Arx might overshoot 5 for 2025

[Arx]

I want to begin reading physical books again after about 5 years of mostly online reading and conveniently got into Warhammer 40k recently, which will be the majority of my reads at least this year. If finances and shipping times allow, I will probably overshoot my 5 book goal, since I'm already on #3 since the beginning of the month. I will write a review hopefully for every book I read, but they will probably be short - better than nothing, I guess :)

[Arx]

Backlogging my two previous reads: I started October with the Master of Mankind by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, and read Godblight by Guy Haley immediately afterward. They might be set roughly 10,000 years apart in their timeline, but very close in how much I enjoyed them and I would be hard pressed to pick a favourite. However, if you aren't the kind of person that likes to know what happens before you buy, I'd favour Master of Mankind, since Godblight is the end of the Dark Imperium trilogy (which I hope to finish retroactively eventually). Both, as with many Warhammer books, feature numerous POVs, but that made them all the more enjoyable to me, since it gives insight in the perspective of so many different characters and for me, a better feel for the impact of what's happening.
Right now, I'm starting on The End and the Death I by Dan Abnett, the beginning of its trilogy, longer than both its predecessors by about 200 more pages but broken up into many perspectives. It will take some time for me to finish all three - part III won't arrive until the end of November :( But that just gives me time for other books in the universe.

[Arx]

Just finished The End and the Death I and surprisingly, considering the length of the book and amount of perspectives it switches between, rarely got bored. The comparative shortness of the chapters helps, of course, but in other books with many POVs I usually have several characters whose perspective I truly do not care about, which did not really happen here. You also get a lot of interesting looks at the inner workings of the Imperium, and the Emperor's presence is created very well - just his getting up from his throne is preluded by awe and terror from his subjects. However, I would not recommend the book to anyone who isn't very sure they're committed to finishing the trilogy, since it is very long and obviously much of it sets up subplots for II and III. It is certainly not a book, unlike Master of Mankind or Godblight IMO, that can be read casually on the side (and of course, considering the trilogy is the culmination of the 54 book Horus Heresy, it was not meant to). Still, I enjoyed the book, and am very much looking forward to the next two in the trilogy.