# Horus Heresy Chronological Order?



## Ahzdeeen

Does anyone know the order to read the books in, if I wanted to do it chronologically instead of the dates they were written/published? My internet searching abilities are a little...lets say hindered...by gov't blocking. 
Thanks for any help!


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## Angel of Blood

Hmm, too tired to try and sort a list out now. But i think it would be quite hard to do anyway, as the various books to flicker between different parts of the Crusade quite often. The First Heretic for instance starts a little over 50 years before the Heresy begins, yet ends almost one of the furthest along of the books. Likewise Tales of Heresy arguably had the earliest story when it shows the Emperor himself destroying the last church on Terra during or just after the Unification Wars but then also contains some stories set during the Crusade or at the start of the Heresy.

So yeah, all in all i think it would be very difficult to actually do.


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## Ahzdeeen

Roger that, I'll just go in order of dates they were put out. Thanks!


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## El_Lobo

That's what I'd suggest you do. Read the first 4 published and from there on pick and choose whichever ones seem the most interesting to you. As a side note I'd also suggest you read A Thousand Sons followed directly by Prospero Burns.

Cheers


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## March of Time

You should also read Fallen Angels after Decent of Angels.


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## Seph

This has actually been really helpful to me as i have always wondered what was the best way to work through these novels.


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## deathbringer

strictly chronological as in when the first page starts and ignoring the little collections like tales of heresy and age of darkness i would hazard a guess at
descent of angels 
horus rising
the first heretic
fulgrim
flight of the einstein
false gods

just from that order their is no way in hell i would read them like that as you need to read galaxy in flames before fulgrim or flight
read them in order of publication
most definitely the best way


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## Angel of Blood

First Heretic before Horus Rising surely. Then you would have to start swapping books around as books like First Heretic jump forwards 50 years. Like we said, publication is the best.

On the note of the time jumps though, i personally like to keep Descent of Angels and Fallen Angels as they are in the order. I like the buffer of a few books to bridge the 50 year gap between the two Dark Angel books. But thats just me i guess.


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## kaboot

Im gonna re-open this thread, as my question is relevant

I want to start reading on the HH, im not too interested in the chronological order, but the story order.

Whats the best book to start and get and idea of the time period? And are they all seperate books, or are there series??

Thanks


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## Troy Spiral

kaboot said:


> Im gonna re-open this thread, as my question is relevant
> 
> I want to start reading on the HH, im not too interested in the chronological order, but the story order.
> 
> Whats the best book to start and get and idea of the time period? And are they all seperate books, or are there series??
> 
> Thanks


I'm sure they arent all seperate books, but i would be interested in the general answer to this question as well.

Right now I'm trying to read a bunch of the "current" timeline books before i mess with HH, so that I can notice the difference between Currrent and HH without much difficulty.


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## Reaper45

kaboot said:


> Im gonna re-open this thread, as my question is relevant
> 
> I want to start reading on the HH, im not too interested in the chronological order, but the story order.
> 
> Whats the best book to start and get and idea of the time period? And are they all seperate books, or are there series??
> 
> Thanks


Truthfully the best book to start with is horus rising. 

In terms of story it gives you a perspective as to how a typical astartes/human is seeing things.

From there I'd read false gods and then pick and choose. 

You want to read those first two books as it sets the scene for the rest of the heresy. 

As for the second part of the question they are and they aren't. Each book is written by different authors who did compare notes. But they also help form a much larger picture.


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## DeathJester921

I would read the first three then go from there. Horus Rising, False Gods, and then Galaxy in Flames. They perfectly set up the Horus Heresy.


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## bobss

I've been absent from the Horus Heresy for a rather long time and intend to do this. Not 'which book started first' or anything so linear, but still with a specific pattern in mind. Ever since I read The First Heretic I've always desired to read it directly after Fulgrim for a good coverage of Dropsite Massacre carnage and an exploration into _how it all went bad_ for juxtaposition to the present. And, inevitably, some books will be cut out altogether.

Can anyone tell me when the Sacking of Prospero occurred relative to the Isstvan strife? Before Isstvan III or afterwards, but prior to Isstvan V?


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## Stephen74

I've not read all the books so I cant do a deffinitive list but here how I would approach it

01. The First Heretic
02. A Thousand Sons
03. Horus Rising
04. False Gods
05. Galaxy in Flames
06. Flight of the Esienstein
07. Battle for the Abyss
08. Know no fear
09. Betrayer
10. Mark of Calth (obviously not read it yet but im aware of where it fits in)
11. Fear to Tread
12. Angel Extreminatus
13. Nemisis

The problem book for me is Legion because its so long ago that I cant recall when its set
Nemisis is a hard but to judge when it takes place, im assuming its much much later in the war so have put it at the end. It could come before Angel Exterminatus though, but unlikely to be before Fear to Tread. 

Battle for the Abyss and Know no Fear take place at the same time but I would suggest reading them in this order so it doesnt brake up the chain of events between Know no Fear and Mark of calth. 

As sub series, in my list, books 3,4,5,6 should be read back to back, as should 8,9,10

Books I find somewhat irrelevant to the timeline are
Tales of Heresy - some good stories but all over the place in regards to time and not essential to the series
Propsero Burns - very little do with the Heresy and the parts that are are generally covered in A Thousand Sons.
Descent of Angels - sod all to do with the heresy
Fallen Angels - at the moment, very little to do with the heresy story, but could become more important later on - but I think they'll fail to develope it because it will break the 'secret' of the dark angels. 
Primarchs - individually useful but as a book, disjointed for a timeline. 

I've not read 
Fulgrim - though I have the book. If I have read it, i cant recall a damn thing about it.
Mechanicum
Age of Darkness - though like tales I think it will be all over the place and lack importantce in establishing timelines
Outcast Dead
Deliverance Lost
Shadows of Treachery (more tales)

Then there are lots of short stories as well released as e-books and audio books, which are part of the heresy but i'm not going to try and fit them in here. 

How does that list sound to people? can you fit the others books in that i've not read.


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## Stephen74

bobss said:


> I've been absent from the Horus Heresy for a rather long time and intend to do this. Not 'which book started first' or anything so linear, but still with a specific pattern in mind. Ever since I read The First Heretic I've always desired to read it directly after Fulgrim for a good coverage of Dropsite Massacre carnage and an exploration into _how it all went bad_ for juxtaposition to the present. And, inevitably, some books will be cut out altogether.
> 
> Can anyone tell me when the Sacking of Prospero occurred relative to the Isstvan strife? Before Isstvan III or afterwards, but prior to Isstvan V?


It deffinately happens before Isstvan III, possible many years before it. 

One problem with the Nikea Edict and the various books is that A Thousand Sons establishs a time from for the creation of the Librarians and their end, but books written before (and maybe after a thousands sons - actually written, not when set) have Librarians outside of this time frame.


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## Marcoos

According to a Laurie Goulding post on another forum, the sacking of Prospero happened after Horus was struck down on the moon of Davin, and approximately 1 year before Istvaan III.


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## bobss

Makes sense. I even remember my favourite line from _Prospero Burns_ in which Horus likens the Sacking to a move in chess. Cheers.

I also believe _Horus Rising_ should be viewed first, regardless of your viewing criteria. It's the series' progenitor in more ways than one. I also contest the notion of reading _The First Heretic_ first. Whilst it does cover events prior to _Horus Rising_, it elaborates on the Word Bearers' machinations which were touched on in the original Horus novels, the apotheosis of this treachery being the Drop Site Massacre -- sort of a doorway into a new, bloody era I've always thought. There's a definite air of this in both novels which cover Isstvan V.

My list is coming along nicely. Fitting short stories and the likes of _Mechanicum_ into the timeline was difficult, but I quite like the idea of nipping into an anthology for a story here and there.

I believe every Heresy instalment brings something new to the table, but under no circumstances would _Prospero Burns_ fail to make the cut. Is that a can of worms I hear being opened? :grin:


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## Angel of Blood

bobss said:


> but under no circumstances would _Prospero Burns_ fail to make the cut. Is that a can of worms I hear being opened? :grin:


Considering I feel it is one of the best novels of the series, especially from a literacy and writing point, no, should never be left out.


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## bobss

It is a great novel indeed. While _A Thousand Sons_ worked with more material and was much more apocalyptic in scale, _Prospero Burns_ had an air of mastery to it's story and portrayal of the Space Wolves which I've come to appreciate more over time. Together, they're a nice duology which paint one of the Heresy's tragedies more vividly than, say, Isstvan III.

Haven't tackled Calth yet. Expecting the unexpected is the best way to put it.


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## Stephen74

Prospero Burns was ok as a book, not that well written imo, but it has so little to do with the heresy that isn't covered in a Thousand Sons. There is a minor issue about Magnus using someone as a spy, but it goes nowhere. 

99% of the book is about fluffing up the space wolves and it does so badly. The issue of 'no wolves on fenris' for example is just left hanging before being totally ballsed up by events in A Thousand Sons. 

This book can be completely left out of the HH series and the series would be better for doing so.


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## Angel of Blood

Stephen74 said:


> Prospero Burns was ok as a book, not that well written imo, but it has so little to do with the heresy that isn't covered in a Thousand Sons. There is a minor issue about Magnus using someone as a spy, but it goes nowhere.
> 
> 99% of the book is about fluffing up the space wolves and it does so badly. The issue of 'no wolves on fenris' for example is just left hanging before being totally ballsed up by events in A Thousand Sons.
> 
> This book can be completely left out of the HH series and the series would be better for doing so.


I would literally couldn't disagree any more, especially on 'not that well written', it's probably the best written novel of the series, regardless of plot.

But, there have been entire threads on the conflicting opinions of _Prospero Burns_, so pretty off topic.


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## bobss

Discussion pertaining to the quality of prose in _Prospero Burns_ may be slightly off-topic, but it's addition in an idealised chronological placement of Horus Heresy novels isn't.

Well, regardless of how the novel was for you, Stephen74, I don't believe it should be dropped because of a perceived disparity in quality. I had no major issues with Ben Counter's attempt, I'll admit, but there's a rather large disparity in writing skill between the first two Horus-centric novels and _Galaxy in Flames_... tbh. I'm not going to discard it from the list, though -- it's still the most meaty account of the original Legions' purging we have.

Now this relates back to, ''_But, bobss, PB didn't add anything significant to the overreaching Heresy which A Thousand Sons didn't already cover._'' Are you sure? Because once again, I'm reminded of Horus' speech of clearing the board of two mighty Legions. I'm not sure if this idea was even broached in McNeill's work, let alone by Horus; the Warmaster; the centerpiece of the Traitor Legions. ATS did indeed have a big sexy ultra mega battle of glorious 30k-scale bolter porn, but it was also an exploration into its advocated Legion as much as PB was.

At the end of the day, both books were designed to belong to a duology, and Abnett _certainly_ upheld his end of the bargain, as so to speak. It'll be in my list, but if it isn't in yours, then hey: different strokes for different folks.

Aaand one final thing. Sure, we may be rearranging the novel's placement because, well, we're fans and that's what fans do, but let's not forget it's entertainment. When I read my chronological list, I still want all of that juicy Vlka Fenryka detail or human contingents that Abnett does so well. I still want a vague reference to the sacking of a Craftworld and the return of Horus Lupercal by Abnett himself -- one of, if not _the_ best Primarch portrayal in the HH.


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## ntaw

I read a dozen books out of order then started everything over in order by release. 

As disbanded as the story is, it does seem to make more sense in the order they have released them.


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