Censured at the Council of Nikea for his flagrant use of sorcery, Magnus the Red and his Thousand Sons Legion retreat to their homeworld of Prospero to continue their use of the arcane arts in secret. But when the ill-fated primarch forsees the treachery of Warmaster Horus and warns the Emperor with the very powers he was forbidden to use, the Master of Mankind dispatches fellow primarch Leman Russ to attack Prospero itself. But Magnus has seen more than the betrayal of Horus and the witnessed revelations will change the fate of his fallen Legion, and its primarch, forever.
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About the Author
Hailing from Scotland, Graham McNeill narrowly escaped a career in Surveying to join Games Workshop, where he worked for six years as a games developer. In addition to many novels, including False Gods, Fulgrim and Mechanicum for the prestigious Horus Heresy series, Graham has written a host of sf and fantasy short stories. He lives in Nottingham, UK. Visit his website at www.graham-mcneill.com
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Hailing from Scotland, Graham McNeill narrowly escaped a career in Surveyinh to join Games Workshop, where he worked for six years as a games developer. In addition to many novels, including False Gods, Fulgrim and Mechanicum for the prestigious Hoeus Hersey series, Graham has written a host of sf and fantasy short stories. He lives in Nottingham, UK.
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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Thousand Sons - The Heresy Gets a Bit Murky,
By
This review is from: A Thousand Sons (Warhammer 40,000 Novels: Horus Heresy) (Mass Market Paperback)
It's been quite some time since we last saw a `proper' Horus Heresy book. While Tales of Heresy provides small vignettes regarding the battles raging across the 30k galaxy, and Fallen Angels has a somewhat detached connection to the Horus saga, with A Thousand Sons Graham McNeill offers the first half of what will amount to a two-part story (coupled with dismayingly delayed--get better soon, Dan--Prospero Burns) and a robust return to the epic struggle that has become the Horus Heresy.
As with many of the Horus Heresy novels, the timeline of when A Thousand Sons occurs is a bit behind where we presently seem to be in the tale of Horus' fall from grace--a bit after the Istvaan III massacre is where the present timeline has brought us--and begins a number of months before the conclusion of the Ullanor Campaign with the Thousand Sons probing the hidden knowledge of new Imperial world Aghoru. Additionally, the novel is broken up into three books. The first third of the book finds the Sons on Aghoru, exploring a civilization that clearly has a hidden history. It is here we meet the main crux of the characters and McNeill weaves a rich and complicated history and structure for the Thousand Sons. The second third of the novel focuses on three things: the Thousands Sons' summons to aid Leman Russ and his Space Wolves in a campaign for a world dubbed Shrike, the meeting of the chapters to celebrate the victory at Ullanor, and finally the Council at Nikaea. The final third of the novel is where the tension comes to a head, where Magnus seeks to alert the Emperor of Horus' impending betrayal, and where the Wolves of Russ lay siege to Prospero. On Aghoru, and in these early stages of the novel, McNeill establishes each characters' own unique personalities and, for the Thousands Sons more importantly, their abilities. While we have a number of auxiliary characters, the novel focuses on three: Magnus the Red, Crimson King and Primarch of the Thousand Sons; Azhek Ahriman, chief Librarian of the Thousand Sons and close confidant of Magnus; and, though to a lesser extent, Lemuel Gaumon a remembrances assigned to the Thousand Sons. While each character has their own purpose in the prose--and McNeill does a really nice job expanding upon the three `levels' in which these characters exists (Primarch, Astartes, Human)--the star of the novel is quite clearly Ahriman. Ahriman plays many roles in the novel--teacher, confidant, leader--but none is more important than that of devoted son, both to Magnus and the Emperor. McNeill establishes this right away and drives home its importance as Ahriman constantly refers to Magnus as "Father," and Magnus to his Astartes as "Son." It is a wonderful addition to A Thousand Sons and really separates Magnus and his Astartes from other chapters; while we see bonds of brotherhood within the other chapters, the familial sense the bind the Thousand Sons seems much more concrete than we've yet to see in others (though I suspect we will in Prospero Burns). Also, Ahriman is one of the fullest and most interesting characters yet in the Horus Heresy series. There is no doubt that Garviel Loken and Nathaniel Garro are huge, deep characters, but Ahriman is at least on that level, and is developed over the course of one novel. He is a truly sympathetic character that we only grow in affection for as his chapter and his brothers fall into ruin throughout the novel. While Ahriman is the star, Magnus is given near as much face time and character. Apart from Horus, and perhaps Fulgrim, Magnus is the most fully realized Primarch we've yet to see in the Horus Heresy novels. Much of this has to do with the familial ties already mentioned, but it is also in part to his conviction of purpose and determination, all which ironically mark his greatest flaws. Magnus is affection towards his kin, all while being a devoted son of the Emperor, resulting in another character that is entirely likeable and easy to relate to. This likeable nature--and he is certainly more likable than any Primarch we've seen focused on--makes his eventual failures harder to bear as a reader. This is important to note, as the Thousand Sons are the absolute antithesis of a traitor chapter. While the Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus lust for power and the Word Bearers crave a being to devote their zealotry to, McNeill presents the Thousand Sons as a chapter most noticeably defined by their restraint, not their hubris, essentially the polar opposite of how Russ' Space Wolves are presented. Make no mistake: McNeill gives us a Thousand Sons chapter that we like very much, which makes their inevitable destruction painful to experience. The destruction brought to bear on Prospero and the Thousand Sons is nothing short of tragic. The battles that mark the siege of Prospero are brutal; as the previous Horus Heresy canon states, the Emperor's Wolves are literally unleashed. Russ and his compatriots are brutal, and that brutality takes form in the prose through the battle on Prospero. In addition, the Thousand Sons finally unleash the enormity of their powers in defense of their home world. The sheer diversity in the psyker powers employed by the Thousand Sons is staggering, and differs per each of the Fellowships of the Thousand Sons. While everything about the prose and the revelations of the narrative is strong, one of the major issues comes with these Fellowships. There is nothing wrong with the nature of them; quite contrarily, the diversity of the Fellowships provides huge depth to the Thousand Sons canon and history. However, it also can be a source of huge confusion. As previously mentioned, we are introduced to the entirety of the cast within the first few chapters of the novel, and the sheer number of terms McNeill throws at the reader can leave you lost. Additionally, while we are given the names of various Fellowships early (the Corvidae, Pyrae, Pavoni), we aren't given any explanation of them until much later. It is a small critique, but it can make the beginning of the novel tough to read; I found myself looking at the handy list of characters quite often. Also, McNeill's pacing is a bit off sometimes. That's not say it's bad, or even slow, it just feels a bit uneven at times. There is a lot of time devoted to the Thousand Sons time at Aghoru, but both Ullanor and Nikaea are examined with brevity. Magnus makes a single speech, albeit a moving one, at Nikaea, and that's it. While it is in character that he believe the justice of his purpose would prevail and that was all that needed to be said, I wanted more from that scene. This is much the same for the siege of Prospero. It's fantastic and tense, but it seems a bit short and there seem to be gaps in the narrative that you want filled in. I'm not judging too harshly, as I expect we'll see lots of fill in within Prospero Burns; it just leaves the reader wanting more right away. Despite those two minor--and I stress minor--criticisms, A Thousand Sons is a phenomenal book. Graham McNeill is at the very top of his game here, weaving the tragic tale of a loyal chapter of Space Marines and their fall from grace. It is fully of rich history, dynamic characters, and plot revelations that will suck in even the most casual of Horus Heresy fans and, I suspect, will attract new legions to the brotherhood of the Thousand Sons. Graham McNeill reignites the Horus Heresy with intrigue and wonder with a novel that should not be missed. It ranks with the best the Black Library has to offer, and leaves me yearning for Prospero Burns even more that I already was.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Meh. Oh wait - it's really good.,
By
This review is from: A Thousand Sons (Warhammer 40,000 Novels: Horus Heresy) (Mass Market Paperback)
Just finished re-reading this book. Honestly wasn't looking forward to reading it again, except for the part about the Council of Nikea which had piqued my interest the first time around.
Mostly skim-read through the first half of the book, wasn't really paying attention. A lot of not terribly awesomely written combat descriptions and all that. Logical loopholes like the titular sorcerer-marines not being able to control their emotions while supposedly in full control of their mental selves in the "Enumerations". Needless over-focusing of verbally differentiating the fighting styles of different Legions, a very common flaw in WH40K writings, i.e. "The Space Wolves fought like the savage berserking raiders they were, slaying two to the left and one to the right" etc etc. That's not a verbatim quote, but indicative of a problem in many Horus Heresy books. Some typos and mistakes by the proof-reader, but not half as bad as whomever proof-read the Eisenhorn Omnibus. Speaking of which, look at the battle descriptions in there, and then look back at this. Dan Abnett is clearly superior there, though that's not necessarily so obvious in his lesser-quality Gaunt's Ghosts series. Graham McNeill gained my respect suddenly toward the end, when the writing became rather terribly good. Nice work, with a lot of stuff. The last quarter of the book was rather riveting, something I definitely wasn't expecting based on having read the book before and the previous half or so. All in all, not bad. Crappy title, though, but I suppose we couldn't have "The Wolves Are Coming" or "In Defense of Knowledge" or some such. At least there's more evocative titles like "The First Heretic" and "Prospero Burns" to look forward to. For a minute I thought the title of the latter masterpiece was "Prospero's Lament" but turns out I was wrong. I googled it and found this, which I had at one point known about but forgotten. If you're a fan of WH40K you're recognize not just the name Prospero, but Caliban as well: [...]
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Fantastic Heresy Novel...,
By
This review is from: A Thousand Sons (Warhammer 40,000 Novels: Horus Heresy) (Mass Market Paperback)
I've been a fan of the Warhammer 40K Universe since the early 90s, and have watched the "history" of this universe unfold with rapt fascination. The Horus Heresy, an event that had occurred well over 10,000 years earlier, was a pivotal, yet shrouded example of "what got us to here." Small scraps, brief mentions of the events that had transcribed, had been hinted to, but nothing overly substantial had written, and the entire Heresy was referred to in alegorical fashion, wrapped up in a cloak of supersticion and veiled by the sheer amount of time that had passed.
Everyone pretty much knew what happened, but why? The Traitors were all presented as blood-thirsty savages that turned their back on the Emperor's Light for no reason other than spite. So I was delighted to see that Games Workshop had tooled the Black Library and its stable of fine authors to bring the Horus Heresy to life. And "A Thousand Sons" is a beautiful, well-written addition to the expanding saga. What I love about this novel is, like the other novels in the series, it strips away the haze and presents the story as it happened. We see Magnus and Ahriman as sympathetic, even likeable, characters who truly mean well - they see the growing stormclouds in the distance, and want to do what's best. Of course, this is the Heresy, and the road to the Eye of Terror is paved with good intentions. It was cool to see the "other side" of the Temptation of Horus that was a focal point in the original trilogy of novels. The sheer depth of preparation and committment that was involved, coupled with the total disappointment of failure was palpable and real. The horror that Magnus must have felt at the disasterous attempt to warn His Father, and the havoc that ensued adds a touch of clarity to the convoluted history of the rebellion. Finally, the cataclysmic invasion of Prospero - the Unleashing of the Wolves, is as visceral a battle as I've read in a BL book yet. The feeling of loss and even sadness as you realize the magnitude of what is happening is real. I do have my complaints though, but none are serious enough to take stars for. I guess that the main complaint that I have is that there is yet another pivotal event (The Council of Nikaea, in this case) that is mentioned in almost an, "oh, by the way..." fashion. I get that spending too much more time on this would have pushed this book to the 650-700 page mark, AND it could have turned into "Law & Order: Special Heresy Unit" if they had gone too much more in depth, but still... It's a pretty important deal and it would have been nice if they could have done something just a little more with it. I realize that is a slightly contradictory bit, but still... The other complaint was the storyline with the Remembrancers with psychic abilities. It was left open-ended, but definitely alludes to the return of at least one or two of the characters. But that plot thread seemed, at times, to be filler more than a contributory storyline. I'll hold off reservation on this until I read "Prospero Burns," though, since it'll probably pick back up there. I hope? All told, a great book, and I'm eagerly awaiting Dan's continuation, as well as all of the other novels in the line.
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