Book Review // The Unremembered Empire by Dan Abnett

It's been about a week since Vulkan's Lives, and with the help of some Alien short stories (more on those later), my mind was refreshed enough to hop back into the 30k verse of Horus Heresy. I am lucky to return to the series with a Dan Abnett book. I was expecting a good story that hopefully progressed the series and was not disappointed. Here are the book's details:

Title: The Unremembered Empire (The Horus Heresy #27)

Author: Dan Abnett

Format: Large Paperback (Amazon link that supports the blog)

Page Count: 416

Commercial Fluff:

Believing Terra has already fallen to the Warmaster, Primarch Roboute Guilliman found the Imperium Secundus.

The unthinkable has happened – Terra has fallen to the traitor forces of Warmaster Horus! Nothing else could explain the sudden disappearance of the Astronomican’s guiding light at the heart of the Imperium, or so Roboute Guilliman would believe. Ever the pragmatist, he has drawn all his forces to Ultramar and begun construction of the new empire known as Imperium Secundus. Even with many of his Primarch brothers at his side, he still faces war from without and intrigue from within – with the best of intentions, was the full truth to be known it would likely damn them all as traitors for all eternity.

Review

So, let's get the timeline sorted first. Calth has burned, Lorgar has created the Ruinstorm, and with the help of his brother Angron, their combine might lay siege to the 500 worlds of Ultramar. Vulkan dies and comes back before disappearing once more, and Sanguinius and his chapter survive a trap sprung by Horus. Finally, Johnson and Curze play a game of cat and mouse in an attempt to kill each other. Sounds like a lot, right?

With the Ruinstorm in full effect and the knowledge that most of his loyal brothers lay dead on Istavaan, Guilliman is forced to assume the worst. With the light of the Astronomicon hidden, Guilliman fears Terra has fallen, and he attempts to hold his 500 worlds together. As time passes, Guilliman starts making some questionable decisions. Firstly, he allows psykers within his legion once more (a crime Russ punished Magnus over); he uses Xeno tech to create a fake Astronomicon (heresy) and creates his own Empire called Imperium Secundus. All sounds a bit treacherous, in my opinion. With his beacon lit, Space Marines of various legions soon start to arrive, mostly the survivors of Istavaan. But then a pack of Space Wolves arrive at the request of Leman Russ and the Malcador, and they question Guilliman and his motives (which is an excellent part of the book). This section shows an attempted assassination attempt on Guilliman and the return of a Crimson-Fisted Imperial Fist!

The story only truly ramps up with the arrival of the Dark Angels. Here we get The Lion arriving and also questioning Guilliman's motives; Curze makes planetfall and solo kicks everyone's arse, Vulkan, for some reason, falls from the sky and becomes burnt jerky before showcasing his regeneration powers to everyone by waking up and without warning chasing Curze across the city, and then finally Sanguinius arrives in the last two chapters to say hi!

Overall, a lot happens in 416 pages, and the pages are packed with information and exciting action. We didn't even touch the story of the Iron Warrior Warsmith, the Cabal, John Atticus, and Eldrad. What a great book to restart the next arc.

As always, thanks for checking in with me. Let me know in the comments what you think of this title, and until next time, thank you for reading.