The first book of the Horus Heresy series.  Anyone who's ever played the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop game or read any of it's related novels will know of the Horus Heresy which forms the franchise's legendary history.  With this book Abnett begins to tell the tale of how Warmaster Horus, hero of Mankind, will eventually turn against his beloved Emperor, unleashing a civil war that devastates the Imperium of Man.  But, cleverly, this book is entirely set before all that and here we see Horus and his Luna Wolves Space Marines (who will eventually become Chaos Space Marines) as the Emperor's champions.  What I enjoyed most about this book is that, unlike so much Games Workshop fiction, we're not thrown into a maelstrom of hideous daemons and corrupted heroes.  Instead we're given mere glimpses of what Chaos is, as the Luna Wolves encounter it for the first time themselves.  I also very much enjoyed the last third of the book, in which Horus desperately tries to open diplomatic ties to a group of humans who his advisors are calling for to be destroyed.  There follows a scene of genuine tragedy in which the Warmaster's optimistic and benevolent efforts turn awry.  Overall this book shows a depth and emotional maturity that many of the books set in the same 'universe' sadly lack and was therefore a very enjoyable read.

4 out of 5

''I was there,' he would say afterwards, until afterwards became a time quite devoid of laughter.'

 

Riders Of The Dead

A Warhammer novel.  This book begins in an all too familiar way, with soldiers of the Empire preparing to fight a massive Chaos hoarde from the north.  No shocks there.  It focuses on two Imperial soldiers, the educated and open-minded Karl and the cruel and arrogant Gerlach.  The first battle scene is the best in the book, as the two characters have to deal with a confused battle which goes completely against the Empire.  The rapid pace and confusion of this battle scene gives a respectable degree of realism.  After the battle Karl is a captive of the Chaos forces and Gerlach is alone in the endless steppes of Kislev.  Where Abnett breaks from the predictable is in how his characters develop.  Karl, who we instinctively like at the beginning, is seduced by Chaos because he is educated and open-minded.  Gerlach, on the other hand, finds himself befriending a group of Kislevites when, at first, his intolerance almost makes enemies of them.  Ultimately, it is Gerlach who becomes the hero and Karl the villain, an interesting and believable switch in how we perceive the two characters.  Better than most Warhammer books because Abnett is not afraid to stray from the sex, guts and swearing that other Games Workshop authors feel they have to provide for their teenage male fanbase.

4 out of 5

'Vatzl to Durberg, Durberg to Harnstadt, Harnstadt to Brodny, in one furious week, in one laborious gallop, a double line of helmet cockades and lance banners bobbing and fluttering.'

Then you might like the ambiguity of the characters in Neil McIntosh's 'Star Of Erengrad'.

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