Best way to condense down the Heresy Series for a newcomer?

[Abanshee]

So, recently I've been slowly been getting my mother interested in The Horus Heresy, however, she isn't a huge fan of the varying quality in authors and number of books she'd have to read. Does anybody possibly have a condensed reading order of all the Heresy novels or one they've made themselves? Doesn't have to cover ever little tidbit, just the important events (like the Burning of Prospero or the Betrayal at Calth). She's primarily interested in the Emperor/his Primarchs and anything by ADB. 

[Scribe]

Any ADB or Wraight.

Most of French.

Raven Guard was ruined, skip.

Salamanders aka Kyme Arc, skip.

Prospero Burns = Delete

Unremembered Empire = Delete 

First 3 books, Know No Fear, Legion.

Mechanicus and A Thousand Sons.

 

Off the top of my head, walking my dog, that's it, before Siege of Terra.

 

Oh, and probably some of the Primarchs/Valdor type books as connective tissue.

 

Some are great some are OK, some are bad.

[FashaTheDog]

This is a bit of a challenge as there are loads of threads in one book that play out a dozen or two later.  Scribe is mostly right, although Prospero Burns is kind of important as to why got into the later end of the series and it is also the follow up to Thousand Sons which has the plus of being by Dan Abnett.  A blanket read everything of this author is tough as Abnett and McNeill could as easily be added.  I would say lean towards the authors she likes the style of.  

 

I would also argue for the first four books as a definite with a possible inclusion of the fifth.  The fifth book does have some considerable importance as it has the Drop Site Massacre and Fulgrum getting a head, so to speak.  As it happens so early the book does shed light on later books involving the Emperor's Children and how they play with others.

 

Age of Darkness has one of the best short stories: Iron Within and that story is rather meaningful if the Ultramar arc catches her fancy, but is just a fine story alone.  Angels Exterminatus gives Iron Warriors a particularly important Heresy plot point for their Legion, one that makes a great footnote for the later and very excellent Tallarn as well as how Perturabo sees others, but Angels Exterminatus can be skipped with a "Perturabo was betrayed by Fulgrim".  I would keep Tallarn as it is one of the major battles and a fun read.

 

Master of Mankind explains where the Emperor was the entire time.  Titandeath may be a good addition as it covers another major conflict in the Heresy.  It is important for the Siege of Terra series to stress that Horus is fighting against time and a couple of stories about the sidelining of loyal Legions helps, although they can be read out of series order.

 

For the traitors, books explaining how they went from Primarch to Daemon Primarch will be nice for the fun and games in the Siege of Terra series. Betrayer for instance is worthy addition as to who this Angron fellow is and why is he a giant daemon of angry death on Terra.  You can skip these and explain it to her if the list is getting long, but it is worth knowing something about how the Daemon Primarch came into the picture and how reality is more of a rough guideline than set of rules for them.  These stories also add extra depth to the Legion in question's later behavior, especially by the time you hit the Siege of Terra.

 

If any particular Legion(s) catch her attention that will definitely warrant the addition of books showcasing them. Beware of any interest in the Ultramarines, Dark Angels, Night Lords, or Blood Angels as that pretty much opens the Pandora's Box of the entire Unremembered Empire arc which is a rather sizable addition as well as the Legion's own side stories.  Ruinstorm does tell why the Blood Angels made it to Terra and the other two loyal Legions are not there alongside the IX.

 

For Legions she has no or a passing interest in, searching out a synopsis of who they are or a telling quote can give her an idea of what they embody and move on.  As an example, for Dark Angels and Space Wolves you could just provide the quote from The Lion: Son of the Forest.  "The Emperor sent the Space Wolves when he wanted to make an example of an enemy that would linger in the memories of all, and He sent the First when He wanted no record of the enemy to remain."

 

The Primarchs series are a grab bag, insofar as the time frame they occupy.  Some of them are set in the Great Crusade like Lion El'Jonson or Vulkan while others are after the series looking back across a life as in Night Haunter so it is worth being a little picky there to avoid adding novellas that, while interesting, are still more to read and not exactly an addition to the general plot of the Horus Heresy.  For instance, if you like the Dreadwing then the novella Lion El'Jonson and short story Dreadwing are must reads, yet both take place before the first book of the Horus Heresy series and only shed light on the character of those depicted in the story. 

 

There is a lot to cover, but the list can be trimmed from 54 down based on taste.  Many of the books can be taken out of order and their plot threads become, "that's where that came from".  As for a definitive list, I would be hard pressed to make one without rereading the entire series, but this and Scribe's post should help.

[Wormwoods]

Just read the first 3, maybe 4 books and then skip to the ones for the Legions you/they like. 

[Abanshee]

1 hour ago, FashaTheDog said:

This is a bit of a challenge as there are loads of threads in one book that play out a dozen or two later.  Scribe is mostly right, although Prospero Burns is kind of important as to why got into the later end of the series and it is also the follow up to Thousand Sons which has the plus of being by Dan Abnett.  A blanket read everything of this author is tough as Abnett and McNeill could as easily be added.  I would say lean towards the authors she likes the style of.  

 

I would also argue for the first four books as a definite with a possible inclusion of the fifth.  The fifth book does have some considerable importance as it has the Drop Site Massacre and Fulgrum getting a head, so to speak.  As it happens so early the book does shed light on later books involving the Emperor's Children and how they play with others.

 

Age of Darkness has one of the best short stories: Iron Within and that story is rather meaningful if the Ultramar arc catches her fancy, but is just a fine story alone.  Angels Exterminatus gives Iron Warriors a particularly important Heresy plot point for their Legion, one that makes a great footnote for the later and very excellent Tallarn as well as how Perturabo sees others, but Angels Exterminatus can be skipped with a "Perturabo was betrayed by Fulgrim".  I would keep Tallarn as it is one of the major battles and a fun read.

 

Master of Mankind explains where the Emperor was the entire time.  Titandeath may be a good addition as it covers another major conflict in the Heresy.  It is important for the Siege of Terra series to stress that Horus is fighting against time and a couple of stories about the sidelining of loyal Legions helps, although they can be read out of series order.

 

For the traitors, books explaining how they went from Primarch to Daemon Primarch will be nice for the fun and games in the Siege of Terra series. Betrayer for instance is worthy addition as to who this Angron fellow is and why is he a giant daemon of angry death on Terra.  You can skip these and explain it to her if the list is getting long, but it is worth knowing something about how the Daemon Primarch came into the picture and how reality is more of a rough guideline than set of rules for them.  These stories also add extra depth to the Legion in question's later behavior, especially by the time you hit the Siege of Terra.

 

If any particular Legion(s) catch her attention that will definitely warrant the addition of books showcasing them. Beware of any interest in the Ultramarines, Dark Angels, Night Lords, or Blood Angels as that pretty much opens the Pandora's Box of the entire Unremembered Empire arc which is a rather sizable addition as well as the Legion's own side stories.  Ruinstorm does tell why the Blood Angels made it to Terra and the other two loyal Legions are not there alongside the IX.

 

For Legions she has no or a passing interest in, searching out a synopsis of who they are or a telling quote can give her an idea of what they embody and move on.  As an example, for Dark Angels and Space Wolves you could just provide the quote from The Lion: Son of the Forest.  "The Emperor sent the Space Wolves when he wanted to make an example of an enemy that would linger in the memories of all, and He sent the First when He wanted no record of the enemy to remain."

 

The Primarchs series are a grab bag, insofar as the time frame they occupy.  Some of them are set in the Great Crusade like Lion El'Jonson or Vulkan while others are after the series looking back across a life as in Night Haunter so it is worth being a little picky there to avoid adding novellas that, while interesting, are still more to read and not exactly an addition to the general plot of the Horus Heresy.  For instance, if you like the Dreadwing then the novella Lion El'Jonson and short story Dreadwing are must reads, yet both take place before the first book of the Horus Heresy series and only shed light on the character of those depicted in the story. 

 

There is a lot to cover, but the list can be trimmed from 54 down based on taste.  Many of the books can be taken out of order and their plot threads become, "that's where that came from".  As for a definitive list, I would be hard pressed to make one without rereading the entire series, but this and Scribe's post should help.

 

Oh, okay I'll let her know. She's more interested in the politics and psychology of the space marine legions. Her favorite legion by looks alone are the Sons of Horus and she also likes the motifs behind the White Scars. So, I guess it'd be best to read the first three, the Shadow Crusade arc, The White Scars arc, and the main Siege of Terra books?

[FashaTheDog]

That could be a great start.  It is not overly ambition and leaves plenty of room for additions along the way or even after.  You may want to take into consideration that the politics of the Sons of Horus are very detailed, but scattered over many books, novellas, and short stories and are not neatly aligned.  Rather they are a game of connect the dots, although by the time you hit the last dozen books and the Siege of Terra, bits with Mal and the Mournval are more condensed, but also working off a basis of everything that came before.  The nice thing about the Sons of Horus is that because they are in so many books and they like to throw their weight around, justly so given their Primarch's name is half of Horus Heresy, you can go back and add something in out of order, although Vengeful Spirit does hold a special place for them between the beginning of the series and the end.

 

One major change is you may want to include book 4 as that is Istvaan III and the culling of a number of traitor Legions.  There is plenty of Legion psychology at play there given the wanton betrayal.  The next book might be worth tacking on as it really details how the Emperor's Children function and is something of a primer as to that Legion's excess, the politics that grew from it, and how the psychology of a Legion seeking perfection drives its fall. 

 

The pair of Dark Angels books, Descent of Angels and Fallen Angels along with the novellas Luther and the Primarchs series Lion'El Jonson are case studies in the First's history, byzantine structure, and how it all fits together to form an almost unnecessarily complex political structure within the Legion.  The first two are off the beaten path of the Heresy, but give one of the more detailed tales of a Primarch's world before, during and after compliance.  The Primarchs book shows how the Legion's secretive nature, even from itself, formed the best defense against traitors and Luther shows how that same structure is the best grounds for someone high up to corrupt.  The Lion: Son of the Forest actually has the Lion grapple with this very issue as he finds himself ten millennia in the future. 

 

While it may entail a number of books, the Unremembered Empire arc does play off inter-Legion politics as Guilliman is trying to build a spare Imperium in the event Horus won and the Lion was quite ready to put him down over it until Sanguinius was the one Guilliman would have lead.  There is considerable Primarch psychology at play in the namesake of the Arc.  Pharos explores some of how this enterprise functions in terms of navigation and communication along with Barabas' own spotlight and the psychology of one who remained loyal when his Legion did not.  The arc is topped off with the Night Lords getting some introspection as their Primarch becomes increasingly unstable.

 

The novella Prince of Crows is a fun dive into the Night Lords politics.  The short stories of Lightning Tower and The Dark King are great inter-Legion politics with Night Haunter at the center, but tapping Imperial Fists and Malcador.  If you want to see how Dorn takes the Heresy, these two short stories are a must and they are a very short read.  Speaking of Malcador, his stories tend to be very much along the lines of intrigue and might be worth a read for her.  As for Night Haunter, his Primarchs series novella is a look back on how Curze follows his memories along his rise and decline into madness.  It is fun given the circular logic of his precognition; the Emperor sent an assassin to kill him so he betrayed the Emperor and so the Emperor sent an assassin to kill him so he... 

 

The entire Vulkan Lives books are very much a tale of hope and despair among those uncertain of the life or death of their gene-sire.  They are very much in the heads of the Salamanders and how those that were on Istvaan V are different from those who were not.  This may be what she wants in a Horus Heresy book which is part of what many readers disliked about it as it does dwell heavily on those concepts in the heads of the legionnaires, almost to the point of being too fixated in much the same way those that hope Vulkan lives practically put blinders on.  This is an arc best tested in short stories.

 

The Garro books are very much a trip following a legionnaire without his Legion.  The character is fairly well liked and has a splendid arc through the Heresy and Siege of Terra books.  He might be a way to make the jump from the beginning to the end with only a few books in between.  Plus the White Scars books if she finds that Legion interesting, which has the added benefit of the White Scars being on Terra at the end adding to further continuity with minimal reading.

 

A way to test the water for any arc may be with short stories and novella collections.  Many of the books of short stories are actually dips into the psychology and politics of the Legions or the shattered remnants thereof.  They are not the grand battles or epic plots, but mostly small, personal glimpses into the characters at play.  Many of them deal with how the Astartes, and to an even greater degree the Primarchs, are all things human magnified to epic proportions.

 

As a final recommendation, Outcast Dead, a book many people skip, might be her cup of tea as it deals with the Thunder Warriors and their legacy.  It is no spoiler, but the Emperor had the First Legion gun them down and bury the evidence.  That book kind of has that past come calling.  The book is very much a love it or hate it deal, so it could be later revisit once she gets going.

[N1SB]

13 hours ago, Abanshee said:

 

Oh, okay I'll let her know. She's more interested in the politics and psychology of the space marine legions. Her favorite legion by looks alone are the Sons of Horus and she also likes the motifs behind the White Scars. So, I guess it'd be best to read the first three, the Shadow Crusade arc, The White Scars arc, and the main Siege of Terra books?

 

Understanding she's interested in the politics and psychology of the setting, that makes it so much easier to narrow down, thanks for that heads up.

 

• Horus Rising: the Warmaster's leadership style shown, even Abaddon comments on it
• Know No Fear: Roboute Guilliman's managerial style, he's talking team-building with Word Bearers
• Unremembered Empire: Roboute Guilliman managing horizontally, his brother Primarchs
• Master of Mankind: the Emperor's leadership style and his vision
• Saturnine: Rogal Dorn's management style, Abaddon managing upwards

 

I know those skip around, but they also these great vignettes into different stages of the Heresy.  They also happen to be, imho, the most fun reads for a casual fan.  They're talking about playing cards, getting censured, founding a back-up Imperium, the Emperor's real vision, Rogal Dorn talking someone out of suicide.

 

I also know I got more Roboute Guilliman than you probably wanted, but he's all politics and psychology, he's the statesman of the Primarchs.  I know a lot of these are Dan Abnett, and that's because he writes for a more general audience.  If she watched them, you may want to remind her he's the inspiration of the Guardians of the Galaxy films, he put together that iteration of the team.

 

The last thing is, and I don't mean to presume which is why I mention this, but her interest in the Heresy might be her being interested in spending more time with you, just talking about this stuff.  The novels per se might not be the real goal here.  But these imho are the "fun" books from the whole series.

[Abanshee]

19 hours ago, N1SB said:

 

Understanding she's interested in the politics and psychology of the setting, that makes it so much easier to narrow down, thanks for that heads up.

 

• Horus Rising: the Warmaster's leadership style shown, even Abaddon comments on it
• Know No Fear: Roboute Guilliman's managerial style, he's talking team-building with Word Bearers
• Unremembered Empire: Roboute Guilliman managing horizontally, his brother Primarchs
• Master of Mankind: the Emperor's leadership style and his vision
• Saturnine: Rogal Dorn's management style, Abaddon managing upwards

 

I know those skip around, but they also these great vignettes into different stages of the Heresy.  They also happen to be, imho, the most fun reads for a casual fan.  They're talking about playing cards, getting censured, founding a back-up Imperium, the Emperor's real vision, Rogal Dorn talking someone out of suicide.

 

I also know I got more Roboute Guilliman than you probably wanted, but he's all politics and psychology, he's the statesman of the Primarchs.  I know a lot of these are Dan Abnett, and that's because he writes for a more general audience.  If she watched them, you may want to remind her he's the inspiration of the Guardians of the Galaxy films, he put together that iteration of the team.

 

The last thing is, and I don't mean to presume which is why I mention this, but her interest in the Heresy might be her being interested in spending more time with you, just talking about this stuff.  The novels per se might not be the real goal here.  But these imho are the "fun" books from the whole series.

 

Oh she's definitely interested in reading them, but I do think she also wants to spend more time with me. She just bought the first book like a day or two ago and I've already got Saturnine. How would you fit Scars, Warhawk, Betrayer, The First Heretic, and Path of Heaven in here? Maybe around and/or before the Ultramarines arc? 

Edited November 6, 2023 by Abanshee

[Xenith]

It's been said above, and you've realised that the series starts strong then gets a bit ropey.

 

I'd read the first books up until Fulgrim, as that takes you to the drop site massacre, a key part of the heresy. I'd then go with the arc for whichever legion she has the greatest interest in.

 

Standout books:

The First Heretic (anything by ADB basically)

Scars (and all by wraight, and the scars series)

Early Abnett is great, but then goes off the rails a bit

McNeill is up and down. 

 

Pivotal moments

A Thousand Sons+ Prospero Burns (the burning of prospero)

Know no Fear + Fear to Tread + Unremembered Empire (answers 'where were the UM and BA during this')

Legion (dated now, but had one of the greatest reveals in the universe at the time).

 

I do realise ADB might be polarising, however I personally think he has written the most engaging and entertaining books recently, and after reading some of his blog posts, there are similarities between his writing and bernard cornwell, obviously a very popular author! 

Edited November 6, 2023 by Xenith

[Orange Knight]

I think you only need to read about 7 books. It's such a bloated story with so much filler that I feel genuine upset that people use it as their main entry into 40k lore.

 

Horus Rising

False Gods

Galaxy in Flames

The First Heretic

Know No Fear

Prospero Burns

 

Maybe Betrayer, Master of Mankind

 

 

That's about it

[Matcap86]

My wife has also started into the series with 0 40k background, and she actually really enjoys most books so she might surprise you. 

 

I started with the first 3, fulgrim, and first heretic, but then we quickly went to the short story anthologies because she (and me too) likes the little vignettes and characters the come from those.

 

I orginally tried to condense the storylines a bit and cut out the mediocrity but we're now doubling back and she's read books that I didn't really care for like Angel Exterminatus or Flight of the Eisenstein. She really enjoys the fact that it's such an expansive universe where interconnected stories and characters get to exist, for better or for worse.

 

What started as me going: "well these 10 books should do you", has now turned into me scrounging up most of the books in paperback from second hand sellers as she pretty much likes most of them and loves some of them. 

[Scribe]

As an exercise in self annoyance.

 

HH

Valdor

Horus Rising

False Gods

Galaxy in Flames

Legion

Mechanicum

A Thousand Sons

The First Heretic

Know no Fear

Betrayer

The Path of Heaven

Praetorian of Dorn

The Master of Mankind

Slaves to Darkness

 

SoT

The Solar War

Saturnine

Warhawk

Echoes of Eternity

Suffering x 3

[Xenith]

23 hours ago, matcap86 said:

She really enjoys the fact that it's such an expansive universe where interconnected stories and characters get to exist, for better or for worse.

 

That's great to hear - I guess some of us can be guilty of being legion blind, or already knowing the ending and being familiar with the source material, so want the main characters and arcs fleshed out, while there are plenty of small thematic pieces to find, as well as all the other stuff going on in the background (nemesis, outcast dead etc).

[Matcap86]

3 minutes ago, Xenith said:

 

That's great to hear - I guess some of us can be guilty of being legion blind, or already knowing the ending and being familiar with the source material, so want the main characters and arcs fleshed out, while there are plenty of small thematic pieces to find, as well as all the other stuff going on in the background (nemesis, outcast dead etc).

 

Yeah it's honestly really refreshing and fun. She has no idea which characters make it to 40k or which don't. The only real storybeat she knows is: the emperor gets hurt at the end by Horus. No context for the warp, for demons, for any of the well established plot lines.  So lots of things that happen are actually twists and turns for her instead of boxes to be ticked in existing lore. Makes me appreciate it a lot more tbh. 

 

It is hard work to keep stuff like Demon Primarch models or Guilliman being the posterboy of the Imperium out of sight though. 

[tgcleric]

On 11/4/2023 at 10:14 AM, Abanshee said:

So, recently I've been slowly been getting my mother interested in The Horus Heresy, however, she isn't a huge fan of the varying quality in authors and number of books she'd have to read. Does anybody possibly have a condensed reading order of all the Heresy novels or one they've made themselves? Doesn't have to cover ever little tidbit, just the important events (like the Burning of Prospero or the Betrayal at Calth). She's primarily interested in the Emperor/his Primarchs and anything by ADB. 

 

I've gotten a few friends into warhammer. These are primarily book/film friends who are curious about the world, like my miniatures, played a videogame or two. They aren't gonna read for the sake of reading about their favorite primarch or what not. They just wanted to read some decent books and would stop quickly if they get bored. After quite a few successes this, is my curated list or best recommendation I can give for Horus Heresy. I obviously have a different list for 40k.

 

This is what I consider to be the books in the HH that are actually good. Having read all 54 books, reading them all didnt really help in understanding anything that was going on anyways, lol. Like, even if you read every book I would recommend browsing the lore wikis and stuff between books just to remind yourself of what the :cuss: is going on. So just do yourself the favor and just read stuff that is good or you are interested in. 

 

Horus Rising - Dan Abnett. Great book. Period. Just a great sci fi novel and sets up a world, characters and series that frankly, the HH almost never lives up to.

 

False Gods - Graham McNeill - not as good, but despite what I said before, the first three books are essential as they were originally a planned trilogy that got out of hand... into 54 books. Still. This book is solid.

 

Galaxy in Flames - Ben Counter - weakest of the three. But incredible action in the end. All the characters are sort of dumb now. But again. Sort of have to read it. This is the worst book I will recommend here.

 

Legion - Dan Abnett - kick ass spy book.

 

First Heretic - ADB - like all of ABD's books. Filled with genuine pathos and humanity. Maybe the best "warhammer" novel of his. Even if its not my favorite,

 

Thousand Sons - Graham McNeill - his best novel. People love it. It's kind of a duology, and I personally find the first part of it sort of boring. The back half about Prospero, and the battle is fantastic and necessary for the next book.

 

Prospero Burns - Dan Abnett - my favorite book in the series. Just a beautiful, poignant, nuanced classic adventure. From the POV of an anthropologist visiting the Space Wolves and becoming a storyteller for them. Just a great book. Period. If it didn't require knowledge of the IP, I would recommend this book to everyone I know.

 

Know No Fear - Dan Abnett - as you'll see its pretty much just a few authors worth reading. This is many people's favorite Dan Abnett book. Closest thing to a straight ahead Black Hawk Down style story.

 

Betrayer - Aaron Dembski Bowden - First heretic was about Logar of the Word Bearers. This is about the big angry boy Angron. Sraight up the most metal and audacious of all the books. I love this book so much. I think ABD took the dumbest of the primarchs and in one book made him the most compelling of all the traitor primarchs. A worthy story.

 

Unremembered Empire - Dan Abnett. Controversial. Its sort of pulpy fun Primarch soap opera. But I loved it. Its great even if the weakest of the Abnett HH books

 

Scars - Chris Wraight - and we finally get to Wraight. The last of the three great Black Library authors. He takes a goofy nearly unknown legion, the White Scars. Who before we nothing more than "space mongolians" and crafts an interesting culture and set of characters. Following two young White Scars from different backgrounds, from their initiation into the chapter all the way to the beginning of the Heresy.

 

Path of Heaven - Chris Wraight - too bad he only does two books. But this is a rare straight sequel to a HH. Even if you decide to read others, go straight from Scars to Path of Heaven.

 

Master of Mankind - Aaron Dembski-Bowden - he tackles the emperor himself in what is a borderline masterpiece. This, Horus Rising, and Prospero Burns are the 3 best books in my opinion.

And that might be too much honestly. But I couldn't honestly recommend anyone outside of hardcore fans read more than that number of books.  If you were to be precious with your time, I would just read the 3 ADB books and all of Abnett. Unremembered Empire is probably the worst, but since your mom likes the primarchs (and if she's anything like my mom and would be more into character drama than boom boom shooty) than Unremembered Empire might very well be her favorite book since its the most Primarchs chatting it up you'll get. Very pulpy and soapy.  

The two Wraight books are really good. But depending on someones interest you could just not read them. 

Below is a list of what I think are some other decent books in the series that if you are a fan you could read. 

 

Wolfsbane - Guy Haley -  I'm putting this on this list instead of the next one just so we get something later in the series. It's probably the best book not written by the big three. It just a kick ass vision quest / beowulf type adventure with the space wolves. And it was a breath of fresh air as I was reading through the crap of the last 20 books.

 

Mechanicum - Graham McNeill - My favorite of his books. People are 50/50 on it. Its just a fun classic mix of dune and lord of the rings set on Mars. I think he writes good Mechanicum (robot people) characters. Fun time. 

 

Pharos - Guy Haley - Haley is a solid craftsman sort of writer. Came from journalism. His books are usually readable. Not as good as Wolfsbane, but also probably more essential story wise. And one of the best bromances in the series. 

 

Tallarn - John French - a novella anthology. People like French. I think he can be as stylish writer, but I find his novels almost unbearable as I think his plotting and dramatic stucture is as boring and stagnant as can be. But even then, his books will have incredible passages, and his short stories can be great. This is a cool series of stories about Tanks in a posion gas world

 

Praetorian of Dorn - John French - his best novel. People love this one. I like a lot of it. But since its an Alpha Legion spy type novel I think his sloppiness in plotting hurts it a lot, but still. Its cool.

 

Ruinstorm - David Annandale - This might be dumb. And to be fair, I barely remember it. But this was just a goofy wild book that does more or less establish the chess board before the Siege of Terra. Also it has a fortress the size of a whole galaxy.

If you like short stories, you can more or less depend on ABD, Abnett, McNeil, Haley, French and Wraight to not waste your time. 

If anyone gets through all of that. Then I don't know what could stop them from reading the siege. Outside of Mortis, I found all the siege books... readable. But you could skip the first three. 

Saturnine is marvelous. I had a friend just read it out of nowhere cause it was on my audible. He hadn't read ANY of the HH and he thought it was a great read. Abnett writes strong enough characters that you can get by like jumping into the middle of a good season of classic TV and just go along with it. So yeah, it might actually be his best book. if it was more standalone like Prospero Burns, it would almost certainly be his best book.  

Both Warhawk and Echoes of Eternity are fine reads. I think both are the worst of the ABD and Wraight. But still very very good. 

 

And then, I mean. If you get that far. You gotta read the ending. And if you're like me, you'll be happy cause The End and the Death Vol 1 and 2 are both peak Horus Heresy and two of the better books in the series. Here's hoping Vol 3 lands the ending. 

 

[Krelious]

 

As for a list id go

 

Horus Rising

False Gods

Galaxy in Flames

Fulgrim

Flight of the Eisenstein

 

First Heretic 

Aurelian

Know no Fear

Betrayer

Master of Mankind

 

 

Angel Exterminatus (I dont know where to put this, you could go directly from Fulgrim into this book)  

 

Thousand Sons

The Crimson King

Slaves to Darkness

 

 

Scars

Path of Heaven

 

Garro

The Purge (just a good short novella that flows nicely from Garro.)

Vengeful Spirit

(that one short story where Typhus gains his powers, I forget what it was called atm, in Heralds of the siege)

The Burried Dagger.

 

Siege of Terra:

Lost and the Damned

Saturnine

Garro Knight of Grey

Fury of Magnus

Warhawk

Echoes of Eternity

End and the Death

 

I have not read the entire line up and have some unread books in my collection like Pharos, Unremembered Empire, Praetorian of Dorn but I largely think they are sidebar, I think the core of the Heresy reading are the mainline Daemon primarch story line and the loyalists connected to them.  I do not like the perpetual story line very much and in general I have an outlying opinion that while I think Dan Abnett is a competent writer at times, I just dont like him because I think his novels are pompous and self indulgent, I only include them because they are important to the story. That being said I selectively read the last 300 pages of the End and the Death vol 2 and I found the main plot points to be well executed, it was just too tempting to find out how well Sangy bites it.

 

I found that John French's siege novels were just too boring to get past like 100 or 150 pages into and were an exercise in masochism to the point that hes on my :cuss:list too along with Thorpe

 

Don't ever read Gav Thorpe books, the only thing worse than Gav Thorpe is Battle for the Abyss, god help the man who reads that book, its the only book ive intentionally lost in my house and I genuinely dont know where it is and im happy for it. 

 

I think in terms of the Heresy to me Garro and Loken are the most important and well written loyalist characters. I'd pick Garro as my single most loved character and I recently finished his arc having not read about him at all after completing Echoes of Eternity I went back into the Heresy and started reading certain books and short stories I was missing.

Again Id say its extremely important to read the mainline books about Mortarion, Magnus, Angron and Fulgrim. as well as Horus and how he gains his power from Molech

 

I think ADB is a genius author and we are lucky to have him writing science fiction to a degree that its like if Leonardo Davinci was doing interior design or Stanley Kubrick was directing pornos.  To me at this point I feel kind of burnt out of 30k and 40k reading that I want to have a collection of books that id come back to and read again from time to time without adding new books because I dont like the pressure of just reading new books because its new lore! Yeah Lion Son of the Forrest was a good book but it didnt blow me away.

Echoes of Eternity blew me away and id like to take the time to curate a perfect set novels  and short stories to read that would maximize the impact of reading that book again,

I  did a curated read of Garro's storyline going from Flight of the Eisenstein to Knight of Grey and had a :cuss:ing blast.  

 

 

 

[Bobss]

The Talon of Horus

Black Legion

End of Empires(TBA)

 

Hope that helps!

[DukeLeto69]

On 11/10/2023 at 12:50 AM, Scribe said:

As an exercise in self annoyance.

 

HH

Valdor

Horus Rising

False Gods

Galaxy in Flames

Legion

Mechanicum

A Thousand Sons

The First Heretic

Know no Fear

Betrayer

The Path of Heaven

Praetorian of Dorn

The Master of Mankind

Slaves to Darkness

 

SoT

The Solar War

Saturnine

Warhawk

Echoes of Eternity

Suffering x 3

Actually that isn’t a bad list although I would add in Vengeful Spirit as it has a some key info on Horus’ journey.

[Scribe]

15 hours ago, DukeLeto69 said:

Actually that isn’t a bad list although I would add in Vengeful Spirit as it has a some key info on Horus’ journey.

 

I had to look over the synopsis a few times before it clicked, I agree there is something there, but it didnt leave much of an impact on me I guess.

[DukeLeto69]

Then again according to some folks just seek out the William King piece on the Horus Heresy as it tells you all you need to know and will save you thousands of hours to do something more fulfilling!

[Scribe]

10 hours ago, DukeLeto69 said:

Then again according to some folks just seek out the William King piece on the Horus Heresy as it tells you all you need to know and will save you thousands of hours to do something more fulfilling!

 

It certainly gets one situated with the events that actually matter and are core to the HH itself, combined with the IA articles, and I bet you have the correct road map.

[andrewbioform]

 

Hey there! I realize this post is quite old, and you've probably found a solution by now, but in case others are still searching for a similar answer, here's a condensed reading order for The Horus Heresy series. This list focuses on the major events, such as the Burning of Prospero and the Betrayal at Calth, and highlights works by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, which might appeal to those specifically interested in the Emperor and his Primarchs. I hope this helps anyone looking to get into the series without committing to every single book. Best of luck m8!

[theSpirea]

I haven't read the whole thing yet but it seems you're arranging it chronologically. That's the worst way to approach the series, imho.

[Scribe]

Following the conclusion of the series, you can skip the first 2 volumes of The End...and you really miss nothing important.

 

If the Emperor vs Horus fight was pulled into a Valdor sized novel or something I would have preferred that immensely.