James’s answer to “The Horus Heresy is quickly becoming unmanageable from a readers perspective. So many characters, s…” > Likes and Comments
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One thing I'd like to see, and maybe there is something on-line somewhere that I haven't been able to find, is a comprehensive time line or reading order. I know that some of it is written to be independent of each other so it can be read in any order, but with recurring characters referring back to previous events it would be helpful. Even publishing date doesn't necessarily help when some of the stories and novellas are thrown in.
That link is now out of date, unfortunately.
I noticed that the Horus Heresy series has been re-released.
Condensed to 12 books
Horus Rising by Dan Abnett
False Gods by Graham McNeill
Galaxy in Flames by Ben Counter
The Flight of the Eisenstein by James Swallow
Fulgrim by Graham McNeill
The First Heretic by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Prospero Burns by Dan Abnett
Know No Fear by Dan Abnett
Betrayer by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Praetorian of Dorn by John French
The Master of Mankind by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Slaves to Darkness by John French
Which is a fair curation. I personally would've picked A Thousand Sons instead of Prospero Burns and tacked on Wolfsbane as the 13th novel (13th Wolf, also it contains a major plot point, rounds off Leman properly and juxtaposes nicely against a Thousand Sons)
But overall this largely solves the problem of the Horus Heresy being too daunting for newcomers.
However, one flaw is that this series misses its own omnisbuses with short stories that properly capture the shorter series. So i've been daydreaming up three hypothetical omnibus novels:
I – THE FIRST FRACTURE
(Why the Imperium was already broken)
Dreams of Unity (this is the most anachronistic one, which is deliberate, it's a flash forward to right before the start of the siege)
The Last Church
Hands of the Emperor
Hubris of Monarchia
Prologue to Nikaea
After Desh’ea
Savage Weapons
The Dark King
The Lightning Tower
Aurelian
Magisterium (also a flash forward but fits Prosper Burns/A Thousand Sons perfectly)
A Safe and Shadowed Place
The Last Remembrancer
II – BROKEN OATHS
(The experience of betrayal)
Honour to the Dead
Underworld War
Shards of Erebus
Athame
A Deeper Darkness
Butcher’s Nails
The Iron Within
Veritas Ferrum
Gunsight
Perpetual
Exocytosis
The Reflection Crack’d
Blackshield: The Red Fief
OMNIBUS III – THE DYING LIGHT
(The prelude to the siege of Terra)
Wolf King (I would have dropped this one if Wolfsbane had been the 13th in the series)
The Soul Severed
The Last Son of Prospero
Dark Compliance
Luna Mendax
Duty Waits
Devine Adoratrice
Valerius
The Watcher
Ghosts Speak Not
Chamber at the End of Memory
The Gates of Terra
The Sigillite
Now Peals Midnight
The Board Is Set
I and III are the most load bearing. And they're probably aready overstuffed. But yeah, it shouldn't be too hard to trim them down a bit.
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Joe
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Feb 23, 2015 08:23AM
One thing I'd like to see, and maybe there is something on-line somewhere that I haven't been able to find, is a comprehensive time line or reading order. I know that some of it is written to be independent of each other so it can be read in any order, but with recurring characters referring back to previous events it would be helpful. Even publishing date doesn't necessarily help when some of the stories and novellas are thrown in.
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That link is now out of date, unfortunately.
I noticed that the Horus Heresy series has been re-released.Condensed to 12 books
Horus Rising by Dan Abnett
False Gods by Graham McNeill
Galaxy in Flames by Ben Counter
The Flight of the Eisenstein by James Swallow
Fulgrim by Graham McNeill
The First Heretic by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Prospero Burns by Dan Abnett
Know No Fear by Dan Abnett
Betrayer by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Praetorian of Dorn by John French
The Master of Mankind by Aaron Dembski-Bowden
Slaves to Darkness by John French
Which is a fair curation. I personally would've picked A Thousand Sons instead of Prospero Burns and tacked on Wolfsbane as the 13th novel (13th Wolf, also it contains a major plot point, rounds off Leman properly and juxtaposes nicely against a Thousand Sons)
But overall this largely solves the problem of the Horus Heresy being too daunting for newcomers.
However, one flaw is that this series misses its own omnisbuses with short stories that properly capture the shorter series. So i've been daydreaming up three hypothetical omnibus novels:
I – THE FIRST FRACTURE
(Why the Imperium was already broken)
Dreams of Unity (this is the most anachronistic one, which is deliberate, it's a flash forward to right before the start of the siege)
The Last Church
Hands of the Emperor
Hubris of Monarchia
Prologue to Nikaea
After Desh’ea
Savage Weapons
The Dark King
The Lightning Tower
Aurelian
Magisterium (also a flash forward but fits Prosper Burns/A Thousand Sons perfectly)
A Safe and Shadowed Place
The Last Remembrancer
II – BROKEN OATHS
(The experience of betrayal)
Honour to the Dead
Underworld War
Shards of Erebus
Athame
A Deeper Darkness
Butcher’s Nails
The Iron Within
Veritas Ferrum
Gunsight
Perpetual
Exocytosis
The Reflection Crack’d
Blackshield: The Red Fief
OMNIBUS III – THE DYING LIGHT
(The prelude to the siege of Terra)
Wolf King (I would have dropped this one if Wolfsbane had been the 13th in the series)
The Soul Severed
The Last Son of Prospero
Dark Compliance
Luna Mendax
Duty Waits
Devine Adoratrice
Valerius
The Watcher
Ghosts Speak Not
Chamber at the End of Memory
The Gates of Terra
The Sigillite
Now Peals Midnight
The Board Is Set
I and III are the most load bearing. And they're probably aready overstuffed. But yeah, it shouldn't be too hard to trim them down a bit.
