Most of you will know me from Twitter ( @oftheaett )

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I'm Andy and I'm a UK based hobbyist and miniature enthusiast - painter/ kit-basher and proud member of the #warmongers and #Warhammercommunity. Come say hi on my socials!

Hail Warmongers! So it begins...

To say Horus Rising was a trip down memory lane would be a major understatement. Nostalgia was rife from start to finish & i can honestly say it was amazing to revisit such an amazing read all these years later. HR was the first HH book I'd ever read. Now for a young lad in the mid 00's just starting out in 40k with his dip-painted blue blobs with bolters, this was a big step to take.

At that time i knew nothing of the Horus Heresy but I remember being fascinated by the magnificent artwork by Adrian Smiths of Big E vs Badman H (or Horus vs the Emperor for those who are new) this art work really curbed my interest. Sadly after reading HR all those years ago life got in the way & i don't remember reading much other BL fiction past that point. But I've very grateful to be now renewing my journey through the Horus Heresy. Now what i will say is I pretty much forgot most of the plot - but characters & certain scenes were familiar. With that being said it was great to start afresh & I feel it has set me up right for the following series.

Now Dan Abnett is an amazing writer in my opinion. He has a lot of experience in Sci fi & Black Library writings & to me, it shows. Most of you reading will have seen some of his work in one form or another & I feel he provides the perfect balance of ‘Bolter porn’ & story/ character building.Horus Rising flows very well & I like the convergence of the story lines between Loken (who is the main focus) & the other characters featured in the book - e.g the Remembrancers & later the Emperors Children.

One of the most important aspect of Abnett's writing to me is he isn’t afraid to show the story from a ‘weak’ perspective, which in my opinion provides some much needed depth to the story & a “reality check” for the readers. I've always been a SM player on the table top game & a big fan of Astartes in general, but the fluff I've read over the years does sometimes go stale, because SM's can seem so damn impervious. But by following a mortal character (for at least a short period of time) can help contrast against the seemingly immortal Astartes. This was particularly effective during the possession of Jubal in the Wisperheads - while Gaviel was disturbed by the event & see his fellow marines gunned down. He still acted quickly considering & almost single handedly kill the demon. If this scene had ended there & then, I would have been pretty disappointed, but what happens next & the perspective its taken from, adds an element of pure horror that is (to me) essential in the setting of the Horus Heresy & 40k as a whole.

On a similar note it can be difficult to establish what an Astartes is & isn’t capable of & in a lot of texts I’ve seen several inconsistencies. I feel Abnett gets the right balance most of the time, obviously keeping the main characters alive but pretty much killing off all the ‘red shirts’ (subtle reference for all you Trekkies). Murder was the perfect setting to show even the greatest of Space Marines can be laid low & brutally massacred. It’s important to make sure that Astartes remain believable & not just Super hero’s that can’t be touched.

I do want to note how impressed I was at the sheer amount of ‘cameos’ I guess, or perhaps introductions there were in HR, to so many influential characters still in the lore in the 40k universe today. With Erebus, Lucius (soon to be the Eternal) & Abbadon being a few. Perhaps this is why I got such a big hit of nostalgia reading this book - there are so many BIG names mentioned throughout, with 3 Primarchs being preset at one point or another. I do feel this is part of the draw of the HH in general - i definitely enjoy reading the trial & tribulations of such massive characters in such a pivotal moment in 'history' (I say History, but obviously its in the future.... & also not real.... meh)

Before I close I wanted to make some final notes on some of the key characters -

Loken - is a very relatable character to me. Skeptic & level headed, he’s a great main character without being overly cheesy like some can be.

Torgaddon - to me is a odd character & I’m not sure if I trust him based on what I’ve read so far.

Horus Lupercal - most of us know how he turns out, but I’m impressed by his portrayal as a charismatic & diplomatic politician too.

Eidolon & Lucius - great & true portrayals of EC’s, both very much villain like & likeable because they are such pompous dicks 

Erebus - is a dick...... just a dick

So those are my take’a’ways. Overall an amazing book & obviously just the start of a bigger story so hopefully as I read more I can make more comparisons & be more critical.

I'd give it 7.5 out of 10