Too Much of Too Much

This is a deep, thorough, and breathtaking book and Keeble does his usual superb job. That says, the narration contains many more mistakes than I usually expect from Keeble and the whole book feels rushed. It has three serious narrative problems and one significant flavor problem.

***minor spoilers***

First, it feels like two books in one. There are two very clear halves to the narrative and it would have been more effective to cut it in half and give each equal weight. Since there are already going to be 8 books in the series, one more would not have killed it. As this book stands, the second half, which is really the money half, feels very rushed. It’s power is hamstrung because it happens too fast.

Second, this book is the set-up for the siege of Terra, and we all know how that ends. The problem with this is the second half of Solar War is so rushed and the whole book is so one-sided that I can’t believe that this will even be a close fight. Instead of a close fight that leads to a final, desperate gambit, this looks like an absolute runaway. I want to see how the siege grinds on, but there’s a significant part of me that will have a very hard time believing that the sort of armada described can actually be stopped.

That leads to the third issue: there is no sense of scale. The Heresy has struggled with this throughout and most (most) of the time it hasn’t been too problematic. Horus sends four fleets, each of which seems to be thousands of ships strong. This is a scale the Imperium cannot match, even with Guilleman coming - earlier books don’t give the sense his fleet is *that* large. After all these years of war, with the set up this has, I find it hard to suspend my disbelief that there are just that many ships intact and astartes alive. Perhaps the one exception to this in the opposite direct is the number of Imperial Fists librarians. In a legion of c. 100,000 at the time of Nicea, how are there only 3 librarians? The only post-Heresy chapter I can think of that has a lower absolute number is the Black Templars because they will not suffer any librarians in their ranks. French needs to look at his numbers again.

Finally, the flavor problem. We know some things and people will survive. The Phalanx makes it through, as do Abbadon, Sigismund, etc. That said, there are still a lot of bodies left to hit the floor. For all the significant Imperial characters we had to say goodby to in this book (Jubal Khan in particular deserved a better death), Horus’s side lost no significant characters. This has been a running issue for me since early in the series. Imperial named characters die at a much higher rate than their opposite numbers. This tendency leaves a very bitter taste in the mouth and makes a lot of the set piece fights that are meant to ramp up the tension instead predictable and boring.

18 people found this helpful

meh

too back and forth. it breaks interest when it starts too tell a story then stops to tell another story for a hundred pages.

6 people found this helpful

Book jumps around

The action is good but the overall story jumps back and forth and does not flow very well

5 people found this helpful

Insane, Epic, Telling and Allegorical

James Casbolt of the SSP introduced me to the series back in 2010. Truly the Siege of Terra brings to life the fact that high level free masons have composed this series to disclose some of the lesser known facts in history. The interstellar and very violent angel star wars are shown vividly in this highly imaginative series. So glad to be reading the climax.

4 people found this helpful

Setting the Stage

This book sets the stage for a truly epic battle. With traitor forces entering the solar system, you see how bad the imperium really was for the invasion.

4 people found this helpful

WOW! Warhammer 40K is nuts!

So this was the first Warhammer 40K novel I’ve read, and I’ll admit, the cover caught my eye. But honestly, how have I not read these before?! (Especially after owning a number of them)
Ridiculous amounts of action with a sense of scope and scale that can rival any epic space opera. And what legitimately might be the most extensive work of in-depth lore ever conceived, bar-none.

The downside is that the 40K universe is so vast and offers little to no ease of entry, often scaring away would-be fans and hindering its chances of appealing to a wider audience. It definitely caters more to its longtime fans.

But The Solar War has caught my interest and encouraged me to at least dive into The Horus Heresy. Now I have to go all the way back to the beginning of this 50+ book series and experience it in its full glory.

3 people found this helpful

Agree w other 3-4 star reviews

The Solar War had so much potential to be EPIC. After 50-something displays of pomp, power, and brutality by such God-like beings — especially in books 1-4 — one would assume Horus and his merry band of warped monster’s grande entrance into the sol system would be an exceptionally maleficent event. But it isn’t. I’m not throwing the towel in just yet, but I am doing so with the hope book two is better. Brilliant narration, as usual.

3 people found this helpful

a good start to the end it could have been better.

it jumps around a bit and is hard to follow sometimes. the characters you want to see you dont get to see.

3 people found this helpful

50+ books in the making! Throne of the Emperor!

So, where do I start. I must have listened to this book too many times to count. Everytime a new edition is released, I will start from the beginning. Man I love this series!

A good start to the end of the Heresy

A great performance, however the scope of the novel felt too large until the last few chapters.