Book Review: False Gods by Graham McNeill
I have managed to complete this book in ten days. This is amazing for me, as my speed of reading, has been rather slow of late, but I am truly surprising myself these days.
Title: False Gods (Horus Heresy #2)
Author: Graham McNeill
Publisher: Black Library
Type: Paperback
Page Count: 416
Commercial Fluff: The human Imperium stands at its height of glory - thousands of worlds have been brought to heel by the conquering armies of mankind. At the peak of his powers, Warmaster Horus wields absolute control - but can even he resist the corrupting whispers of Chaos?
Review
“I was there the day that Horus fell...”
What an opening. If you haven't read my review of book #1, please do me a solid and read that one first. Now that's done, let us get into this book. This review contains spoilers, so please be aware that I will only go into detail on the first third of the book. After that, I will give some hints, leaving it to you to discover for yourself. This is the second book of the opening trilogy, and this series is building rapidly. It opens at the end of book One (no surprise, lol), and the Sons of Horus are still reeling from their dealings with the Annex. From here, they are diverted back to one of their earlier conquests by Erebus of the Word Bearers. Upon arriving back at Davin a backward feral world they discover the garrison left behind has gone rogue and claimed the Moon as their sovereign territory. Feeling this as a personal failure, Horus decides to lead the attack personally. From this point on, the scene is set, and we have an epic horror-themed fight as a misty swamp is suddenly filled by hordes of shambling Zombies, and you fear for some characters ’ lives. The fighting is fast-paced and action-filled as Horus battles through a crashed starship to strike down the traitor (a dark reflection of what is to come above Terra). At this time, we also discover Erebus is up to something treacherous, and the stolen Annex weapon (from book one) reappears in the traitor commander’s hand. An epic duel full of gross descriptive terms is used to help you imagine the rotting form of the traitor general. Though ultimately successful, Horus is mortally wounded and, alongside a battered Mournival, returns to the flagship, where they accidentally unleash their wrath on the human crew. Now feared by the human crew and with Horus in a death state, the Mournival allows Erebus to convince them the only chance to save the Primarch is with the aid of the Serpent Lodge (A feral mystic order from Davin).
From here on in, there are too many spoilers that would ruin the book if I wrote more; all you need to know is that Horus' pride gets the better of him, and once he returns to his Sons, he is a changed being. The book ends with a brutal battle where Horus starts to clean the house and remove troublesome personnel from his forces; he also declares his intention to move against the Emperor and that their next destination is the Istvan system.
Overall, it is a great read. The characters are starting to grow into the roles we expect them to play (especially Abaddon), and we even get a small camo from Angron and the World Eaters. I enjoyed this book, which is proven by how quickly I read it.
I hope you have enjoyed my review. Thanks.
