First Three Were the Best

[Devon M]

I feel like the first three books were hands down the best. Loken and his story were by far the best, and I think part of it is because, since there were three books, the characters had time to develop.

These single books are okay. They are entertaining, but I don't think they have the captivity and feeling of a Heresy book that the first three did.

I would like the BL to make another trilogy about the Sons of Horus, and their view of everything leading up to the Siege of Terra. And then maybe some more single books, and then a series of 4-5 books revolving around the Siege and what was happening with all of the legions at that time even if they weren't present.

To me it just seems like they are dragging things out and producing books that aren't really any different then normal books.

[igotsmeakabob!!]

Nope, rock out the rest.. the only one I didn't like was the first Dark Angels book.

 

Legion, though odd in its writing style, ended up being my favorite.

[Donkey Kong]

The First three were a trilogy, and a very well executed one. The singles have their ups and downs. Flight of the Eisenstein can sort of be linked to the first trilogy as a needed continuation. Fulgrim was my personal favorite and since it had characters from the first trilogy had plenty of the development done already.

 

I haven't read Fallen Angels but I hear it makes Descent of Angels more important to the series as a whole. Honestly, I didn't totally enjoy Descent.

 

Battle of the Abyss was very linear and boring. However, for what it was worth, it wasn't a half bad read.

Legion was very, very good. Even though it was a stand alone. I think what really made this one stand out was the majority taking place from the perspective of army officers.

Mechanicum was . . . Mechanicum was unique. It wasn't necessarily bad, but I wasn't blown away by it.

 

Tales of Heresy was, again, linear but worthwhile. The stories were pretty interesting to read and even though I didn't finish all of them.

 

The upcoming Prospero Burns and A Thousand Sons I expect to be another one of those excellent pairs.

 

When push comes to shove, almost every event present in the Horus Heresy books is pretty key to the Horus Heresy.

 

The first three cover Horus's fall and Isstvan III.

FotE covers Garro's race to the Emperor.

Fulgrim covers Fulgrim's fall from grace and Isstvan V Massacre

Descent of Angels covers the origins of the Dark Angels, I can't say anything about Fallen Angels.

Legion covers the Alpha Legion's drive.

Mechanicum covers the beginning of the Dark Mechanicus

 

Battle for the Abyss covers the destruction of the Word Bearer ship that may have devastated the Ultramarines.

 

Tales of Heresy suffers from the disease that plagues all short story collections, it simply doesn't have a true plot. You have, quite simply, a bunch of short stories. For example, the Animatrix was pretty damn good. But, it didn't have a full story.

 

Prospero Burns and A Thousand Sons will be covering the Space Wolves attack on Prospero.

 

The Chaos Legions view at this point really just seem to be "The Emperor is wrong and Horus shall be the new Emperor!" The Emperor's Children's fall was a tragedy because you had the picture perfect warriors falling into even worse obsession.

 

Furthermore, Legions such as the Blood Angels, Salamanders, White Scars, Night Lords, Imperial Fists, Iron Warriors and Raven Guard have gone mostly ignored.

 

Yes the Blood Angels were mentioned in the first trilogy, but their presence could very easily have been replaced by another Legion.

The Raven Guard do have an audio book coming called Raven's Flight, so that may cover some things.

The Imperial Fists and Night Lords are in The Lightning Tower and The Dark King audiobook.

 

To say that a single book isn't enough time for a character to develop is a little absurd. Loken's change over the three books isn't terribly significant. Lucius has a far great evolution over the course of Fulgrim, albeit his is worse an only goes towards more and more arrogant. Loken detaches himself from the Legion over a period of time.

 

The remembrancers are some of my favorite characters as far as their evolution goes. I actually want a book entirely from a remembrancer's perspective. The event and the legion don't matter, simply a photographer visiting war zones and writers interviewing astartes would be sufficient.

 

So, no, I wouldn't say that everything after the first was a disappointment. Some may be less important to the overall story and some may be reliant on others, but they all tell their tale and it's a big tale to tell.

[c-wrex]

The story is also far from being over. I'm sure we'll see each legion and significant faction being represented at some point, with the Imperial Army, maybe the Custodes or Sisters of Silence as well. Each legion will likely have their own books. Hell, we might even see some post heresy fiction, like the formation of the codex astartes, or the Iron Cage, or the Ultramarines battle with the Alpha Legion... the list of great reads is long and will continue for some time.

[Starblayde]

For me, the trilogy to kick off with was very good, which was exceeded first by Flight of the Eisenstein and then again by Fulgrim. Descent of Angels kinda washed over me, though, while I've found Legion, at least to begin with, fairly heavy going.

[Devon M]

I'm not saying that a single book isn't long enough, I just feel that I got to know and feel for the characters more over the course of the three.

I feel like the first three hooked me to the series, and since then my interest has only gone down.

[c-wrex]

I'm not saying that a single book isn't long enough, I just feel that I got to know and feel for the characters more over the course of the three.

I feel like the first three hooked me to the series, and since then my interest has only gone down.

 

I only watched the Hero's on tv until the writer's strike. Sometimes you fall out of something. No reason to like 'em al. Just read what you want.l

[Devon M]

I know i just really like the Horus Heresy story... the fluff and all, and I wish that they would expand on it and reveal some of the secrets.

Such as *Spoiler Fallen Angels* Highlight to read

 

Everyone always thought that maybe Luther was misunderstood... but in Fallen Angels it was made clear that Luther consciously joined chaos when he chose to keep the chaos presence on caliban instead of banning it

.

[c-wrex]

Doesn't that contradict the Angels of Darkness novel by Gav Thorpe?

[Abaddon127]

I have read all of the HH series, up to "Fallen Angels." I have enjoyed them all, even "Descent of Angels"(because the Dark Angels are my favorite legion). I am looking forward to reading the story of the assault on Prospero by the Wolves (my second favorite legion). If at all possible, I'd like for there to be a few novels about the exploits of the Imperial Fists, Rogal Dorn, and Sigismund. I am alos reading the series in a strange fashion for me. I have only read each book once. My usual reading habit is to read the current books in a series multiple times, but that creates a sense of familiarity with the first books, and diminishes my enjoyment of them when read alongside each new entry. I plan to read each new book when it comes out, and once the series is finished, I will revisit them in order. Should take about 25-30 years knowing GW, should be fun though.

[Rain]

The first 3 were good, but (as has been said) I think Legion was the best. In fact, I would go so far as to say that of all BL books I have read, Legion is the only one that could appeal to fans of sci fi in general and not just 40k fans/players. I guess the Caiphas Cain books might qualify as well, but those are of a very different style from all all other BL in that they are tongue in cheek comedy.

[Yogi]

I found the first book was the best (really enjoyed it) and the rest are shadows of it..

 

Abnetts other book Legion had too much weirdness, why is alpharius a twin?.. is there even a reason for it story wise, the whole two bodies one soul is just strange, The idea of it doesn't sit well with me. Omegaman seems like angry alpharious as he is always outraged at everything

 

Also if Legion is true the chaos gods have won, and likely betrayed horus on purpose so Tzeentch can go just as planned.

[Vissah]

Yeah the first three were the best by far.

[Lord_Caerolion]

I found the first book was the best (really enjoyed it) and the rest are shadows of it..

 

Abnetts other book Legion had too much weirdness, why is alpharius a twin?.. is there even a reason for it story wise, the whole two bodies one soul is just strange, The idea of it doesn't sit well with me. Omegaman seems like angry alpharious as he is always outraged at everything

 

Also if Legion is true the chaos gods have won, and likely betrayed horus on purpose so Tzeentch can go just as planned.

 

What gave you the idea that Omegon was always angry? He seemed just as level-headed as Alpharius to me...

 

And yes, I'm another one that believes that if Legion is true, then Horus was set up by the Chaos Gods, because they saw that the Emperor winning would mean Chaos wins, and Horus winning meaning Chaos loses. After all, the Cabal knew what the two outcomes were, they just didn't know how those outcomes came about, and went for the simple "the side with the most guys has the advantage" theory. As we can see, that didn't end so well.

[igotsmeakabob!!]

I found the first book was the best (really enjoyed it) and the rest are shadows of it..

 

Abnetts other book Legion had too much weirdness, why is alpharius a twin?.. is there even a reason for it story wise, the whole two bodies one soul is just strange, The idea of it doesn't sit well with me. Omegaman seems like angry alpharious as he is always outraged at everything

 

Also if Legion is true the chaos gods have won, and likely betrayed horus on purpose so Tzeentch can go just as planned.

 

What gave you the idea that Omegon was always angry? He seemed just as level-headed as Alpharius to me...

 

And yes, I'm another one that believes that if Legion is true, then Horus was set up by the Chaos Gods, because they saw that the Emperor winning would mean Chaos wins, and Horus winning meaning Chaos loses. After all, the Cabal knew what the two outcomes were, they just didn't know how those outcomes came about, and went for the simple "the side with the most guys has the advantage" theory. As we can see, that didn't end so well.

 

The Alpha Legion still fights for the Emperor, trying to dismantle the Imperium before it's too late...

Or they became disillusioned and decided to turn to Chaos for the hell of it...

Or they decided to cruise off to another universe and left some nuts in their place...

Who knows, it's Alpha Legion! Take your pick.

[CrazyDA]

I think you should keep reading. My hands down favorite part of the Horus Heresy is the how in depth the writers go with the primarchs thoughts. Before these books, I feel most people viewed the legions that feel to chaos as terrible people that were always doing horrible things, even before they turned. I cant help but feel sorry for most of them after I put down the book. I could have sworn I felt a teardrop form when I put down Fulgrim. I remember finishing Legion at 4 in the morning simply becuase I couldn't put it down, and Im pretty sure I actually said "oh my god" to myself at the end, it was that awesome.

 

TL;DR keep reading.

[Devon M]

Crazyda... this is also one of my favorite parts is how Horus is always though of as the ultimate bad guy... but in the trilogy he is a hero who is tricked by Erebus. Though I feel that in later books, the chaos feel encroached more, such as in fulgrim.

[c-wrex]

I liked Legion and Horus Rising the best.

[Inquisitor Engel]

I'll get mauled for saying it on a power-armour forum, but outside the first three, Mechanicum was my favourite. The politics, the titans and the chapters were cut off at just the right point. It was also a refreshing change from the rest of the series, and for that I applaud it.

 

Descent of Angels was just a pain to finish, though I liked Fallen Angels quite a bit more.

 

Legion was an interesting read and gets definite points for being written from a non-Marine perspective.

 

I really didn't like the level of self-absorbtion in Fulgrim, the actual book itself. I would much rather have had some more Iron Hands woven in and had it split into two books. The Remembrancers served no purpose, plot wise and I didn't feel like I actually connected with any of the characters.

 

Battle for the Abyss was okay. Skraal kicked ass, everyone else was rather bleh to read but I did enjoy the descriptions of naval combat. Different pace gets some good points. Still, not that great.

 

I enjoyed pretty much all of Tales of Heresy.

[CrazyDA]

I really didn't like the level of self-absorbtion in Fulgrim, the actual book itself. I would much rather have had some more Iron Hands woven in and had it split into two books. The Remembrancers served no purpose, plot wise and I didn't feel like I actually connected with any of the characters.

 

 

im gonna have to disagree with you there. without giving to much away, I thought it tied in well with the OCD perfection that the Emperors Children strive for. It also helps for that final scene with Fulgrim's artwork.

 

I will agree with you on Mechanicum. although it isnt my favorite, I enjoyed it very much. the titan battes were epic, and I liked how in depth they got in regards to the "connection" between the Princeps and the Titan itself.

[Inquisitor Engel]

im gonna have to disagree with you there. without giving to much away, I thought it tied in well with the OCD perfection that the Emperors Children strive for. It also helps for that final scene with Fulgrim's artwork.

 

I meant the fact that the book was self-absorbed. It just felt like it was very much fan-service, which is something that the best books in the series are not. (Or at least, not as much as they could be given the source material and the fact that the entire series is fan service)

 

Fulgrim never seemed to look beyond its own pages for influence or to stir the pot of plot and background. Other than concrete proof that Ferrus Mannus is dead (pretty much a given anyway) it didn't ADD anything of character to the series.

 

It wove in and out of the opening trilogy, which was quite cool at first, but then it became apparent that it was doing it only in the most superficial way possible.

 

*shrug* I just thought it was a let down from a literary perspective.

[CrazyDA]

I agree with you there definetly. it didn't tie in as well as the first three did. I see the later books are more stand alone. I think they are there to build character. Im sure Fulgrim is going to be mentioned more later in the series, and those books will build of off this.