Reviw of Know No Fear by Dan Abnett

For those who read The First Heretic by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, fourteenth book in the Horus Heresy series, they will remember that the story kicks off with the Emperor sending the Ultramarines to Khur, the Word Bearer's home planet, to cleanse it of abomination, i.e. raze it. The Word Bearers in disbelief, they seek the darkest roads to understand how they fell out of favor with the Emperor, and ultimately are sucked into Horus' rebellion through their seeking. Know No Fear by Dan Abnett (2012), a book-long battle, tells of their revenge on the Ultramarines—at least its first chapter.

The architects of Horus Heresy fiction have done their best to change up the formula with each book so that the series does not devolve into repetitive bolter porn. Know No Fear follows the lead and changes things up by offering a book length battle. A battle from beginning to end, it tells of the destruction of the planet Calth. On top of this, Abnett writes in the present tense to give a sense of urgency and action to the scenes. And further still, the narrative changes point of view many, many times, giving readers a massive, widescreen view to the downfall of Calth.

For readers worried about this varied view to the downfall, fear not. While there is a larger than normal cast of characters, and readers do need to be more nimble than normal on their feet switching character gears, Abnett walks a nice middle road of helping readers understand where they are (for example, battle armor color is a nice indicator as well including character names early in the exposition), but does not hold the reader's hand, explaining too much and diverting attention from the immediacy of the scene. Multiple characters are returned to, keeping the core story strong. All in all, Abnett handles this strategic aspect of the novel well. The reader finishes the novel having a full understanding of all major events as well as the situation of characters key to the overarching Horus storyline.

And so while there is an argument to be made that Know No Fear is bolter porn (a battle from first to last page), there is a mastermind working the controls. There is purpose to the violence. The reader gets a feel for the surges and sway of battle in a manner that puts them on the ground among the space marines and in space among the capital ships punching away with lasers. Gore, viscera, and blood drench the book, but these details, while prominent, are still a clear #2 behind the story and characters' roles in the story as they push the Heresy ahead.

In the end, Know No Fear, nineteenth book in the Horus Heresy, is yet another stage setting book in series. It sees the Word Bearers come for their revenge on the Ultramarines and establishes allegiances and motivations that will define the remainder of the series for the two largest Legions involved.