‘’Horus Rising’ – Dan Abnett (Black Library)

 

Page Count: 412 Pages

It’s the time of year again (i.e. right at the end) where my thoughts turn towards a little re-reading. Look, this year has been a bit of a slog and I’m basically winding down a bit, I’ve earned it ;o) Anyway… I’ve been hovering around the end of the ‘Horus Heresy’ & ‘Siege of Terra’ series’ for a while and it felt like time to go back to the beginning and re-read at least the first few books (my collection has a few, expensive, gaps in it). This is definitely a series with more ‘hits’ than ‘misses’ for me, and it is a re-read, so you might want to bear that in mind as you go through this post, I’ll try and be objective :o)

At the dawn of the 31st Millennium, the Imperium of Man has reasserted its dominance over the galaxy. It is a golden age of rediscovery and conquest, and the Emperor’s Great Crusade has placed his superhuman primarch sons at the head of the mighty Space Marine Legions – the most powerful military force ever assembled. Newly promoted to serve as the Emperor’s Warmaster, the idealistic Horus now stands above his brothers, even as the Crusade enters what must surely be its final stages and dark, cosmic truths begin to reveal themselves. Far beyond the alien threat of malignant xenos breeds rogue human civilisations, a war now looms that could threaten the final extinction of mankind…

For me, the question that looms over the series has always been how to make each book engaging if the vast majority of readers already know how the series has to end. Seriously, every Warhammer 40K book literally opens with the fate of the Emperor...With that in mind, and with ‘Horus Rising’ being the opening book, there’s a lot of pressure riding on this book to fire an opening salvo that hits its target. Luckily, Dan Abnett’s name is on the cover so we’re in safe hands.

Abnett goes for the approach of really laying it on thick that the Imperium is at the height of its power and the future is blindingly bright for the regular Imperial citizen. We all know what’s coming (Abnett even opens the book with a nod to it) and that sense of impending tragedy adds a bittersweet tinge to all the achievements that Horus makes here. There’s your engagement, right there. Events are right on the cusp of a downward spiral and we’re the only ones who know it. Add a certain character (who I absolutely hate…), to the mix, and that trajectory becomes all the more compelling.

But that’s not enough for Dan Abnett, oh no :o) Abnett takes us right into the head of a Horus who is second only to the Emperor (Malcador might have something to say about that, you know what I mean though) but still has all the insecurities of a hesitant son combined with a man new to his job. The potential is there, and Horus is already doing great things, but it hasn’t quite been realised and that tears Horus up inside. You can’t help but cheer him on and again, because you know what’s coming… Abnett is also in the habit of leaving little moments of foreshadowing here and there, just in case you didn’t already know what was coming :o) It all adds to the momentum of the plot in the best way.

And if that wasn’t enough… Well, this is a book about Space Marines so of course there is the high octane combat that most of us come for, even if we don’t really want to admit it ;o) What’s interesting to see here are the Astartes still in their infancy, able to fulfil their potential but sometimes unsure whether they should. It’s not just ‘Space Marines shooting through everything’ and I liked that. So, plenty to ponder but also a full on war against Mega Arachnids that is ‘Starship Troopers’ dialled up to 11, just the right mix for this reader.

‘Horus Rising’ is a very solid opening to the series and a little reminder that I need to make more time for re-reads, it was just what I needed.