‘Galaxy In Flames’ – Ben Counter (Black Library)

 


Well… This week was supposed to be the week where I read stuff that wasn’t just ‘Warhammer 40K’ or ‘Horus Heresy’ and… Here we are ;o) I don’t regret it all to be honest, this week hasn’t been a bad one but it has been a week where I’ve really needed some time in the grimdark universe of the far future. The other books, on the TBR Pile, are still there though, lets see if I can get any of them on the blog next week instead ;o)

Anyway…

It’s been a long time since I picked up the opening books, in the ‘Horus Heresy’ series, so I thought it was way past time that I did. You can read my thoughts on ‘Horus Rising’ over Here and I posted about ‘False Gods’ the other day. This time round, we’re taking a look at ‘Galaxy In Flames’ and two books in, Horus is finally making a move…

Having made a miraculous recovery from the grievous injuries he suffered on Davin, Warmaster Horus now leads the triumphant Imperial forces against the rebel world of Isstvan III. An unprecedented alliance between the Sons of Horus, Death Guard, World Eaters and Emperor' Children Legions seems more than capable of overwhelming the paltry mortal defences - indeed, such a display of force seems unnecessary? Putting their own concerns aside, Garviel Loken and his loyal kinsmen lead their companies to the surface only to learn the full, horrifying truth, and the legendary war known as the Horus Heresy begins with the most foul act of betrayal imaginable...

When I first read ‘Galaxy In Flames’, I didn’t really think anything of it having taken three books just to set the scene. Looking back now though… The hell with it, I would have still kept reading ;o) If you look at the series as a series (sorry) of smaller plot arcs, ‘Galaxy In Flames’ marks the end of the first arc and rounds it off in fine fashion.

Counter’s job is fairly straightforward here; tie off a decent number of loose threads but make sure to leave the right ones open that promise more to come, And on the whole, I’d say that Counter does just that with Horus’ plans eventually unfolding into a massive war across Isstvan III. And I do mean ‘massive’, it’s no ‘The End and the Death’ (in terms of length at least) but still, over half the book is spent on/above the planet and so we get plenty of time to see the betrayal unfold from several perspectives.

Counter is no Dan Abnett, or Graham McNeill, (at least, from where I’m sat) so when placed in the context of it concluding the initial arc, ‘Galaxy In Flames’ doesn’t quite resonate in the same way that the first two books did. Taken on its own though, ‘Galaxy In Flames’ moves along at a decent pace and is full of powerful moments that really capture what the setting can be about. Stirring heroism, bitter tragedy and pure evil lurking beneath the surface of it all. Fans of the setting will get a lot more out of it than casual readers, given that Counter carries on the fine tradition of ‘making sure that your favourite character (or least favourite villain, erm… just Erebus) gets a mention’. And it sets things up very nicely for the next book (which I think is ‘Flight of the Eisenstein’? I’ll have to check :o)

I’ve got quite the day ahead of me so I think it’s time to draw a line under this post ;o) ‘Galaxy in Flames’ isn’t quite on the level of ‘Horus Rising’ but it does its job and has left me keen to keep going. Not quite yet though, the next book I pick up needs to be something different I think...

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