The End and the Death vol.1

By Dan Abnett

There are two volumes to go in the Siege of Terra. Malcador prepares as best he can. Horus prepares to battle the Emperor, and although we know how it ends, there is some exploration of how it pans out in this book. There are quite a few character plotlines brought together, some frantic actions, and some subtle explorations of characters and events. Let’s get into it.

The End and the Death, the refrain of the daemon Samus, is a phrase that pops up repeatedly. It sometimes feels clumsy, forced in, rather than what I often see in books which is inserting the eponymous title into a significant phrase or moment. It jars with some of the bombastic, over-the-top descriptive passages in this book, which are more effective and produce a sense of the grand scale of the events. Thankfully the latter are more frequent than the clumsier allusions in this book.

All ears

It's worth mentioning here that I listened to the audiobook, and Jonathan Keeble’s performance was absolutely tremendous. He races through descriptive passages, slowing down to emphasize key parts wonderfully. Action scenes carry this pace too. The voices he employs are diverse, the latent threatening power of Vulkan, the almost irritating voice of Actae, the slightly comical John Grammaticus, the stentorian booming of the custodians. I really feel like the reading contributed and elevated the book.

The long passages of imagery – one of which, was about a page long – were grandiose and fitting. I think some might find them tiresome, but Warhammer is satirized, insane and massive – and these literary tactics help make that manifest. I couldn’t get enough of these descriptions, partly due to Jonathan Keeble’s delivery. One particular passage displayed this with aplomb, and I quote:

..into ribbons with his power claw. He side steps Mendolus’s second lunge in a swirling billow of cloak, and runs his sword hilt deep into shield captain Amalfi’s chest. Each companion he strikes down is a profound loss to humanity. Each one is a perfect creation of genetic and esoteric engineering. Masterpieces. Hand-wrought with the the most diligent and exacting labour, each one is a boon, loved companion and friend, beloved as any son…

Chapter 5 Visions of Heresy, 08:37 from the audiobook. Any mistakes in the quotation are mine, noted down from audio.

God wrought

In terms of the characters and how they play out, it is very much mixed. Having read Alpharius, Head of the Hydra recently it was cool to see Ingo Pech – they’re a legion that doesn’t get enough love, in my opinion. But plenty of favourites are here. The Primarchs and most of their playing off one another is, for the most part, strong, although some of the petty Primarch squabbles do appear. Vulkan and Dorn remain resolute defenders but perhaps more doubtful than before, Sanguinius noble and impassioned but more certain, Horus fallen and increasingly depraved – although part of this is apparently an act. Malcador and the Emperor are explored in more detail and are probably some of the strongest parts of the book, with more exploration of Malcador’s perspective and provenance. Some readers probably won’t like the brief chapters highlighting certain warriors or battle scenes in short spurts, aiming to illustrate the myriad lives and experiences lost during the gigantic battle, but I felt it added scale, although it probably does this less successfully than the previous book, Echoes of Eternity.

The book has more room to play with as it wraps things up, but I do wonder how much more could have happened, in this, the first of two volumes. There are a lot of complex strands across the Horus Heresy series – particularly when it comes to characters like Kyril Sindermann, Euphrati Keeler or John and Oll. Its always felt a little muddied to me and I’m not sure if it could have been a plot and story route more focussed or at least seemingly knowing where its going. Instead it feels a bit made up as we go along, and it feels difficult to piece together what some of these strands have really been trying to achieve. Of course it might be that we need to wait to find out, but I do get the impression that it hasn’t been solidified as much as it perhaps needs to be.

A similar example of this are the allusions to mythology and religion. The labyrinth, the argonauts, the tower of Babel – I’m not sure they’ve been used very cleverly or to their full potential in the Horus Heresy. To the contrary is the usage and comparison - by a certain character in this book - of wanting apotheosis for humanity. This character delivers it by stealing fire, compare this to the myth of Prometheus. In myth, Prometheus stole fire from Zeus to elevate mankind to a higher capability, by giving them technology in the form of fire. This might have wider significant repercussions for who saves the Warhammer character that stole the fire, who I am deliberately not naming. Prometheus, in myth, is saved by Hercules – but who then who, too, represents Hercules?

The book to me felt slightly anti-climactic, and of course things are to be resolved in the next book, but it makes this one quite strange in terms of plot. For sure, there are exciting events and sections: I’ve already mentioned Ingo Pech, and his parts were great. The Emperor even does some fighting in this book, and this was a scene that were brilliantly described, elevated by Jonathan Keeble’s narration. A notable description of titans being crucified on the walls stuck with me, and there were events – such as with the Dark Angels, Alpha Legion, Malcador, that held my interest. The plot felt like it was more of the same, with some new information but almost no really big events. Of course, the one or two that were there I can’t reveal here. But don’t into this book expecting huge changes. Where the book really shines remains the descriptions. I loved these passages, they gave a real sense of bringing this crazy sci-fi universe to life, and do imply that Dan Abnett was the correct author to sign off on the series – especially as he was the one to begin it, all the way back to Horus Rising.

Final Score

I can see The End and the Death volume 1 being divisive. There aren’t huge reveals, but it does explore some factions and characters more subtly. The descriptive passages are brilliant, conveying the craziness of Warhammer. It probably could have benefitted from a bigger hook or hooks to the story, and sometimes the comparative work doesn’t always pay off – such as the mythological and religious references. But it never gets bogged down in flaws, often rapidly moving on to explore another exciting scene where you are eager to find out what happens next.

You’re going to read it anyway if you’re invested so far, but this is definitely one of the stronger Siege of Terra books. It’s just perhaps a little too delicate when it comes to plot but is somewhat redeemed by some fun interactions and amazing imagery.

8/10