Galaxy in Flames (The Horus Heresy): No. 3

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This was a shame as I had gotten to like the central characters and the dilemmas they had been facing but the book significantly improves after the first half dozen chapters.

However, in Galaxy in Flames Horus has gone from a warrior looking to reduce bloodshed to one who wants to see the Imperium burn. As far as books go it did a solid job of wrapping everything up relating to Horus beginning the Heresy and falling. Ben Counter brings the opening trilogy of this epic new series to explosive life as the Horus Heresy begins! Having made a miraculous recovery from the grevious injuries he suffered on Davin, Warmaster Horus now leads the triumphant Imperial forces against the rebel world of Isstvan III. Those who would forsake the Emperor have put their gears of evil in motion and will stop at nothing until they see the Galaxy In Flames!Suddenly boxed into a small room, they have a choice to stay and see what Horus has planned for the Rememberancers, or they can flee and try to get word to those who can do something about Horus's betrayal. The Sons of Horus' drop pods scatter throughout the target area and they struggle to link up and capture their objective, the Sirenhold. We see the evils of fanaticism through the warrior lodge, but the inspiring hope of faith that Keeler and Sindermann bring to the people on the Vengeful Spirit. Having recovered from his grievous injuries, Warmaster Horus leads the triumphant Imperial forces against the rebel world of Isstvan III where Horus's treachery is finally revealed. This makes the inevitable twist that much more satisfying/horrific and means I want to further explore these characters in other books.

I by no means consider myself weak of stomach, but I would be lying that the genocide of Isstvan III via the virus bombs did not disturb me at all, showing (At least for me) how well-written it was. My overall summary of this book is therefore: pedestrian writing explodes into life for the last third and leaves me still wanting to read the Horus Heresy. Simultaneously there are three of these face to face battles pitting our well known traitors and loyalists against each other.I confess I'm a bit addicted to this series now, nonetheless but I'm concerned about how to make my reviews diverse! The pair fight, and Tarvitz is hopelessly outmatched until he copies something Loken once did when fighting Lucius in the practice cages and drops his weapon in favour of punching Lucius in the face. After listening to an excellent book 1 and a very decent book 2, I initially struggled with the third book as the author's power of description was less compelling for me, little dialogue or drama. Brothers who have to kill brothers, fathers killing their sons, new families, and loyalties being forged, to name a handful.

With Galaxy in Flames, they get dedicated page time and with their struggles and battles, and it means that we understand their motivations far clearer. I normally read other reviews after posting my own, but I was quite conflicted about Galaxy in Flames and needed some clarity.Dan Abnett set the ball rolling with Horus Rising, and Graham McNeill followed with a disappointing False Gods. If you missed the relentless onslaught of a typical 40k scenario in books one and two you're going to be pleased with book three. Horus has now been supplanted by forces beyond his understanding - the allies/Traitors who are taking arms against the Emperor begin to form. I look passed most of its lesser qualities and say it was a good course correction in what I feared was going to be a train wreck of a series after False Gods.