Horus Rising
Synopsis:
The Emperor of Mankind appoints his favored primarch son Horus as Warmaster to lead the Great Crusade’s final push for galactic unity, retreating to Terra amid a seeming golden age of conquest and enlightenment. Through the eyes of loyal Luna Wolves captain Garviel Loken, newly elevated to Horus’s inner council, readers witness epic battles against human holdouts and alien threats, encounters with advanced civilizations, and subtle cracks in the Imperium’s atheistic ideology as whispers of chaos and doubt emerge. As Horus grapples with immense power and the burdens of command, the novel masterfully plants the seeds of impending betrayal and civil war in a universe of superhuman warriors and cosmic ambition.
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Review
This is my first excursion into the Warhammer series, and with a million books, I had to take suggestions from friends who are fans of the series. I was not sure if I would be hooked, but seemed fun, and having so many people enjoy it as a fan base. I was nervous as this is as close to getting hooked on drugs that I could come.
I like the idea of the Warhammer universe but don’t know much about it other than a few short films I’ve seen about it. Giant guys in giant mech suits fighting for the glory of the Empire and the Emperor. This book offers a lot of that and I would say is a good primer into the world. However, I don’t think this book offered me enough of it. There is world-building as well as characters who have story arcs. The story starts well with addressing the almost Spartan like nature of the Terran society that has developed. Here, the inclusion from philosophy soldiers who teach about a non-supernatural, spiritual world as it is antithetical to the Empire. At least, here, is a sci-fi story that actually addresses the religious question. It hints at the truth of that story and even if it is even possible to render out of society a worship factor, especially when you have a larger-than-life Emperor at the head of the behemoth Empire.
However, the book didn’t do enough world-building in and of itself and I had to go wiki-searching to help fill in some details. Even characters and the make up of the society isn’t fully clear in this first book. Horus I know is rising to prominence but without reading ahead at the story arch, I’m not sure why he matters all that much other than he’s a “child” of the Emperor who also seems to be an outside the box thinking warrior.
The plot has some really great parts and battle scenes are there but the description of the fighting is often lost and for having armored mech-guys, I was almost expecting too much on the shoot ’em up aspect.
So one positive is that this wasn’t my meth and I’m not hooked, but on the other hand I’m also not hooked and found this story was ok. I might try the next story in the series or try a different story and see if I’ll chase the Warhammer unicorn.
Final Grade
B-
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