Dropsite Massacre

The Horus Heresy

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Dropsite Massacre

By: John French

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

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A Horus Heresy Novel

Horus has revealed his dark plans, but nobody is prepared for just how far he will go. The force sent to end the Warmaster's rebellion doesn't realise they are heading towards a slaughter unlike anything the galaxy has seen.

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It's the deepest exploration so far of one of the most horrific battles of the Horus Heresy. You may know what happened during the Dropsite Massacre, but you don't know it all. It's far worse than you thought as the treachery is revealed.

THE STORY

Horus has rebelled against the Emperor by purging his and his brother's Legions, but what was supposed to be a secret act of murder has been revealed. In the Emperor's name, Rogal Dorn and Malcador the Sigillite dispatch the largest force of legionaries and primarchs ever assembled to end Horus' rebellion before it can begin.

But the loyalists, on their way to enact vengeance, do not know the depth of the betrayal they face. They will not be the perpetrators of a massacre, but its victims. The last hope of returning to the Great Crusade and the unity of the Imperium will die in the dust of Isstvan V, and those who survive will live in a new age of darkness.

Written by John French. Narrated by Jonathan Keeble. Runtime 11 hours and 27 minutes approx.

John FrenchJonathan KeebleBlack Library

Adventure

Military

Science Fiction

Space Opera

Adventure Military Science Fiction Space Opera

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TL;DR:
Good beginner Horus Heresy book for those who are new to the series and want to know what it's like, but don't want to commit to the whole series yet by starting with Horus Rising. It's also narrated by the person who I consider THE voice of Horus Heresy, Jonathan Keeble.
For those who have gone through the series already, it nicely fills out the days leading to the Drop Site Massacre, and the shows a few more perspectives that we haven't seen much of before, like the Solar Auxilia.

Alright, this is my first time writing a book "review" so take what I say with a grain of salt.

Personally, I didn't have high hopes going into this book. This has nothing to do with the writer, John French is a very good author, and has written a few of my favorite books of the Horus Heresy series.
No, I was just cynical and thought we didn't need any more stories revolving around the drop site massacre, since the series has gone back to it probably more than a dozen times already. But my expectations were completely proven wrong, and I'm so glad of it.

The book does an amazing job at giving the reader/listener all the context they're going to need to understand what's going on, and doesn't bombard the people unfamiliar with the series with information that isn't really relevant to what happens here.
Things like what exactly happened at Istvaan III, how the information about it got out, and all the people involved with that didn't get even a mention, and it works perfectly.
A newcomer does not need to know who they are, and if this book does get them into the series, this has nicely tip toed around spoiling what happens in those first few books.

I really liked the new characters introduced in this book, and putting already existing lesser known characters into the spotlight was really nice. My personal favorites were Appius Calpurnius of the Emperor's Children, and Cassian Dracos of the Salamanders.

Now, as a fan of the tabletop game and all the miniatures that go along with it, it was really fun to see Solar Auxilia have a role in this book, along with the Saturnine terminators. Back when the first few Horus Heresy books were written, they didn't exist yet on the tabletop, so they've effectively been retconned in. (I dislike using that word, for some reason it has come to have such a negative connotation with it, even though there's nothing wrong with it.)

As usual, Jonathan Keeble has delivered an amazing performance, giving voices to these characters that fit them perfectly, and filling those voices with emotion. Beautiful, 10/10, no notes.

I'm starting to run out of things to say, so I guess I'll wrap this up.
Good book. Go read or listen to it. This has now become the book I will recommend to people who want to learn what this series is like.