Question regarding Horus Heresy series

[Lord Abaddon]

I know there's a books thread, but I figured since the forum (and this section in particular) is undergoing a bit of a nadir as far as activity is concerned, it might be better noticed as a standalone thread.

Last time I checked (years ago, to be honest) Horus Heresy was a trilogy plus the flight of the Eisen. Recently in a bout of 40k recidivism I started giving the lexicanum a bit of a surf and saw that the list grew to encompass an impressive number of books and collections of stories by several authors, some boasting the title of bestseller, some not out yet (but due soon).

Question is, are those worth reading? Do any in particular stand out head and shoulders above the rest in writing/plot/character quality or bring something new and interesting to the Heresy timeframe?
I'm not keen enough to trust the tastes of the masses and be swayed by the "bestseller" bit alone.

[Kalimac]

In this thread you have some reviews of the Horus Heresy novels from different forumites, and as you can see the opinions vary quite a bit:
http://forums.relicnews.com/showthre...=1#post3922630

I can add this review of Deliverance Lost, and also say that First Heretic was quite a good read but not amazing or anything.

I'd probably say the first trilogy is the best place to start, and then after that read the novels with legions that interest you.

[Gorb]

First Heretic was, quite frankly, excellent (in my opinion, of course).

The series suffers from various 'dips' in quality (from the top-quality of the first three and the fifth) and the odd plot obsolesence (that Word Bearers one in space with the GIANT SHIP) but overall it's a great read and most of it is well worth the money.

[ph03nIXx]

Looking at the series in general, there isn't really much to add to what has been said already. Thus, I'll just add my personal biased and totally subjective list of the ones I liked best - I got all the books (not including limiteds and audiobooks aside from The Butcher's Nails), only one I haven't read yet is The Primarchs, the most recent one.

My personal favorites are - in no particular order -

- Fulgrim - fifth book in the series, dealing with the Emperor's Children from a very personal point of view of Fulgrim himself, incl. the best rendition of Isstvan V sofar.
- Legion - how the Alpha Legion came to side with Chaos, while somewhat of a controverse as I have seen over the net, for me it's hands down one of if not THE best book in the series so far.
- A Thousand Sons - how Magnus came to betray the Emperor. Must read, contender with Legion.
- Prospero Burns - while I have seen many say that you don't need to read it if you readt Thousand Sons, I strongly recommend you do - because it's NOT the same tale just from a different point of view. Abnetts writing in this really got me...
- Nemesis and The Outcast Dead - while in no way related, I put them together for stepping away from the typical "Space Marines only, sorry sir" thing the other books obviously have goin on. Nemesis is a blast, The Outcast Dead is nice and especially in the second half it's like "If you like A-Team, you like The Outcast Dead".

Aside from those, I really really strongly recommend reading the short story anthologies. I skipped those at first as I am not that much into short stories... but I saw the error of my ways. Those are great pieces, even if not all the storys are equal quality. But stuff like "The Last Church" or "After De'shea" are must read.

[0rph3u5]

I second Nemesis...

as for short stories: "The Last Remembrancer" from "Age of Darkness" is the gem of that anthology...

[Rukoth]

First Heretic was, quite frankly, excellent (in my opinion, of course).

I second the First Heretic. Great book. For mostly no fighting involved, it just has such a great tragic story and fleshed out characters. You really care about them and what happens to them. Good or Evil.

A Thousand Sons was one of my favorites though. I love the Thousand Sons Legion lore, abilities, color scheme. Magnus the Red is one of the most awsome and colorful primarchs to date next to Horus imo. Its not like most of the books suck or anything though. The only ones I have heard anything bad about or negative are the Dark Angels ones in the series, the only two I haven't read to date because of it. I heard they have next to nothing to do really with the rest of the Horus Heresy series. They are all worth reading though if your a Warhammer lore buff.

[Kalimac]

The first Dark Angels novel in the series is shit. It has (almost) nothing to do with the heresy, or even the Imperium, as it mostly takes place before contact has been established. It's also badly written and very uninteresting. I have heard the second one is better, but the first one left me so unimpressed I'm not going to bother with another one.

[Ra owa]

"Legion" is a favourite of mine. With one of the most lovable characters in the entire series - John Gramaticus.

The recent "The Outcast Dead" is worth a mention here, as it is one that now stands out for me, nearly as much as "Legion".

[Lord Abaddon]

Looks like it's time to grab more than a few books. Hell, I'll even go through the original trilogy and the Eisen to refresh my memory.

[Rukoth]

Abaddon, I hope and dream (probably a little too much) that someone like Peter Jackson will team up with some awsome Sci-Fi director like James Cameron and produce a trilogy of the Horus Heresy series.....the works, CGI animations, just freakin awsome stuff. It would be on the level of LOTR epic that they could produce with the material you will read in these books. Some of the best I have ever read. Infact now I can spot a bad book by a mile when reading it, some just can't hold a candle to Dan Abnett or Graham McNeil or most authors at black library. I just barely made it through the last book in the Eragon series....and it was a bit painful to read after reading so many books by experienced authors . Good book still but I digress.