# Horus Heresy series



## Angelus Censura (Oct 11, 2010)

Would you guys say it helps with the overall story of the Heresy to read the HH books in order? Or can I simply read them all willy nilly depending on what I feel like reading at the time? I have quite a few of the books, heard the first two weren't that great, and I've read the First Heretic, which was awesome. I'm tempted just to read the ones I think look the most interesting, as I've just sort of acquired a random collection of HH books. But I think it owuld help to hear the opinion of someone who has read either most or all of the series so far.

Thanks!


----------



## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

I have read them in order so far and I enjoyed the first 2 a lot. Some of the information can spoiled other books and a couple of the books have to really be read in order, like the Dark Angel books.


----------



## increaso (Jun 5, 2010)

Read the opening trilogy first (Horus Rising, False Gods, Galaxy in Flames - in that order).

Then the remaining books can be read 'willy-nilly' save you will want to read Descent of Angels before Fallen Angels, becaese the former establishes various characters and the latter carries on with them.

I havent finished Prospero Burns yet (about half way through), but I can't see any reason why it ought to be read after it's sister book 'A Thousand Sons'. However, they ought to be read around the same time as they have some connected characters and some plot over lap.


----------



## Angelus Censura (Oct 11, 2010)

Awesome, thanks I appreciate it. I've read First Heretic, and am about 3 chapters into Flight of the Eisenstein - will reading those two ruin anything in the HH series, or am I okay to continue with the Eisenstein book?


----------



## Commissar Ploss (Feb 29, 2008)

If you're familiar with how the Horus Heresy went down, and who the major parties involved are, you can probably pick up any of the books and still have a solid grasp of the timeline/situation. Otherwise, i don't see why you couldn't read them in order. it's sometimes fun to stick to the rhythm of things in that sense. You'll read some gems and some total, utter ork shit. but i don't think i've ever read two bad novels in a row, so i've been satisfied.

CP


----------



## Angelus Censura (Oct 11, 2010)

I'm pretty familiar with what happened, so I guess I will just continue with Flight of the Eisenstein (as I play Deathguard, and am excited to read about them in the Heresy  ) then I will just start reading them in order, skipping the ones I've read already. Thanks for the replies!


----------



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

I would discourage reading _Flight_ before the opening trilogy. You will miss so many references and the plot established from _Horus Rising_, _False Gods_ and _Galaxy in Flames_ (for example the background to Iacton Qruze, what exactly happened on Isstvan III, who Saul Tarvitz was Et cetera).

Personally I would strongly advise reading them in publication order, because even though several novels do not directly link-over, there is still several subtle overlaps and references between books which you simply won't pick up on if you havn't read the previous books.

But even if not strictly so, I would read #1-5 in order, #6 before #11, and #12 and #15 back-to-back.

And for the record most people seem to agree that the first book _Horus Rising_ was great. 



Angelus Censura said:


> (as I play Deathguard, and am excited to read about them in the Heresy  )


Just on a side note, _Flight_ isn't a Death Guard novel, and although the Legion and Mortarion feature in part, they are not the focus of the novel. That honour goes to Nathaniel Garro.


----------



## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

I would also strongly advise you read them in publication order. Many of the books make subtle or obvious references to previous books in the series that you wouldn't pick up on if you read them out of order. Even with the Dark Angels books _Descent of Angels _and _Fallen Angels_ i would stick with publication order, reading the three books that come after_ Descent_ before reading _Fallen Angels_. Some may disagree, but a considerable amount of time has passed between the two books and i feel by reading the other three books inbetween helps to convey that passage of time.

So yeah, for whats its worth, i reckon you should read them in the order they were released


----------



## Kulzanar (Aug 10, 2010)

As you can always see under the title there's a small note. "The seeds of Heresy are sown" or "The Heresy unfolds." These notes prove that it can be quite important to read them in order. As said the first four books tell a story and the beginning of it all, while the books after it are the tales of chapters that weren't there at the start and how they experienced it or eventually were drawn to it. For example Fulgrim referred to quite a few moments in the second or third book (can't remember very well) and also before it all to then race off to tell about the happenings afterwards. At moments it was hastily written and sometimes had a weak moment in the plot but overall I enjoyed the personalities of these egocentric space marines and their devotion. 

I've only read the first seven books and need to start at Battle of the Abyss (after all the negative comments i dread this, not to mention i need to finish gotrex & felix third omnibus as well as still two books of Gaunts Ghost and then that darn witch hunter is still waiting for me). But I've kept reading them in the correct order mainly because they start at a certain point in time, go on go on go on, book finished, and in the next book they sort off return to that same starting point, although from a different point of view. So, I'd play it safe and read them in order, just to be sure.


----------



## Brother Subtle (May 24, 2009)

Track down a copy of the short story 'The Kaban Project' from the collected visions artbook before you read 'Mechanicum'. It will give you a few clues as who to trust early on in the book. And what the mysterious robot at the start is and who he works for.


----------



## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

Kulzanar said:


> As you can always see under the title there's a small note. "The seeds of Heresy are sown" or "The Heresy unfolds." These notes prove that it can be quite important to read them in order. As said the first four books tell a story and the beginning of it all, while the books after it are the tales of chapters that weren't there at the start and how they experienced it or eventually were drawn to it. For example Fulgrim referred to quite a few moments in the second or third book (can't remember very well) and also before it all to then race off to tell about the happenings afterwards. At moments it was hastily written and sometimes had a weak moment in the plot but overall I enjoyed the personalities of these egocentric space marines and their devotion.


Yeah I didnt notice that until after reading Horus mini-trilogy a second time! Not to spoil to much, but in Fulgrim they face Orks at one point, and in Galaxy in flames they mention the victory afterwards and stuff like that.  Simply, read them in order and you wont be disappointed.


----------

