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Bowing Out of the Horus Heresy Series

31K views 204 replies 52 participants last post by  Kharn The Complainer 
#1 ·
As it says, that's me done.

In a previous thread, someone posted a list of the HH material produced to date. In every year - up to 2012 - I had read or listened to every piece of work.

Then, in 2013, I missed Imperial Truth and a few ebooks - particularly the advent stories. In 2014, the list of released material (some of which I didn't even know existed until I read the list, and I've been trying to keep up!) included ore material I hadn't consumed than had. Already in 2015 the list of releases is greater than in the first year of the series, and there's two Ltd Ed books already...

That, coupled with changing the published format - essentially destroying my collection by moving to large paperbacks, introducing hardback copies and delaying mass market paperback releases (the versions I've been collecting) has forced me to conclude that I can do without this madness.

I finished Vengeful Spirit last week - I thought the quality of writing and the story itself were poor (and the wider issue of disjointed storytelling as discussed elsewhere on here). We are book 29 and are only really beginning to see moves toward Terra. That's enough for me.

In my opinion, the story should have been completed long ago, with side stories filled in after the main event. That is a viable model for franchises like the HH series: this is now nothing ore than a cash cow.

I've held on hoping to see some progress in a meaningful sense, but the story appears to have become mired and confused, and the formats are now so numerous it is almost impossible to keep track.

Knowing that Tallarn II was coming, I spent £53 on new brushes and accessories from Games and Gears for my painting. I simply can't justify the ongoing costs and confusion over what goes where and when in the story arc and trying to keep track of releases.

Sadly, I'm out.

CtS
 
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#5 ·
i Bowed out a few years ago for the very same reason, i would be the first to admit its a grand story that needed multiple books to do it justice, but i think after about 15 books it became very clear that GW really had no intention of doing anything other than milking it for as long as possible with as many titles as possible from as many perspectives as possible, the alarms bells started ringing for me with the Dark Angel book Decent of angels, i was quite put out that they had marketed the Dark Angels origin story as a HH novel, i really didnt enjoy the book, i felt it was very poorly written, it didnt engage me like the others had to that point, i stuck with the series until prospero burns then gave in, just looked on wiki and its doesnt look like the next 14 titles have moved the story on much either.



 
#6 ·
Same here, to be honest I can't be arsed anymore.

I might take a look at some stuff by writers I enjoy, but it's becoming a hassle to find the good books between all the stuff they put out. Which is a shame because I love the setting and was quite invested, but at this point I'm just getting annoyed by it.

On top of that the DLC mode of trying to sell stuff is really shitty.
 
#7 ·
Pretty much the same for me. I've even binned myself from all three of the GW/FW/BL mailing lists.

I've got these left to read and then I'm also done to be honest.

Mark of Calth.
Vulkan Lives.
The Unremembered Empire.
Scars.



Shame really. :(
 
#8 ·
I'll probably continue with the series, but I haven't been arsed buying any of the LE stuff or shorts for quite a while now. I'll buy the full novels as they come out digitally, but all the other stuff can be found elsewhere, and consumed at my leisure.

I really think there's something going on other than them trying to milk it though. The rate of full novel new releases across the whole range has dropped off dramatically in the last year or so, and considering there is a wealth of lore to explore from after the Heresy, it's not like they need to stretch it out and exploit the fan base.
 
#9 ·
Yeah, I'm still buying the full novels, but I've missed quite a few of the LE's, also missed a lot of the anthologies. I don't like the LE's at the best of times, but it's the anthologies being released, containing LE's that I already own, along with short stories that I already own, to only get maybe one or two at most new stories.

But yeah, even me levels of OCD with the collection has hit it's limit. Full novels, will get. LE's, they're really going to have to catch my eye to get.
 
#58 ·
"The friend on the internet."

I've been against this in the past, trying to support the authors. I think when they make LE that doesn't mean anything if you get them or not for the overall story, then I can live with that like Promethean Sun and Corax Soulforge. Then that these 2 lacked seriously in not only the content but also in the writing, that's another story. But now that they ship out small digital shorts, audios to fill out in between and the LE crap. I think for instance Tallarn should just have been one proper novel, showing us both the Tallarn and Iron Warriors side. Instead it has been split up in 1 novella and 2 novellas bunched together and called a "full" novel, a shitload of shorts and 2 audio dramas. I only buy those worth getting these days, and there haven't been many of those.

I don't understand your mindset at all. We already know the conclusion to this story, so why rush it? Sure we could do without the limited editions, but the novels are going at a good pace
That is true, but it doesn't justify poor badly-written fillers.

French is beginning to creep up on these guys. Might be worth checking out his Ahriman series. Excellent so far.
I would say the first story was decent, the 2nd book was terrible. However his Imperial Fists are forming neatly in the HH-series. I like The Crimson Fist and Templar.
 
#11 ·
Aye, for me it's only the novels I actually give a shit about, and even then it's only after reviews have come out that I'll part with money. Saved me from buying Vengeful Spirit when everyone was really excited and then fucking furious.

The only author exempt from my contempt is ADB, because that man could write about the everyday life of a pig in a mulchy field and it would still tower over the likes of Angel Exterminatus.
 
#12 ·
This LE novel thing has killed the LE train for me now. I've got all the LE novellas up until now and I've never, ever felt like they were good value for money. Happy to just keep getting hardbacks as they release, wait 2 years for the novellas to re-release at 1/3rd the price and get all my HH audio from BookDepository for a fraction the price of the BL website.

I'll stick with HH. But only because I've come so far and invested so much (easily over $3K).
 
#13 ·
Also feeling quite burned out with BL‘s shit at the moment, but the investment I have put into the series (I counted the euros, and only cried for an hour) keeps me buying it. I keep buying them simply to have the bookshelf in a complete state, but I have admittedly not read several of the most recent books and cannot find any interest to do so. I am finding more enjoyment from reading the random 40k bolter porn at the moment rather than trying to sludge through all the shitty short stories that BL releases for the Heresy series.

I even ordered the re-releases for First & Only and Nightbringer to get some nostalgia and hopefully be able to enjoy a proper book again, since BL appears to be hell bent on only releasing short stories and novellas at the moment.
 
#20 ·
Story wise, I think a big problem comes from the Age of Darkness itself. A seven year gap in which Horus waylayed his forces from making to Terra and instead let them sack worlds, go about their own agendas, and solidify their authority.

So far we've seen things like the Thramas Crusade, Mortarion's attempt to turn the Khan, the events of Angel Exterminatus, Tallarn, and Damnation of Pythos. They are kind of just padding, but they also do explain certain things; doesn't stop things from dragging on though.


Also, has anyone read the story The Gates of Terra from back in 2012? I think that story, now going on three years old, had the traitor fleet in the outer Sol system. (Its also a Kyme story so take that as you will.)
 
#26 ·
The story is feeling stagnant now. I know the Age of Darkness has a lot of time to cover, but it feels as if all the momentum has gone out of the series since Calth. Back when the series started, the main events I was expecting, were:

Davin. Istvaan III and V. Prospero. Calth. Signus. Mars. Terra. Possibly Tallarn as well, but I never really considered that to be a main event like the others. Those were, and are the main events. Then we got some nice add on novels as well, such as The First Heretic, Legion, Scars. Which were great, helped pad out the precursor to the Heresy and fleshed out two of the more mysterious Legions. We also got the Guillimans, Imperium Secundus, which wasn't executed brilliantly (too much Curze), but still works into the story.

But now, it's just so many other stories that just don't have enough substance or background to the event. All those main ones are covered, everything else apart from Terra, now has to be almost completely new material and filler. Other than Mortarion and the Death Guards fall, there aren't any events from the days of Index Astartes articles or Visions to look forward to.
 
#28 ·
Other than Mortarion and the Death Guards fall, there aren't any events from the days of Index Astartes articles or Visions to look forward to.
I'm not sure if any of the limited editions or novellas have covered it but we still need to find out what causes Magnus and the Thousand Sons to side with Horus. We know they are present with the traitors on Terra, and Magnus did try to stop the Heresy from occurring so how did he go from A to B?
 
#47 ·
I didn't realize anyone was still reading the Heresy series at all. I'm with CtS on this one, only I reached the conclusion looong before he did. Last Heresy novel I bought was Know no Fear, and I couldn't even work up the will to open page fucking one.

That was the end of the Heresy for me. :boredom:
 
#49 ·
It's interesting reading everyone else's comments.

I followed the HH series since Book 1 was released in 2006. But I stopped following it fully (as in buying every publication) when Vulkan Lives was released a couple of years ago. That terrible book (very) roughly coincided with the crazy format ideas that BL came up with - First Editions, Limited Editions, pointless novellas, staggered release dates and whatever else which turned me off massively.

Since then I have bought a few novels and shorts, but only ones that particularly pique my interest - such as Scars, which I enjoyed. Other than that I'm just not interested any more.
 
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