With fifty-four official books, you’d be forgiven for taking a look at the horus heresy warhammer 40k prequel series and running out of the nearest airlock. Telling the story of how the 40k universe came to be the way it is, The Horus Heresy is a series of novels that delves into the dark side of human nature in an already dark universe.
But fear not, fans of grim fiction, help is at hand. We have scanned all warhammer 40k books with our servo-skulls to bring you the best horus heresy book order possible. Within its multitude of tomes you will find over-the-top action, betrayal, and the dark musings of chaos. It’s essential reading for any fan of Warhammer fiction, but there’s plenty to bite into, especially if you’re just beginning your journey into heresy.
You are reading: Best horus heresy books
Read this horus heresy book ordering guide and we’ll tell you which books are essential to telling you the full story behind this pivotal event in the warhammer 40k universe, and which ones you can gloss over. finished for another day.
we start (in an unusually linear style, considering how many branches this series ends up having) at the beginning.
meeting the gang
The first five novels are completely essential. horus ascending, false gods, galaxy in flames, eisenstein’s flight and fulgrim > will see you meet the warlord horus, the other primarchs and their legions before they fall to the ruinous powers.
You’ll also see certain events (primarily murderous) referenced throughout the series, giving you that much-needed context, for when you’re forty books down a heresy hole and someone mentions istvaan v.
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From here, you can start to be more selective. however, if you have a particular affinity for a legion, be sure to check out the books that focus on them, such as Descent of Angels and Fallen Angels for fans of the dark Angels. .
after these first books, the horus heresy fragments a bit, and many of the following books cover events that precede the first five novels.
The next truly essential entry is a thousand sons, since the fall of magnus and his thousand sons is an essential part of the plot. Follow him with Prospero Burns to see the consequences of Magnus’s machinations.
If you’ve been interested in seeing more chaos and how far the rot goes, we recommend you dive into these chaos-focused novels.
the first heretic explores the extent of the corruption of chaos. know no fear is a fun journey of revenge and betrayal. angel exterminatus is a wacky and chaotic road trip to the other side of reality, as betrayer gives the emperor’s angriest son, angron, some much-needed time. finally, vengeful spirit gives us a look at what’s been going on with our absent warmaster…
get on with the plot
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From this point on, you’ll find that the series explores two story lines, imperium secundus and the mysteries of vulkan.
In the imperium secundus strand, the ultramarines, dark angels and blood angels get a chance to shine as their stories intertwine through the fear to tread, empire forgotten, pharos, angels of caliban and storm of ruin. choose door number two and you’ll see fan favorites, the salamanders and their beloved primarch, pass through hell and back in vulkan lives and deadly fire.
approaching the siege of terra
You’ve come a long way and the scent of victory is in the air. here are our picks for the final approach:
the master of mankind is an essential glimpse behind the veil of the emperor himself. old earth unites everything that happened to the ultramarines, vulkan, iron hands, salamanders… and more.
Chaos, as is its wont, begins to eat itself up near the end of Heresy. both wolfsbane and slaves to dark give us a real insight into the critical flaws of chaos.
Finally, the series ends on a truly high note. the buried dagger sees the series park just outside the land, ready for the siege of terra to begin, and neatly tie all that has come before.
If you’re hungry for more warhammer action and want to see how your favorites turn out ten thousand years from now, our imperium factions guide gives you a look at the supposed good guys, and our mayhem handbook will help you fight back. like the bad guys.
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