# The Next Abnett Horus Heresy Novel after Prospero Burns



## tu_shan82 (Mar 7, 2008)

Aurellis @ Warseer said:


> After speaking with a contact at Black Library it seems that the next HH book tasked to Abnett, after he's finally written Prospero Burns, will be regarding the White Scars.
> 
> As usual feel free to take this with a pinch of salt.


Obviously not that reliable a source but interesting none the less.


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## dark angel (Jun 11, 2008)

I hope this is true! The White Scars have a awesome history (Jaghatai Khan, has one of the best backgrounds I have ever read to be fair) and have not been potrayed other than the small part in Descent of Angels, at least as far as I know. Good find nonetheless, hopefully this dude is not bull shitting.


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## bobss (May 18, 2008)

Im rather annoyed to be honest. As much as Im happy that Abnett will continue to play a large role in the Horus Heresy series, and continue wiriting for Black Library as a whole, I can`t help but feel that this is the wrong time to bring the White Scars in.

Seriously. The Siege of Terra will be the culmination of this massive series, and thus will most likely have _a least_ a Trilogy of books. And if my memory serves me correctly, the 2nd one _could_ be about the White Scars taking back the 'Drop sites?' on Terra after being overrun by forces loyal to Horus.

I just don`t want _this_ book to mean that we won`t get a detailed, depth filled and action-packed bit - if not entire book - about the White Scars during teh Siege.


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Not bad but the White Scars dont really interest me. I want to see a Blood Angels HH novel, perhaps even multiple ones.


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## bitsandkits (Mar 18, 2008)

personally i would like to see the writers cut to the chase and get on with the bloody attack on Terra, By all means write fiction about the chapters,legions and all the other factions involved but stop spinning it out, i started buying the series after the release of the first three, after reading those i expected it to last maybe another 3 to 6 books with the focus being on or near to horus, i expected 3 on his background and fall, 3 while hes active chaos agent and say another 3 on his eventual defeat, what book are we on now?,must be heading near 20?


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## World Eater XII (Dec 12, 2008)

i want moar world eaters!


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

Well it's the Horus Heresy series, not the Horus Lupercal biography- I'm glad they're taking the novels in a number of directions, I'd be extremely pissed if they had just focused on Horus himself.


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## bobss (May 18, 2008)

Baron Spikey said:


> Well it's the Horus Heresy series, not the Horus Lupercal biography- I'm glad they're taking the novels in a number of directions, I'd be extremely pissed if they had just focused on Horus himself.


I can agree with this. Ive just finished _False Gods_ and I admit, I may only be 2 books in, but Im already sick of Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus - the occassional World Eater/Emperors Children bit is much needed....


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## dlakertor (Mar 18, 2008)

bobss said:


> I can agree with this. Ive just finished _False Gods_ and I admit, I may only be 2 books in, but Im already sick of Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus - the occassional World Eater/Emperors Children bit is much needed....


The emperors children has a whole book on its own called fulgrim, so do alpha legion, dark angels, death guard, world eaters are also in some of the books but don't have their own, the Adeptus Mechanicus also have their own book in the HH series, ultramarines and word bearers share a book of their own called "battle for abyss".

Please research the series before posting a comment saying they need a legion already mentioned in the books :biggrin: 

As for the white scars, if this rumour is indeed true I may just have to go into gw the day it comes out and buy it straight away, White scars are one of my favourite legions/chapters and I love their background. Can't wait :grin:


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## Child-of-the-Emperor (Feb 22, 2009)

Baron Spikey said:


> Well it's the Horus Heresy series, not the Horus Lupercal biography- I'm glad they're taking the novels in a number of directions, I'd be extremely pissed if they had just focused on Horus himself.


I Agree. So much happens in regard to all the legions, with so many factors leading up to the ultimate conclusion that it would be irrational to focus solely on Horus.

As for this rumour about Abnett's next book being about the White Scars, maybe this means that Abnett's book (after _Prospero Burns_) will be the first book regarding the Siege of Terra (considering it wouldn't be the immediate next novel after _Prospero Burns_, but at least 1 or 2 after it). As we know that the White Scars were only involved in the Siege of Terra as far as there involvement in the Heresy goes (unless it would involve a brand new plot, although personally I can't think of a decent plot that would involve the White Scars and the Heresy without including the Siege of Terra).

Although I hope we won't be seeing the Siege of Terra so soon - especially as we know James Swallow is interested in writing the novel based on the Blood Angels Signus Cluster ambush. Abnett and McNeil have expressed interest in either of them writing another Alpha legion novel. And personally I think a Iron Warriors and/or Night Lords novel is likely.



dlakertor said:


> Please research the series before posting a comment saying they need a legion already mentioned in the books :biggrin:


Please read people's posts more clearly before replying 

He said the Emperor's Children/World Eaters tidbits included in the first two novels were essentially 'breaths of fresh air' from the constant Luna Wolves/Sons of Horus narrative.


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## bobss (May 18, 2008)

dlakertor said:


> The emperors children has a whole book on its own called fulgrim, so do alpha legion, dark angels, death guard, world eaters are also in some of the books but don't have their own, the Adeptus Mechanicus also have their own book in the HH series, ultramarines and word bearers share a book of their own called "battle for abyss".
> 
> Please research the series before posting a comment saying they need a legion already mentioned in the books :biggrin:


Im sorry ok, but Im not a bemused fool who aimlessly wanders the forums. I know what happens when and who the antagonists and protagonists are. I was merely saying that _in Horus Rising and False Gods_ the story from the perspective of that Legion bored me slightly, and the Emperors Children parts in Horus Rising and the final few World Eater parts in False Gods at the Siege of the Iron Keep held by the ''Brotherhood'' somewhat parted this veil of boredom.... 

And with the greatest of respect, the latter part of that which ive quoted seems rather patronising to be honest, and derrogatory, labelling me as a 'Black Library and Fluff noob' which I most certainly am not, and without swearing and loosing face I don`t personnaly see what gives you the right to start throwing half-congealed, part-formulated accussations around either 

EDIT - Ok I was kinda harsh. Truce?


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## Baron Spikey (Mar 26, 2008)

Child-of-the-Emperor said:


> As for this rumour about Abnett's next book being about the White Scars, maybe this means that Abnett's book (after _Prospero Burns_) will be the first book regarding the Siege of Terra (considering it wouldn't be the immediate next novel after _Prospero Burns_, but at least 1 or 2 after it). As we know that the White Scars were only involved in the Siege of Terra as far as there involvement in the Heresy goes (unless it would involve a brand new plot, although personally I can't think of a decent plot that would involve the White Scars and the Heresy without including the Siege of Terra).


Tut, tut. You're forgetting that the White Scars fought, and were defeated by, the Iron Warriors on Tallarn during the Heresy- maybe that battle and the circumstances before and after are going the focus of a novel.


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## dlakertor (Mar 18, 2008)

bobss said:


> Im sorry ok, but Im not a bemused fool who aimlessly wanders the forums. I know what happens when and who the antagonists and protagonists are. I was merely saying that _in Horus Rising and False Gods_ the story from the perspective of that Legion bored me slightly, and the Emperors Children parts in Horus Rising and the final few World Eater parts in False Gods at the Siege of the Iron Keep held by the ''Brotherhood'' somewhat parted this veil of boredom....
> 
> And with the greatest of respect, the latter part of that which ive quoted seems rather patronising to be honest, and derrogatory, labelling me as a 'Black Library and Fluff noob' which I most certainly am not, and without swearing and loosing face I don`t personnaly see what gives you the right to start throwing half-congealed, part-formulated accussations around either
> 
> EDIT - Ok I was kinda harsh. Truce?


ahh Sorry if you took it that way, I didn't mean to  I assumed that since you have only read the first two books and said "the occassional World Eater/Emperors Children bit is much needed.." meant you were new to the series? and that you didn't know of the legions in the other books? Which I admit and see now, that I was harsh and offensive.

Again truely sorry for any offence I may have caused, and truce 



Child-of-the-Emperor said:


> Although I hope we won't be seeing the Siege of Terra so soon - especially as we know James Swallow is interested in writing the novel based on the Blood Angels Signus Cluster ambush.


I completely agree to this, I like reading about development of the horus heresy and how the other legions handled it , in my opinion if the story goes straight to the end with the seige we won't have as much of a great story line as it is when it's being developed, although I can see why many horus heresy fans could want this done and dusted, that would be great reading about the many battles at the seige of terror.


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## bobss (May 18, 2008)

dlakertor said:


> ahh Sorry if you took it that way, I didn't mean to  I assumed that since you have only read the first two books and said "the occassional World Eater/Emperors Children bit is much needed.." meant you were new to the series? and that you didn't know of the legions in the other books? Which I admit and see now, that I was harsh and offensive.
> 
> Again truely sorry for any offence I may have caused, and truce
> 
> ...


No Problem.:good:

And as much as I want the Siege of Terra, I agree with Baron Spikey.


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Baron Spikey said:


> Tut, tut. You're forgetting that the White Scars fought, and were defeated by, the Iron Warriors on Tallarn during the Heresy- maybe that battle and the circumstances before and after are going the focus of a novel.


According to records the Battle of Tallarn was the biggest mechanised battle in history, millions of wrecked tanks still litter the surface. The things i'd like to see in the HH series are


Konrad Curze's life on Nostramo and the Night Lords during the Crusade, and maybe during the Heresy. Anything about the Night Lords will be grand.
Sanguinius' life on Baal and the Signus Cluster ambush.
The Iron Warriors during the Crusade and the Purge of Olympia.
The Battle of Tallarn.
Depending on what The First Heretic is, either a book on Lorgar and the Word Bearer's fall to Chaos, or a book about how Chaplain Erebus fell to Chaos. Either would be quite nice.

I agree with Baron Spikey as well. A full story is needed otherwise the HH series wont be nearly as great.


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## Child-of-the-Emperor (Feb 22, 2009)

Baron Spikey said:


> Tut, tut. You're forgetting that the White Scars fought, and were defeated by, the Iron Warriors on Tallarn during the Heresy- maybe that battle and the circumstances before and after are going the focus of a novel.


Were all allowed to be wrong once eh?! 

But of course, stupid of me to forget that 



Lord of the Night said:


> Konrad Curze's life on Nostramo and the Night Lords during the Crusade, and maybe during the Heresy. Anything about the Night Lords will be grand.
> Sanguinius' life on Baal and the Signus Cluster ambush.


Sanguinius will almost certainly get a novel, at least according to James Swallow anyway. But I doubt it would revolve aronud Sanguinius' life on Baal, as it wouldn't have anything to do with the Heresy. Plus we have a precedent for a plot of that kind: _Descent of Angels_, and although the entire book was just to set things up for _Fallen Angels_ (the whole Lion/Luther relationship etc) it still wasn't accepted very well and was fairly highly criticised.

Aside from that though I find a Night Lords novel likely, considering they can't simply be added into/play a sideline role in another novel as they acted individually during the Heresy (bar Isstvan V). Or it could be that another Short Story compilation is released and the legions that BL don't wish to have their own novel get a short story instead. In this sense I find it highly unlikely that the World Eaters for example will get an individual novel, because not only have they been mentioned a fair bit in the opening trilogy (and briefly in _Raven's Flight_) but also have their own Short Story. Same thing goes for Death Guard for example (I wouldn't class _Flight of the Eisenstein_ as a Death Guard novel as some people do).

Actually on that note another Short Story compilation would be great in my opinion. There are so many little tidbits that could be the focus of short stories but that don't deserve their own novel, the Death Guards fall to Nurgle (Destroyer Plague/Stranded in the Warp etc) as an example.




Lord of the Night said:


> The Iron Warriors during the Crusade and the Purge of Olympia.


Again I find that fairly likely, Perturabo and his Iron Warriors have only had fleeting & brief mentions at best so far. Although it may be saved for the Siege of Terra of which they play a major role, but there is a lot to tell in regards to the Iron Warriors prior to that.



Lord of the Night said:


> Depending on what The First Heretic is, either a book on Lorgar and the Word Bearer's fall to Chaos, or a book about how Chaplain Erebus fell to Chaos. Either would be quite nice.


Well that is what _The First Heretic_ is about


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Child-of-the-Emperor said:


> Sanguinius will almost certainly get a novel, at least according to James Swallow anyway. But I doubt it would revolve aronud Sanguinius' life on Baal, as it wouldn't have anything to do with the Heresy. Plus we have a precedent for a plot of that kind: _Descent of Angels_, and although the entire book was just to set things up for _Fallen Angels_ (the whole Lion/Luther relationship etc) it still wasn't accepted very well and was fairly highly criticised.


Really?, I liked it. Thought it was very illuminating. A Blood Angels novel would probably be about Signus Prime, or something new entirely.



Child-of-the-Emperor said:


> Aside from that though I find a Night Lords novel likely, considering they can't simply be added into/play a sideline role in another novel as they acted individually during the Heresy (bar Isstvan V). Or it could be that another Short Story compilation is released and the legions that BL don't wish to have their own novel get a short story instead. In this sense I find it highly unlikely that the World Eaters for example will get an individual novel, because not only have they been mentioned a fair bit in the opening trilogy (and briefly in _Raven's Flight_) but also have their own Short Story. Same thing goes for Death Guard for example (I wouldn't class _Flight of the Eisenstein_ as a Death Guard novel as some people do).


I think that Konrad Curze is the only Primarch that people would enjoy reading about his Pre-Imperium life. It is the most interesting of them all, and we could see more of the Night Lords during the Great Crusade.

Maybe. I doubt the World Eaters or Raven Guard would get a novel since they did nothing truly important. A short story about Kharn at the Imperial Palace would be nice though. A Death Guard novel would be nice though, Flight of the Eisenstein was about Istvaan III, not the Death Guard.



Child-of-the-Emperor said:


> Actually on that note another Short Story compilation would be great in my opinion. There are so many little tidbits that could be the focus of short stories but that don't deserve their own novel, the Death Guards fall to Nurgle (Destroyer Plague/Stranded in the Warp etc) as an example.


That would be nice. There's tons of ideas for short stories. A few of them could be...


The Night Lords bringing a world into compliance or putting down a rebellion.
The Iron Warriors preparing for a siege.
The Alpha Legion's battle on Tesstra Prime.
The Founding of the Grey Knights.
Death Guard falling to Nurgle.



Child-of-the-Emperor said:


> Again I find that fairly likely, Perturabo and his Iron Warriors have only had fleeting & brief mentions at best so far. Although it may be saved for the Siege of Terra of which they play a major role, but there is a lot to tell in regards to the Iron Warriors prior to that.


True. The Purge of Olympia would be the prime goal for an IW novel though.



Child-of-the-Emperor said:


> Well that is what _The First Heretic_ is about


We dont know which one yet though. Does it mean the first heretic legion, the Word Bearers, or the very first heretic. Chaplain Erebus.

Or, and this is a wild shot in the dark. Maybe its about the Red Angel, the fallen Blood Angel in HH Collected Visions.


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## Child-of-the-Emperor (Feb 22, 2009)

Lord of the Night said:


> We dont know which one yet though. Does it mean the first heretic legion, the Word Bearers, or the very first heretic. Chaplain Erebus.
> 
> Or, and this is a wild shot in the dark. Maybe its about the Red Angel, the fallen Blood Angel in HH Collected Visions.


Well it'll be about both. 

Check out ADB's blog. 

EDIT: according to ADB, Dan Abnett has named his next HH novel after _Prospero Burns_, but were 'not allowed to know it yet'!


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## Cthonian Wolf (Feb 20, 2010)

*Spoilers* I sort of lit up at the and of Fallen Angels seeing Peturabo involved is it possible to have a 3rd Dark Angels book with the Iron Warriors involved?


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## Child-of-the-Emperor (Feb 22, 2009)

Cthonian Wolf said:


> *Spoilers* I sort of lit up at the and of Fallen Angels seeing Peturabo involved is it possible to have a 3rd Dark Angels book with the Iron Warriors involved?


No, highly unlikely. Perturabo and the Iron Warriors were just 'passing through' on the way to Isstvan V, and subsequently revealed that they had joined Team Horus.

Following that the Iron Warriors headed for Terra (crippling an Imperial Fists Fleet on the way) and took part in the Siege of Terra.

The Dark Angels on the other hand were campaigning in the Shield Worlds, and its implied (although not clear) that they engaged the Night Lords around the Eastern Fringes as Horus headed for Terra.


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## BHound1981 (Feb 25, 2010)

I just wish they would have done the Raven Guard justice. Seriously, Raven's Flight had to have been the biggest pile of crud I've experienced in a long time. An audiobook that was slightly over an hour in length? Awful. In print that equates to what, a White Dwarf article or two? I'm not just talking about the shortness either... it was just... AWFUL!


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## space cowboy (Apr 3, 2009)

I think what I would like to have seen (well past this point, but worth mentioning if you ask me) would have been to see the most major events getting us from Istvaan through the Siege of Terra, then going back and writing the filler. That way you would have a start and end, and then could spend the rest of existence filling in all manner of stuff that happened in the middle.

Thanks,
Howard


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## Child-of-the-Emperor (Feb 22, 2009)

space cowboy said:


> I think what I would like to have seen (well past this point, but worth mentioning if you ask me) would have been to see the most major events getting us from Istvaan through the Siege of Terra, then going back and writing the filler. That way you would have a start and end, and then could spend the rest of existence filling in all manner of stuff that happened in the middle.
> 
> Thanks,
> Howard


So you think they should have continued from the opening trilogy right up until the Siege of Terra and then go back and 'fill in the gaps'?

That would be an awful decision in my opinion, at least from a marketing point of view. If people have already read about the end, theres not as much incentive to read what led up to it. It would be like watching the ending of a film first before watching the rest! It would also mean that information revealed in the 'middle' novels wouldn't mean anything until after you would have read the Siege of Terra novels.

They are doing it in the most logical way now, fleshing out the entire story before coming to the climactic ending.


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