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Although I must admit that there is a bit of a Titanic problem with this reading about the Horus Heresy in general (spoiler: it sinks in the end), I've read many people indicating the Horus Heresy is a great series. And you know, although I know what pizza's going to taste like before I order it, I suppose I enjoy it anyway.

So if you had to pick one of them as being the most awesome, which will be my next read, which would it be?

1.) Grey Knights Omnibus
2.) Ciaphas (?) Cain*
3.) Horus Heresy*

Thanks!


(*if you pick one of these, please indicate which book comes first, chronologically, unless someone else already did so.)

Eisenhorn trilogy. Best BL ever.

Ciaphas Cain, For the Emperor. Though i have the first anthology Ciaphas Cain : Hero of the Imperium which is the first 3 books.
Quite amusing (not really laugh out loud funny) and a bit of an antidote to the grimdark of the rest of the books.
Yes, i know its still quite dark, but has a lighter feel to it.
The Ciaphas cain series has one of the same problems as HH, because its his memoirs you know he survives.

ChaosGalvatron wrote:Ciaphas Cain, For the Emperor. Though i have the first anthology Ciaphas Cain : Hero of the Imperium which is the first 3 books.
Quite amusing (not really laugh out loud funny) and a bit of an antidote to the grimdark of the rest of the books.
Yes, i know its still quite dark, but has a lighter feel to it.
The Ciaphas cain series has one of the same problems as HH, because its his memoirs you know he survives.

I agree, I really enjoyed the Cain series. Like he said, pick up Hero of the Imperium. It has the first 3 books. If you enjoy that, pick up the second omnibus, its got the next 3.

chowderhead13 wrote:Eisenhorn trilogy. Best BL ever.

Already read it, hence it's absence from the list. I did like it a good deal.

don't Forget Gaunt's Ghosts!!!!

Horus Heresy.

The Heresy is very good, although there are some turkeys in there (Battle for the oh my god this book is Abyssmal, first DA novel).

As for reading order - Horus rising to start. That's all I remember. If you are near a GW then have a look in the front of the current book (the staff will know which is which, if not compare pages between books to see which is the current one) and it will list all the books, in order.

The other good thing is that some of the books can be read "out of order", as they deal with parallel / prior events. So Nemesis, about assasinating Horus, is fairly standalone. First Heretic is mostly set 40 years before the heresy, and so on.

Horus Rising is first. I just completed that book.
False Gods is second. Local bookstore was out. Dangit.

Remember another essentially"stand alone" book - Fulgrim. It is also one of my favourite books in the whole series AND in general...

HH then GK omnibus.


The first Horus Heresy book is Horus Rising, then False Gods, then Flight of the Eisinstein, and then the order branches out to multiple simultainious stories.

The First Heritic is a Prequel to the Heresy, but you probably would want to read it after Horus Rising and False Gods.


I haven't read Cain yet, but it is supposedly really good.

nosferatu1001 wrote:Remember another essentially"stand alone" book - Fulgrim. It is also one of my favourite books in the whole series AND in general...

I loved this book! The depiction of the fall to chaos was exactly how you would imagine it.

nosferatu1001 wrote:Remember another essentially"stand alone" book - Fulgrim. It is also one of my favourite books in the whole series AND in general...

Actually I hated that book so much I stopped reading the HH series for awhile. Until a friend told me the next one was pretty good then I moved forward with the series.

Nos, I think you may have a couple of the books mixed up. Battle for the Abyss was about UM trying to stop a ship (The Abyss) from destroying Macragge. Descent of Angels was the DA book.

But not to worry, both were crap.

The order for the books I have read so far is (I think):

1. Horus Rising - Just after Horus is made Warmaster
2. False Gods - Horus's corruption becomes apparent
3. Galaxy in Flames - Istvaan massacre
4. Flight of the Eisenstein - The breakout of the Istvaan system to warn the emperor
5. Fulgrim - Emperors Children fall to Slaneesh
6. Descent of Angels - Caliban pre-Imperium and a fight just after the emp finds Jonson
7. Legion - Nice insights into the Alpha Legion
8. Battle for the Abyss - Big ship headed for Macragge to blow it up
9. Mechanicum - War on Mars as well as some nice secrets about the Emperors plan for humanity
10. Fallen Angels - The fall of the DA on Caliban

For the most part the Heresy series is pretty good. The only ones you really need to read in order are the first 3 (and the 4th if you are like me since it's really a continuation from another viewpoint) but after that they all take place around the same time just in different places.

Hope I haven't given away too much, but I thought a quick breakdown would help you out a bit since a lot of the books are stand alone and you don't have to read them in order.

Lukas - I didnt get them mixed up, I was saying BOTH were crap. I just couldnt remember if it was Descent of Angels or not, as that's now a BA rule

Thank you all (especially Lukus) for the responses. Looks like HH it is, next payday, will start with Horus Rising and go from there.

Wrench in the works: looks like Dead Men Walking was released; the last time I looked at it, it had not been. I don't know if I can turn down Necrons.

Soul Hunter
Hellsreach

As for Cain, if you get omnibusses

Hero of the Imperium
Defender of the Imperium
Emperor's Finest (single book, latest in the series)

If you're up for a bit of a change though, how about the Audiobook Throne of Lies, personally I think it's the best Audiobook BL have done.

Ouze wrote:Thank you all (especially Lukus) for the responses. Looks like HH it is, next payday, will start with Horus Rising and go from there.

Wrench in the works: looks like Dead Men Walking was released; the last time I looked at it, it had not been. I don't know if I can turn down Necrons.

Ive just got it. Give it a day or two and ill tell you how it is. (Dead Men walking)

I haven't read Horus Rising or False Gods yet, but I think A Thousand Sons might be chronologically the first?



Correct me if Im wrong.

Having read just about everything the BL has put out in novel form, I have two that stand out a head and shoulders above the rest.

Fulgrim and A Thousand Sons.

Honestly, I had a hard time with some of the earlier HH books due to them being written by Ben Counter. I just can't deal with it.

ChaosGalvatron wrote:

Ouze wrote:Thank you all (especially Lukus) for the responses. Looks like HH it is, next payday, will start with Horus Rising and go from there.

Wrench in the works: looks like Dead Men Walking was released; the last time I looked at it, it had not been. I don't know if I can turn down Necrons.

Ive just got it. Give it a day or two and ill tell you how it is. (Dead Men walking)

So, how was Dead Men Walking? Any Imperial Guard\Necron teamups?

Ouze wrote:

ChaosGalvatron wrote:

Ouze wrote:Thank you all (especially Lukus) for the responses. Looks like HH it is, next payday, will start with Horus Rising and go from there.

Wrench in the works: looks like Dead Men Walking was released; the last time I looked at it, it had not been. I don't know if I can turn down Necrons.

Ive just got it. Give it a day or two and ill tell you how it is. (Dead Men walking)

So, how was Dead Men Walking? Any Imperial Guard\Necron teamups?

pfffft. As if...

Nope, just kriegers and their flashlights against the undying hordes.

I highly suggest the Gaunt's Ghosts series, I know its not on your list but its the best BL I've read so far.

Ciaphas Cain is pretty good too, Lots of dark comedy, lots of irony.

Commander Endova wrote:I haven't read Horus Rising or False Gods yet, but I think A Thousand Sons might be chronologically the first?

Spoiler:

In it, Magnus attempts to warn the Emperor that Horus will fall, not that Horus has already fallen which to me seems earlier.

Correct me if Im wrong.

Horus hadn't fallen yet in Horus Rising. Magnus' warning came after Horus had already swayed Lorgar, Mortarion, Angron and Fulgrim to his side.

HORUS HERESY BOOKS, FOR THE WIN!! they are the best books i have EVER read. no other 40k book ive ever read compares to them


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Commander Endova wrote:I haven't read Horus Rising or False Gods yet, but I think A Thousand Sons might be chronologically the first?

Spoiler:

In it, Magnus attempts to warn the Emperor that Horus will fall, not that Horus has already fallen which to me seems earlier.

Correct me if Im wrong.

the first heretic begins 40 years before isstvann v and (correct ME if Im wrong) im pretty sure its (chronologicly) the first