2025 is finally behind us. Thank Christ because that year sucked ass.
Unfortunately, 2026 is looking to be no better. In fact, it's looking to get way worse. But you know, last year I actually ended up reading more than I have in the past while. Yeah. I actually read some books and managed to finish some. Granted, it's not nearly as much as I would have liked, but steps here and there.
Last year, I started getting back into Warhammer 40k and that whole lore (you can read some of my previous blogs about that...). To that end, I picked up the Horus Heresy series once again after having started it some 15 years ago. I bought the first three books in the series and just finished the third one, Galaxy in Flames, last year after having been stuck halfway through.
That initial trilogy is a pretty well-contained story that follows the same cast of characters as they wage war and are ultimately betrayed by their Warmaster Horus. Looking back on it, I'd say the first one is definitely a highlight. I can't remember much about the second, but the third is a climactic battle without a happy ending. Actually, none of these books really have happy endings and I'm not sure why I keep expecting there to be. It is the grim darkness of the far future, after all.
Afterward, I decided to go digital for the next couple of books for a few reasons. One, the physical books tend to be a bit pricey nowadays since they no longer make reprints of them. In fact, one of the ones I own is worth almost $70 just for one book! I'm not nearly that invested, but I am still intrigued. So I downloaded an ebook reader on my phone since this allows me to read a few pages here and there during slowdowns at work. Plus it's a lot more portable for me compared to a paperback.
Flight of the Eisenstein
This one was definitely exciting. Unlike most other books I've read, I was actually always eager to turn the next page to see what was going to happen to Nathaniel Garro and his crew. There was enough intrigue, drama, and mystery behind the scenes, and the characters felt very human in a way that was never really portrayed well in the first trilogy. I get it, they're space marines, but when they talk like British playwrights, it's a little harder to empathize with them.
The gradual corruption of the Death Guard Legion of space marines was also very interesting. I think this was the first book in the series that showed the creation of what would later become a Chaos Space Marine chapter, something that would continue on to the next book.
Fulgrim
This one was...weird. Weird in the way that it can have some pretty disgusting scenes since it deals with the Emperor's Children Legion, aka The most depraved sons of bitches this side of the Imperium. The story involved a lot more human characters in it, so it definitely felt like a slightly different pace. Not bad, but different. We also get to see how the legion becomes ensnared by the grup of Slaanesh, the Chaos God of Excess. And we finish up with a massive battle, again with no happy endings.
After these books were finished, I decided to take a break from the Horus Heresy and jump forward in time to the "present" 40k with the Shira Calpurnia Omnibus. This series focuses on a space cop named Shira Calpurnia and it's more reminiscent of something like Judge Dredd compared to the large-scale military operations of the space marines. I have yet to finish it since it's about a thousand-plus pages, but it has been really interesting so far.