'Siege of Terra - The End and the Death Volume 1' by Dan Abnett

[Sothalor]

The Sons of Horus have the unfortunate position of being the "face" of the traitor legions - they were the most visible, the most favored, the pre-eminent Astartes against the Emperor. That also makes them an easy psychological and material scapegoat for when things have gone horribly wrong.

 

We see it all the time in our own world in everything from sports to corporate ladders to playground cliques to communist dictatorships.

 

Yesterday's Darling Celebre is today's Enemy Number One.

[grailkeeper]

https://www.amazon.com/End-Death-Horus-Heresy-Siege/dp/1800268785?ref_=ast_author_dp

 

End and the Death 2 Release date announced. Its Nov 3rd#

 

The second volume of book 8 in the Global best selling The Horus Heresy: Siege of Terra series.

Terra is besieged. Humanity’s salvation lies on a knife edge. The Warmaster Horus’ bloody seven-year crusade has led to this: the cradle of mankind, where he is to kill his father, the Emperor.

With the war at this critical juncture, Sanguinius, primarch of the loyalist Blood Angels, braves the horrors of the Warmaster’s flagship, The Vengeful Spirit, with a single purpose in mind: to slay his brother Horus, decapitate the Heresy once and for all, and stop the forces of Chaos from taking Holy Terra.

But at the whim of a Warmaster fallen so far from grace, the Dark Gods will not make Sanguinius’ task an easy one, and as the war edges towards its explosive, bloody conclusion, events are about to unfold that could either save humanity, or plunge it headlong into an eternity of darkness.

[Karhedron]

Is this basically all about Sanguinius fighting his way through the Vengeful Spirit to confront Horus? We have already had Sangy confronting his fate in Ruinstorm, I hope this is not a retread.

[Roomsky]

You might say you... Fear to Retread?

[Scribe]

Looks like confirmation that we are getting 3 books. Absolutely grotesque bloating that would make Nurgle proud.

[Krelious]

MFW the Horus Heresy never ends and we get to find out why Guilliman secretly hated Vulkans legion and was glad they got wiped out, in the post siege novel called Guilliman writes the Codex Astartes followed by the official Lecitio Divinatus collectors edition only 5000 copies, start worshipping the Emperor today.

[Felix Antipodes]

Have to agree with @Inferno XXVth wrt the other legions wiped out most of the Sons of Horus.  You only have to look at sports clubs.  Once something goes wrong the majority look for someone to take the blame.  SoH led the charge and had the least amount of troops left at the end.  Standard bully stuff.

We also don’t know yet exactly what happens in the aftermath of Horus’ death.  The SoH may very well use the remaining other legions as a decoy (or something similar) to cover their own retreat, causing an unnecessary massacre, which also raised the ire of the survivors.

The real question will be whether Abnett bothers to cover this in his finale (in whichever volume that turns out to be) or they save it for part of the hypothetical Scouring series.

[TrevorLoLz]

That synopsis certainly reads like we are getting a third book.

 

This is just exploitative.  Black Library can't walk away from the cash cow without wringing out every last cent.

 

That said, I'm going to buy it because I. Want. To. See. The. Damn. Series. End.

 

You can take the Kirby away from Games Workshop, but he's still there in spirit.

[Corinthus]

14 hours ago, grailkeeper said:

https://www.amazon.com/End-Death-Horus-Heresy-Siege/dp/1800268785?ref_=ast_author_dp

 

End and the Death 2 Release date announced. Its Nov 3rd#

 

 

I f*****cking hate Black Library. Also, Part 3 confirmed? (and so we move to part 4, 5, 6....)

[EverythingIsGreat]

752 pages, 8.5x6 inches, and almost 2 inches deep... I wonder how many more pages before this is over.

[Mechanicus Tech-Support]

I always thought 3 was unlikely considering the page count of the first novel but seeing as its looking more and more possible...holy emperor I want a single volume edition, give me a giant tome I could knock someone out with  

[Roomsky]

Put a bit of thought into why this annoys me so much, since I'm generally in favour of skilled authors like Abnett doing things "their way" when given the opportunity - and I think personally, it all comes down to my personal feeling that the back half of volume 1 was pure bloat.

 

McNeill AND French both did Horus' embracing Chaos their way after Galaxy in Flames. ADB did the Emperor his way in Master of Mankind. Reynolds did Fulgrim his way in The Palatine Phoenix. All of these tread familiar ground but on top of generally bolstering what came before, they functioned as their own, completed works. Even one of the most divisive "retreads" in Warhawk with Mortarion contributed to the story that book wanted to tell, and it was very effective within that context. It's not enough to change things for the better or to reframe something in a cool way; it needs to benefit the book it exists in.

 

But the Siege is once again showing its ass because if it was always going to be this back-loaded, everyone at that planning table (yes, even beloved ADB) failed in mapping these things out. If this much content needed to be covered at the end, books 2 and 3 were essentially wasted. I've given this series the benefit of the doubt because I like when authors carve out their own little corners of big events, even within a running narrative. But THEY ARE ON THE SPIRIT. THEY HAVE BEEN SO FOR 300 PAGES AND NOTHING HAS HAPPENED. I feel like I'm going crazy, why is it like this? It all sounds alarmist but IMO, he's proven the pagecount is excessive with just part 1! We're kind of already there.

 

If Abnett retreads at this point, he is tanking the finale. I don't care if he's :cuss:ting gold, this is neither the time nor the place. I foresee a fan-edit of these books in future that gives us a nice e-book that is paced appropriately.

 

I want to eat my words about this, by the way. Maybe the Amazon listing is misleading and this is the end. Maybe Abnett is going to blow my socks off and totally justify the length. I hope he does! But uhhhhhh I'm worried, guys.

[burnside986]

22 hours ago, Roomsky said:

You might say you... Fear to Retread?

[grailkeeper]

18 hours ago, Krelious said:

MFW the Horus Heresy never ends and we get to find out why Guilliman secretly hated Vulkans legion and was glad they got wiped out, in the post siege novel called Guilliman writes the Codex Astartes followed by the official Lecitio Divinatus collectors edition only 5000 copies, start worshipping the Emperor today.

If Gulliman had done the job properly wiping them out we'd have been spared a slew of Nick Kyme novels. Now the people in the 40k universe and black library readers both live in the worst possible outcome from the heresy.

[wecanhaveallthree]

7 hours ago, EverythingIsGreat said:

752 pages, 8.5x6 inches, and almost 2 inches deep... I wonder how many more pages before this is over.

 

You are banned from describing things ever again. 

[Felix Antipodes]

17 hours ago, TrevorLoLz said:

That synopsis certainly reads like we are getting a third book.

 

This is just exploitative.  Black Library can't walk away from the cash cow without wringing out every last cent.

 

That said, I'm going to buy it because I. Want. To. See. The. Damn. Series. End.

 

You can take the Kirby away from Games Workshop, but he's still there in spirit.

You realise of course that by continuing to buy the books, even if through gritted teeth, we are ensuring the series will never end.  Ever. 

[grailkeeper]

5 hours ago, Felix Antipodes said:

You realise of course that by continuing to buy the books, even if through gritted teeth, we are ensuring the series will never end.  Ever. 

Well if we don't it'll just end abruptly with no resolution- an ending that's more Stephen King than William King.

[EverythingIsGreat]

6 hours ago, grailkeeper said:

Well if we don't it'll just end abruptly with no resolution- an ending that's more Stephen King than William King.

 

The Death of the End

[Dornfist]

I recently became aware of the news, and I think we are going to get Sanguinuis vs. Horus at the end of this volume. As for Big E? He will be busy eating mushroom power-ups Mario style on every level of the Vengeful Spirit as he makes his slow way to the bridge that takes a whole novel.

 

Also, I swear if I see more of those damnable fragments chapters in this new volume starting with something like "They crucified Billy's homies" or some side story about random guardsmen fighting traitors in the apocalypse or more Rann and Zephon adventures...Sigh* If anything, I want to see what happens to Dorn: that is one of the few last things I care about. And while I like the perpetuals' story, I am dreading how many more pages their thing will last. And what about that potential Loken vs. Abaddon rematch?

 

I wonder if we will see Guilliman and the Lion make a cameo? Or maybe that will be for Volume III.

 

We will have to see but if this next volume is actually around 800 pages...the End and the Death for us as readers is truly near.

 

And if we get a third entry, I will post a photo of my hardcover copy that specifically stated "will be concluded in Volume II" and add the meme of "So that was a cuss*ing lie".

Edited June 9, 2023 by Dornfist

[MarineRaiderII]

DA wasn't kidding when Chaos made the final day last forever......

[RikuEru]

Talking with Kelborn I cam up with potential filler (which I will consider a prophecy, until we get the book):

 

What if Dorn escapes the Khorne-influenced vision of that desert, only to enter an oasis, a beautiful garden... only for Nurgle to try his luck, trying to charm his way into Dorn's heart, willing to grant him *true* resilience, etc.

 

Or something similiar done by Tzeentch or Slaanesh (which could also try their hands on Valdor & Sanguinius, if you want to stall them too)

Either way, something that shows that all 4 are trying a hands-on approach to influence the game in their favor now, to come out on top. (Foreshadowing their abandonement of Horus, later on, when they realize the game is 'rigged' and going tits up)

 

I also thought the second book might end with the scene of that age old Artwork, the Emperor finally facing off against Horus, standing over Sanguinius' broken body.

 

...only for the Third Book to pick up the action on Terra, showing us the Carmage of the Blood Angels loosing their minds to the vengeful slaughter, after Sanguinius' Death. 

[Felix Antipodes]

I actually relate to Dorn.  Sitting around while all around me turns to dust (or at least the storyline) 

[Dornfist]

10 hours ago, Felix Antipodes said:

I actually relate to Dorn.  Sitting around while all around me turns to dust (or at least the storyline) 

This probably means we are all in the desert right now, as the years go by and our minds are slowly eroding while we chant mantras to stay sane. But the end keeps getting away from us...

Edited June 9, 2023 by Dornfist

[bluntblade]

I think the Malcador passages were my favourite here. Maybe I'm just being tolerant of some wooliness, but I was happy overall with the book.

[Lord Lorne Walkier]

I have been talking to some friends about my theories regarding Loken and the use of Psychic powers.  I would like to add one to the list of Invisibility and Teleport.   I think he used Gate, to get to the Vengeful Spirt.  The power i remember is kinda short range but yeh.  seems like a gate to me.