A Quick Horus Heresy Question.

[Rodiger]

Hi, quick question about Heresy series.

I've just finished reading these books and I'm wondering is there any major book I'm missing before I start the Siege of Terra?

 

Tbh I'm getting a bit worn out on it after so many consecutively, so I'm not looking for expanded back story, just the glaring ones that are important 'drive the plot forward' ones that I might have missed.

 

Despite reading that many I still don't know what happens with the Sons of Horus directly after Istvaan, which is what I was looking for back at the start ha ha.

Thanks

 

Books read:

Horus Rising

False Gods

A Thousand Sons

Galaxy in Flames

Flight of the Eisenstein

Outcast Dead

Fulgrim

The First Heretic

Know No Fear

Betrayer

Mechanicum

The Unremembered Empire

Pharos

Angels of Caliban

Praetorian of Dorn

The Master of Mankind

Slaves to Darkness

[Rob P]

I would have said Vengeful Spirit over Slaves to Darkness because it sets up uber Horus adequately without the nuance of Slaves to Darkness. But probably not now you've read StD.

 

What is necessary for plot is debatable for three reasons. (1) SoT was supposed to be an entry point for those that had missed the 50 odd HH books. So you could say, just dive in. (2) It really depends on the plot/character points you care about. (3) The series hasn't finished yet so it's not clear what character arcs are going to be focussed on. E.g. there is a Magnus book coming and you might find Thousand Sons, Prospero Burns and The Crimson King good for that. Or they might be unnecessary reads.

 

Personally, your at thay point where there is more HH left to read than not, so if it's a drag just skip to the Siege.

[Scribe]

I'd say the Scars stuff is relevant, but I can't remember which book had them + the webway stuff?

[Rodiger]

There were a couple of things I was interested in, I knew Loken comes back but I have no idea in which book that was, I have been tempted by Vulkan Lives as I read the follow up book, Unremembered Empire is it? And I quite like Magnus, so maybe I should read his follow up.

Slaves to Darkness did seem like I had jumped a bit, so Vengeful Spirit may be worth reading.

I'm not necessarily done with it all, but I've just read 17 books in a row and I think I need a break.

[DarkChaplain]

Loken happened in pieces. His first showing in a novel was Vengeful Spirit, but his actual retrieval happened in Garro: Legion of One (part of Garro: Weapon of Fate), which was followed by Grey Angel and Luna Mendax, which are in The Silent War. That anthology also sets up the bridge between The Outcast Dead and Vengeful Spirit and includes a few stories closer to Terra / Sol.

After Vengeful Spirit, Loken factors into The Buried Dagger, which also moves the Death Guard to the Siege arc.

 

Other than that, I'd argue Ruinstorm would be a good read, since you're already through Angels of Caliban, and Ruinstorm deals with some questions regarding Sanguinius, Guilliman and the Lion that loom over the Siege. On top of that, I'd recommend Heralds of the Siege, which has some important character setup for the Siege itself.

 

If you need a break, I'd highly recommend stepping out of the Heresy series in general for a bit, though. Maybe tuck in something completely different within the franchise, like the new Warhammer Crime novel Bloodlines, or some Warhammer Horror - switching it up is important, otherwise the series will just become stale and a chore to deal with.

Edited August 21, 2020 by DarkChaplain

[Fedor]

Yeah, Ruinstorm actually resolves some important character issues for the three Primarchs involved and ties together a lot of the earlier threads that were quite spread out among Imp Secundus bloat.

[Rodiger]

Ok, Ruinstorm and the Vengeful Spirit sound like good ones to add. I quite enjoyed the Guilliman, Lion and Sanguinious dynamic. Guilliman was coming over a little like Victor Meldrew and it was quite amusing.

 

 

Loken happened in pieces. His first showing in a novel was Vengeful Spirit, but his actual retrieval happened in Garro: Legion of One (part of Garro: Weapon of Fate), which was followed by Grey Angel and Luna Mendax, which are in The Silent War. That anthology also sets up the bridge between The Outcast Dead and Vengeful Spirit and includes a few stories closer to Terra / Sol.

After Vengeful Spirit, Loken factors into The Buried Dagger, which also moves the Death Guard to the Siege arc.

 

Other than that, I'd argue Ruinstorm would be a good read, since you're already through Angels of Caliban, and Ruinstorm deals with some questions regarding Sanguinius, Guilliman and the Lion that loom over the Siege. On top of that, I'd recommend Heralds of the Siege, which has some important character setup for the Siege itself.

 

If you need a break, I'd highly recommend stepping out of the Heresy series in general for a bit, though. Maybe tuck in something completely different within the franchise, like the new Warhammer Crime novel Bloodlines, or some Warhammer Horror - switching it up is important, otherwise the series will just become stale and a chore to deal with.

Thanks for the Loken story arc, it is useful to know, at the moment that Loken thing sounds exactly like the sort of thing I was trying to avoid. Just a rabbit warren of books to work through, I was hoping it was one book.

 

And with taking a break, I've seen there are 8 books planned for SOT and that just sounds too much at the moment and it is not even finished. I think I could manage 3 more at the moment. The Heresy books are pretty light reading in all honesty, sorry if that sounds snobby, I read a lot, like 70~90 books a year, all genres, Booker Prize right down to Pulp Fiction. I think I need a break from all Black Library at the moment, but 3 more wouldn't take too much time while it is still fresh, and it would be a good end point before starting SOT at a later date.

Edited August 21, 2020 by Rodiger