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A review by septhus
Battle for the Abyss by Ben Counter
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
By reputation, this book is seen as one of, if not the weakest of the horus heresy books.
I agree.
The book is, in essence, one long chase sequence that introduces the Word bearers & Ultramarine legions to the Heresy narrative.
Both clash as a group from the latter finds that the former has launched a surprise attack against their homeworld.
As an intro to both legions and their conflict, this book falls way short.
The Word Bearers get almost no explination, other than "we are religious and therefore evil" and the Ultramarines and their ethos are explained even less - resulting in flat characters whose actions and words dont actually have impact, because uou barely know who they are and really dont know what they are about.
So its 'just' a short actiony side story then.
Except... it isnt short, and it really drags on in the middle part losing all tension and adrenaline that should come with a chase sequence.
This on top of the earlier complaint about the reader not knowing anything about both sides of the conflict yet, makes me say this book should have been a short story or novella, and should have been later in the series as a whole. Introduce both sides first, and thén use them in an action packed story that sets up a bigger narrative about the conflict.
I agree.
The book is, in essence, one long chase sequence that introduces the Word bearers & Ultramarine legions to the Heresy narrative.
Both clash as a group from the latter finds that the former has launched a surprise attack against their homeworld.
As an intro to both legions and their conflict, this book falls way short.
The Word Bearers get almost no explination, other than "we are religious and therefore evil" and the Ultramarines and their ethos are explained even less - resulting in flat characters whose actions and words dont actually have impact, because uou barely know who they are and really dont know what they are about.
So its 'just' a short actiony side story then.
Except... it isnt short, and it really drags on in the middle part losing all tension and adrenaline that should come with a chase sequence.
This on top of the earlier complaint about the reader not knowing anything about both sides of the conflict yet, makes me say this book should have been a short story or novella, and should have been later in the series as a whole. Introduce both sides first, and thén use them in an action packed story that sets up a bigger narrative about the conflict.