The Horus Heresy

In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war.

Before that, however, in the nearer  future, there’s betrayal on a universal scale, brother fighting brother, falls from greatness, corruption, oh, and war. Lots of it. Mix in sub plots of religion, love, friendship, heroics and serious family issues, and you have one of the greatest ongoing science fiction series out there. There’s a reason the 41^st Millennium is grim, dark and war-torn. This is it.

The Horus Heresy is not a new story. We all know how it ends (and if you don’t, you’re amongst the few and probably live on a distant world untouched by the glory of the Emperor. Word of warning, comply and rejoice when the Emperor’s Crusade gets to you). It’s interesting that even though most of us reading the now fifteen book (and eBook) strong series (not to mention the six audio books!) know how it all ends, we still read all the stories. The Horus Heresy is not just about the end in itself, but how it ends.

My sister's boyfreind's dog, Dizzy. Awww...

And we all know that, using the power of Maths, just having the right answer is not good enough, the magic is in the process of getting there. This is one of the times that I’m glad Black Library agreed with my Maths teacher. The Horus Heresy has been a gripping series, with three New York Times bestsellers (so far, I’ll bet my sisters boyfriends dog on more coming very soon), and includes some seriously great dramatis personae (Loken, Garro, Erebus, Horus, Primarchs – come on, that’s the sauce of awesomeness), and some of the best writing from Black Library since they appeared out of the Warp to sell us novels. This is space opera at its best. 

Here’s my top five. I’ve chosen them using my secret ‘Horus Heresy’ grading system, handed to me by an ancient tech-seer of the Imperium.

1. Horus Rising, by Dan Abnett. Where it all began and still one of the best. The audio book is just out too!

2. Thousand Sons, by Graham McNeill.Perfectly written, with amazing scenes and a great cast of characters.

3. Prospero Burns, by Dan Abnett. Not what I thought it was going to be, which makes it rock even more. Remember: there are no wolves on Fenris...

4. The First Heretic, by Aaron Dembski-Bowden. Dark, brutal, brilliant. A great look into Chaos!

5. The Flight of the Eisenstein, by James Swallow. Fast-paced and gripping chase through space! Loved the ending and Garro.

Check out these links for your preferred format of The Horus Heresy: Audio, Novels or eBooks

The ebook format is a great addition, adding to the wide appeal of the series. Looking forward to many more novels in the Horus Heresy coming soon! 

So, you have my Top 5 so far, what's yours and why?

 

Horus Heresy series

Here's a wee preview of the newest book in my favourite Black Library series...

The First Heretic


Looking forward to an epic read. Here's what the author, Aaron Dembski-Bowden, a decent bloke through and through, thought about a recent review of The First Heretic:

Reviews and why authors hate them

Its all fun and games really! Might not review it here, just in case...

Film Review: Pandorum

Since I'm in a SF mood these days, I was looking forward to catching Pandorum on DVD, since I missed it on the big screen. Part of me is glad, and doubly glad that it was rented and not bought, but it's not all bad. I actually kinda liked it. I know, I’m clearly aiming for the middle of the fence so far!

The first 30/40 mins, when Ben Foster awakens on a dark, rotting and eerily silent spaceship, his memory foggy and confused, is engrossing, atmospheric and scary as hell. It's not 'jumpy' scary per se - just the thought that of waking up in such a horrible, weird situation really put me on edge. And the scene with Foster crawling through the ships internal, hot and claustrophobic ducts is awful (in a good way!). The true horror comes from the start. And the pulsing shakes of the ships death throes throughout the film add a delicate heartbeat that builds tension.

It’s the ‘mutant’ humans I don’t like. Only because they remind me of the blind mutant antagonists from The Descent. And that’s where the film loses its momentum – I felt I’d seen it before from that point, where the ‘bad guys’ where warped cannibals that had ‘adapted’. Very Hills Have Eyes etc.

Mind you, the twist of the ‘actual’ antagonist does save the plot, and the questions over Foster’s character throughout add something to the film – which I liked.

It’s not an original plot, but its handled well, and it’s a better than average Sci Fi, Horror, Thriller, which opened well and was fun to watch (as a horror fan). And Dennis Quaid was good in it too.

Exciting, if not predictable in parts, with a darkly atmospheric beginning.

3 out of 5 flesh-eating antagonists.