With the groundwork done, the scene and players set in Horus Rising, False Gods can take time out to colour the main characters some more and that means more Loken, which is never a bad thing. Once again he shines as the most engaging character in the story, acting as our witness to events and aptly showing the finest elements of the Astartes as both ultimate warriors but also deep thinking and dare I say soulful men.
I did find McNeill's take on Horus to be a little blunt, I know that the tale demands a momentous change in him, but he loses a lot of his tact and charisma in this portrayal; this being his most dangerous quality to my mind seemed to be a mistake. Also the story does on occasion get bogged down in extraneous exposition about the Mournival; although I find this ancient council very interesting, the author does dwell a little too much on the strained relationship with their Primarch. Things are rocky, we get it, move on.
Still it's a great book and being part of the spine of the Heresy it's a must read; this epic tale of power, corruption & tragedy moves on apace.
4 comments:
I've not read much of the 40k universe but this book left me a little perplexed.
Hiya Bish,thanks for making the trip out to the Edge and posting.
Perplexed? How so?
Well, he was led astray rather easily for the best of the Primarchs.
Yes that's a grumble for most readers of the Heresy novels. I think most agree that it's down to time/writing constraints, the big sell being the actual conflict of the Heresy.
Although I still feel that the plot device for change was rather weak, like (and I shudder to recall it) Anakin's switch to the Darkside in RotS.
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