The Horus Heresy by various

[sparkchaser]

OK, I'll admit it: Warhammer 40k fluff has always interested me. I would never shell out the small fortune to field an army to play it and besides, my painting skills are mediocre at best. But I digress. I asked around what I should read if I wanted a good introduction to the Warhammer 40k background and the overwhelming response was that should get the first few books in The Hours Heresy series. So I did.

In the grim future there is only war.

That's the paraphrased tagline for the Warhammer 40k franchise. The Imperium of Man fights a war on all fronts with everything it seems. The Emperor of Man lies a rotting, comatose hulk on his throne while the daemons and agents of Chaos try to destroy all. But it wasn't always like this. It turned into this because of The Horus Heresy.

In the 40th Millennium, the Emperor of Man has launched a crusade across the galaxy to find his lost children -- planets colonized by man but forgotten after the last empire collapsed. After personally leading the crusade for years, he appoints his favored "son" Horus to serve as Warmaster and returns to Terra to work on things unknown. So begins the story of the biggest fall from grace the galaxy has ever seen.

Horus Rising basically exists just to introduce the characters and set the stage for what is to come, the story really doesn't start moving until False Gods and at the end of Galaxy in Flames, I was kicking myself for not getting the next one in the series. If you like straight up Space Opera with elements of fantasy and the supernatural, I can say that these three books fit the bill nicely. If you like your SciFi a bit harder then you might want to pass on these.

I rate the books:

Horus Rising by Dan Abnett

False Gods: The Heresy Takes Root by Graham McNeill

Galaxy in Flames by Ben Counter

As an introduction to the Warhammer 40k universe, I give them

 

[Will]

Thanks for this breakdown.

I have been semi-tempted to dip into these books, but they look like doorstops, and I am worried about the reading time I'd lose on other things in my reading pile. I don't mind doorstop sized books, but they've really got to be good. A la Jonathan Strange etc.

 

[sparkchaser]

Go for it.

I wouldn't let the thickness deter you, once you get a grasp of the writing style they read quickly. It took me about 2-1/2 weeks to get through Horus Rising, a week to get through False Gods and three days to get through Galaxy in Flames.

Plus I think they would make good filler in between more serious reading.

 

[beer good]

I always wondered - what happened to the first 39,999 warhammers?

 

[sparkchaser]

They died a bloody, grimdark death.

 

[lenny nero]

I've almost bought the first of this series several times at my local store, but I look at how many of them there are, 15 or 16, and that always stops me.

 

[sparkchaser]

I hear ya. I can recommend the first three. I'll buy part four eventually.