Review of The Solar War by John French

We've done it. We've read the vast and exciting tales describing how Horus's heresy arose and spread. Now we're ready for the explosive conclusion. With rebel forces hanging on the edge of Sol, John French's The Solar War (2019) unleashes them for the final ten books in the series The Siege of Terra.

As a novel, The Solar War is what's written on the tin. A massive, end-to-end battle stretching the length of the solar system. Rogal Dorn sets the defenses, while the White Scars stand by, at the ready. And Peturabo does not disappoint, attacking Pluto with his Iron Warriors. Together with remnants of the Sons of Horus, they start pushing Sol-ward. With echoes of Horus Rising, Garviel Loken and a Remembrancer get caught in the battle. Witness to unearthly events, the battle for Terra will prove to be more than Space Marine vs. Space Marine.

There is a cynical devil standing on one of my shoulders holding the following opinion: the closer we get to the end of the Horus Heresy, the less interesting things become due to the fact we get closer and closer to known lore. The origins of the Heresy were vastly unknown compared to the fallout. As a result, later Heresy novels tend to take on the feeling of being perfunctory. The Solar War offers little in the way of counter-arguments for the angel on the other shoulder.

French does, however, dig deep in The Solar War to avoid feeling entirely expected. Bolter porn splashes across walls and down corridors. One-on-one gladius duels between key secondary characters are fraught with tension. Left , right, and center space ships peel, melt, and explode in the void. Primarchs enter and exit the stage regularly. And things move quick; The Solar War is just action galore, setting off The Siege of Terra goes with a bang.

But will readers find something of substance beneath the bolter porn? In a crack here, in a crevice there, there are moments which speak to readers who have been following secondary and tertiary storylines of Horus' heresy. A key character goes down here, another is victorious. Beyond this, however, there is very little that happens at the primary level that is unexpected or surprising. Readers may not know the depth to which Horus' first thrust extends, but they know it will be fast and violent, which The Solar War is. French does an amazing amount to make something of something. In fact, technically this might be French's best effort to date in the series. Just don't expect any major twists or turns on the way of this necessary novel.