The End and the Death: Volume I (Volume 8) [Hardcover] Abnett, Dan [Hardcover] Abnett, Dan

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Another bloated entry in the Siege of Terra series, featuring ADHD storytelling, glacial pacing and a meandering plot.

So that’s what’s in the book, what’s good about it, what isn’t so good, and how it’s written. But that’s not all this one is, because there’s a great deal of symbolic importance to the End above and beyond it being the first half of the End itself. 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! Dan: Loken, obviously. No, Abaddon. And John Grammaticus. Also Sanguinius, and the Khan, and… actually, the more I write (and read), the more favourites I discover. I now love characters and Legions that held little interest for me to begin with. I wasn’t a particular fan, for example, of Space Wolves or Ultramarines at the start. Now I adore both. The more you engage with the material, the more compelling things become. You seem to be under the impression that the Horus Heresy series of books is going to end in a way that radically changes the setting.

Unfortunately, we live in this one, and the fact is that we have a sprawl of plotlines that require resolution (or continuation) before we get to the fun stuff. We are resigned - resigned, perhaps, is not the most positive word, but an appropriate one, I think - to an entire book of character shuffling. We must finish our narrative sprouts before we get our just desserts. First of all Jonathan Keeble does a great job bringing (so many) characters to life and capturing the mood and pace of the varied scenes.

Dan drops bombs in every chapter, despite Audible getting loads of the titles wrong, keeping the pace up whilst managing to weave another of very disparate threads into a complete and satisfying story. I Horus Rising • II False Gods • III Galaxy in Flames • IV The Flight of the Eisenstein • V Fulgrim • VI Descent of Angels • VII Legion • VIII Battle for the Abyss • IX Mechanicum • X Tales of Heresy • XI Fallen Angels • XII A Thousand Sons • XIII Nemesis • XIV The First Heretic • XV Prospero Burns • XVI Age of Darkness • XVII The Outcast Dead • XVIII Deliverance Lost • XIX Know No Fear • XX The Primarchs • XXI Fear to Tread • XXII Shadows of Treachery • XXIII Angel Exterminatus • XXIV Betrayer • XXV Mark of Calth • XXVI Vulkan Lives • XXVII The Unremembered Empire • XXVIII Scars • XXIX Vengeful Spirit • XXX The Damnation of Pythos • XXXI Legacies of Betrayal • XXXII Deathfire • XXXIII War Without End • XXXIV Pharos • XXXV Eye of Terra • XXXVI The Path of Heaven • XXXVII The Silent War • XXXVIII Angels of Caliban • XXXIX Praetorian of Dorn • XL Corax • XLI The Master of Mankind • XLII Garro • XLIII Shattered Legions • XLIV The Crimson King • XLV Tallarn • XLVI Ruinstorm • XLVII Old Earth • XLVIII The Burden of Loyalty • XLIX Wolfsbane • L Born of Flame • LI Slaves to Darkness • LII Heralds of the Siege • LIII Titandeath • LIV The Buried Dagger Horus kills the Emperor permanently, realises his mistake, frees himself from Chaos’ influence, purges the immaterium, retains the power of Chaos, effectively becoming an Emperor-equivalent being. The loyal primarchs expel him from the empire, but Horus aids humanity from the shadows. Dan Abnett waffles too much. It's just a constant diatribe to ensure his own relevance in the 40K lore.

Abnett Unbound

The Emperor, a shining beacon of hope to many, an unscrupulous tyrant to others, must die. The lives of uncountable numbers have been extinguished and even primarchs, once thought immortal, have been laid low. The Emperor's dream lies in tatters, but there remains a sliver of hope. The End and the Death is the final, torturous step on the road the Great Crusade began. With the empire contracted to a single planet, the dream of the great work lying in ruins, the full fury of the Space Marines exhausted and turned inward to purge and scour the homeworld itself, you can’t help but see the beating heart of the novel as Dan Abnett. Not the Emperor, not Horus, not Malcador. Dan.

With the war at this critical juncture, Sanguinius, primarch of the loyalist Blood Angels, braves the horrors of the Warmaster’s flagship, The Vengeful Spirit, with a single purpose in mind – to slay his brother Horus, decapitate the Heresy once and for all, and stop the forces of Chaos from taking Terra.

Imperial Gothic

I believe the Emperor uses a glamor that makes him seem bigger than he is. Basically the same effect Magnus has. Sindermann sub plot a bit weak though surprisingly I didnt mind the perpetuals this time round. At least their story is finnally getting there. As with all the other entries in this series Jonathan Keeble has been consistent, flexible and clever with his delivery.