horus heresy series, *spoiler alert*

so i finally got around to reading this much acclaimed series.

i was putting it off until they finished it, so i could read it in one fell swoop (i'm extremely anal retentive about this reading habit of mine, coz i absolutely hate waiting in between books ). but i realized it may yet be another 5 years till they conclude the dramatics. too long to wait.

i'm early into book 3, GALAXY IN FLAMES.

1) i'm pleasantly surprised. overall, so far so good. i expected heavy handed retro revision of well established fluff, but so far i haven't been disappointed. it seems GW's sanitization and kiddification of fluff (most notable in the past couple of chaos codices) hasn't corrupted their novels (yet). it's no high literature, but it's good yarns. fun read so far.

(....copulation with a dead pig...i was surprised to read about that ritual in what is essentially nerd/geek fiction... *gross* )

2) as a "fall from grace" epic saga, i'm already satisfied with the first 2 books. it's way better than the prequel trilogy of star wars. it's nice to see the supervillains of the current 40k stage as they once were -- decent fellers, who fought and bled like soldiers do; who joked and played tricks and got mad at one another; who ate, drank and lived almost human lives.

3) i actually sorta dig abaddon now. what musta happened to turn the once fine 1st captain into the unsophisticated rabid lunatic brute he is today. at least he wasn't no anakin skywalker.

4) kharn could once speak in a straight sentence...using multi-syllabic words. and angron too! now that was truly shocking and awesome!

5) tightass pricks na pala yung emperor's children, dati pa. lucius and eidolon too.

6) sanguinus is so damn gay. "my tears are real".

7) sigismund was a warmongering jackass right from the start. no wonder the templars are such uppity snits.

8) i think it was a good choice to cast an unknown character (captain loken) as the pivotal protagonist early on. adds more legend and myth to the likes of horus, abaddon, and the cast of characters we already know. i'm quite relieved that the emperor and the primarchs don't speak in ye olde english and thee's and thou's. that would have been a huge mistake.

9) i expected GALAXY IN FLAMES to be a chore. ben counter's DAEMONWORLD (if i remember right) was absolute shameful rubbish, and i read the first book of GREY KNIGHTS and found it boring and a chore to read. surprisingly, it's as if dan abnett himself wrote FALSE GODS and GALAXY IN FLAMES.

if you've read ahead of me, no spoilers please.

-garr

horus and the emperor will kill each other!!!

I just started Galaxy in Flames this morning. Although I read Descent of Angels first and Fallen Angels.

The Mournival was a surprise to me. Never thought Horus would be needing a group hug from time to time.

The inquisition also has it roots here and specially the "Lectitio Divinatatus" of the Emperor was what interest me the most.

I hope the Emperor would not be a disappointment. (Question: What is the name of the Emperor? Was it published before?)

I am still looking for Book 8 - Battle of the Abyss by Ben Counter.

Taking my time reading and enjoying in between traffic and waiting for clients to come out during client calls.

you can live w/o reading "battle of the abyss" the best thing about it was the lone thousand son character

the "legion" book was one of my fave reads of this series so far

the mournival are more like tools, to be discarded when they no longer served his purpose.

horus pretends to need them, but really uses them to his own benefit. what a cunning bastard.



the mournival clamor for war, so horus can be seen as peacemaker.

the mournival will verbally abuse rival legions, so horus can be seen as a masterful politician.

the mournival do the dirty work, so horus reaps the benefits.



what surprised and irked me was erebus & the word bearers. i suppose it's logical that the occult-dabbling zealots are ultimately the root cause of the entire heresy (maybe GW has a valid philosophical point here? ), but i was expecting a little less meddling from those bible-thumping maniacs and more hubris from the sons of horus (that would lead to their downfall).

-garr

I love the way they alluded to old Terra (as we know it now) and still manage to instill a healthy amount of mystery and self-doubt. There are even references to The Philippine city of Cebu in the "Blood Games" Custodes story from the "Tales of Heresy" collection.

There is even, if I am right, a reference to the Egyptian civilization existing during the Emperor's younger years (could it be that his name is En Sabah Nur?).

I'm reading "False Gods" right now and I found "Horus Rising" a very fresh and entertaining read. The Mournival (and it's french/deck roots) is shaping up to be a very good narrative device with Loken serving as the moral compass of the entire series. It has re-awakened my interest in the 40K mythos. Watching a well-loved Horus strut his way into the hearts of Primarch and Enlisted man alike offered a much-needed slant to the story. He was depicted, in all respects, really as the most perfect of all the Primarchs without going gay-overboard (i.e. Sanguinus).

I love how evil the Word Bearers are. I mean these are the biggest bastards you could imagine (not 100% of them, though). Lorgar and Eberus are enormous A-holes with silver tongues. The Emperor's Children are, on the other hand, pompous futhermockers. You can't help but hate Lucius and Eidolon.

Most of all, I love how the books show how flawed the Emperor really is. This, in stark contrast against the constant proclamations of his perfection. It paints a clear picture of how virtually everyone in the Imperium were taken for a ride.

I'm excited to find out how the atheistic tyranny of the Imperium of old (reminiscent of Nazi Germany) transformed into the ultra-religious cult that we know today.

I have to rush through all the books... "Prospero Burns" awaits my attention.

don't ever recall the emperor's name ever published. but HORUS RISING alludes to the emperor perhaps being of persian stock.

-garr

the allusion to satan (seytan) was also interesting, especially against the backdrop of an interstellar empire spreading secular truth across the galaxy.

the samus bit and the whisperheads was a tad freaky for pulpy sci-fi nerd fiction.

-garr

@manongguard

was that an Xmen joke? lol

- for those who dont follow Xmen, Apocalypse's human name was En Sabah Nur

And it was barely explained... which makes it all the freakier.

I can trace, for example, the existence of "Ogre-type" beings in both Indo-chinese/South East Asian cultures (The Kapre comes from "Kafri" or Afrikan... legends probably abound due to the comparatively diminuitive stature of the folks from our part of our world versus the tall, big-boned foreigners of African stock). I wish I couldn't... it would've been creepier if I couldn't. It's a Santa Claus demystification of a more macbre persuasion.

Yes it was, Baker. It's good to know that someone is paying attention. Hehehe.

man you guys will love how the non-sectarian Imperium turns overtly religious. Twas a twist of faith for all concerned.

heck, were i there at the moment, i'd turn to worshipping the God Emperor too!

only read til Fulgrim. loved the book, at least it showed and told me a lot on why the popous fothermocking Emeror's Children turned, always thought twas for really crappy reasons since the Index Astartes (from WD) series didn't mention much.

if anyone remembers the old 3rd ed BBB, one of the pages there told of the Emperor letting the world go to ruin so he can rise up from the ashes and "save" the world.

the Emperor is every bit the deceiving and lying bastard of a father that he really is. never liked the Imperium. good thing too! thats why i cant get myself to play any Imperium army other than the IG.

didn't expect to like Horus, man he was as charismatic and as scheming as the most handsome politician w/ a silver forked tongue, whenever he'd give a speech, there would be the moment where his teeth will gleam while smiling, i kid you not! he got to his position thru guile, cunning and charisma.

heck, the Space Marines back then knew how to joke and smile, and read and appreciate the arts, not the boring robots geared for violence that they are now.

what i didn't like tho was how from 5 Legions that participated in the drop site massacre, now its 7 Legions. retcon, yuck

meh Abaddon was a boring brute then, and after reading the books that contained him, made for an even more boring villain. heck if a Goff Warboss w/ an adamantium skull is smarter than he is, thats sad

was there any doubt to Sanguinus' personality from the get go?

you prolly got into the spirit of reading into the story coz it is nice over-all, it took me a week of pause before i read Galaxy in Flames coz twas dreading a Ben Counter book, and ye it wasnt a bad read, but i still hadda plow thru it

Flight of the Eisenstein otoh is waaaaay better!

can't skip False Gods

still looking where i can buy the goddeym book.

i'm not the borrowing type. i want what im reading is mine. but i might just resort into it just because im really itching to find out more what happened after horus rising...

...what's Erebus got to do with the missing artifact?
...how did Horus turned?
...what happened with the Mournival during the "turn" itself?
...is Horus going to piggyback Sanguinis (like Bea is to John Lloyd?)

ABANGAN!

i was expecting GALAXY IN FLAMES to be complete and utter rubbish after the fashion of DAEMONWORLD (easily one of all time worst & senseless fiction books i've ever read).

you can't go lower than DAEMONWORLD. but i'm guessing it's the overall plot that's carrying the weaker moments of the books. no complaints from me.

no major appearance by lorgar yet. i don't expect to like him much, if erebus is already such an asshole.

kadiri talaga word bearers.

+++

the imperium uses the 2-headed eagle as it's symbol. anyone who knows their history would realize that speaks volumes of the imperium's character.



-garr

And it was barely explained... which makes it all the freakier.

I can trace, for example, the existence of "Ogre-type" beings in both Indo-chinese/South East Asian cultures (The Kapre comes from "Kafri" or Afrikan... legends probably abound due to the comparatively diminuitive stature of the folks from our part of our world versus the tall, big-boned foreigners of African stock). I wish I couldn't... it would've been creepier if I couldn't. It's a Santa Claus demystification of a more macbre persuasion.

the rite where the acolyte is sacrificed after copulation with a diseased dead swine was just gross.

it's quite similar to some satanic cult ritual that i just can't remember. my occult lore is very shabby and i don't really want to remember.

*gross*

-garr

i was expecting GALAXY IN FLAMES to be complete and utter rubbish after the fashion of DAEMONWORLD (easily one of all time worst & senseless fiction books i've ever read).

you can't go lower than DAEMONWORLD. but i'm guessing it's the overall plot that's carrying the weaker moments of the books. no complaints from me.

no major appearance by lorgar yet. i don't expect to like him much, if erebus is already such an asshole.

kadiri talaga word bearers.

+++

the imperium uses the 2-headed eagle as it's symbol. anyone who knows their history would realize that speaks volumes of the imperium's character.



-garr

Read "Scions of the Storn" to see how the asshole twins (Lorgar and Erebus) work.

Garr, read "Flight of the Eisenstein" (Grandpa Iacton is lecturing Dorn), "Fulgrim" (REALLY GOOD WRITING) and "Tales of Heresy" (met still-hurting-inside Lorgar, Kor Phaeron and Ereberus promoting their best-seller book "The Book of Lorgar", pre-Great Crusade Emperor, and pre-psychotic Kharn and straight talking Angron) next. It's worth it.

i'm halfway through GALAXY IN FLAMES. tarvitz in the thunderhawk.

i dig captain iacton qruze. he reminds of me. senile and obsolete. wait, what am i saying?



-garr

as a black legion player, i'm honor bound to defend this most heinous assault on my main character.

sadly i can't, because it's true. try as i might, i can't defend abaddon as a character.



and coz thrakka is really smart, even beyond human strategum levels. it took yarrick to outstratergize him, and fight him to a draw ya know.



so, in summary. matalino talaga si thrakka, at tanga talaga si abaddon.



+++

i'm starting to dislike abaddon now. argh.

if he was any smarter, he'd have smelled the betrayal too. but he was in on it, lock stock and barrel, believing all of horus' manipulations and lies to be true. suckered in by his primarch.

argh.

-garr

currently reading Angels of Darkness by Mister Thorpe.

there's an account by a captured high-ranking Fallen that Luther may have also been suckered in by the Lion to turn renegade.

hmm, i'm re-reading Eisenhorn and Ravenor... but all his Heresy talk is interesting...

where does one start, and which ones are must reads...

You can either start with "Horus Rising" or "Tales of Heresy". Also, "Fulgrim" and "Legion" are pretty stand-alone from what I hear.

The Horus Heresy novels are

1. Horus Rising - Dan Abnett - April 2006
2. False Gods - Graham McNeill - June 2006
3. Galaxy in Flames - Ben Counter - Oct 2006
4. The Flight of the Eisenstein - James Swallow - March 2007
5. Fulgrim - Graham McNeill - July 2007
6. Descent of Angels - Mitchel Scanlon - October 2007
7. Legion - Dan Abnett - March 2008
8. Battle for the Abyss - Ben Counter - August 2008
9. Mechanicum - Graham McNeill - December 2008
10. Tales of Heresy - Kyme & Priestley - April 2009[2]
11. Fallen Angels - Mike Lee - July 2009[3]
12. Raven's Flight - Gav Thorpe - February 2010
13. A Thousand Sons - Graham McNeill - March 2010
14. Prospero Burns - Dan Abnett - January 2011[4]
15. Nemesis - James Swallow - August 2010
16. The First Heretic - Aaron Dembski-Bowden - November 2010

Check out the video of Graham McNeil and Dan Abnett at the Black Library website.

@Chopsuey Rice

I think this is a reprint of an old novel.

I think this story is taken from the point of view of a "Fallen" Dark Angel.

=D