The genre. It is a dark space opera, high fantasy, with links to history and other literature - for example, Paradise Lost, the Odyssey, etc. (the original fantasy series’s). My issue with the Siege has always been bloat. Erda is a prime example: did we need another Perpetual, especially such a prominent one, parachuted into the narrative? Do we need all these characters flouncing about on all their individual sub-plots, still dangling as we move towards the sharp end? My praise of Echoes is that it's an incredibly tightly-focused book. It is, in short, a fantastic addition to the ethereal concept of what the Siege series should have been. The construction of the book is killer. It drives home its core concepts, it's sharply-edited, it is focused on giving the audience a brutal contrast and comparison of two Legions and their Primarchs at the very end of the war. In a perfect universe, that it ends as the shields go down, is genuinely a perfect place to end. We don't need to know how, or why, only that the final assault is about to happen, the last, desperate gambit for the last, final book of the series. In a perfect universe, every Siege book would have been like this, sharpening the narrative edge down to a singular point, giving us a whole book that could deal solely with the Vengeful Spirit. The POVs of Malcador and the Primarchs are somewhat interesting (no mean feat after 60+ books), and at least we do not get any new out-of-character revelations or derailings on that front.

The End and the Death starts much as the rest of the Siege with vignettes from the fighting on Terra which is a great way to demonstrate the global nature of the conflict. Abnett interspersed these stories with discussions from Horus on his father and brothers a Malcador talking about the Emperor. Both include great further snippets from the past and how the Emperor got to where he finds himself. Sure, it doesn't all make sense especially when they discuss pre 21st century history, but its fun watching Malcador and Horus separately talk of the weaving of the fates!The chaos of the siege doesn’t help the second half of the book. Everyone’s had an approach to the immense scale of these final hours in one way or another – the Solar War added literal space to numbers, Saturnine slammed through hundreds of overlapping viewpoints at a rapid pace, Echoes nailed the conflict to a single, burning point. The End and the Death attempts to do it all, and for all of the skill on show in writing different voices and perspectives, it’s where the novel creaks and breaks. We’re told rather than shown the preposterous scale of the conflict. It feels less apocalyptic and terrifying than the masterwork that was Saturnine because it loses the key focal point to show the desperation we’re told is present. Chapters of “Fragments” – single paragraph or even single line vignettes – are supposed to show us the full extent of the siege, and sometimes do this to great effect. Others, unfortunately read like some of the early attempts to establish the Stormcast Eternals as viable protagonists, all nounverbers at the placenames against the adjective verbnouners. There’s just too much context. We know the world is on fire, but seeing every single flame detracts from the inferno. It is finally here. The first volume of the endgame of the Siege of Terra and the Horus Heresy as a whole, a story spanning sixty books written by over a dozen writers. It is fitting that Dan Abnett, the author who penned the first book, Horus Rising, which released in 2006, is the one to finish it. To deliver a satisfying conclusion to such an incredibly expansive and epic story would be a monumental task for any writer and I cannot imagine the pressure and amount of work that went into it. What I can say is that Abnett has risen to this challenge like the Emperor himself rising from the Golden Throne one last time. The Empire remains, but in a diminished and stagnant state. The Emperor and loyal primarchs are forced to fight fires (for example, the abominable intelligence, or Chaos incursions) Dan's a fine novelist but this is not his finest work. The first third of the book feels somewhat abstract and a little depressing. Earth/Terra is dead, we get it. Except it isn't because we know the finale. Volume two of The End and the Death is coming later this year, but as we revealed last week in an interview with Dan Abnett , there is a third volume coming – and today we can unveil the cover.

Book have big problem with phasing. I need to elaborate a bit. Book have 4 large parts made of chapters. The end is nigh, and death comes to us all. The great saga that began 17 years ago with Dan Abnett’s seminal novel Horus Rising is hurtling to its inevitable conclusion. Written by the same author who launched this epic series, The End and the Death Volume 1 was unleashed on the galaxy earlier this year, while Volume 2 will be with us very shortly. But we’re not quite done… The story will conclude in Volume 3 of Dan’s magnum opus!

The Death

Warhammer Community: You started the narrative 17 years ago in Horus Rising , how have you found the journey to The Siege of Terra?

Are you for real?!?!? REALLY?!?!? One thing that bugs me above all other things from this article is that it is confirmed we will only get Sanguinuis vs. Horus duel in Volume II EVEN THOUGH THE EMPEROR IS ALREADY ON THE VS AND IS MAKING HIS WAY TO THE BRIDGE. I foresee so much bloat I'm going to cry. And now, we will have to wait another half year or more for Volume III which will be an extended epilogue probably. I am glad I was not the only one to feel that way. I was genuinely looking forward to the end but damn that first book is a pure slog.

Table of Contents

Dorn and Valdor in particular were vastly enjoyable. Sanguinius is not a character I’d written much of, but I had fun with him. He’s an extremely difficult character to write, and a challenge that I really enjoyed. And weirdly, I found an enormous sympathy with Abaddon and the situation he finds himself in – where he’s obviously completely committed to doing terrible things.

My best guess would be that he is the one 'guardsman/ custodian' who will make the difference in the last stand between the Emperor and Horus. Three stars because it isn't bad enough to warrant being given two stars in that it's a mostly an enjoyable read however it has problems. It’s heroic on a Warhammer scale, but also truly sad. It’s cosmic in scope, but also intensely personal. After 18 months of writing, with the amazing support of the editorial team and my fellow Heresy writers, it is – I hope – a fitting end to the series. It’s certainly the best ending I could deliver. Was book 1 too long? I don’t think so, I think Abnett pulled it off. Yes, it’s the extended director’s cut, but it’s a good director’s cut, not dross, not a slog, not some other things that could be levelled at the Horus Heresy series.Ollianius Pius knows Enuncia and has the toughness to sustain its power more than a few seconds. That is how Olly weakens Horus enough for Neoth to finish him off