Dan Abnett is good at writing war stories, and 40K is a franchise with a whole bunch of war. He gets into the fraternity of soldiers, the moments of dramatic irony, unexpected heroics, uneasy alliances, and epic charges into battle. Simple warriors polish their armor and reload their weapons and reflect on simple truths. The villains fall into two categories: the arrogant or clueless who are on our side but aren’t doing it the right way, and the enemy who exists to be shot and stabbed.

Horus Rising is one of those. It follows Primarch Horus and his particular flavor of Space Marine, the Luna Wolves, as they prosecute their Great Crusade. We primarily spend time with Captain Loken, a no-nonsense and likable straight man who finds himself entrusted with more power and responsibility during a major turning point in the war of compliance. It’s about to all go very bad for everyone everywhere, but not quite yet.

I feel almost stupid saying anything more; it’s like describing the types of meals you could find at a Mexican restaurant. It’s not much of a surprise.

I’m a 40K tourist, but I enjoy lore and backstories, so it was only natural to start reading some of the apparently unending Horus Heresy books. I like the hands-on history lesson you get from this sort of thing, the way it contextualizes and puts into perspective later events. I especially appreciate reading about societies that are in their twilight period, that gradual decline that presages a violent, brutal transformation. 40K is full of past glories, of warriors fighting amongst the ruins and broken monuments of a better time, and it’s nice to see the good old days, however briefly, before they explode into the bits and pieces I’m more familiar with.

I know some people hate those very parts of the Horus Heresy. Some people prefer the mystery or their own imaginations, others dislike all the retcons, still others view it as a cynical and unnecessary cash grab. Those things don’t really bother me, but again, I’m a tourist.

Still, I really disliked all the obvious winks and nudges which even to me were grating. At one point a character laments that “in the far future, there will be only war”, and I was too stunned to even roll my eyes. The book is full of those things, and while the specifics sometimes went over my head I could always tell when characters were looking directly into the camera. Abnett is not a subtle writer, but then again 40K is not a subtle series.

If you like 40K or SF war books, then you’ll enjoy this one. Call it a guilty pleasure, call it pulp, call it whatever you like. At the end of the day it’s a fun book with good action, great characters, and plenty of larger-than-life descriptions of noble and august warriors fighting waves of bad guys. Hard to ask for much more.