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Are the Horus Heresy books slowing down?


zyx

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Hail Brethren,

 

I've read all of the HH books, and I was blown away by those up to "Fulgrim" which was a triumphant climax to what had been written before. After them I just found everything to become disjointed, and that the pace REALLY slowed down.

Don't get me wrong, "Mechanicum" and "Legion" were very cool, but so stand alone that they didn't contribute to the tension that was building up until they came along.

Initially, I kinda liked the jumpy time line idea, that going back in time could add layers to our understanding of these fallen heroes. Now I'm wondering if it was a mistake.

I'm thinking it would be cool to read them in chronological order when they are all finally released.

I'm hopeful for what's coming (the Space Wolves Vs. 1K Sons diptich), but am still left worrying that the flow has been broken, and by the time we get back into the real meat of the Heresy it'll seem like an overdue pay off.

 

What are your views, and how can the punchiness be brought back?

I agree with you they did kinda jump around after Fulgrim. If you have and i beleve you have looked on the black libary sight you will see the wolves are poised to strike next year as well as a few others. I too look forward to the next in line and rereading in proper order.
next year we are getting back on track, theres 2x Sw vs TS novels on the way. (i hope each novel tells the tale from each side). and Nemisis which is about BigE sending assassins to kill Horus and vice versa. so all 3 of those storys seem to be back in line after the events of Istvaan. woohoo! we have alot of events to cover as well post Istvaan and pre seige of terra, including some fluff the BA's sent to the hell world of signus prime, and the battle for Calath (spelling) with the Urltrasmurfs and the World bearers (BftA was a prelude to this)... so yeah. there have been some deviations from the main story arch but we seem to be getting back on track in 2010...
next year we are getting back on track, theres 2x Sw vs TS novels on the way. (i hope each novel tells the tale from each side). and Nemisis which is about BigE sending assassins to kill Horus and vice versa. so all 3 of those storys seem to be back in line after the events of Istvaan. woohoo! we have alot of events to cover as well post Istvaan and pre seige of terra, including some fluff the BA's sent to the hell world of signus prime, and the battle for Calath (spelling) with the Urltrasmurfs and the World bearers (BftA was a prelude to this)... so yeah. there have been some deviations from the main story arch but we seem to be getting back on track in 2010...

 

Yes the novels will run parralel with each other "A Thousand Sons" fork 1K Sons and "Prospero Burns" for SW, and they are being written by two of the ruinous BL powers

Therein lies the problem when you have so many different authors creating, what in effect, is one huge tale.

 

I don;t think it's a case of slowing down, I think it's more a case that certain authors don't favour the fast and frantic style or they don't think it suitable for their take on a certain organisation or Legion.

 

Also, the fact that the novels like Legion or even Mechanicum don't focus on a proper period of warfare, like certain of the Sons of Horus books (a la murder) means that the 'action' involved is less war-oriented and so appears slower.

 

To be perfectly honest, the only book that had too slow a pace was DoA but thats a whole other, old, can of worms.

Therein lies the problem when you have so many different authors creating, what in effect, is one huge tale.

 

I don;t think it's a case of slowing down, I think it's more a case that certain authors don't favour the fast and frantic style or they don't think it suitable for their take on a certain organisation or Legion.

 

Also, the fact that the novels like Legion or even Mechanicum don't focus on a proper period of warfare, like certain of the Sons of Horus books (a la murder) means that the 'action' involved is less war-oriented and so appears slower.

 

To be perfectly honest, the only book that had too slow a pace was DoA but thats a whole other, old, can of worms.

 

You see i think having several different authors is a good thing because it gives a broader depth the the universe in which these stories are created, i can't see for example Dan Abnett wanting to have written them all.

 

In regards to Legion and Mechanicum i believe that they were excellent stories and they focused on period and reasoning, Mechanicum was the perfect genesis novel for the Dark Mechanicum and I also think that Legion was a novel needed to explain the Alpha Legions reasoning for turning at Istvan III.

 

I will agree that DoA was, truth be told, the weakest of all the novels so far but was also a good starting point for Fallen Angels. And I have yet to read it so i'm interested to see how Mike Lee responds to DoA so roll on Xmas lol.

I feel like they are a little but I'm still enjoying them, recently finished reading Tales of Heresy and Fallen Angels. Although I think Prospero Burns will make up for all that :)

 

The only ones I find bothered me in the series were Descent of Angels and Fallen Angels, just kind of annoyed me and slowed down my reading of the series as I didn't find them that interesting.

Therein lies the problem when you have so many different authors creating, what in effect, is one huge tale.

 

I don;t think it's a case of slowing down, I think it's more a case that certain authors don't favour the fast and frantic style or they don't think it suitable for their take on a certain organisation or Legion.

 

Also, the fact that the novels like Legion or even Mechanicum don't focus on a proper period of warfare, like certain of the Sons of Horus books (a la murder) means that the 'action' involved is less war-oriented and so appears slower.

 

To be perfectly honest, the only book that had too slow a pace was DoA but thats a whole other, old, can of worms.

 

You see i think having several different authors is a good thing because it gives a broader depth the the universe in which these stories are created, i can't see for example Dan Abnett wanting to have written them all.

 

In regards to Legion and Mechanicum i believe that they were excellent stories and they focused on period and reasoning, Mechanicum was the perfect genesis novel for the Dark Mechanicum and I also think that Legion was a novel needed to explain the Alpha Legions reasoning for turning at Istvan III.

 

I will agree that DoA was, truth be told, the weakest of all the novels so far but was also a good starting point for Fallen Angels. And I have yet to read it so i'm interested to see how Mike Lee responds to DoA so roll on Xmas lol.

 

I don't think it's a problem, per se, but it does effect the pace of the saga and it can lead to conflicting styles that some people wouldnt enjoy.

Regarding the OP, while I sympathise with your predicament, both McNeil and Abnett have expressed in interviews that the events described in the Heresy series are going to revolve around much, much more than simply the actions of Horus and his one-way trip to Terra.

 

Personally, I hope they flesh things out as much as possible - I love reading about the different things going on at that time, and I'm pretty sure the writers enjoy creating stories which have some variation from their usual 40k material. I recently watched a BL TV interview with Abnett where he spoke of how much fun it was to be able to write outside the stricter confines of the 40k world which is so well documented.

 

The Heresy wasn't somthing that happened overnight - it had been years in the brewing, and the events during the civil war itself lasted for 7 years. Perhaps the most exciting thing about that is that other than for smatterings of stories from Collected Visions, we know very little of the various battles which took place over that period! So far it has delved into the History of the Dark Angels, the fall of Mars, clandestine activities of a hitherto unknown legion, and even the nature of Brotherhood in Battle for the Abyss. But there is much, much more we do not know, and the books so far have only scratched the surface.

 

We all know that eventually we will be reading about the punch-up between Horus and the Emp - but the Heresy is the most important, epic and sweeping event in the History of the game universe and IMO it deserves as much material and as many books as possible! :)

Just to sicken you all Descent of Angels was my favorite book so far..

 

Yes Im serious.

 

I just read it yesterday.

 

I'm glad someone else said it. I thought this was a great book. I really liked seeing just normal human heroes roughing it with power armor, bolt pistols, and chainswords. You need stuff like that too gain full appreciation of the astartes fiction. In fact, I found myself a little disappointed at the rushed pace once Zahariel and Nemiel are made astartes. I think the neutered, "this then that" quick-pace that followed kind of shows what's wrong with most astartes-based BL writing. Astartes characters are just two-dimensional so often. Especially the primarchs, geez.

I argee that the series has slowed down in a way that were not getting book after book of major events in order teh first 5 are fantastic and help give two directions as to how this all happened. the otherbooks perticually Machanicuim (spl?) provide more of what is happening while the events of the first 5 are happening. I must say i didnt understand Desent of Angels when i read it untill i read fallen angels when it just kinda clicked.

 

At the moment all the books are dealling with the first opening blows and some appear to have a wider and further back reaching reason than others thiers going to be atlest another DA book because they have to meet up with Russ and his wolves to journey to Terra and other things like the fighting on Tallern, and every other planet and sector as Horus and his allies trail blaze to Terra aswell as a few serpises to keep us all on our toes.

 

I think thier are lots more books to come perhaps 100 to pick a number out of my head before the sereis finishs as such and even then well get the odd little bit here and thier so dont worry about it "slowing down" were still in the formative stages of the series

 

thats my thought anyways

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