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Just finished the latest book, Vengeful Spirit and it got me thinking. What was the point of that book? (that being said it was well written and so on, just not very enjoyable)

Why have major battlescenes with focus on characters like Horus with inpenetrable plot-armour and random new characters nobody cares about as they die?

Every reader knows from the first page that Horus will win and what is thrown in his path, some ultramarines, some blood angels, etc, will die. Even when one of the major battlefield player is a freakin Imperator Titan i kept thinking: "oh its gonna shoot a little then something random thing, probably traitors, will happen and it dies, everyone is shocked, bla bla bla."
So as i kept listening to the book (sticking to audiobooks as I listen while at work) I kept feeling rather uninterested in just about anything except Lokens storyline which wasn't rewarding at all at the end. Could have been fun to see him bitch-slap Little-bitch-horus Aximand to death, but nope.

So isn't there a big problem from the start to base a series of novels in a rich bakground where the outcome is already known. That is unless you focus on new storylines along the sides. So while the primarchs, in this case Horus, are cool and all, putting them in the center makes things less intresting. I guess thats why Eisenhorn/Ravenor and Gaunts Ghosts books are more enjoyable. Less predictable and so on.

well yes we know the broad strokes about what happened, and we know Horus won that battle (on the other hand we had no clue about the gate so it was a very "will he make it or won't he" matter) with a series like the Horus Heresy that's not exactly the point though. tIn the case of a prequal, the Journy is what matters, not the end result

The writers are rather hamstrung by the fact we know the fate of every Primarch - i.e. exactly who lives and who dies during the Heresy.

I think however the plot armor is really especially noticeable in Vengeful Spirit because not only does it apply to Horus etc, but it ends up applying to other characters who have no particular need to have it.

Spoilers for Vengeful Spirit



The HH series has had some good action, and some well handled edge of the seat 'how will they get out of this one' situations. For me though the best of it has been the quiet scenes - the character interactions and the stuff that sheds new light on previously one-dimensional characters and legions. Betrayer would be my ur-example of that - given that it managed to give depth to none other than Mr KILL MAIM BURN himself.

Boreal wrote:
Every reader knows from the first page that Horus will win and what is thrown in his path, some ultramarines, some blood angels, etc, will die.

By this logic, what's the point in the entire series? It's all a prequel to current events, we all know exactly what will happen and who will live and who will die.

EDIT- RE: Loken, he was brought back in the Garro audiobook trilogy. Not bothering to spoil because that story is several years old.

And I agree that him surviving greatly diminishes the events of GiF. Terrible decision on the authors' part.

 BlaxicanX wrote:

Boreal wrote:
Every reader knows from the first page that Horus will win and what is thrown in his path, some ultramarines, some blood angels, etc, will die.

By this logic, what's the point in the entire series? It's all a prequel to current events, we all know exactly what will happen and who will live and who will die.

EDIT- RE: Loken, he was brought back in the Garro audiobook trilogy. Not bothering to spoil because that story is several years old.

And I agree that him surviving greatly diminishes the events of GiF. Terrible decision on the authors' part.

Well the point would be to focus more on characters without plot-armour. That was the point i was trying to make

I love the idea of the Horus Heresy books, dont get me wrong, they just keep focusing on things that make them less exciting :(