Horus Rising

Science fiction · Tragedy

First published: 2006
Print length: 416 pagesGames Workshop, Limited, 2020

Description

In the thirty-first millennium, humanity’s galaxy-spanning Imperium is advancing through an era of discovery and conquest. Its Great Crusade is led by the Emperor and his genetically engineered sons, commanders of immense Space Marine armies. When the Emperor abruptly leaves the front, he appoints his favored son Horus as Warmaster and entrusts him with the campaign. Horus must manage rivalries within the brotherhood, command warriors accustomed to victory, and prove that he can fulfill a vision whose full purpose remains uncertain. As military triumph gives way to political and spiritual strain, the novel opens a vast space-opera tragedy about loyalty, ambition, imperial certainty, and the first pressures behind a civil war that will threaten humanity itself.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Atmospheric · Descriptive · Direct

Pace

Brisk

Tone

Atmospheric · Bleak · Dark · Tense

Structure

Linear

Focus

Character · Plot · World

Emotional intensity

4 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 3 / 5
Ideas: 3 / 5
Structure: 3 / 5
Background knowledge: 3 / 5

Themes

AmbitionColonialism and empireFamilyPolitics and ideologyPowerWar

About Dan Abnett

Dan Abnett is an English comics writer and novelist whose career ranges across major shared universes and original fiction. He has written for Marvel, DC, Marvel UK, and 2000 AD, often in collaboration with Andy Lanning, while his extensive Black Library work has made him a central author of Warhammer fiction. Across Horus Rising, the Gaunt’s Ghosts series, and Eisenhorn, Abnett works at several scales at once: galaxy-spanning wars are filtered through military units, investigators, commanders, and their shifting loyalties. His fiction is typically direct and plot-driven, but it relies on descriptive world-building and, in Gaunt’s Ghosts, dialogue and relationships within an ensemble. Recurring interests include institutions under pressure, the moral strain of command, covert threats, and the experience of soldiers inside immense conflicts. His comics show a comparable breadth, from the long-running 2000 AD strip Sinister Dexter to Marvel’s cosmic characters and DC titles including Aquaman and Titans. His ability to give durable character and narrative shape to large, pre-existing continuities distinguishes his body of work.

Series

The Horus Heresy · Book 1

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: Games Workshop, Limited
Language: English
ISBN: 9781789992175

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