The Heresy Begins! Great Start to A Great Series!

Thank you Black Library for coming to Audible!

Dan Abnett is really good at building this universe and character depth.
Narrated by Toby Longworth, I really like his range of voice and they fit well with all these heroes and heroines.

Great combo, the next few books are also great and even better on audio.
I suggest atleast the first 4 audio books to get started, then you can decide from there were to go next, there are a ton of good books in this universe. And the Primarchs series is also good.

Even if you do not know anything about the board games, video games and warhammer universe, these are great books and fun reads.
This is war. War against aliens, orks, demons and more. There is politics and religion, honor, deception and tragedy in space, but mostly war.

In the far distant future mankind has spread across the universe and many branches of humanity have been lost for 1000's of years.

1. The Emperor of Mankind: A immortal human, given power beyond any being in the universe, by powers beyond space and time, serves as the ruling monarch of the Imperium of Man.

2. The Primarchs, created by the Emperor, were the 20 genetically-engineered trans-human sons of the Emperor of Mankind. Made in his likeness and created for war.

They were intended to be the immortal and superhuman leaders who would command the Emperor's 20 "Astartes" Space Marine Legions and find and reunite the lost branches of humanity throughout space as well as bring all worlds and peoples into compliance, that is under one ruler, the Emperor.

Primarchs were 12 to 15 feet tall. And bigger/ bulkier than the Astartes Space Marine they lead.

Astartes Space Marines were 7-8 feet tall; about 150% bigger/ bulkier than humans. (just to give perspective).

Known Primarchs:
Horus, *warmaster*, Luna Wolves
Leman Russ, Space Wolves
Ferrus Manus, Iron Hands
Fulgrim, Emperor's Children
Vulkan , Salamanders
Rogal Dorn, Imperial Fists
Roboute Guilliman, Ultramarines
Magnus the Red, Thousand Sons
Sanguinius, Blood Angels
Lion El'Jonson, Dark Angels
Perturabo, Iron Warriors
Mortarion, Death Guard
Lorgar, Word Bearers
Jaghatai Khan, White Scars
Konrad Curze, Night Lords
Angron, World Eaters
Corvus Corax, Raven Guard
Alpharius Omegon, Alpha Legion

3. Astartes Space Marines: bio-engineered immortal warriors, to fight the foes of the universe till the end of time and reunite the lost branches of humanity throughout space.
"They shall be my finest warriors, these men who give of themselves to me.
Like clay I shall mold them and in the furnace of war I shall forge them.
They shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
In great armor I shall clad them and with the mightiest weapons shall they be armed.
They will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight them.
They shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best them in battle.
They are my bulwark against the Terror. They are the Defenders of Humanity.
They are my Space Marines...and they shall know no fear."
— The Emperor of Mankind

Have fun listening!

127 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Truly epic and highly entertaining

Would you listen to Horus Rising again? Why?

No because I would rather listen to the next books in the series and there are many of them, although I could certainly enjoy listening to this again and again.

What other book might you compare Horus Rising to and why?

I've read a lot of sci-fi and my favorite genre is what is called "military science fiction". This is by far the best of this genre I have ever read, and it only gets better in books 2 and 3. Currently I am on book 4.

What about Toby Longworth’s performance did you like?

Longworth's voice is rich, powerful and dynamic enough to make you believe the different characters. This is a top-notch reader.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No because I wanted to relish it and look forward to a chapter or so per day and the chapters are quiet long. However, if I was on a long drive cross country this book would make an excellent companion.

Any additional comments?

If you love military sci-fi, then this series is a must read. It's gritty satisfying stuff with great characters and interesting plot twists. It doesn't matter if you played the Warhammer games or even know anything about it, because you will enjoy these books regardless. Although I should warn you much of it is very dark and disturbing. I am currently on book 4 and completely addicted to this series.

It's no exaggeration to say that this is the most entertaining thing I've read in years. I highly recommend it.

38 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

This Novel grew on me

Started slow and was almost going to give it up. Then it gave me reasons to care and continue

17 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Super slow

I read one of the Horus Heresy books a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. I then read another shortly thereafter and kept waking up to a book in my face.

The different authors aspect is great in theory. Some of the authors tell a fantastic story, whereas others are very long winded and never really bring the story to life. This book is an example of the latter. I was unable to get “hooked”. I found my mind wandering away from the story throughout. I even tried to listen to it a second time to see if maybe I missed something that would bring the story back to my interest, and still couldn’t pay attention.

The narrator did a fantastic job with the material he had to work with.

I may or may not try another, but certainly not right away. This one left a bad taste in my mouth.

12 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

So it begins!

I was really looking forward to this book, and I was not disappointed. Dan Abnett is one of my favorite Warhammer writers and Toby Longworth is without a doubt my favorite narrator for the books. Story itself was epic and grand and a great prelude of things to come. It is also sad in a way knowing the fate that is to befall many of the great heroes in the story. I can’t wait to listen to the rest. One down, only about 40 more to go. Oh boy.

12 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

excellent sci fi pulp

In the future there is only war, and it makes for a great story. Well written by Abnett, and narrated wonderfully, this is a must for 40k fans and sci fi afficienados.

9 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Impossible to multitask to.

The story is good, but the audio is so quiet and filled with grumbling voices that it's practically impossible to do anything else while listening.

Descriptions in the story seem to differ from normal Warhammer lore. They paint a much brighter, more beautiful, universe, although one that's still extremely brutal and violent. I found this to be a good place to begin learning Warhammer lore.

So again: good story, but an annoying choir to listen to.

8 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

The hope before the crash

This book isn’t so much a narrative plot where you have a conclusive beginning middle and end. It’s really a impression of the Imperium before the Heresy. To that end, it’s tinged with sadness as you know the inevitable conclusion. Still, a interesting read and would recommend.

6 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

very good and unexpectedly well performed.

very well performed and cannot aist to hear more. superb job on the reading and voice acting

6 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

great book :)

A great book to a very very long series. Pulls you in and keeps you going till the end.

6 personnes ont trouvé cela utile