Review of The First Wall by Gav Thorpe

Horus' approach to the heart of his ambitions started in The Solar War and landed on Terra in The Lost and the Damned. The assault on the Emperor's mountain fortress achieves a critical point in Gav Thorpe's The First Wall (2020).

Having made his way through the solar system, Horus stands at the doorstep of Terra. Below him, the Lion's Gate Spaceport sits as a meaty target. Take it over, and there is a path into the Emperor's fortress. But this is the one thing Rogal Dorne, primarch of the Imperial Fists, knows he cannot let happen. He has set up and organized defenses to repel what he thinks Horus will throw at him. In response, Horus gives Peturabo, his cleverest primarch, the task of taking the Spaceport. Let the battle begin.

Much of The First Wall centers around this conflict: Dorne vs. Peturabo—the engineer vs. the inventor, the static, stable personality vs. the unpredictable, dynamic one. This conflict coalesces into a tense, dramatic final scene that literally opens a door in the series. I will not spoil who, how, or what, but will say that the story thread involving Layak finally comes to a head—and not in a way many could have predicted.

The First Wall is one of the few Horus Heresy novels to feature a female character prominently: Zenobi Adedeji. I don't call this out as part of a woke agenda or because DEI is important (Nnn'k, kids?), rather due to the fact 1) it's refreshing among so much gruff testosterone, and 2) it works, it fits, it doesn't feel forced. Zenobi's story (like Katsuhiro's in The Lost and the Damned) begins deep in the Emperor's war machine, in this case the plains of Africa, where ordinary citizens are joining the war effort. Zenobi works to get gear, land raiders, and other equipment in order and ready to go. She is eventually taken to the front lines where she sees first hand for the first time in her life the horrors of war, including Legionaires doing face to face battle. Also like Katsuhiro, Zenobi's story does a good job showing the opening phase of the Siege of Terra from the layman's perspective—a nice contrast to the blaster porn happening all around.

In the end, The First Wall carries the Siege of Terra's opening act forward in solid style. The Locatio Divinitatus cult of the Emperor emerges, Dorne and Peturabo play a cat and mouse game for the Lion's Gate Spaceport, and certain other developments happen that change the terms of Horus' siege permanently. Can't wait for the next one.