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The Horus Heresy #1-5
The Horus Heresy: Volume One
The greatest war in the history of mankind begins. The Emperor's chosen son Horus, recently honoured with the title of Warmaster, is corrupted by the forces of Chaos. Spreading dissent among his primarch brothers, Horus throws the Space Marine Legions into battle against one another in the distant Isstvan System, as he prepares to march on Terra itself...
Read it because
The greatest story in the galaxy begins here! Horus' tragic fall to Chaos and betrayal of the Emperor are recounted in the excellent Horus Rising, False Gods, and Galaxy in Flames. Flight of the Eisenstein brings us a little hope, while Fulgrim tells the story of the titular primarch's corruption through personal failing. Volume One is a great way to get your teeth into treachery.
Read it because
The greatest story in the galaxy begins here! Horus' tragic fall to Chaos and betrayal of the Emperor are recounted in the excellent Horus Rising, False Gods, and Galaxy in Flames. Flight of the Eisenstein brings us a little hope, while Fulgrim tells the story of the titular primarch's corruption through personal failing. Volume One is a great way to get your teeth into treachery.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
1433 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 4, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 18, 2021
The first time I started reading the Horus Heresy series, I quickly gave up in annoyance. Having now read quite a few Warhammer 40,000 books and become acquainted with the lore and characters, I decided to give it another shot. This time I found it much more interesting, approaching it as a detailed history of how the WH40k universe came to be.
The five books in this omnibus (Horus Rising, False Gods, Galaxy in Flames, The Flight of the Eisenstein, and Fulgrim) tell a coherent story of pride, corruption and betrayal from multiple points of view. I am more convinced than ever that there are no “good guys” in this universe. There are just bad guys who maybe mean well (the xenophobic manifest-destiny-spouting loyalists bringing the “light” of atheism and iron-fisted rule to the galaxy) and worse guys (rebelling against the Emperor but for purely corrupt, increasingly vile reasons). If you don’t mind ultraviolent grimdark, it’s an interesting escapist read complete with huge action set pieces and rather ham-handed philosophizing on honor, religion, tyranny, etc.
As far as style goes, the storytelling is competent (though some authors overuse certain stock phrases or words) and the plotting of the series so far is well executed. Some key events are covered in multiple books from different points of view but never in a way that is needlessly repetitious. There is a decent balance between each book telling of a complete enough set of events that you don’t feel cheated of an ending and each book contributing to the overall story arc of the series.
Random aside: One fun thing to watch for as you read is that Graham McNeill seems to slip in little nods to other SF&F…in Fulgrim I spotted a subtle passing reference to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and in his Forges of Mars omnibus I noticed an homage to The Princess Bride and one or two other little things.
As I’ve said before with other Warhammer-related books, this isn’t great literature by any stretch of the imaginations, but it’s entertaining escapist sci-fi.
The five books in this omnibus (Horus Rising, False Gods, Galaxy in Flames, The Flight of the Eisenstein, and Fulgrim) tell a coherent story of pride, corruption and betrayal from multiple points of view. I am more convinced than ever that there are no “good guys” in this universe. There are just bad guys who maybe mean well (the xenophobic manifest-destiny-spouting loyalists bringing the “light” of atheism and iron-fisted rule to the galaxy) and worse guys (rebelling against the Emperor but for purely corrupt, increasingly vile reasons). If you don’t mind ultraviolent grimdark, it’s an interesting escapist read complete with huge action set pieces and rather ham-handed philosophizing on honor, religion, tyranny, etc.
As far as style goes, the storytelling is competent (though some authors overuse certain stock phrases or words) and the plotting of the series so far is well executed. Some key events are covered in multiple books from different points of view but never in a way that is needlessly repetitious. There is a decent balance between each book telling of a complete enough set of events that you don’t feel cheated of an ending and each book contributing to the overall story arc of the series.
Random aside: One fun thing to watch for as you read is that Graham McNeill seems to slip in little nods to other SF&F…in Fulgrim I spotted a subtle passing reference to The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy and in his Forges of Mars omnibus I noticed an homage to The Princess Bride and one or two other little things.
As I’ve said before with other Warhammer-related books, this isn’t great literature by any stretch of the imaginations, but it’s entertaining escapist sci-fi.
August 19, 2021
Superb Writing Styles!
Man, where do I start? I love this book it's supremly hard to stop reading. Of particular note is the battle inside Fulgrim to fight chaos, and, ultimately, losing that battle. Great series and I'm already looking for the next book in series. You'll want to read these books, you won't be disappointed. Promise. Great job by GW, Dan Abnett, Graham McNeil, Ben Counter.
Man, where do I start? I love this book it's supremly hard to stop reading. Of particular note is the battle inside Fulgrim to fight chaos, and, ultimately, losing that battle. Great series and I'm already looking for the next book in series. You'll want to read these books, you won't be disappointed. Promise. Great job by GW, Dan Abnett, Graham McNeil, Ben Counter.
June 17, 2021
Warhammer 40k gold
Arguably some of the best books in the warhammer universe ! Read it because each author captures the spirit of the time and the no other time in warhammer is as epic , or violent as the horus heresy .
Arguably some of the best books in the warhammer universe ! Read it because each author captures the spirit of the time and the no other time in warhammer is as epic , or violent as the horus heresy .
January 8, 2026
Excelente libro, el primero para introducirse en la herejía de Horus, los personajes aquí son muy buenos, me encanto esta primera parte sobre todo por la aparición de grandes personajes en la saga como son Loken, Abbadon, Horus, Sigismud, Dorn, Sangiunius etc... muy recomendable para los primeros lectores del universo de Warhammer 40k
January 23, 2018
Opening quintoligy sets the scene ...
Fabulous, wide ranging books that vividly paint the brutal background to the Horus Heresy. Even with different authors there's a nice cohesive feel to the story arcs.
If you love space opera... you'll love these books. Even better there's more to come.
Fabulous, wide ranging books that vividly paint the brutal background to the Horus Heresy. Even with different authors there's a nice cohesive feel to the story arcs.
If you love space opera... you'll love these books. Even better there's more to come.
January 20, 2018
The first of a great series
April 27, 2020
This is a truly well-written piece. Highly recommended.
October 7, 2020
Wow
Incredible, dark, and epic. I’m hooked on the 40K universe. Near impossible to put down and I’ll be immediately starting the next in the series!
Incredible, dark, and epic. I’m hooked on the 40K universe. Near impossible to put down and I’ll be immediately starting the next in the series!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews