Thoughts and What Not - Reviews

 Awesome book, further review to come later.

-Phil

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind

The Heresy Begins....

No other point in Warhammer 40k history is quite as pivotal as the event that ended the Great Crusade and the saw the beginning of the Imperium of Mankind as we now it today, the Horus Heresy.

Now, I don't really want to give out any spoilers, as there is easily a 2 in 3 chance that anyone who reads this post is more then likely someone whom would like to read these novels and as such I don't want to ruin them for anyone. However I would like to put down some of my thoughts on these novels and why they are a must read for ANYONE who plays 40k and has even a passing interest in its history.

I am a loyal Space Marine player, and like many before me and many to come after me, one of the first things I learned was to hate Chaos Space Marines, and the event that led to their making, the Heresy. For years, even though I had read the fluff in the Codices and the Core Manual, I absolutely despised Horus and thought that he and the Legions whom followed him were the scum of Terra and deserved nothing more than to burn in the deepest, darkest pit of hell for what they had done. I no longer think that, at least not for all of them.

The trilogy of novels that starts out the Heresy line shows you the side of Horus and his fallen legions that is all but forgotten now. It shows the brotherhood of the Astartes in its prime, when the thought of an Astartes taking arms against a fellow Brother was unfathomable. It shows how a son's desire to prove himself to his Father, and show that his trust is well placed, ultimately leads to a situation in which his fears and insecurities cause him to make a choice so tragic, that I almost wept as I read it.

My final thoughts on the novels, are that you truly know that you have been shown the heart and soul of the Emperor's Legions, as they should have been, when you find yourself hoping against all else that Horus might just surprise everyone and make the right choice, even though you knew when you started reading the book, that there was no hope.

I leave you with what I think is the best quote of the books as to me, when I read it, it summed up all the ache and sorrow that I felt at its utterance. "I was there the Day Horus fell."

-Phil

Pain is an illusion of the senses, despair an illusion of the mind