Galaxy in Flames (Warhammer 40,000 Novels: Horus Heresy)
by Ben Counter
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Book Reviews of Galaxy in Flames (Warhammer 40,000 Novels: Horus Heresy)
Book Review: Horus Heresy, Book Three
Summary: 5 Stars
Begins one year after the end of book two, "False Gods".
Remembrancer Euphrati Keeler lay unmoving and unresponsive in a medicae bay since she and Sindermann faced the horrible creature from the warp in Archive Chamber Three. The apothecaries and medics could find nothing physically wrong with her, save for the eagle shaped burn on her hand that refused to fade. The power she used to defeat the chaos spawn was nothing less than a miracle. Euphrati is now called a saint. A new church is being founded in the name of the Emperor. However, there are those who desire the death of the saint.
When the Warmaster commands Captain Garviel Loken of the Sons of Horus Legion and selected others to be in the speartip drop down to Isstvan III (to take Choral City), Loken asks Captain Iacton Qruze to look after the remembrancers Mersadie Oliton, Euphrati Keeler, and Kyril Sindermann. While Qruze helps keep his three charges alive, Loken and all the others on the surface of Isstvan III find themselves totally betrayed.
Can you hear it? It is the music of the spheres.
***** Author Ben Counter takes off where "False Gods" left. The attitudes of the characters in this installment mirror those from the previous story perfectly. From there, Counter takes readers' imaginations to a whole new level. The battle scenes were so real to me that I could almost feel the planet tremble beneath my feet and hear the bolter blasts. It gets no better than this! *****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
Book Review: Count on Counter!
Summary: 5 Stars
The Horus Heresy is the most significant story there is the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
Abnett wrote a good first installment, creating characters and laying the foundations.
McNeil almost ruined it with the second book, with poor plot and characterisation.
Counter really saves the story here. The main plot - the Heresy - takes center stage. He adds to the cast of characters, restores some intelligence to Horus, seemlessly weaves action and thought-provoking issues of morality and loyalty together to create a masterpiece. The scale of the Heresy expands to include other Traitor Legions, and the whereabouts and roles of the other Primarchs are also addressed - a key thing if you take this seriously and want a realistic telling of the Heresy. There is heroism, the good guys have victories, but Horus cannot be stopped!
Yes, I was disappointed that some characters were sidelined. There is not as much development of Erebus or Abaddon as I would have liked - though McNeil had pretty much destroyed Erebus; he is pointlessly evil. However, Counter adds some good characters and elements too; he expends the story to other legions, and the army units in the form of a mighty Titan's crew. The establishing of the Emperor's reluctant divinity and the beginnings of the cult of the Omnissiah are all here as well.
This may be Counter's best 40k book yet.
Book Review: Counter resurrects the false gods and reaches Miltonic heights
Summary: 5 Stars
Ben Counter's description of the massacre on Isstvan III and the last stand of the loyalists Sons of Horus rises to the highest level of military science fiction. He seems to have relied heavily on historical renditions of the battles of Stalingrad and Berlin to create a gritty realism that far surpasses the first two Horus novels.
But his achievement doesn't end with great battle scenes. He accomplishes two things that elevate his novel to a level above "good" military science fiction. First, he captures the camaraderie that develops on the battlefield between fellow soldiers and conveys those feelings with both pathos and warmth. Several set scenes vibrate with such emotion that I found myself comparing them to similar scenes in Homer's Iliad and Tolkien's The Return of the King. Second, he illuminates the rise of the Emperor cult and illustrates vividly (not tells) the attraction of Chaos gods. This illumination is essential to the tension that must exist between Chaos and the Empire.
If the Horus Heresy is going to be a great series and I suspect it will be, the reader must understand the attraction of Chaos, otherwise it is just another story about super heroes fighting villians or put another way--good verses evil. I think Ben Counter has found the middle way, fairly describing the attraction of Chaos and the piousness of the Emperor or Order.
Book Review: Good recovery.
Summary: 4 Stars
After the mess that Graham McNeill made of the second book, I think Ben Counter did an excellent job of restoring depth to most of the characters. We were given cardboard cutouts of all the space marines in "False Gods." This was most particularly true of Horus.
In Galaxy in Flames the characters actually have motivations, and they actually talk like real people again. It's not quite as good as the first book, but it is definitely refreshing.
Plot-wise, we still aren't really clued in to WHY Horus's forces are fighting where they're fighting. More questions about what precisely Horus is aiming at are raised than are answered. Perhaps that is for the best, however, as it does set us up very well for the fourth book. It's hard to judge the glossing over of Horus's role in this book without knowing if it will pay off in the end.
That said, "Galaxy in Flames" saves this series, and sets it up for greatness. Or at least, I hope it does.
Book Review: Good closing with a silent cliff hangar
Summary: 5 Stars
With the Sons of Horus and the other chapters in turmoil on Istvaan this is the final book of the first part of the Horus Heresy. Ben Counter's addition to the final installment is wonderfully written and is a very exciting and quick read.
CPT Loken and faithful remain on track with their sworn allegiance to the Emperor to the very end. Which brings me to the only gripe about this book, the final chapter! I am not going to give away any secrets but after everything that had happened from the first book till now it was so obvious what was going to occur yet our heroes still succumb to the error of believing in their Warmaster who had completely gone through a metamorphosis in the weeks prior to the attack!
Still as stated it was a wonderful read and seemed to have gone quicker than the 2nd book. I am patiently awaiting the continuation of the series with the Flight of Eisenstein and Fulgrim.