‘The End and the Death: Volume 3’ – Dan Abnett (Black Library)

 

Page Count: 487 Pages

I still have a large number of ‘Horus Heresy’ and ‘Siege of Terra’ books to get to and through (and given how much some of these go for on the second hand market…) but I’d say that I’ve now read enough to get the broad strokes of the Heresy and its conclusion. Most of the opening books, a large chunk of the ones in the middle and now, I’ve finally finished ‘The End and the Death’ with Volume 3. And… Damn.

I’ve been dipping in and out of Warhammer 40K for years now so I knew how this one was going to end (how it had to end). Despite that, Dan Abnett still had a few tricks left, up his sleeve, that caught me out and ended this series on a real high note

The Great Angel, Sanguinius, lies slain at his brother’s hand. Terra burns as reality itself unravels and the greatest bastion of civilisation teeters on the brink of annihilation. Desperate defenders gather, rallying against the rabid traitor hordes. The Hollow Mountain, host to the pilgrims of Euphrati Keeler, is one of the last redoubts, held by the Dark Angels while the unclean host of Typhus lays siege. Malcador the Sigillite sits ablaze on the Golden Throne, trying to buy his master more time. But time is running out… Guilliman races across the stars to reinforce the Throneworld. Will he return to ashes, where a Warmaster of Chaos has ascended to godhood, or will the Emperor have triumphed? And at what cost? It all comes down to one final, climactic confrontation: the Emperor versus Horus. The father against the son.

So, how do you get past the problem of (re)telling a story where a good 95% of readers will likely know how the story ends (what with it being the whole point of Warhammer 40K and all)? Well, if you’re the Black Library, it doesn’t really matter as you know that the fans are going to buy the series anyway. I mean, I did ;o)

If you’re Dan Abnett though… Well, like I said…

In ‘The End and the Death: Volume 3’, the first thing that Abnett does is to really play on the inevitability of what is looming on the horizon. After all, I guess if we already know what is coming, Abnett may as well lean into it and give us the full impact of what is playing out. And he does.

What we get here is page after page of stirring heroism against impossible odds. With the Traitors now inside the Palace itself, Loyalist forces know what is coming but stand against it anyway; and this comes with the resulting hard choices and heroic acts, ranging from the impossible choice facing a Primarch right down to the actions of human soldiers and civilians. Abnett treats all of his named characters the same and this means a near constant flow of heroism, just what this reader was after.

Add in a nice counterpoint of evil, whether it’s the advancing Traitors or elements within the Palace acting on their own agenda (Basilio Fo is just superb as far as that goes) and ‘Volume 3’ effortlessly held my attention throughout. And all of that is before we get to the final confrontation itself…

You thought you knew how it was going to play out and… Again, the broad strokes are there but Abnett not only makes a few minor tweaks, freshening things up and managing to surprise at the exact moment needed, but he also gives us the full panoramic view of the final confrontation. This is a fight that spills out of Horus’ flagship (but stays there at the same time) and not only into the Warp but also across the entire history of the galaxy. Abnett takes this confrontation and makes it a truly epic event that really grasps the concept of what happens when two characters, of this scale, meet. It took me a while to come down after reading all that, I’m still working through it actually.

Loose ends are tied up and Abnett really captures the ‘on the ground’ sense of ‘what happens next’ after the guns stop. We know what’s coming, even if it’s going to take another ten thousand years, and that’s what makes the optimism, of certain characters, all the more bittersweet.

When the ‘Horus Heresy’ series kicked off with ‘Horus Rising’, I wondered if Dan Abnett would be the one to ultimately finish the series. As it stands, I can’t see anyone else doing a better job of it. ‘Era of Ruin’ will tie up more loose ends but here is where the series ends and Abnett handled it superbly.