Review of A Thousand Sons by Graham McNeill

Undoubtedly some clever person on the web, and now I guess AI, has boiled the Warhammer 40k fiction formula down to a minimum of variables, variables that echo and repeat. At least sometimes that is how 40k books can feel. A Thousand Sons by Graham McNeill (2010) begins this way, but slowly and steadily reveals itself to be one of the best Horus Heresy books published yet—anything but bolters on auto-fire.

As the title indicates, the novel centers on the Thousand Sons legion, led by the primarch Magnus the Red. Dabbling heavily in the arcane, Magnus has spent years studying and understanding magic, all the while building a massive library on his homeworld of Propero to collect the knowledge. Curiosity getting the cat, Magnus' work in the dark arts ultimately comes around to bite him, however. Changing the course of the Emperor and Horus' plans, and as a result history, Magnus finds himself in the most difficult of positions. Lose-lose, his decision truly has no good outcome. Nevertheless, he must decide.

Where some Horus Heresy books focus on a faction to satisfy relevant fans, tell backstory building a broader picture, or foreground a particularly important character, A Thousands Sons is all in one package—character, plot, and faction. The fact the climax and conclusion are momentous and unpredictably unique makes for one of the best plotted and most satisfying novels (I have read to date) in the Horus Heresy. From echoes of the torching of the Library of Alexandria to its portents for the Warhammer universe, it's a slow burn that escalates into fireworks and beyond. But the ultimate compliment may perhaps be that the novel is satisfying even beyond Warhammer, as a novel unto itself.

Unlike Garros in The Flight of the Eisenstein but like Fulgrim in Fulgrim, Magnus is presented as a complex character—and more satisfying for it. Intelligent but overconfident, loyal but stubborn, powerful but subservient to the Emperor, and wise but daring, the reader both distances themselves but relates to the primarch. Greek scholars will undoubtedly balk at what I am about to write, but at a high level there are parallels between Magnus' story and that of Icarus flying too close to the sun. Magnus' goals are lofty, even relatable, as he remains staunch in support of the Emperor. But his actions, for all their good intentions, end in a similar tragedy.

In the end, A Thousand Sons is a shining beacon of Warhammer fiction. While the battlefield is extra-terrestrial planets, blasters, and dark magic, the reader can feel Homer looking over McNeill's shoulder, nodding his head in approval and giving a word or two of advice how to make history human—even if a fictional, future history. An excellent balance of plot and character that pushes the overarching HH storyline forward, this one cannot be missed for readers of the series. Beyond gratuitous space marine battles and blaster porn, its elements have purpose, their tentacles reaching everywhere.