Review: Horus Rising

Horus Rising by Dan Abnett
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'll speak on the overview of this series first. This is book one of what currently at over 50 books on the time period of the Horus Heresy. This book starts just before the larger events that encompass the war between the Chaos tainted legions under Horus versus the Imperium of Man. This story is similar to the fall of Lucifer in the Judeo-Christian religions. The chosen child of god is tasked with leading his army while god occupies himself with the creation of another project. The difference being we are told that Lucifer rebels and brings other with him because of pride. With Horus his fall is because of fear. Fear of not being able to live up to the expectations that come with accomplishing the task his father has left him to do,

This plays out in this book in the later half. The problem with this book is that it reads like a book by committee. The first half is an introduction that has it's characters doing their job. Then something they have never experienced happens and they start to panic. Then something they are extremely familiar with happens and they are happy. Finally they learn something new but don't understand it because they are predisposed to a dogma they are unwilling to overcome. That unwillingness leads to the cliffhanger of the book.

All of that is fine if you are someone familiar with Warhammer 40K lore. I am such a person so I was fine with it but someone who is not may not be as enthused to read the next in this series. I've read better stuff from this writer which is why I wasn't too keen on this book. That comes back to the writing by committee. I think there were others who influenced his thinking on this book. That showed in his writing which slowed down the flow of this book. The parts that dragged were heavy, the rest of it was what I expected from such a skilled writer. Overall if you are familiar with the Horus Heresy, Warhammer 40K and much of what happens after this series this book is a must read. While the ending may not be the best the implications of it spawn another 50 plus books. If that won't sell you on this I don't know what will.

I read this book via NetGalley. I thank them for this book. #HorusRising #NetGalley

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For the blog I've added this video from The Vaults of Terra channel. They have done some of the best videos on Warhammer 40K. I don't know why they stopped making videos but this is still one of the best on Youtube.