It would be most wise to read them in publication order: A Thousand Sons, then Prospero Burns and finally Battle of the Fang.

 

Thank you very much, Child of the Emperor. k:

 

Actually, A Thousand Sons and Prospero Burns tell different stories. Despite how it's marketed, Prospero burns is actually about the Crusade era Wolves as seen from the point of view of a Remembrancer, as opposed to it being about the Wolves' side of the story concerning the sacking of Prospero.

It's still a very good book, but don't go into it thinking you'll get what it says on the tin. The true comparrison with A Thousand Sons is that both give you insight into the two opposing Legions.

 

What Dînadan says is true. It also caused a lot of fuss and complaints from those who did expect to get the same story told twice, just from the other side (which would have just validated the complaints that the Horus Heresy series is being dragged on too long--I mean, do we need another telling of Istvaan III or the Istvaan V Dropsite Massacre? No. So why would we need a second telling of just the Sack of Tizca?).

That means that while A Thousand Sons is probably a better set-up in terms of the events that take place in Battle For The Fang, Prospero Burns is no less essential reading, on account of the sheer depth and purpose that it conveys regarding the Vylka Fenryka; the Rout; the Space Wolves. Juuust...suffer through the kenning-laden first 50 pages.

 

People can say/complain what they want. Prospero Burns revealed how the Burning of Prospero came about, not simply a book about the heresy era Wolves and a little about the burning

 

Guess I need to go reread the book then, as I don't remember any of that. Or are you refering to how the Wolves were manipulated such that the Burning of Prospero became possible? In which case the point still stands - this isn't directly a book about the Burning like you would expect from the title and blurb; those imply the book is all about the Burning. Rather the book is about the Crusade era Wolves and the lead up to Prospero.

 

Rewind back to the question.

If you are aware of what happened on Prospero, you do not need to read any book before Battle of the Fang.

In the timeline it takes place after the other two, but it's not a follow on or anything in the same way that you don't need to read the HH series to follow all 40k novels.

 

No, but reading the Prospero duology before Battle of the Fang would help. Even just for terms of context and terminology.