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?