Who is your favorite Horus Heresy Author?

[KJB]

McNeill and A D-B for me, although Nick Kyme did a good job with Promethean Sun - hopefully he'll get a crack at a full Salamander heresy novel sometime soon

[Lord Lorne Walkier]

Dan Abnett. Horus Rising, is the best HH novel to me . Before that book i had very little respect for the Son's of Horus or the Emperors Children. I really like the characters he created, Loken, Lil Horus, The Half Heard.

[Valtonis]

Dan Abnett –

Horus Rising – Like

Legion – Dislike

Prospero Burns – Dislike

 

Graham McNeill –

False Gods – Like

Fulgrim – Like

Mechanicum – Like

A Thousand Sons – Like

The Outcast Dead – Dislike

 

Ben Counter –

Galaxy in Flames – Like

Battle for the Abyss – Dislike

 

James Swallow –

The Flight of the Eisenstein – Like

Nemesis – Dislike

 

Mitchel Scanlon –

Descent of Angels – Like

 

Mike Lee –

Fallen Angels – Like

 

Aaron Dembski-Bowden –

The First Heretic – Like

Aurelian – Like

 

Gav Thorpe –

Deliverance Lost – Like

 

Nick Kyme -

Promethean Sun – Like

 

 

Did that list to let myself see how i rate the novels, of course there are different variations of Like and Dislike.

 

So Graham NcNeil would be my favourite, i've enjoyed all except one of his books alot.

ADB and Gav Thorpe would be joint second due to just having 1 full novel out both of which i enjoyed the most out of the series

James Swallow and Ben Counter would be joint fourth as i really enjoyed one of their 2 novels (each)

[Brother Nihm]

Bill King,

 

Waittaminnit!

 

Apart from the miss-step which was Prospero Burns - Abnett, hands down. McNeill being a close second.

[Ubermensch Commander]

Don't have a single favorite, it varies from book to book.

 

I loved Abnett's work in the first 3 books, the "Horus Trilogy" if you will, but loathe his work for Prospero Burns and Legion.

Meanwhile, Mcheil's A Thousand Sons was, IMO, terrific, while Mechanicum was ultimately forgettable.

James Swallow with Flight of Eisenstein=solid. Nemesis=bloody awesome.

 

Valtonis...wow. Nice layout! I should have copied that! hahah!

[Crimson Hawk]

ADB :ph34r:

[Clewz]

Its a tough choice but I think ADB pips it for me just by the fact that I was so glued to TFH that I read it in one sitting.

[Gunslinger87]

I love Abnett's work and Horus Rising has to be one of my favourit Sci-Fi novels altogether, Legion was a masterpiece and even though Prospero Burns wasnt what I was expecting, looking back (or more importantly listening to the audiobook) it was a great novel. A D-B has been phenomenal so far and I have a feeling our Gold editions of Aurelian will be proper collectibles one day when he acheives stardom. These two statements might make my choice of favourite HH author surprising, especially since his writing for the Ultramarines (which I play and have reservations about his interprettation) has been widely questioned. McNeill's Fulgrim simply can't be overlooked. As a standalone novel, it has so much depth it is breathtaking. As a piece in a larger puzzle, honestly? It outshines the rest.... and that is for one novel alone. False Gods built greatly on HR (and ask everyone who read Galaxy in Flames, that it is hard to follow up a great novel) and A Thousand Sons was almost as epic and tragic as the fall of the emperor's children.

 

I've previously said both Abnett and A D-B in similar polls. But while I still think Abnett and McNeill edge A D-B simply because they have "hit" more times so far, as I've read through Fulgrim again recently, I have to go back to McNeill.

 

PS But picking a favourite is moot in the end. The whole beauty of 30K is that tthe premise rocks, and there are several great authors behind. Imagine we had to wait for several years for each book, because they were written by only one (albeit lets say our favourite author?) not talking about the probable lack of depth and possibility of specialization... i'd take the current format any day.

 

Especially if it gives us the likes of Deliverance Lost, the 2 amazing short story collections, or other gold like Flight of the Eisenstein...

 

PS This all might change once Know No Fear completely rocks on toast.

 

PPS And I didn't even get into why Mechanicum and Outcast Dead should be cut some slack... once we get the whole picture, the breadth will be appreciated, you'll see.

[Wrath of Terra]

I don't get all the hate for Prospero Burns.

 

Sure it didn't portray the Space Wolves as a glorified stag party looking for the next drink and/or fight like some people seem to prefer to think of them but I really like what Abnett did with them. I liked how he took his time to introduce them and didn't go in in a blaze of bolter porn.

 

And let's face it - the Thousands Sons are small fry in game terms - one novel was enough to get them out of the way and keep them to just cameos from now on.

 

Space Wolves are one of the pillars of the 40K settings and should be lavished with attention to flesh them out and I liked that Abnett took his time to flesh out the background to them and help give them an edgier, grittier air than the one-dimensional drunken Space Vikings thing.

 

For me Abnett and ADB are tied in first place.

 

A good distance back is McNeil - a good writer in his own right (see what I did there...!?) but who's unfortunate enough to be up against the two best.

 

A huge distance behind him is most of the rest.

 

And last by an even huger distance is Thorpe. Hands down.

[Ubermensch Commander]

I don't get all the hate for Prospero Burns.

 

 

Space Wolves are one of the pillars of the 40K settings and should be lavished with attention to flesh them out and I liked that Abnett took his time to flesh out the background to them and help give them an edgier, grittier air than the one-dimensional drunken Space Vikings thing.

 

While this may get off topic, perhaps I can elaborate.

 

1) The introduction of an unnecessary "A DAEMON DID IT! MWAHAHAHA!" as cause for much of the strife between the Sons and the Wolves.

It tread on the well established Russ/Magnus dynamic. It has always been Russ' hatred of (dark) book learnins and his personal disgust of Magnus that lead to his eagerness to assault Propsero and burn it down. Even in other HH books we have Horus and others remarking how with just a little nudge Leman Russ believed that the Emperor wanted Magnus broken and his Legion destroyed, not just brought to Terra, changing "show up with warrant for arrest" to "Red Team Go!." To try and downplay that for a somewhat uninspired route and with such insipid moments of yelling into the face of someone who may or may not be an agent of Magnus' and may or may not be in pyschic contact with the Crimson King to "offer him a chance to beg for mercy" was poorly handled. It touches on point 3, I suppose, but again it felt forced and a bit jarring trying to show that the Wolves actually had a deeper, sensitive side...yet still try to claim, with pride, to be the Emperor's executioners.

 

2) The Daemon felt crowbarred in and did not suspend my disbelief. So with all that security at the Trial of a heavily psychic Primarch and Legion of suspected Sorcerers...no one noticed the Daemon, or the mind control of a Custodes? Even if they had not noticed that it was a foul entity, surely there would have been repercussions on the marine who mind whammied a Custodes. In addition, the power is reproted to be about names, and related to what the protagonist knows...but the protagonist did not KNOW the Custodes exceptionally long name or where is was on his body, so how did the Daemon mind control him while Bjorn gets an out due to a translation? This sat very ill with me Vache, Kuh, or Cow, its still cow. Same name. It very much came off as a cop out for plot device sake and to pump up a named character.

 

3) Unbelievable "depth" of Space Wolves. So Abnett kept having the Wolves say things like "we are really self controlled" and "its all an act"...yet have scenes where they lounge on deck panting like animals and barking and howling. It felt like he was trying to appease two camps: Space Wolves as savage warriors and Space Wolves as really deeper than anyone thought. Did not work IMO. At all.

 

In short his "fleshing" felt forced and false, changing background unnecessarily to give them "depth" which apparently means changing their character, in ways that came off as eye brow raising. Same issue I had with Legion incidentally. I did not care of the an unnecessary "new" direction nor the manner in which it was implemented.

Compare with The First Heretic, where we get a deeper understanding of how the Word Bearers work and think, while still maintaining true to their character without making wide sweeping changes. Again the tension between Primarchs is central to the conflict and although a Daemon shows up, it is wholly unrelated to Lorgars hatred of Guilliman.

[Memnoch]

ADB by far. First Heretic is so awesome as soon as I finished it I read it cover to cover again straight away. Which I have never done with any other book ever.

 

McNeill for Fulgrim and Last Church would be a distant second.

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

I think Wolf at the Door is my preferred portrayal of Wolves in the 30k series so far.

 

Brutal but not stupid, and no gimp masks (i do understand the precedence for the masks, but still not a fan).

 

WLK

[Wrath of Terra]

I don't get all the hate for Prospero Burns.

 

 

Space Wolves are one of the pillars of the 40K settings and should be lavished with attention to flesh them out and I liked that Abnett took his time to flesh out the background to them and help give them an edgier, grittier air than the one-dimensional drunken Space Vikings thing.

 

While this may get off topic, perhaps I can elaborate.

 

1) The introduction of an unnecessary "A DAEMON DID IT! MWAHAHAHA!" as cause for much of the strife between the Sons and the Wolves.

It tread on the well established Russ/Magnus dynamic. It has always been Russ' hatred of (dark) book learnins and his personal disgust of Magnus that lead to his eagerness to assault Propsero and burn it down. Even in other HH books we have Horus and others remarking how with just a little nudge Leman Russ believed that the Emperor wanted Magnus broken and his Legion destroyed, not just brought to Terra, changing "show up with warrant for arrest" to "Red Team Go!." To try and downplay that for a somewhat uninspired route and with such insipid moments of yelling into the face of someone who may or may not be an agent of Magnus' and may or may not be in pyschic contact with the Crimson King to "offer him a chance to beg for mercy" was poorly handled. It touches on point 3, I suppose, but again it felt forced and a bit jarring trying to show that the Wolves actually had a deeper, sensitive side...yet still try to claim, with pride, to be the Emperor's executioners.

 

2) The Daemon felt crowbarred in and did not suspend my disbelief. So with all that security at the Trial of a heavily psychic Primarch and Legion of suspected Sorcerers...no one noticed the Daemon, or the mind control of a Custodes? Even if they had not noticed that it was a foul entity, surely there would have been repercussions on the marine who mind whammied a Custodes. In addition, the power is reproted to be about names, and related to what the protagonist knows...but the protagonist did not KNOW the Custodes exceptionally long name or where is was on his body, so how did the Daemon mind control him while Bjorn gets an out due to a translation? This sat very ill with me Vache, Kuh, or Cow, its still cow. Same name. It very much came off as a cop out for plot device sake and to pump up a named character.

 

3) Unbelievable "depth" of Space Wolves. So Abnett kept having the Wolves say things like "we are really self controlled" and "its all an act"...yet have scenes where they lounge on deck panting like animals and barking and howling. It felt like he was trying to appease two camps: Space Wolves as savage warriors and Space Wolves as really deeper than anyone thought. Did not work IMO. At all.

 

In short his "fleshing" felt forced and false, changing background unnecessarily to give them "depth" which apparently means changing their character, in ways that came off as eye brow raising. Same issue I had with Legion incidentally. I did not care of the an unnecessary "new" direction nor the manner in which it was implemented.

Compare with The First Heretic, where we get a deeper understanding of how the Word Bearers work and think, while still maintaining true to their character without making wide sweeping changes. Again the tension between Primarchs is central to the conflict and although a Daemon shows up, it is wholly unrelated to Lorgars hatred of Guilliman.

 

 

Note to self - don't open mouth in future.

[Brother Pullo]

1st place for me is Abnett (Horus Rising, Legion).

 

2nd place for Dembski-Bowden, whose "The First Heretic" really blew me away.

[Mykra]

It's nice that I can list three to four authors who have a legit shot at best book. The Black Library has come a long way since some of the barely-above-fandom books and Johnny's First Space Wolf Book I read in the past. Throne, don't get me talking about the Blood Angel abominations on the shelves, either.

 

I'd have to say Graham McNeill gets my vote right now as he took a chapter I couldn't care less about and made me love them more than my Angels who I have been plunking around with since I bought Rogue Trader in Waldenbooks when I was like eight. False Gods was also a very strong read.

 

James Swallow, shockingly, would get my second or third vote as Flight of the Eisenstein was absolutely fantastic. I never thought I would end up giving that guy props.

 

Abnett is of course amazing, and a 'bad' book by him is still better than most 40K books you will pick up. I really liked Legion, I have nothing for or against the Space Wolves but I found Prospero Burns lacking after McNeill knocked the TS half out of the park, and he of course started the series out with a bang.

 

Edit: I'd love to see Bowden's World Eater book he was pushing as well. I think they have a lot of potential there.

 

With all the other books that have come out lately (and re-reading Elaine Cunningham's series for her triumphant return this year!) I'm a book or two behind on the HH. Really looking forward to the Raven Guard book as a lot of people who can't stand Thorpe have been telling me it's excellent. Truth, or baiting me into the same pain? We shall see.

[Legio Draconis]

For me the two best books of the series so far are The Flight of the Eisenstien and Legion. But having said that I couldn't pick my favourite author if you paid me. With each book a little more of what happened during the Heresy is revealed, new hero's rise as others fall and the future is written in the blood of innocents. This road leads to Terra and until Horus is a smoking corpse, the Emperor a corpse God and The Scouring has begun I will reserve my judgement on who was the best till then.

[Droma]

1st for me is ADB, I've enjoyed all his books so far.

2nd is Abnett. He used to be my favorite but I haven't enjoyed his some of his newest stuff quite so much. Still a very good author.

3rd is Sandy Mitchel. I love the Ciaphas Cain novels and he writes some good inquisition stuff.

4th is a tossup between McNeil and Thorp I like some of their stuff and loathe others.

[Týr]

It think it changes for me.

 

Right now i'm reading the First Heretic again, and really dig ADB's writing.

 

But I have always had a soft spot for Dan Abnett. Mostly because of Prospero Burns, which is the ultimate book about The Rout in my opinion.

Then again Graham MacNeil also is a fantastic writer in my book. My favourites by him are probably Mechanicum, Outcast dead and of course A Thousand Sons.

 

The first place changes between ADB and Dan Abnett with MacNeil on a secure second place right after the other two.

 

It's really hard to choose between any on them, because they are very very different in their approach. MacNeil has a habbit of fleshing out existing fluff, or introducing completely new stuff into what we already know.

Dan Abnett on the other hand creates all new stuff we haven't seen before, and invents the fluff instead of expanding it.

 

And ADB seems like a big 40k fan at heart, so he keeps to the established lore. Fx in the First Heretic we see bikes and other stuff we know, unlike in many other books that are more unorthodox in the troops gear. Don't think this is bad. I really like his approach.

And of course he just rocks with some awesome characters and character development.

 

All in all what I try to say is, they are very different and I find it hard to like one more than the other.

[ZeitgeistGlee]

ADB for top spot easily given he has yet to write a bad, or even average piece, TFH, Aurelian and Savage Weapons are fantastic reads.

 

Runner-Up is a toss-up between McNeill and Abnett. Horus Rising was a brilliant start to the HH series, and still easily one of the best books in it but for me Legion and Prospero Burns just didn't work on a number of levels, particularly his penchant for non-Astartes lead characters and his portrayal of the legions themselves. I don't want to call HR a fluke, but certainly Abnett seems to have lost a bit of his spark for writing Astartes characters though his ability to write battle scenes remains top-notch. Conversely Fulgrim and Thousand Sons by McNeill were both very compelling and insightful reads into the ECs and TSs at all levels while False Gods was somewhat average compared to Horus Rising. McNeill has a real talent for creating a palpable sense of tragedy about both Magnus and Fulgrim's falls without overdoing it. Depending on how good Know No Fear is however, Abnett could very well claim second place all for himself or move down to a distinct third.

 

Flight of the Eisenstein was a really good read as well, I haven't read Nemesis (mostly because the concept doesn't particularly interest me) but hopefully Fear to Tread will be another solid addition to the series.

[Unintentional Batman]

Abnett. Legion is the really the only 40K book ever that would work as a real book removed from the 40K setting - it rises way above gaming fiction. ADB gets the second place easily with First Heretic, though - easily the secondbest book in the series, way better than Horus Rising and Prospero Burns, but Legion alone will keep Abnett on #1 spot pretty much no matter what.

 

As a more general aside, Abnett, ADB and Ian Watson are the trinity of 40K writers as a whole ;)