Took a break from HH series where should I drop back in?

[Emperor's Furor]

So the last book I read from the HH series was Praetorian of Dorn, and I wanna get back into the series but on a book that moves the story along, so basically I'm wondering whats the next big story that has an impact on the Heresy?

[Knockagh]

I did the same and decided to plunge back in. Probably in anticipation of the looming seige. I dropped out after master of mankind. I’ve been ordering the books in twos and threes to catch up, setting aside the anthologies for later but reading the novels. Have to say I’m not getting on too well. Struggled through the crimson king which was good enough but boy did he keep the story going on and on. Truely though there are so many anthologies from PoD to now that if your u dropped them out you would only have 7 books to read that are actual novels. Say 7 quick and it doesn’t sound too bad. Dear help anyone these days who picks up Horus Rising and says to themselves ‘I would love to finish this series!’

[bluntblade]

Maybe your best starting point is to consider which factions you really want to follow.

[Emperor's Furor]

I don't care about factions I just want to read the important parts that are already out.

[Roomsky]

I'll preface this by saying I have a hard time getting into your mindset, as I enjoy the series for how wide the setting is. I don't mean this to attack your preferences, just informing you that my list may not be entirely what you are looking for. After Praetorian of Dorn, quality notwithstanding, the "important" works are;

 

(Vague plot points to follow)

 

Weregeld (Corax) - Russ and Corax's last major appearances in series (maybe)

The Master of Mankind - The conclusion of the Webway War, and why it matters

*Tallarn - doesn't advance the plot, but the battle of Tallarn was a part of events before the series began. It is technically essential.

Ruinstorm - How the primarchs and legions of Imperium Secundus do, or don't, make it to Terra

Old Earth - Vulkan's journey to Terra, the conclusion of Meduson's plot, advancement of the Cabal's plot

Wolfsbane - Why Russ is not on Terra

 

I'll also give my list of things released since PoD I would personally recommend, based on quality rather than content:

All the anthologies

The Master of Mankind

Corax IF you liked Deliverance Lost

The Crimson King IF you're a fan of Mcneill

Tallarn

Slaves to Darkness

The Primarchs Series

[Emperor's Furor]

I got all the limited edition novellas, the last raven guard story I read involved the raptors coming to the aid of some space wolves and things not quite ending well, is weregeld another story?

[Roomsky]

I got all the limited edition novellas, the last raven guard story I read involved the raptors coming to the aid of some space wolves and things not quite ending well, is weregeld another story?

 

Weregeld is basically a direct sequel to that story, tying up some of the questions raised in that book as well as the other Corax LE's. Weregeld is a novella like Soulforge and Ravenlord, and was only released as a part of the Corax anthology.

[Indefragable]

I take it you did the Scars and Path of Heaven thing?

[mr.crusader]

I would say almost every novel is important. Especially the last ones. 

Go get The Master of Mankind, you wouldn't be disappointed. 

[Karhedron]

I would say Crimson King is fairly important for explaining how the Thousand Sons end up on Horus' side. IIRC in Magnus' last appearance prior to this book, they were still maintaining their neutrality and Horus was dubious about Lorgar's assertion that Magnus would come over to their side.

 

You might want to hold off on Slaves to Darkness. Apparently is it set after Titan Death which is not due out until December although i don't know if it references it directly.

[Xisor]

Despite being a completist, myself, and trying to do everything tmin the "right" order, I'm lately a convert to ad-hoc do-as-you-please.

 

I don't do it myself. Yet. But I think it is a good ideal.

 

For my part, the big question is "what do I lose if I skip this?", which I can only answer after the fact.

 

Corax: Weregeld (assuming you'd read the rest) is a good read. Not much strictly happening, but a good view of Corax and Russ, and pals. I don't *love* Gav's Heresy contributions, but I have a huge amouny of time for his writing, and I like his more-sober, dryer, less-melodramatic approach to the Heresy. Skippable, but if you're well disposed to Gav's stuff, well worth a shot.

 

Master of Mankind: don't skip this. Don't let your expectations run wild either, but it is a great (for my tastes) sidelong look at Terra and lots of off-piste stuff. Very worthwhile. If you've not listened to or read "The Sigilite", I'd say they complement each othrr nicely, even if they don't strictly fot together neatly.

 

Garro: it's an intriguing damn thing. Jim Swallow writes in a really pleasing, 'simple' styles. It sounds disparaging, but it is a style and quality I really admire and, as an amateur with vague pretensions towards writing, aspire to. The story itself I enjoyed, though I feel it is also eminently skippable, purely to do with choice of topic.

 

Shattered Legions: skippable if you don't care about the SLs, or the Meduson arc. Some very enjoyable stories in it, however, and a fair variety of takes and presentations. Guy Haley's Salamander stories are, in my esteem, must-reads. But they're irrelevant to 'the main story', they're just extraordinarily good stories.

 

The Crimson King: totally skippable. If you really care about Magnus, go straight to John French's Arhiman series. If you really enjoy McNeill's work: this is a must read. (If, like me, you've a bee-filled bonnet where McNeill's Heresy work is concerned: see what I said about skipping!)

 

Tallarn: I loved these. Proper 'worms'-eye' view of the Heresey. And important because of that. But if that doesn't appeal, or you don't care for the Iron Warriors even in vague principle, then it's sadly skippable. But you shouldn't skip it, it's ace. Re-evaluate your life and align yourself better to my opinions, damn it.

 

Ruinstorm: Unskippable. I sometimes struggle with Annandale's choices and styles, but here it worked very well. More: it joins things up in a far better fashion than similar attempts have, err, attempted. (Like 'Unremembered Empire'.) It's not a perfect novel, either for my tastes or for my efforts at objectivity, but all the same: I really enjoyed it. And I'd be keen to reinforce my pleasant surprise at that. Big plot focus for the series too. You could almost skip all the Imperium Secundus stuff straight to Ruinstorm!

 

Old Earth: Skip. What happens to Vulkan is only plot relevant insofar as how it is able to be forgotten well after the fact. I love speculating on it, and seeing it explored, but given that it has to disappear in the end, we can also live without knowing.

 

Not read beyond Old Earth, but I've heard Wolfsbane is damn good. So I look forward to that.

[DukeLeto69]

I too used to read EVERYTHING published for the HH. However, the sheer volume and variable quality has meant over time that I too now skip (though still buy) some novels and some shorts within anthologies. I have FOMO at times but just can't bring myself to read everything anymore, especially as there is only so many free hours in a day and so many books (other than HH) that I want to read.

[b1soul]

If you haven't, read Scars and Path of Heaven

[R_F_D]

I stopped reading stuff as soon as it came out around the time of Scars was published.  And despite the fact I still buy everything as soon as it is released I am currently on reading plot threads I am interested in as they develop, so as @b1soul says Scars then Path of Heaven but that thread can be flesh out by reading the following:

Jaghatai Khan: Warhawk of Chogoris, Brotherhood of the Storm, Scars, Brotherhood of The Moon, Allegiance, Grey Talon, The Path of Heaven, The Last Son of Prospero, Restorer.

 

I find Tymell's website really helpful in working out what I should read next https://sites.google.com/site/tymellsheresy/legion-timelines

[Emperor's Furor]

Yeah I've read all the Scars stuff, I've just read Master of Mankind and Ruinstorm so I'm looking to move on to the next one, I've read all the Salamanders ones prior to Old Earth so it's either that or move on to Wolfsbane.

[bluntblade]

Old Earth seems to mostly cause indifference or pain, depending on how much you care about the Iron Hands.

[Biscuittzz]

Finished Ruinstorm and it was hit or miss for me. Way too much time focussing in on Sanguinius' inner reflections and dreams etc rather than what is happening all around him, although the connection between the warp and reality was written well. Ending was too vague and what is supposedly a massive turning point during the HH was decided upon and wrapped up in literally a page.

 

Spoilers for Ruinstorm and semi-spoilers/plot points for Slaves to Darkness below.

 

We've known from before this series started that BA are present at the Siege and that the Ultramarines and Dark Angels were supposedly making all due haste to race to get there too. Ruinstorm now fills it out that the UM are to 'break open' the way to Terra for the BA, which is believable, but upon reading Slaves to Darkness all there seems to be in the way is a rearguard of Iron Warriors, who are a shadow of the Iron Warriors Legion at the start of the HH. Seems quite minuscule for the entirety of the UM legion to tackle ( granted they did leave a portion of strength back in Ultramar, but are still be far the largest legion at over 100,000). 

 

The Dark Angels take the route of going off to destroy all the traitor homeworlds thinking that Horus and the other crazed primarchs who probably don't even remember their homeworlds ( I'm talking Angron and Fulgrim here) will divide their forces to counter this. Just doesn't seem likely. Surely the DA could've joined the BA at Terra? Dark Angels were bloodied after the Thramas Crusade but still had quite a substantial force, larger than the BA iirc

 

Just seems that a pivotal moment in the entire HH and has been speculated on for years ( The Lion is a traitor waiting to pick a side etc.) was wrapped up so fast and innocuously that it's just not believable.

 

TLDR, the fact we know already that the BA make it to Terra leaves little in the way of making a story out of Ruinstorm and the other massive plot points that have been asked for years are wrapped up as an oversight.

[Marshal Rohr]

I think it’s not that the Iron Warriors don’t have the necessary men and materiel to hold back the Ultras, it’s that they’ve spent up their stores and the Warmaster isn’t allocating anything new for them. I could be wrong, but that’s how I read it. Also consider it serves as a plot device to drive home the IW predicament, it need not be restrictive in our own backgrounds

[DarkChaplain]

TLDR, the fact we know already that the BA make it to Terra leaves little in the way of making a story out of Ruinstorm and the other massive plot points that have been asked for years are wrapped up as an oversight.

 

That's not how I've read it, frankly. Ruinstorm is exactly about the internal struggles of those three Primarchs (and Curze). Sanguinius' reflections and visions were the point of his arc, not the fighting he'd do. Guilliman's struggle with temptation and using the enemy's weapons against him was the point. The Lion's struggle was with his own wrath and the need to accept the utter wickedness of what they're truly up against. That was the point.

The book was about three Legions making their way towards Terra, but it was mainly about their differences in approach, mentality, opinion. It was about how they strive towards the same goal, all in their own fashion. It was about the Primarchs being tested in ways that were rather specific to them, feeding into their own biases and tendencies and forcing them to re-evaluate those. Everything they're fighting against is a test, an examination of their characters as they encounter more and more insiduous warp-shenanigans.

 

To me, that sounds far more compelling and engaging than just reading about how they sailed the warp and fought some daemons in their way and that vague, esoteric tone a lot of the book was trying to hit actually worked pretty well in contrast to, say, Fear to Tread, which also heavily features daemonic elements.  It was all about fighting back against the warp, acknowledging its power while refusing to bow to its suggestive nature.

I honestly don't know what massive plot points needed to be tackled here that weren't.