False Gods

Although the prose is perhaps a step down from Horus Rising, the story is just as engaging. I was also very impressed by how the story built itself to a satisfying conclusion from four different viewpoints.

However, Horus quickly falling to temptation and falling for the half-truths of the warp was disappointing. He went from good to bad in record time.

Summary:

Petronella Vivar, a remembrancer, seeks to document Horus. After taking a liking to her, the Warmaster agreed. She spends her time forming a powerful narrative of the primarch before he falls to chaos, killing her to stop her well-written tale from spreading.

Garviel Loken, Captain and member of Horus's advisor council, is still haunted by the events of the first book and his fellow comrade's corruption by chaos. He seeks further clarification on the events before discovering the plot of Erebus, First Chaplain of the World Bearers. Too late to stop Erebus, Loken can do nothing but attempt to hold true to his moral path doing all he can to save his beloved primarch.

Erebus challenges the Warmaster's pride publically forcing him to lead a mission himself to the moon of Davin. Upon the planet, they discover a ship where a chaos-infested marine wielding the weapon stolen from the first book strikes a blow on Horus. Even with his mighty ability the Warmaster quickly falls ill to the blow unable to heal.

Back on the ship Erebus convinces several members to take the quickly fading Horus back to Davin to receive a magical healing session from the witches. This is of course heresy but they agree. Loken is on a mission to recover the sword so he is unable to stop the other members of the advisory council.

Horus quickly succumbs to temptation when he is placed in the warp. He learns the truth that the emperor created them and that he had been taking the powers of the gods of the warp and seemingly placing them into the primarchs. Fulgrim attempts to save Horus in the warp by casting himself across the galaxy but it is to no avail.

For some reason, Horus does not murder Erebus even though he should be able to realize all this happened under his hand. Even if you agree with what Erebus showed you the scheming alone should cost his life.

As the powers of the warp slowly reveal themselves. A religion develops around the Emperor even though he strictly forbade it. The humans who are weary of the Astartes for good reason and through what seems to be a miracle survived an attack from the creature of the warp through faith in the Emperor.

Not quite as good as the first novel in the series but was still a gripping thrill ride. The end especially lived up to the "grimdark future".

Well, that was way worse than the previous one. I am maybe expecting too much from a book about teenager boy fantasies about a soldier, but these space marines here were portareyed as spoiled brats. Their motivations and emotions were really naively written. There were some good parts though. Other characters and Loken were pretty good, the story is fun, especially for a WH40K fan and its written in a way its easy to read. The last chapters were unfortunately a bit dragging and Horus' transformation was really not believable. This last thing is probably my biggest issue with the book, as that is the freaking turning and defining point of the whole wh40k universe. Somehow, i felt like the previous book was much better.

5 stars

Biased review - I love Warhammer in all aspects, so this second installation of the Horus Heresy is stellar in all respects in my opinion. Just one of the many building blocks for the vast lore of the Warhammer universe.

I suggest you read these first few books to get acquainted with happenings in the comparatively cheerful 31st millennium of the Imperium, which led to the creation of the gothic and oppressive conditions of life for the inhabitants of the universe in the future, 10000 years later.

Ce deuxième volume de la saga “Horus Heresy” est peut-être un peu moins bon que le premier, mais seulement à la marge. Cela reste un récit épique passionnant, avec des personnages charismatiques et intéressants à suivre. Le premier volume est une longue et captivante introduction du contexte et des personnages, celui-ci lance réellement le récit avec les débuts de cette fameuse Hérésie d'Horus qui constitue l'un des événements majeurs de l'univers imaginaire de Warhammer 40k. J'ai hâte de lire la suite avec le troisième volume que je vais commencer dès maintenant !

False Gods picks up a few months from where Horus Rising left off. While Horus Rising did a good job of laying down information about the main characters and their personalities, I found it to be a little too slow paced for my liking at times. False Gods picks up the tempo and does an excellent job of making Horus' gradual slide into treason seem believable and understandable.