Horus Rising

This is argueably one of the best Warhammer 40k novels I've ever read. I am a huge Dan Abnett fan and longtime Imperium fan. But to see the view of the Luna Wolves prior to the Heresy is quite insightful. Additionally there are also a few other Space Marine characteristics you learn about during the novel and a lot of insight into the Primarchs, including Warmaster Horus himself. Before the taint of Chaos and any other daemonic/spiritual entities, the Luna Wolves are escorting the Warmaster on the compliance crusade. With various encounters with other chapters and their views/differences it's amazing to see how Space Marines prior to the heresy viewed each other and battle. A few key introductions of the taint of Chaos appear throughout the novel and show just how the foulness can spread like a cancer. The ending leaves you wanting but if you're a true Space Marine or Warhammer 40k fan, you'll be reading the second and third in the series.

I admit, I was skeptical when I heard that GW was going to take on the most important and mysterious event in the entire 40K universe. Dan Abnett has created a masterpiece! Outstanding story telling, vivid (but not overwrought) battles, wonderful dialogue start this saga off on absolutely the right foot! MCNeill and Counter have enourmous footsteps to follow in. As an aside, this book also features the best cover art I have ever seen in a 40K novel! The image of the Luna Wolves in the midst of battle is almost worth the price of admission along!

This first book of the Horus Heresy series sets the stage for a tale of personal growth and moral responsibility. The central character is Garviel Lorken, 10th Company Captain of the Luna Wolves Legion, though it features many other canonical characters from Games Workshop's Warhammer 40K universe, including three Primarchs and a host of infamous figures from later in its history. Canonical characters that make appearances include: Horus, Rogal Dorn, Sanguinius, and Abaddon. M. Abnett was the ideal author for the beginning of this project. He excels in atmospherics, moral quandary, foreshadowing, and parallels. The book opens with an ominous parallel of how we know the series must end (I assume that most readers will have some familiarity with the history and background of 40K, though it is by no means necessary), and throughout are questions of morality and responsibility that foreshadow future events. Likewise, the growth of the main character, Lorken, is mirrored by the development of those around him. The Black Library is lucky to have a writer of M. Abnett's talents, and I can only hope that latter writers will be able to live up to his high standards. His characters spring off the page, with good depth, realistic motivations, strengths, and weaknesses. He has a true talent for bringing the gothic feel of the 40K universe to the reader. Both action scenes and more subtle elements of plot development are handled adeptly, including villains every bit as complex and clever as the protagonists. In addition to excellent characters, there's plenty of tech and military hardware for lovers of fluff. Writing a good climactic ending, one of his few weaknesses, is minimized here, as the entire novel is clearly a preface for the rest of the tale. The only other weakness of the tale is the somewhat clumsy setup for the next book in the series. Literally within the last few pages, he brings an antagonist into the spotlight that has had only minimal prior development. It's one of the only disappointing pieces of writing in the work. The rest (read: majority) is excellent, and one can hardly wait to see what happens next, particularly given the moral questions and foreshadowing utilized to pique the reader's curiosity. In short: an auspicious start for the tale, well worth reading for any fan of good sci-fi, but highly recommended for 40K fans.

Finally, Games Workshop and the Black Library has seen to it that the story of the Imperium greatest and darkest hour be told in a trilogy of novels. What I am talking about is the culmination of the Emperor of Mankind's Great Crusade to unite the scattered humanity into one galaxt-spanning empire. This first novel in the trilogy, as written by fan favorite Dan Abnett, tells of the time of the Great Crusade's culmination. With the Emperor finally relinquishing the command of all crusading forces to his most favored of his twenty genetically-engineered Primarch sons: Horus. In background stories throughout the history of Games Workshop's 40K universe, Horus has been described in brief detail as being favored by the Emperor above all the other Primarchs. But other than that Horus has been seen and read by all as a twisted, megalomaniacal despot out to overthrow the Emperor once Chaos has gotten hold of him. In Horus Rising, Dan Abnett paints a portrait of Horus and his Luna Wolves Legion as sympathetic characters who are loyal to the tenets of the Emperor's Great Crusade to a fault. Horus is given personality to make him noble and great in the eyes of not just the men he leads but those of others led by his brother Primarchs. He is akin to Lucifer just before the Fall and throughout the novel, Abnett slips in small seeds of doubts and flaws that will surely lead to his predestined role as the Fallen Angel who will raze and burn the galaxy of Mankind before all is well and done. Abnett's skill at writing battle scenes, especially up-close combat with Horus and his marines against all comers, shows just why his previous Games Workshop novels have been favorites of fans. Abnett also introduces such characters as Abaddon, Torgaddon and Loken. "Sons" of Horus who seem to represent his conscience in more ways than one. Abaddon most fans already know his fate, but Torgaddon and Loken are characters whose story may lead to damnation or redemption as the time for heresy and war inches closer. the book ends with a simple mention of whats to come with the second leg of the trilogy. Horus and his legion to stop at a backwater system and one of its moons: Davin IV. Abnett has laid down a great foundation for the trilogy and here's to hoping that Graham McNeill (another fan favorite) continues the trilogy with another great story. I can't wait for the second book, False Gods, to be released. The story of the Horus Heresy has been a long time coming. Here's to not waiting too long to finish the saga.

If you are a fan of the Warhammer 40K universe, this is a must read without any reservations. Dan Abnett's work has continued to gain in realism and scope and so far Horus Rising is the best book he has ever produced. I say this after having read the book without putting it down yesterday, and previously believing he would be hard pressed to surpass his excellent work with the Gaunt's Ghosts novels. Someday I had hoped someone would bring the horror and intrigue of the Horus Heresy to life in exception verse. Abnett has done so and then some. The feel of the book has gone beyond my own expectations and makes you realize the depth of betrayal that had to have occured to bring fully half the Legions of the Adaptus Astartes into the grip of Chaos. Most of all you will read this and find yourself with favorite characters, dispite the fact you know they are doomed by history. In the first book alone the reader is drawn in by the Majesty of the soon to be lost Luna Wolves Space Marine Legion. Above and beyone that, fans of the other First Founding Legions have the opportunity to glimse their own fore fathers, and more importantly, the Primarchs themselves as they cross paths with the Warmaster in the last days of the Crusade. Having the opportunity to read anything of my own Chapters Primarch, Sanguinious, would have made me buy this book. I was delighted to read an excellent protrayal of the Angel, who was Horus's closest brother. Buy this book... read it, and then read it again before you share it with your friends. We will all be awaiting the next chapter in this series.