'The Lost and the Damned (Horus Heresy: Siege of Terra, Volume 2') – Guy Haley (Black Library)
I first happened across the Horus Heresy
far too many years ago now for me to feel entirely comfortable saying just
exactly when it was, middle age is biting hard today... Look, it was a time
when a copy of 'White Dwarf' didn't cost as much as a paperback book, that
should give you an idea of how long ago it was...That was pretty much it for
me. I've never played Warhammer 40k but there's something about the setting
that has kept me coming back for years (giant dudes in power armour, what's not
to love?) and, eventually, got me reading the 'Horus Heresy' series. The great
thing about reading this particular series is that it doesn't matter if you
miss a few books here and there because everyone knows how it ends. I've got a lot
of catching up to do with the main series but I felt confident enough to jump
into the second book of 'The Siege of Terra' and not worry too much about what
I'd missed (that and the fact that the Kindle edition was on sale for £1.99,
couldn't say no to that).
One of the things that has always
intrigued me about the Horus Heresy books is how different authors approach the
task of keeping the story fresh. How do you convince someone to read a series
where everyone knows how it ends? That was another reason for me to read 'The
Lost and the Damned' and Guy Haley answers my question in the best traditions
of all good 40K fiction; a compelling plot, loads of stuff blowing up and a
daemon or two...
On the thirteenth day of
Secundus, the bombardment of Terra began... With the solar defences overcome
through the devastating strength of the Traitor armada and the power of the
warp, Horus launches his assault on the Throneworld in earnest. After
withstanding a ferocious barrage of ordnance, an immense ground war commences
outside the Palace with every inch gained paid for in the lives of billions.
The front lines are beyond horrific and the very air is reduced to poison and
blood. Bodies are thrown into the meatgrinder but the outer redoubts cannot
possibly hold for long, even with the loyal primarchs to reinforce them. For
Horus has his own generals to call upon... Between the plague weapons of
Mortarion and the fury of Angron, the defenders face a losing battle.
So, how do you keep a 'Horus Heresy'
book fresh and interesting when it's set against a backdrop of 'Well we all
know exactly how this is going to go', don't we...? The
answer is simple. While the main players are all transhuman supermen, fighting
a war in both our reality and the warp, Haley lends proceedings a more personal
touch by deliberately focusing on the mortal humans who have been caught up it
in all. Haley makes things uncertain for the regular humans on both sides; the
conscript soldiers being sacrificed to delay the enemy advance (and the mutants
fighting the conscripts), the enemy agents who have no idea how to further the
cause so just seek to cause as much chaos as possible, even the ruling caste
who literally have no idea what to do next and must place their fate in the
Primarchs. We know how it will go for the Emperor, Horus and so on but we don’t
know what will happen to those regular humans in the thick of it, humans whom
Haley makes stand out and really gets us to see the war through their eyes.
Conscript Katsuhiro is the main focus of this approach and I would gladly read
a whole series about him and his exploits during the siege. I’m not sure who is
writing the following books in ‘The Siege of Terra’ but I would love to see
Katsuhiro’s story conclude. There is something about his bravery, in the face
of gut wrenching terror, that really struck a chord in this reader.
There’s a lot going on in
terms of plot then and although you won’t see any real closure in this book
(that’s not Haley’s fault though, it’s very clear that he is writing to some
strict guidelines), Haley does a fine job of setting up events so that you
don’t mind that you are obviously being gently manoeuvred into place to buy the
next book. Even though there are still events to play out, you do get a good
feel for how these plot threads play into the wider piece. That works for me
when you think that this is the first book in a six(?) book series. I would
definitely read the next book (once it’s £1.99 on Kindle that is…) to see what
happens next.
‘The Lost and the Damned’
wouldn’t be a ‘Horus Heresy; novel though without at least one major, full on
battle between Loyalist and Traitor Marines. Haley dutifully supplies that and
as luck would have it, that battle lasts for pretty much the whole of the book.
You’d think it would get boring after a while but Haley isn’t just about the
pyrotechnics and bone jarring fights between Marines (although these are
amazing). Haley uses the early events of the Siege to ask some difficult
questions of the Primarchs overseeing the fight and the answers power this
particular piece of plot forwards at all the right moments.
The ending isn’t a
cliffhanger as such but does add some urgency in terms of just why it is so
important for Horus’ forces to win through as quickly as possible. I’d say that
Guy Haley has not only written a more than worthy addition to the ‘Horus
Heresy’/’Siege of Terra’ series but he’s also left things in a good place for
the next author to kick off from. I’m glad I gave ‘The Lost and the Damned’ a
go and I suspect that other fans of the books will feel the same.
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