Night of the Living Dead in this section as powerful Space Marines must contend with the plague zombies of their opponent. But action in False Gods takes a backseat to the manipulation of Horus and how false promises and miscontrued words from the Chaos Powers gradually breaks down Horus' will. Some have pointed out that in False Gods it's shown that the Emperor must take some of the blame as to the cause of the Heresy, but the opposite is true. Horus was given a choice as to which side to believe: his loyalty and faith to his Emperor or the words of powers in the warp. Those who have followed the mythology of GW's Warhammer 40K knows what his decision will be. The fall of a star ascendant has begun and the end of McNeill's novel sets the stage for what will become the unveiling of the ultimate betrayal of son against father, of brothers against brothers and one man against an entire galaxy. I can't wait for the final book in the trilogy: Galaxy In Flames by Ben Coulter.

Another Excellent book from an excellent writer. Graham is a very "graphical" writer, his writings reveal an excellent imagination that would lend itself very well to the silver screen. His handling of the epic battles within the story "Warriors of Ultramar" is some of the best that I ever read (matched only by Brown's Hyperion trilogy), Abnett included. In this volume, Graham takes up the reigns left off by Dan Abnett in portraying the fall of Horus. I won't spoil anything for you, but I like how they have portrayed Horus' downfall. It's not the simple minded tale that is Darth Vader, but here present in the superhuman immortal Primarchs are the weaknesses and emotional vulnerabilities inherent within all humans. You tend feel sorry for Horus, and truly get the depth of tragedy that befalls the primarchs especially Magnus the Red, and Sanguinius, and of the space marines Loken and his command (for those who know their 40K history.) You begin to feel exactly the resentment the Marines feel at the Emperor not being there to handle matters. As the first volume sets the stage, and introduced the characters, this volume continues the storyline with the fall of Horus. The next volume details his killing off those too loyal to the Emperor concluding with the sad tale of the battle of Istvaan IV. Still, I hope GW will eventually tell the tale of the great battle for Terra, and the demise of Sanguinius.