A few months ago I finally caught up with what tens of thousands of people have been doing for years and started to read the Horus Heresy series. I’d dipped in here and there. My editor, Laurie, had told me that Know No Fear was a good point to jump in so I’d read that. For a bit of background reading for Last Son of Dorn I’d read Prospero Burns. For my current sparring partner/work-in-progress Iron Hands novel, I’d read Meduson and the Primarchs. But I hadn’t yet made the commitment. In fact, not reading it had become something of a battle-worn badge of honour, in the same way that refusing to listen to the *right* kind of music had been at school. Nevertheless, I’d clearly been tip-toeing towards this precipice for some time now, but the final shove came at Warhammer Fest when that man Laurie again pulled me aside to talk about an exciting future project, which hopefully you’ll get to hear about soon.

So that was it then. I’m in.


The journey so far...

Reading a series like this with writer brain engaged (does it switch off??), I can almost feel the authors upping their game. I saw it firsthand with the work I did on the End Times, and got close enough to smell the fear-sweat of it with the closure of the Gotrek & Felix series – you just can’t dissociate yourself from the knowledge that what you’re working on is *important* to a *lot* of people and that you are *not* permitted to f^*k this up. More on writing Slayer in next week’s blog. Here lies the evidence for the benefit of a few sleepless nights, because the first four books in the Horus Heresy series have been awesome.

With one big commitment however, there comes one even bigger.

Authors love reviews of their books. It helps to spread the word and it helps us to connect with our readers and know what they’re thinking, which I’d imagine is what readers want to so really it’s win-win. For all that however, I almost never write reviews. As I embark on my grand Horus Heresy adventure, I’m resolved to start mending my ways and writing reviews. Not just for this series, but for every book I read from hereon. I feel I owe it to the writer (especially as I’m not always... um... paying for Black Library books) and to my own readers whom I pester to write reviews of my books.
Like I’m about to do now.

Please go and review my books. On Amazon. On Goodreads. Anywhere. Please…

Here are my reviews of the Horus Heresy series so far:

Horus Rising) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

False Gods) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Galaxy in Flames) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Flight of the Eisenstein) https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

At first I was a little wary, nervous perhaps that people would judge my writings based on my inelegant two paragraphs of after-action scrawl on Horus Rising. But I got over it. And now I actually rather enjoy it. For Flight of the Eisenstein, I even got so into the idea of doing a review at the end that I took notes!

I’d love to read some comments from people who regularly write reviews or even professional book bloggers on their ‘process’.

Now though, before diving headlong into Fulgrim, I’m taking a short break from all things Black Library to catch up on some other reading that I’ve left abandoned for too long. I’m half way through part 1 of the Regeneration Trilogy, I have a hankering to read Robert Harris’ Fatherland after something I read in the newspaper at the weekend, and I’ve had my heart set on Sharp Ends by one of my favourite authors, Joe Abercrombie, ever since I heard about it. Plus I have my Gemmell Awards Reading List to get through before the end of September.

Look out for reviews!