Reviews

I'm having a very hard time writing this review with the lens of a reasonably objective reader. I cannot separate the quality of writing from the world contained within this book. I cannot separate my love for the Warhammer 40k universe from my inner book critic. But I will do my best.

First, let me preface my review by saying that 40k is quite possibly the most grimdark, most metal fictional universe in existence. Massive gothic cathedrals as spaceships? Check. Servants made of a fusion of organic material and technology (sometimes made with the brain of a living human being)? Check. Demons created from roiling psychic energy? Check. Biblical plague of space insects? Check. A formerly human half robot race that worships machine AI as a god? Check. Generous usage of Latin? Check. Rips in spacetime that essentially form a gate to hell? Check. And all this is just scratching the surface. The grimdark pervades every crack and crevice of this titanic fictional universe, and I don't even know how deep the rabbit hole goes.

The Warhammer 40k universe was originally created as lore behind a tabletop war game. It eventually branched out to a tabletop RPG, various video games, board games, and, of course, books. Horus Rising serves as the background for one of the most impactful occurrences that the human race has endured in 40K: the Horus Heresy. I will not spoil what goes on during the heresy, but I will say that this book does not mention or address it. It merely serves as a universe and character-building stepping stone that will eventually lead to the heresy that occurs later in the series.

Horus Rising is not the first book I've read that takes place in a fictional realm based on tabletop gaming. I've read a few D&D books before. I hated them, mostly due to bad writing, which always sticks out like a rusty nail on an otherwise pristine door frame. You try to walk through it and it catches your clothes, pulling you right back out of the story. I only had this experience once in the entire book. One line of dialog came across as a bit stilted. That's it. That's my only complaint. Let's face it, anyone who knows about Warhammer knows it's not really about the dialog. It's about the action, and boy, did Dan Abnett hit the nail on the head with that one. The sheer brutality of combat and war drags the reader directly into the fray. The use of varied sentence structure helps set the pace of the fight, and the descriptions breathe life into it. During these scenes, of which there were many, I completely lost track of time, often reading into the wee hours of the night. Sleep deprivation is real!

The book is not just combat, however. There is also a great amount of world building and political intrigue, both of which are necessary to prepare the reader for the actual heresy in subsequent books. Personally, I am not the biggest fan of political intrigue, so I was not particularly thrilled by these parts (although they are crucial to the story). Fans of political dramas shall also be disappointed in these sections of the novel, as the story only skims the surface of the intrigue possible in this universe. We get a brief taste of it and are left wanting more.

Would I recommend this book for the everyday reader? I am not sure. There are lot of other space novels that are much better (ala Dune). However, something about this book keeps me thinking about it; keeps me ruminating long after I finished. So maybe my answer is yes. Maybe I do recommend it to anyone. However, I also know that a universe this brutal and dark is not everyone's cup of tea. If the second paragraph of this review does not sound appealing, perhaps its better you don't read this book. If it does sound appealing, then welcome to the grim darkness of the far future. There is only war.