'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.