Customer Reviews

Thousand Sons (Horus Heresy)

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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: [...]

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.

First, right from the beginning words are thrown at you of which you have no idea of their meaning. From the context of the sentence you can glean what it probably means, but you are not sure. They should have had an appendix with a dictionary for all of the new words introduced.

Second, Mr. McNeil waxes on and on at certain points, going into needless detail about some particular feature of the story. For example, in several parts throughout the book where some character is traveling through the 'Great Ocean' or some such thing. Although, for me this is a general problem with a lot of modern day authors.

Third, and probably the worst part, the story seems contrived. Spoiler Alert! I thought the Space Wolves were straight forward and you knew where they stood, i.e. they would not deceive you, well not a battle brother anyway. But instead, a Rune Priest intentionally fools the Thousands Sons and betrays them. Furthermore, it's funny in a lot of the Horus Heresy books, including this one, just how much hatred the Space Marine Legions hold for one another. So the Thousands Sons want to save a library, the Space Wolves want to destroy it, they almost get into a fight over it, Lorgar has to break them up and Leman Russ swears this is not the end. Even among the Thousand Sons themselves, it's amazing to me how often they dislike one another, or don't think highly of their brothers. Now before someone criticizes that, you should have been in the military. Yes people dislike one another all of the time, but in an elite military unit people accept one another to work as a well oiled machine. That is the definition of an elite military unit, or part of it any way. Sorry but I digress. Here is one more (Spoiler Alert!) so the Emperor know Daemons exist but does not tell anyone, not even the Primarchs. Then Magnus in his quest for knowledge dismisses all references to Daemons as mere fable, but then makes a deal with one to save his Sons and is tricked. Then, he does not tell his son's what has happened and lets them duke it out with the extremely savage and unlikable Space Wolves and finally, decides to 'save' his Sons by making another deal with a supposedly non-existent Daemon (although at that point Magnus has excepted that they exist). Sorry, for me there are just to many logical inconsistencies.

I actually think this is the problem with a lot of the Horus Heresy books, they want all of the stories to fit this preconceived notion that there really are no good guys and no bad guys either. If your 'bad' now, it's because you were tricked or misunderstood or the Emperor somehow did not pay enough attention to you or some such thing. I understand this is a common conception in society now, so people write stories to reflect that, which is totally fine (this is always the case, popular literature generally reflects common societal feelings). However, when you bend a story plot into logical inconsistencies to accomplish said goal you lose me.

While the series started out strong it waned a bit in the middle after so many books. A Thousand Sons brings it all back home with a great telling of a tragic story. A must have if you're a WH40K fan.

I really liked this book. It was good to get a handle on how the thousand sons descended into the madness of chaos, one step at a time. Their father cut a deal to save them that damned them.
The best part was the insight on the impact Magnus had on the Emperors plans when he tried to warn him. Magnus doomed the Emperor to the chair / throne. No desperate good deed goes unpunished in the Warhammer universe.
The battle of Prospero at the end did get a little confusing but that asside the book was good fun.
Wonder if the wolves killed Lemuel and the others who witnessed the fall of Prospero?

This book really opens up to the heart of a Legion, one of the best, I think, and that makes it all the more tragic to behold. Magnus and his Sons could have been the best warriors in the Emperor's arsenal, but the course of inter-mingling events had to spoil that grand prospect. The Thousand Sons were the best Space Marines ever, they could have easily destroyed the Wolves, but they didn't at their Primarchs command. It is a sad story how no matter what Magnus does, no matter how brilliant and honourable, he always seems to run afoul of Someones rules. If Magnus really had the same hate in his heart as Horus, then Tizca would have been sucessfully defended, and the savage Russ would never have been allowed to approach that star system.

I have to say I'm glad to see that there are some constructively critical reviews attached to this book. It's just as unfair to a prospective buyer to laud McNeil's latest contribution with gushing praise as it is to cast it into the proverbial bonfire. I am a fan of the Horus Heresy series. I have read and lovingly own a copy of all the books. I started reading Warhammer 40K novels two years ago, and caught up with the series. This newest installment I purchased days after it came onto the shelves. Admittedly, not all of them are stellar, but it is to be expected. Several chapters in the Horus Heresy, such as Horus Rising, Flight of the Eisenstein, Fulgrim (another of McNeill's), and Legion (my personal favorite) are definitely worth slogging through a mediocre one once in awhile so as to advance and flesh out this epic saga. I must say McNeill performed beautifully with Fulgrim, and False Gods was also good as far as I remember. Tragically, 'A Thousand Sons' is not his best work to date. Here are examples, without giving too much plot away:

For starters, I had to ignore certain things in this book that you wouldn't normally expect from a professionally published work. I don't remember the last time I saw so many grammatical and spelling errors slip by the editing staff and end up in the finished product. I found myself catching at least one or two per chapter, if not many more. I don't care to go back and find them all. Some of the other Horus Heresy contributors appear to be better at proofreading their own works, which is clearly a boon for an author writing for a publisher that will overlook so many before it goes to print. That said, I am quite willing to write this off as a minor flaw in exchange for a cleverly written story. It pains me to say it, but 'A Thousand Sons' falls short of that expectation.

Magnus, the despotic leader of the Thousand Sons and a major character in the plot, is supposed to be a demigod gifted with a portion of the vast wisdom, psychic power, and knowledge of his father (The god-like Emperor). However, I found that Magnus' actions and dialogue didn't seem to fit with that persona. The fate of the Thousand Sons legion is already known, and I accept that they are doomed to said fate, but Magnus seems to blunder toward his end in a manner more befitting the vain and impulsive Fulgrim or the reckless Angron. That aside, Ahriman (Magnus' favored captain) is a well conceived character, and it is obvious that McNeill spent the bulk of his efforts crafting his role in the story.

There is a side plot about a trio of mortals (remembrancers) who follow the Thousand Sons and observe their epic actions in the Emperor's Great Crusade, just as in the other novels. Sometimes the humans play a part in the events that shape the fates of the Crusade and its' aftermath. Or at the very least, the human perspective can be an intriguing plot device. Other times it is almost forced. This is an example of the latter. The remembrancers in the Thousand Sons legion seem to contribute little more than a side plot and casual dialogue for the sake of having it. These three psychic mortals have almost no hand in the epic events that shape the major plot. Worse still, they are little more than flies on the wall. I felt almost no emotional connection to their fates. And as if to prove that their part in the story was purely fluff, McNeill simply discards their plot a few chapters before the end with little more than a vague allusion to their fates. If this confusion is to be cleared up in Dan Abnett's 'Prospero Burns', the next in the series, it certainly wasn't promised in 'A Thousand Sons'.

It is unfortunate that 'A Thousand Sons' fails to contribute much flair to the pivotal events and characters surrounding the Council of Nikaea, but I cannot end this review without noting that I was impressed with McNeill's use of language as well as his ability to give life to the settings in which the story took place. Furthermore, the concluding chapters(26-31), some 450 pages into the book, were profoundly more readable than the rest of the book. In summary, this novel is a must for anyone who wants to know all the details of the saga that shaped the Warhammer 40K universe as we know it, if you can be patient enough to slog through the slow parts!

I picked this book up because I had a general idea of what happened to The Thousand Sons chapter and decided to read more. The book is excellent for any fan of W40k as it takes a completely different look at the Space Marines than normal. These marines all have special powers and are attuned to the "warp" at all times. Basically these are wizard like marines who are shunned by most of their comrades, they yearn for knowledge and power to use for the Imperium. However, the other marines are fearful of their powers and their lust for knowledge and see it has heretical. The book dives deep into the humanity that still remains in these marines. It it mostly told from one Librarian's point of view as well as one human remembrancer. It has lots of action and lots of twists, but mainly I just enjoyed the difference in this chapter's approach to everything. Forget going in and blasting stuff with guns, these guys seek to preserve everything, yet they wield powers that can level cities, and sometimes never have to pick up a gun. A must read for any fan of 40k.

McNeill paints this legion vastly different from any of the others he has previously worked with, giving them a truly unique flavour. As with all doomed legions in the Horus Heresy timeframe, they possess redeeming qualities that he captures and brings to life with such force that they will live directly inside your grey matter long after the story has concluded.

The interactions between the Thousand Sons and Space Wolves are simply amazing as both legions revolve around each other in a fatal dance. The mounting tension builds until it becomes palpable and you accompany Mangus to the Council of Nikea, a major milestone within 40K lore. McNeill demonstrates his knowledge and love for 40K lore as he meticulously builds to this crucial moment. His treatment of the legion is worthy of praise from fanboys everywhere.

The plot has a few problems in the beginning as it starts off seemingly going nowhere until the Space Wolves show up. Then the real plot arises and consumes the characters in its wake. Once things began to pick up, I literally could not stop reading. McNeill's talent for weaving characters into his plot has certainly reached its pinnacle with this Horus Heresy entry and I felt he more than made up for the slow start.

The ending was a bit mysterious as it hinted at related 40K lore that readers will not pick up on unless they are fully entrenched with the table-top game. The journey to the end is well worth the read, though, as this is definitely one of the better entries in the series and deserves its well-earned New York Times slot. McNeill has written a superb story that anyone mildly interested in 40K should take a look at.