Ben CounterBesprekingen

Damn, that was epic!

I want to start by making a few things clear, before getting into this review:
- I was coming in so hype from Flight of the Eisenstein (I'm saving my re-read of Fulgrim for the whole Shattersong Omnibus following www.heresyomnibus.com) and I was at peak Warhammer, especially Horus Heresy, hyperfixation on a special interest and having a ball.
- I think Counter is a fantastic writer, I love a lot of his work, and he was so lovely when I randomly met him at a Magic: The Gathering re-release event many moons ago.
- They quality of the Horus Heresy books vacillates, but coming back to the opening quadrilogy after reading a whole lot in the last year and being shocked by how much they stand up and in my honest mood even surpass many far more respected books in terms of the way literature is critiqued (art is subjective and not a competition, but we understand their are certain qualities and attributes that raises the quality of a work), so I'm not going to be grading this series on a curve like I might do with other Black Library titles.
- Expanding on the above, if this had the white cover, bottom third cover art, big red title, and the the grey Aquila Space Marine Battles banner across the top, I would have very different expectations and reactions than the full cover art with top third black text box with outline and text in gold. I know this is ridiculously granular, but this was the eighth book released of a series which had established itself with certain qualities.
(No shade on Space Marine Battles in particular, I just think this has the feel of a good entry in that series, rather than as part of this one)

I feel a huge amount of relief at having this book finished because, while their are moments of quality writing with beautiful moments and gorgeous descriptions, this one really missed the mark for me. I feel awful for how much negative stuff I have to say, some of which I don't think is Counter's fault at all, and all of which is my own subjective opinion, especially as I remember having a good time with this previously.

The Word Bearers with the aid of what will eventually become the Dark/New Mechanicum/s make the biggest, baddest spaceship and are heading to go mark Calth up with it as the decisive sucker punch against the Ultramarines. A ragtag group of Astartes from various Legions, Space Wolves, World Eaters, and Thousand Sons, lead by Ultramarines and their commandeered ships have something to say about that.

I know I've been in a lot of pain and discomfort today, while reading the book and writing this review with my chronic conditions flaring like Warp storms, so maybe I'm being unfair in how I felt, or more importantly didn't feel, about this. But it was laid up listening to the good, the bad, the ugly, and the phenomenal that had me sobbing pretty much from start to finish of Horus Heresy audio dramas that made me begin this quest to finally actually fully complete the saga, especially with The End and the Death Part III released this year.

Unfortunately, I didn't like a lot of this (for a Horus Heresy novel).

I think in many ways this novel (and Counter) were given a raw deal in when this novel was released and what it had to do. The foundations this is built on are incredibly shaky, eschewing the established Horus Heresy formula of introducing a single Legion through their past and present, using this to specifically hone in on their reputation and perceived character, while exploring how they are and aren't like this. This is essential for creating a baseline, exposing misconceptions, establishing tensions that were fermenting long before Davin, let alone Isstvan, and, most importantly for anyone who isn't a 40k nerd, actually giving the reader an idea of who, what, why, where, when, and how. There is a ludicrous amount of lore, history, knowledge, and dramatic irony we nerds are aware of, but is all but impenetrable for someone coming in fresh. This is something I praised Horus Rising and whole opening quadrilogy for, as they gradually increase the scope and elements over the course of several novels. Honestly, to be fair to Counter here, I feel like this was a bad call on Black Library and the Horus Heresy planning team that he is taking the blow for, especially when The First Heretic and Know No Fear are so far away. I get that chronologically this makes sense to be before Know Know Fear, but chronology? The Horus Heresy doesn't know her, and introducing the stakes and reasons to care about the Shadow War: Red Vs Blue Heresy Boogaloo are far more important. Counter got done dirty and Black Library made logistical mistakes, which I know is hard to believe as, despite the quality of a lot of the work their authors create, they seem to be run with the same efficiency and methods as the Munitorum in the Dark Millennium.

Going by the release and almost all suggested reading orders, at least as far as the novels are concerned, outside of the odd character and reference, we know nothing about the Legions involved in this story. So far we have become familiar with and invested in the Lunar Wolves/ Sons of Horus, Emperor's Children, and Death Guard, as well as getting an introduction to the Dark Angels and a glimpse of the Alpha Legion. This novel doesn't do much to address this or really give the Space Marines much individual character, backstory, or motivations beyond being the absolute embodiment of the stereotypes and tropes of their respective Legions. They do develop as the story goes on, but not as much as I hoped and thought I remembered.

We have the drinking, fighting, good times, but hates Thousand Sons because of the Edict of Nikea (which we get a very brief explainer for), Space Wolf, the shamed and secluded, but really making making an effort to be an ambassador for his Legion, Thousand Son, a mega-scarred and lary World Eater (who has mutual distrust and not liking the mirror match with the Space Wolf), and a couple of Ultramarines, embodying the rather starched Roman legionary, but will do what's necessary of they have to thing going on. The only additional elements being given to these Ultramarines who are essentially the main protagonists is that they are lonely, homesick, and one had a vision (having a vision is not a personality trait). Don't get me started on this being the introduction to the Word Bearers (beyond Erebus), one of the most fascinating Legions and narratives in this whole saga, once they get the introduction they deserved in The First Heretic and Aurelian, being reduced to moustache-twirling villains without any aspect to them, beyond zealotry and cutthroat ambition that reduces them to slapstick buffoons! I know I am the bearer of the word of myth and foundation story archetypes, but they aren't presented like that and this novel lacks any of the mythic legend, outside of the David versus Goliath aspect.

Even as individuals and preexisting relationships between the Ultramarines and the Space Wolf, we have next to nothing to go on beyond Star Wars Prequels levels of told not shown relationships:
'Hello there, Ultrakin, remember when we brought that nest of gundarks to Compliance?'
'I do, master... I mean Fenrykenobi'

Another less Horus Heresy, more standard 40K fare is the curse of the Whedon dialogue that's infected nearly all genre media. My go to example of this the tonally bizarre, especially considering the context, Poe/ Kylo Ren dialogue that opens the Force Awakens as an instance of this in a film in generally love. I want to be clear that the Dark Millennia are ridiculous and silly in their grimdarkness; Blanchean, but unnaturally quipping Ultramarines giving it the classic 'that went well' (if I recall correctly, multiple times) in intense situations feels weird, forced and 'cool', rather than in character. Torgaddon is an archetypal fool and a constant joker in the previous books, but there soldierly camaraderie, almost dad joke quality to his humour, rather than Alan Tudyk in Macragge Blue power armour.

I also think themes and expressions honour, tragedy, and sacrifice are somewhat mishandled, certainly not to the same degree as in Honour to the Dead which I am rather dreading being the capstone of the Shadow War I Omnibus. I am all about and have genuinely felt bolstered in real life considering positive and meaningful moments that can exist in the micro within a galaxy where everything is awful and grimdark in the macro, but I think it's something, especially with the honour and Imperial Truth indoctrinated into Astartes and their whole worldview, that needs to be handled with deftness and care to not become affirming or apologia for the jingoistic nightmare that is the Imperium. Of course, most of the individual Space Marines feel this way and are true believers, so it is down to the author to construct the narrative and narrator's voice that doesn't reinforce that. If you really look for it the difference is definitely there and incredibly important, something Games Workshop and Black Library can be very slack on, particularly because the vast majority of media is presented as coming from the in universe perspective of the Imperium.

Never forget that 40K (and the surrounding millenia) is a satire of empire, authoritarianism, and religious extremism that used to be much more clear about how inhuman and monstrous a weapon Astartes are made to be. Don't get me wrong, I love my Lokens, Tarvitzes, Garros, etc., but I celebrate their personal victories and adore how their narratives explicitly criticise the state of things and show the inconsistencies and hypocrisy in the Imperium, and the tragedy of being stuck in the impossible situation the system has created, as much as the external threats, again, many of which are only threats because of the beliefs and actions of the Imperium. This is why the Night Haunter, the Red Angel, and Corax are my favourite Primarchs, and Khârn, Argal Tal, Torgaddon, and the Loyalists (and specifically how they are treated) of the Traitor Legions are some of my favourite characters. They truly embody the way both the Imperium and Immaterium choke all that is good with their dogma and brutality.

This book was the first time I started to fear Heresy Burnout, which is scary with how I've barely got started, but I am determined to pass the Rubicon and I am looking forward to Know No Fear being the next novel in this Omnibus, which is one of my favourites and, I believe, is widely acknowledged as being in the top tier Horus Heresy novels.

As much as I have had to criticise, I do have some positive things to say and there certainly are pockets of brilliance with a lot of competent, but unexciting logistics between them. The main thing Counter is fantastic about is how he handles anything to do with the Warp. His descriptions of the geography and denizens of the Immaterium as fragments and reflections of emotion are surrealist masterpieces! His command of presenting the uncanny unreality of the Aether is sublime. The way this is then channelled into the paranoia and horror of Warp entities on board the Loyalist ships and the way the Realm and sorcereries of Chaos affects the mind creates some wonderful 'The Thing' vibes is great and could have been given even more screen time to be honest. I am just infinitely fascinated with the Immaterium, Warp travel, and it's affects on the laws of physics and the psyche.

The description and story that go along with the gallery on the Furious Abyss are also really well done, as are elements of the World Eater and Space Wolf's storylines (and to an extent the Thousand Son), especially in the way they echo each other and the similarities and differences of what they go through and how they reflect on and experience feeling alone and disconnected from their battle bother cousins. There is one moment of the Space Wolf ruminating on his feelings and remembering a trial he went through as a neophyte that was one of the only times I actually felt any connection or emotion.

I absolutely powered through this, but not in my usual excited, insatiable way. Instead, I just let it wash over me while I've been laid up with chronic pain, stimming by rearranging my whole 40k ebook library by factions, which took all night, from the individual authors I had been sorting it into in recent weeks. I just needed to have this done, so it didn't bog me down.

The reason I have referred to the characters by their Legions is because, beyond Skraal and Cestus, I genuinely didn't recall or dare to learn their names, which, as someone who really needs to connect, positively, negatively, or otherwise, with characters to feel anything or have the stakes or tension mean anything, says everything about my experience.

There are moments of brilliance, where Counter's imagination, descriptive, and emotional flare shine through, but, ultimately, this is in my honest opinion a not great Horus Heresy novel released in an order that makes no sense that would be a pretty good 40k one. Honestly, swap the Thousand Son for a Grey Knight or any Librarius heavy Chapter, the World Eater for a Flesh Tearer and this works pretty much as is as a 40k novel, which I really don't think should be the case for what we have come to expect from the Horus Heresy.

Initial Reaction

I have read this book, which I consider one big book with Horus Rising and False Gods with parts of Flight of the Eisenstein as a coda, at least four times in the nearly 18 years since it was published, and every time it has made me cry. These books are incredible and the stories and characters within are something special.

I will be taking a little break to catch up on reviews and to keep on top of other reading, including a proper write up for this, after Flight of the Eisenstein, as well as reading the early stories and accounts of the Horus Heresy, including The Emperor and Horus by William King, The Horus Rebellion by Alan Merrett, and The Dornian Heresy for fun.

This whole saga continues to be an unbelievable undertaking, despite the wildly vacillating quality as things go on, but this opening trilogy is damn near perfect for what it is. I think some of the negative reviews I've seen don't seem to know what that is and judge it unfairly. I'm all for the joys of subjectivity and I know my brains mercurial and sporadic tastes, but I think complaints about characters making ridiculous choices and acting in 'unbelievable' ways make the mistake of viewing this as a traditional sci-fi story or space opera. The Horus Heresy is the foundation story for Warhammer 40K (with its own foundation stories, which spirals back on itself); it is myth and legend like the Eddas, Odyssey, Illiad, and The Contending of Horus and Seth. It draws on these and classic and foundational tales from across the globe, particularly the latter, both in form and through in universe references, surpassing the simple pig Latin Catholic allegory it began as, the just over 15 lines of small box text in the Book of the Astronomicon, as I mentioned in my Horus Rising review, to become a gestalt. It is a reflection and interpretation of all of these things through the medium of novels, novellas, short stories, audio drama, and a graphic novel about big dudes in armour with machine gun rocket launchers, giant cathedral spaceships, it's own eldritch horror, combining Cthulhu mythos with every concept of hell and the supernatural, and every alien in media on steroids.

I'm not saying this should be held up with Homer, Snorri, and Sîn-lēqi-unninni, but the mythological and allegorical nature are self evident, so some criticisms I've seen do have a ring of ‘cancelling’ Achilles for being too problematic a fave. Yeah, taking concubines is awful and pouting over having yours stolen because your king wanted a new one so you nearly lose a war and your ‘close personal friend’ and [roommate] seems absolutely ridiculous behaviour, but these aren't stories about realism and, in the case of the Astartes and Primarchs, being exactingly genetically engineered and going through truly inconceivable amounts of indoctrination will make you do some odd things.

Anyways, I need to stop acting as an Iterator for this series and come back after I get my head together enough to catch up on reviewing False Gods and this in full. But the tragedy of the tragedy of the Mournival, the death of the Great Crusade, the kindling of the Imperial Creed, Qruze embodying Milgram's obedience, Tarvitz stepping out of being a line officer and stepping up for his moment, the camaraderie between the Loyalist Captains, and Counters wonderfully visceral and vivid descriptions, without wallowing in florid detail are all glorious elements I have a lot more to say on another time.

For now, I have a Flight to catch with a certain Battle Captain on the commandeered Eisenstein.

Why 4 stars:
- one of my favorite warhammer 40 k novels
- a lot of mystery interwoven between the obligatory battles
- original in it's use of the warhammer 40k IP.
- Good plot lines, with some nice twists.

Who should read this?
Any fan of the warhammer 40k novels should enjoy this book.
Science fiction fans who have no prior knowledge of the 40K universe are perhaps better served by reading something like Gaunt's Ghosts. A little knowledge about the 40K universe is needed to fully enjoy this book.

La traición de Horus ya es conocida por todos, y ha llegado el momento de que todos sean puestos a prueba. Cuando el Señor de la Guerra despliega abiertamente sus fuerzas, llega a conocimiento de los Astartes leales que los Portadores de la Palabra han enviado una flota contra Ultramar, el hogar de los Ultramarines. A menos que logren interceptarla y destruirla, es muy posible que los Ultramarines sufran un daño del que jamás sean capaces de recuperarse.

Targaddon was done dirty

In the general realm of Warhammer 40k books, this is fairly high on the quality scale. It's not overly info-dumpy, it his back on the people per, and it achieved a good mix of action and plot movement.

I'd have liked some more warp grotesquery and grim darkness, actually, but as the backbone of the Horus Heresy this book does a good job of driving home the bitterness of betrayal.

Honestly, this book was a grind. Now I know I've read it before, but I couldn't remember any of it. That's a fair appraisal. Nothing that happens in this book is interesting or noteworthy. It's the first book in the series that is really a background story to the HH arc, and the first truly bum note (plenty more to come, sadly). Its just dull Space Marines fighting in boring places, cliched baddies, incomprehensible and improbable decision making, and a grand finale that makes no sense whatsoever. An absolute waste of everybody's time.½

Well, I certainly liked it, what can i say. I liked it less than the two previous ones, maybe because now the story was less new to me. I really want to know how the rest of the story develops.

Relatively boring and without point. Some interesting prose on the nature of chaos within 40k otherwise not worth your time.

3rd book in the Horus Heresy series. This continuation of the story has the feel of a season ending cliffhanger.

Fiction is a subjective art form. You either like something, or you do not like something. This review will not spoil anything, in fact, it will not focus on the material at all except to say, this is a story set in the "Warhammer 40K Universe," which is foremost an table-top wargame. What this will be is a small critical look at the format, writing style, and character development of the novel.

The book is broken down into chapters, with each chapter giving you, in bold print, three insights as to what in going on in the chapter. These three little "insights" could be easier defined as overshadowing statements that range from one word, to a few words. Each chapter has multiple story arcs beginning and ending with a double spaced break which gives the reader the opportunity to switch story arcs. This technique gives the reader the impression of multiple actions happening at or around the same time. Since the premise of the lore setting is futuristic and fantastical war setting, this writing strategy works well to move the whole story arc along with multiple characters interaction in the chaos of warfare.

The writing style is well developed, with multiple authors working together in writing books in the series. The authors work well together to create one seamless story arc, which is still going on today with over 50+ titles. The series itself is almost like the way a television show is developed. There are some books that need to be read in order that move the story along its long reaching story timeline, but every so often, there is a novel in the numerical sequence that is a one shot informative novel about a specific hero or villain, which are offshoots of the main story timeline, and usually deal with a past event. Because of this we also get great character development within the lore.

The ease of reading is about a low medium for me. The only thing that makes it a little more difficult to read is the use of similar spelling and pronunciation of words that seem familiar yet foreign and specific to this story's universe. The character development is good, and the ease of the sentence structure, punctuation, and vocabulary make for an easy and enjoyable read.

I recommend this book and the rest of the series if you enjoy military, science-fiction, aliens, or weird-fiction genres.

Out of the other two Grey Knights books, this one was the best.

I was surprised to find that I hadn't read this book before. I thought it was a completely different story and was pleasantly surprised that this was all new to me. Of course, the fact that it was bobbins meant that the surprise wasn't so pleasant after all. This is a novel of three parts. Part one is a standard Space-Marines-at-war story. Part two attempts to introduce a twist that makes no sense plotwise or in terms of the established 40k fluff. Part three is a return to the standard again. Parts one and three are pretty good but unremarkable Part two, well, I think you get the idea already. Somehow or other the Assassins have made a mutant human weapon that can't be stopped or killed and multiplies and despite it having a massive backstory and mythology, it hasn't been mentioned before. This creature rebelled very quickly, and did a bunk. Instead of settling down somewhere quietly it seems to have formed a chaos cult. The Assassins decided to help the chaos cult out a bit, and got a load of other chaos people to go and help them. This is so that the Assassins have the fog of war to hide in. An inquisitor came along and they thought something was up to the Assassins killed them too. Some Guard and Marines got dragged in to fight the cult. They discover the plot, Lysander fights the Assassins, they kiss and make up, then they fight the creature together and chaos and Lysander kills it with a big hammer. The end.

The best bit about this novel is the cover art, which appears to show a micro-cephalic space marine. The person who drew that is a professional artist. Its hard to imagine, isnt it. You'd think that somewhere along the line someone would have said, look at this space marine, what happened to his bloody head?! but apparently there isn't an art department at Black Library (or at least not one who is an actual human being). This book got a whole extra star for this, on the grounds that not only did this shit get published but at some point or another I actually bought it.½

The groundwork for the war that would rage for millennia has been put down. Great book.

Wow! Just plain wow! The battle scenes at the end were full of gallantry, nobility, honor, and all the good things you expect in an epic where brave men make a last stand. The path to get to that point was also a very good read as the treachery of the heresy is finally revealed and pits Space Marine brother against brother. Once I picked this up, I could not put it down. Ben Counter manages to maintain the crescendo and swift pace of the series in the closing volume of this first trilogy. He also sets things nicely for the rest of the series. Horus solidifies his power, but he is in a race against time to carry out his plans before the Emperor finds out about the treachery. Legions turn against each other as the Astartes take sides. Oh, Captains Loken and Tarvitz and the other loyalists will, in their last stand, make sure Horus' forces pay dearly for their treachery. There is drama, intrigue, action, suspense, and more in this novel that does not let go until the end. Counter's narrative is epic in scope and style; in some ways, this is like reading a classic epic poem. This is definitely a very good entry in the series. I will definitely go looking for the next one.

It's been kind of a mixed bag. Chaos has problems when put in literary form: there's just a lot of incoherence and missing or incomprehensible motives and goals.
Sigvald started out nice, but then dragged on a bit.
Valkia right next was too much of the same.
The short stories were nice timefillers.
van Horstmann was easily the best, with some nice surprises and a coherent story.½

Weaker than some of the preceding Horus Heresy books. Maybe it is just because I find the Ultramarines and Space Wolves such bland legions, I really didn't find any of the characters super interesting.

I'll approach this from a good/bad points view. The good: good story that somewhat advances the overall saga; good ending which really saved the book for me; good look at how different Legions view each other in light of the Heresy. The bad: Counter has now shown me to be the weakest of the Horus Heresy authors thus far by focusing not enough on character depth and development and too much on excessive and strangely timed descriptions of anything from the detail of the sub-engineering decks to the hallucinatory dreams of Astartes warriors right when the story seems to be rolling along. Don't get me wrong: I enjoyed the book, but the flowery and disjointed way the author presents this makes me feel as if I'm reading 10th grade literature in class trying to stay awake after lunch. This series needs to be presented in a harder hitting manner (re: Graham McNeill).

While not as well written as the first two in this series, this one still delivers a real emotional punch from the shocking aspect of the story itself. Horus has now declared war on the galaxy and the god-like Emperor himself, and the reader is subjected to the angst of seeing many, good, loyal characters betrayed and destroyed by Horus' treachery. This one also sets up the coming conflict between those loyal to the Emperor and those who wish a universal rule by a godless people led by Horus. Funny how these science fiction stories can parallel today's events philosophically....

To my way of thinking, this book continues a growing list of "Space Marine" epic adventures happening in the Warhammer Universe that is simply a pleasure to read. This one deals with "Fateweaver" and that Daemon's machinations in our universe, focusing on the Imperial Fists Chapter of the Emperors Space Marines. The seperate stories are not directly linked - but then again the basis of them is the Lord of Change the Prince of Lies and master of Sorcery - Tzeentch

**CONTAINS MODERATE SPOILERS**

In this novel we see the Soul Drinkers taking on the Necron's. Whilst that in itself does not bode well for a indepth story (to be fair the Necron's are hardly a charismatic race) Ben Counter manages to produce a compelling and interesting story, which ends rather unexpectedly in a cliff-hanger.

There's a great irony to this story with the inclusion of the Mechanicus, who despise the Necron's whilst at the same time perhaps sharing the most in common with. It seems the whole premise of the Mechanicus is aspiring to be more "Necron like" it was a shame that this irony was not explored further.

With that in mind we see the continuation of whatever plan Ikintos is putting into place for the Soul Drinkers chapter and the story teases at this subplot throughout the novel without actually revealing anything.

I enjoyed this novel, infact I think it is (so far) one of the best WH40k storylines and despite not liking cliff-hangers, found this one very welcome and has me looking forward to the next (and last) book in the series. May Ben Counter was feeling that the storyline of the Soul Drinkers was dragging on too long and wanted to ensure that the final book gets read? Who knows but with the exception of the first book in the series, this rates up there as second.

So far, (out of the first three in the Soul Drinkers series) I think that this is the weakest, nothing really happens and the whole story is based around the hunt for a rogue Soul Drinker.

Maybe it is because I've read quite a few Warhammer novels in a short space of time but the repeated major battle imagary has lost its appeal somewhat, decending into similarity with every other 40k book I've read.

Its a good light read, however if you are new to the Warhammer 40k universe, don't bother reading, its a rich universe and you will find yourself quickly lost by the unexplained terms et al.

After having read the first two Grey Knights Warhammer books I was getting a little fed up with the series, Hammer of Daemons though offers a new facet to the series' main character (Alaric) which sees him in situations way out of the "norm" for a Space Marine.

I don't think the Warhammer novels ever promise to be literary greats but as pure escapism into a foray of depressing futuristic bigotry, futility and misery they are second to none. Probably the best Grey Knights book so far and since there is only one more in the series, after my current read, I'm looking forward to returning to the inquisitorial world of the Grey Knights one last time.½

As I read more of the Warhammer 40,000 universe I begin to believe that if you are not a fan of the rich environment that has built up around the table top battle game, then these book will probably leave you scratching your head in bewilderment.

As a fan of Warhammer 40k its a great read, seeing the Grey Knights fighting their way through the enemies of chaos and a number of tricks set up by the main "bad guy" in this story.

As with most of the Warhammer books theres mighty battle after mighty battle, a tried and tested formulae which feeds the interest in the table top game of the same name.

If you haven't read this, its the first in the "Grey Knights" series, so a good place to start - however the almost predictable way the story played out merely satisfied the desire for an action book without having anything truly unique or imaginative about it.