Horus Rising, False Gods, Galaxy in Flames
What a spectacular introduction. The space battles are more epic than anything else I have read before, and the scale is just enormous. This is a future which is not limited by resources or imagination. The Primarch is revealed late into the book, and then he turns! We also see a bit of Magnus and the other primarchs, which are only explored fully later in the series. The three books sort of flow into each other, and form a trilogy of their own. This is gory, and "grimdark" at its best. The bombardment of the Istvaan system is just too over the top.
Flight of the Eisenstein
One of the most uplifting novels in the series, it is a roller coaster ride of emotions, but ends on a positive note.The good thing is that some of the action takes place close to Earth. This is one of the few novels in the series that actually gives you some hope, and can be considered a bittersweet story.
Fulgrim
They tried to go to the depths of decadence here, but could not do it as well as say 12 days of sodom - but they tried to go there. The problem is that the debauchery is unstructured, and so does not have as much as an impact as other similar works. Can get a bit crass and painful at times, and there are no diamonds in the rough either.
Descent of Angels
This is a fantastic story that takes place in a totally different time, on a deathworld in Caliban. This is a jungle planet where monstrous creatures roam, and there are other mysterious beings. Lion el'Jonson is one of the best primarchs there are, because of how little he reveals about his intentions. Although he has a calculating mind, he keeps his cards close to his chest. Still, mistakes are made. One of the few books where we see the Emperor directly in action. This happens when the Emperor visits Caliban.
Legion
An interesting book that looks at the underhand tactics of the most clandestine Alpha legion. The legion actually has two primarchs - Alpherius and Omegon. They are twins, but the entire legion pretends to be the primarch. Also we see the exploits of John Grammaticus, and introduced to the strange collective of aliens or xenos, known as the Cabal.
Battle for the Abyss
This is a space ship battle that is a bit like the hunt of the Bismark by the Hood. Most of the action takes place on board two ships.
Mechanicum
This tells of the origins of the Emperor, as well as the dragon on Mars. Initially, the book starts off as very dull and boring because it is mostly about machines, but towards the end the book really turns into one of the best ones in the series. It has the most well designed, outrageous, and relatable characters in the series so far, which is a difficult thing to pull off.
Fallen Angels
Fallen Angels continues from Descent of Angels, and shows Luther building up the capacities of the legion in the homeworld of Caliban, and the conflict that follows. This is a really sad story, with unnecessary misunderstandings.
A Thousand Sons
This one is really good as we finally see Magnus destroying the Emperor's secret project on Earth, in an effort to warn him about what Horus is up to. The retribution from the Emperor is strict, but in the last minute, Magnus saves his sons by moving to the Planet of Sorcerers. The book shows the warp ultimately corrupts, and that there is always a bigger fish in the sea. There is also a hint that the chaos gods have taken over the warp, and there may be pure or golden energy in there that can be used by the right people. This is what the elders probably used to make their webway, and what the Emperor was using to make his. It is revealed that the Emperor planned to make Magnus sit on the golden throne instead of himself, which shows that the Emperor has some nefarious schemes of his own as well. Also, another highlight is the council of Nikea, and again, one of the few times that we see the Emperor in action.
==Finished reading on this date, will be updating this post as I read through the rest of the series.==
Nemesis: War Within The Shadows (Dec 24, 2018)
Nemesis is easily one of the better books in the series. It tells the story of six crazy assassins out to kill the Warmaster. There is a shape shifter, a kind of anti-psyker, a marksman, a tech guy, a berserker, and a poisoner. In the end they do not succeed, but this still has a lot of humanity and hope in it. For a series that gets so dark, there are some incredibly elevating moments in here. The best story was that of the Kell siblings, Eristede and Jenniker. Things go downhill, as usual. This was an action packed ride through and through, with not one dull moment. Right at the very end, the Emperor shows up and says a few things, which is always great to read about. It is just so insanely rare that the Emperor is shown directly doing or saying anything. So far this has happened only in Descent of Angels, A Thousand Sons, and now Nemesis.
The First Heretic (January 2, 2019)
This one is about Lorgar, and how he was humiliated by the Emperor at the council of Nikea. Lorgar needs to have a faith, and it does not matter which one. When he finds out that the Emperor is not worthy of his worship, nor desires it, he starts worshipping the Chaos gods instead. You cannot help but feel bad for this Primarch, but he goes on to keep his allegiance a secret. In a way, it can be considered that the Emperor of Mankind dug his own grave when he did not see the machinations of Chaos at the council of Nikea. It is also not clearly explained by Leman Russ hates Lorgar sooo much.
Prospero Burns (January 14, 2019)
This one takes you into the most savage legion there is, the Vlka Fenryka, or the Space Wolves. It shows the machinations of chaos working from within the legions over incredibly long periods of time. Leman Russ is not the barbarian that he was made out to be in all the books so far. This is a really fun read as it takes place in a setting that has not really been seen before, on a brutal world that is stuck perpetually in a pre-industrial state - still there are spaceships. The mystery of the wolves of Fenris is finally revealed, they are actually the Astartes who convert into wolves, which explains why they are so loyal, and also why "there are no wolves on Fenris". The disappointing thing is that in the end, the retelling of the events at the Council of Nikea is rushed, and the actual burning of Prospero happens too quickly, and without much details. Like the destruction of so many worlds are written about in such detail, for example the Olamic Quietude, which is post human to such an extent that it can almost be considered a xenos species. Here, the home world of a primarch is destroyed, and that is written about in less detail. The Emperor is seen directly at the council of Nikea, but does not speak.
Age of Darkness (February 4, 2019)
Age of Darkness is a bit disjointed and found myself reading the book, without really getting into the stories. It is a collection of short stories, and easily the most memorable one is the Last Remembrancer. The setting in all the stories is just around the time of the massacre at Istvaan. Liar's due takes place in one of the outskirts of the Empire, where a single agent manages to sow discord in a planet.
The Outcast Dead (Febryary 22, 2019)
This one was a bit like Mechanicum, in the sense that it was a little boring in the beginning, but became really cool the more you got into the book. Most of the action takes place on Earth, which is as alien as any of the other worlds in the series so far. The really cool thing is that there are so many Indian names in this book, along with actual locations such as the Himalayan Mountains and Uttarakhand. The Imperial palace uses the highest mountains on Earth as its foundations, which gives a scale of how insanely epic it is. We also come across precursors to the Astartes, the thunder warriors, who are actually larger than the Astartes. There is a sequence where the Custodians, Thunder Warriors, the Astartes, and a bunch of Blanks are all fighting at once. The ending is epic, especially since it contains two extended sequences where the Emperor plays a game of chess. There is also a prison break, after which the action feels a bit like the kill squad in Nemesis. In this book, you really cannot take sides.
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