The Solar War (1) (The Horus Heresy: Siege of Terra) Hardcover – May 28, 2019

If I could, I'd score this a 3.5/5. It's got good Primarch & Space Marine content, with some interesting battles, but it also feels like little progresses forward. I'm getting the feeling they're stretching this as far as they can and somehow simultaneously skipping some of the most impactful psychological developments of the cast. Was an easy read but I'm also already forgetting what happened.

"Almost a decade and a half, and over 5,000,000 words have passed since the moment Horus spoke on the page for the first time in Horus Rising"-John French2,000,000 words too many at the very least.After Legion, Black Library quickly realized that the HH story was progressing WAY too quickly so they started feeding us new material in drips and drabs...How many versions of the Drop Site Massacre did we have to hear about?This is why I believe almost all books since [Legion] have been of poorer quality (notable exceptions: A Thousand Sons, Prospero Burns, and Know No Fear). What started as a terrific backstory and foundation to the 40k universe became a cash cow... We deserved better...That being said, Horus Rising was my first WH40k book and it opened a door to a virtual flood of bolter-porn and grimdark... I've loved almost all of it (Damnation of Pythos, Vulkan Lives... I can't get that time back) and John French delivers.This is a great setup for what (is hopefully) a concise conclusion to the Horus Heresy saga. Seriously, if they string this out for more than five books I'm gonna have to plan a trip to Nottingham!French appears to really care about the content and the stories that have been (and have yet to be) told... Buy his book, reward good storytelling...But get your act together Black Library! I only have a few thousand (more) dollars to spend on your books!!!

If one had neglected to read this masterful series from the beginning, one might expect this science fiction/fantasy book to be in the same cadre of most books in its genre. However, John French, much like his contemporary black library authors, adds a depth of philosophy and introspection that is pleasantly.... surprising? For me, perhaps not. I have grown accustomed to it by now.If you, as a reader, are considering picking up this or the next book without having read the preceding 50-something books leading up to this point... STOP. Go back to the beginning. Pick up Horus Rising and prepare for a long, captivating journey through imagination and reflection. Its well worth the journey. Enjoy....

After 50+ books here we are. The main event, The War in Solar System.The book portrays epic scale of the War very well. I felt like i was there. It does a great job at being first book of the final series.Why did i not give it a 5 star? Minor Spoiler Warning!!Well The Phalanx battle seemed forced and rushed for me. I did not like that chapter so it got a minus star.Overall a great introduction to an epic engagement.

We get the start of the Siege, and there is a lot of call backs.There a number of main characters, but to me, the star is Mersadie Oliton, and I'm so glad she is back and gets the role she deserves. The writing around her is great, as well as her story arc.Also, my favorite Ahriman is back, and boy does he think what hes' doing is a bad idea......The combat is great, as Horus grinds down the Outer Defenses. Pluto, my goodness.If I hadn't read Sigismund's fate, I'd think he was doomed here for sure.Also comes with 4 B&W illustrations. Admiral Su-Kassen is my favorite, though my wife picks Ahirman.Definite must get.

I haven't read a lot of Horus Heresy books but I've read enough and know enough of 40k/30k lore to know the personas involved. I also play a lot of 40k video-games and this book was basically battlefleet gothic(one of my all time fave games) come to life in book form. Great story line and great macro cannon porn, probably the best fleet battle book in the 40k setting. But definitely not a book for someone just starting out in the lore. This and the last Horus Heresy book I read, the master of mankind were really good and well worth the purchase.

Great start to a well anticipated end. The afterword sealed the deal for me, getting to take a peak behind the curtain made this book more personal to me.

One of the longest and greatest space battles of 30k.Couldn't stop reading it. The emperor protects, you'll love it.

I'm normally a fan of John French's writings, but this book I found a real slog. The book jumps around frequently to different character's perspectives, the majority of those I struggled to care about. Mersadie's plot-line (the central character of this story) and dialogue didn't grip me and found myself skipping sentences, then paragraphs, then pages. The only points in the book I found relatively interesting were the exchanges between Su-Kassen, Malcador, Dorn and Valdor. The description of the actual solar war felt anti-climactic, considering the stage of the war this was disappointing to me personally. Nothing felt particularly grandiose or epic about anything of the conflict, despite being told there are thousands of ships attacking eachother, tears in reality with traitor ships and demons pouring forth from within. It fell flat for me. Everything was there for an epic yarn, but most of it didn't quite come together.

Struggling to recognise the book the critical reviewers are complaining about. If this were a standalone novel, then the criticism levied would be justified, but it is not a standalone and was never intended to be. Fifty Four books precede it and there will be at least three more to follow, probably more, now I have read the synopsis of book 3 of this latest series.I think some of the negative reviewers here need to re-read the earlier books and then realise that the point of this first book is tie up some loose ends, close characters stories and set the scene for what is to come, the invasion of Terra.By its very nature, the author writes of a defensive battle, one of attrition and buying time. Those wanting more, seemingly, haven't read the plot up to this point. This is not about a battle to end all battles, it is about the opening moves of the final battle. If, like me, this is at least your 55th read, then hold the faith, they are not going to make a mess of this, just wait for the other books to come out, to tie up all of the loose ends and take the story to the conclusion that Games Workshop told us about in the 1980's

What happened here? John French usually does so well with 40k stuff.This book is an unmitigated disaster from start to finish. It's a by-the-numbers unfocused slog that I really struggled to finish. The story wants to be grandiose but degenerates in to lists of armies shooting each other. In space.The result is boring.The main characters all have plot armour. It's not time for them to die, so they can't. They escape with numbing inevitability.French also falls in to the usual pitfall of saying how great all the Primarchs are, how they are tactically brilliant, and then having them behave like lobotomised oafs. Some days you think the Black Library authors don't have the energy to think up labyrinthine plots to showcase the abilities of these superior beings and instead just write hundreds of pages telling us about their abilities without ever showing us.The weird thing is that this is a path French has navigated before. He has managed to weave in a few interesting sub-plots in to the HH in his earlier novels. This one has gone wildly off piste.

First off the hardback book is of an amazing quality. For the story, there's a lot of ground to cover to begin the siege of terra. To get the best payoff you can you will need a good understanding of the major characters stories and conflicts up to this point. Archamus/kestros, Ahriman, Dorn, Abaddon, Su-kassen, Mersadie Oliton and Garviel Loken are some of the biggest characters you'll hear from in this book. I think the authors done what he set out to do and bring this massive story to a focal point and set up the plans and the stakes for what's to come. It's not a perfect book and reads a lot like many connected novellas interwoven rather than focusing on 2 or 3 major characters as usual. But I also don't think there was any other way that this could be done. When I finished the book I couldn't wait to pick up the next.

Dont go in expecting a detailed account of the solar war or its main architects, you'll be disappointed. In the same vein as the initial horus heresy books, largely ignoring the main players of the assault on the solar system and instead focusing on the plight of a remembrancer fleeing the carnage, and jumping arohnd to so many different other view points that no one really gets to shine. And its a shame because Ahriman and Abaddons threads ARE interestjng, they just dont get given enough page time. The descriptions of void battles could easily be swapped between different sections of the book (quite jarringly ships are constantly described as being destroyed within seconds of first contact, sometimes even by just being close to other exploding ships, until of course plot armour requires them to do something of note, and then they are completely impervious). Trying to think of something redeeming about it, but it was just flat. Not even bad bad, just not that interesting. Read it for completionists sake. Sorry Mr French :\ you did give us the most metal primarch entrance of all time though.