The Horus Heresy Book Club: Introduction

I've decided to read all fifty-four Horus Heresy novels and write about them on this blog. I'm hoping to do one post per novel, and get my thoughts out about what I've read. Back when I was studying English literature at university I had to do this a lot, and really enjoyed it. It's been a while since I've done it in earnest, so you'll be spared any detailed structural analysis, or postcritique musings, which you should be thankful for. I also think I may have misled you about the whole "book club" aspect, as this blog—intentionally—doesn't have a comment section. I will be making a post on Facebook to accompany each one on the blog, so you're more than welcome to share your thoughts in the comments there. As to why I'm doing this now, seventeen years after the debut Horus Heresy novel...

Unless you've ignored Warhammer Community this summer, you'll have noticed that Epic is coming back in its fifth edition as Legions Imperialis. Though I don't think I've professed my love of Games Workshop's Epic-scale games here on this blog, those who know me personally are well aware of it. This time—like its first iteration in the late '80s—the game will be set during the Horus Heresy, rather than the 41st millennium. This has naturally rekindled my interest in the Horus Heresy as a setting.

When the first of the Horus Heresy novels came out in 2006 I was working as a redshirt at the Burnaby Games Workshop in the illustrious Metrotown mall. The debut of this series was big! Not only was Dan Abnett kicking off the series, but it promised to reveal all sorts of tidbits and insights into things that had only been hinted at in the background of the 41st millennium. I jumped on board and rode that wave for the first twelve books. I don't know why I stopped reading around then. I imagine it was because I got really into other game systems—namely Warmachine and Dark Age—or felt that the only way to interact with the Horus Heresy beyond the books was through Forge World's gaming and art supplements, which were prohibitively expensive and tied to a few editions of 40k that I wasn't really interested in playing.

Regardless, I'm back. While I've already read the first twelve books as they came out, it's been thirteen years since I've opened one. So, what better opportunity to start from the beginning again? After all, what's really the difference between fifty-four novels and forty-two?

So, join me on this little adventure. We can see if I can make it all the way to the Siege of Terra, or if I get pinned down under the sheer weight of the illumination of the Imperial Truth.

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