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The only experience I have had with Warhammer (Chronicles or 40K) was with the games Space Hulk: Deathwing and the Warhammer Vermintide coop games. I enjoyed them, but I didn't know what I would actually think about the Horus Heresy as it sprawls 54 books, numerous short stories and novellas (most of them are collected) and the series is just being concluded right now with the Siege of Terra novels.

To start off, the book is a huge galactic planet conquering adventure. We have Gavriel Loken, who has become part of the Mournival, which is like a Military Entourage for Warmaster Horus. The book is split into 3 parts. The first part follows Loken as he gets used to life in the new Mournival and helps the Warmaster with his decisions. This also leads to us knowing about the warp. A chaos spreading corruption that is the absolute worst that takes over one of the Legion's soldiers. Next part was the Warmaster and his crew going to a planet called Murder to help with another Legion fighting a alien spider race. If that doesn't sound awesome, I don't know what is. We also meet Sanguinius, another Primarch who is considered a brother to Horus. The third part is Horus trying to come to terms with his loyalty to the Emperor as he tries to form an alliance with the Interex.

That's a lot of stuff to take in for a 400+ Page novel. But god damn, this journey was so worth it!

I pretty much thought the book was fantastic from the moment the first battle began. The action is so amazing. It's gory, with flying meat chunks and blown off limbs going everywhere. This was definitely a book I was craving for. I love bloody gory violent action in movies, games and books and this filled my appetite for a bunch of foreign aliens heads being blown off. Dan Abnett also makes the characters interesting on the battlefield as they have funny lines and serious moments.

The characters were another thing to howl about. Sanguinius and Warmaster Horus were some of the most interesting parts of the book and I absolutely loved their interactions with each other. But the star of the book is Loken. This is his story alongside Horus' and he is instantly connectable throughout the entire book. Loken makes so many interesting friends and relationships with Abaddon, Torgaddon, Little Horus Aximand, The Remembrancers and so many other people. He learns about secret societies, the Warp, how the Warmaster acts, he is just such a good character. I really hope he doesn't get his head blown off in the next couple of books. But judging that the first three books is about the downfall of how Horus becomes aligned with chaos (Which I cannot wait to see the downfall) he probably is going to kick the bucket. :(

There is so much to like about this book. The world building is terrific. The whole entire story moves smoothly with the world building without having to feel like a huge set up novel. The planet Murder and the secret society the Legion has to chat about stuff when the Warmaster isn't around. Excellent stuff. So much stuff is going on and the pace never crawls to a halt. I am looking forward to the next book of how Horus will deal with his loyalty to the emperor and how Chaos will start to align him.

Dan Abnett, you now have gained a new reader for the Black Library books! I might as well just read all 54 books. What a fantastic opening novel to the Horus Heresy. If you love gory violence, galactic scale wars, aliens that get their faces blown up, friendship and brotherhood, excellent world building and fast paced action novels, this is for you. Horus Rising is such a great read. I cannot wait to dive back in for more. Hopefully, Graham McNeill's False Gods will be just as good and action packed!

5/5