The Horus Heresy: Collected Visions

The Horus Heresy #Art Book

by Alan Merrett, Matt Ralphs (Editor), Nick Kyme (Editor)

In this omnibus addition, all four volumes of the Horus Heresy art books are brought together for the first time. It tells the full story of this pivotal period in the history of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, in which the arch-traitor Horus betrayed Emperor of Mankind. The epic tale is described in one huge tome with exciting text and masses of fantastic art.

Genres: Science Fiction, 40k, Art, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

384 pages, Hardcover

First published June 26, 2007

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well, I didn't think I was going to read this whole thing, but here we are. This is a nice big hefty coffee table book about the Horus Heresy, mostly art commissioned for some collectible card game that's too nerdy even for me. The art makes up probably 80% of the pages and is the real star, although the text isn't bad, describing the entire Heresy from start to finish. Fellow W40K nerds should beware that the text contains a few passages that may charitably be described as perhaps inaccurate and maybe more accurately described as heretical; This includes the Emperor directing Russ and the Space Wolves to flat out destroy the Thousand Sons instead of just ferrying Magnus back to earth (and the text later contradicts itself on this point anyway), and weirdest of all, having the Emperor and Horus have a big dumb hollywood fight at the end where Horus pulls one of the Emperor's arms off and stuff. (I was under the impression that the Emperor could have defeated Horus any time he wanted; It was only his love for his son and his humanity that was staying his hand, not that Horus was able to beat him up as depicted here.) (Also, if you understood any of what I just said, you are a giant nerd. [Nothing wrong with that!])

Highlights:

Page 200, which features what appears to be a demonically laughing woman zooming across the page powered by what can only be described as a massive jet fart
Pages 362 & 363, a full page spread of probably the greatest piece of W40K art of all time featuring the Emperor confronting Horus on the bridge of his ship

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

What we have here is a lavish Warhammer 40K coffee table book with page after page of gorgeous pictures and a few pockets of pretty darn good prose.

There may not be one piece of art in this book that doesn't appear elsewhere (even aside from the four books this is an omnibus version of), but it doesn't matter. Here the art and words come together to tell a high-level story of the Horus Heresy.

This is not a substitute for the book series of course. It covers a lot of ground in its 400+ pages, but there are obviously a lot of details missing. It covers the start of events fairly well and goes past where the books have thus far gotten to and covers the very end of the Heresy, final battle and its aftermath. But in between there are dozens (many dozens) of books whose material I suspect had not been fleshed out when this was created. Still, as a nice one volume version, lavishly illustrated, this is book worth having.

Highly recommended for fans of the series.

[Antonio Padula · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

[Ethan Burgess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fantastic art but poor writing and editing.

[Chip Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

This massive art/source book relates the single most important event in the mythos of Warhammer 40K: the Horus Heresy. The book is full coffee table-sized and is printed on over 400 thick, high-quality gloss pages. The $50 retail price is surprisingly cheap, and I would bet that in the not too distant future, good copies will be selling for much more that that (assuming BL follows its usual practice of printing a limited number), so don't wait until its too late, go ahead and order your copy now.

THE HORUS HERESY: VISIONS is full of art, mostly celebrating space marines and other characters from the story. The quality of the art is highly variable, with some looking as if it came out of a 5th grade art class and some being full-sized poster worthy. With well over 1000 pieces, you're bound to find many that will please you and some that don't. My favorite artists in the book are Adrian Smith and Michael Phillippi, who each have numerous works here and a couple of full two-page works that are truly amazing. My least favorite have to be the conceptual work by John Balanche, which was over-used and just doesn't capture the essence of WH40K.

As for the writing, the book reads like a hybrid between a gaming source book and a novelization of the Horus Heresy. Alan Merrett does an excellent job of relating important information without getting overly technical or wordy. For the most part, the text is broken up into stand-alone sections that describe a specific event, character, or group. You can open this book to any page and find material of interest, without being lost in the overall flow of the story. Also, Graham McNeill contributed two pretty good short stories ("Battle for Prospero" and "The Kaban Project") that take up about five pages each and get you into the feel of everyday life during the Horus Heresy.

Overall, this is one BL book that shouldn't be missed. Buy it for the art, buy it for the information, but don't miss out on this epic collection.

[Parka · Rating 5 out of 5]

(More pictures at parkablogs.com)

This 416-page thick book is a collection of four volumes of Horus Heresy art books, namely Visions Of War, Visions Of Darkness, Visions Of Treachery and Visions Of Death. It tells the history of Warhammer 40,000, specifically Horus Hersey touching on the major events in a chronological order. It's written by Alan Merrett from a third person view. There's plenty to read and great depth for those looking into understanding more about the universe. Fonts are a bit small though.

At 416 pages, this book is filled with illustrations and sketches of warriors, creatures and monsters. The character designs are pretty impressive, it shows straightaway that these guys are created to fight with their meticulous weapons and armour designs. It's a collection of art from different artists like John Balanche, Adrian Smith, Michael Phillippi, etc. At the back is a layout of the cards from the card game. What won't be seen in this book are environment paintings.

This is one of the better art books on Warhammer art, at least one that is still selling. It's highly recommended to Warhammer fans and fantasy concept artists.

[Enrique]

The paintings dipicting this dark Gothic future, set in a dystopian future 40,000 years from now. This wonderful telling of future history is backed up my wonderful and scary images of a future where man has mastered Space travel and Manifest Destiny is alive and well. Xenophobia and inquisitions abound. Exciting stuff backed up by beautiful paintings. A fun read for those who enjoy intelligent Science Fiction.

[Paulo "paper books only" · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing book. Full of beautiful artwork and interesting tales.
This book deals with the Horus Heresy. When it all started and where it all ended. It should have been a couple more pages about the history of the Primachs and the unification of the Imperium yet again. Quite good and a must have to anyone who enjoys 40k (30k).

[Matt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing! It gives a 3rd person overture of the Heresy from its inception to its end. It also gives an insight to the various sections of the Imperium. The art work is simply beautiful and GW is lucky to have such a wealth of artists to draw from (excuse the pun). A must for any fan of the 40k universe and anyone with a good taste for fantasy art

[Mariano Tello Nocetti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excelente libro que colecciona cientos de imágenes de la Herejía de Horus. También narra a grosso modo todo lo sucedido en ese periodo.
En verdad es una colección de arte y un libro obligatorio para todos los fans.

[Cameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is AMAZING. The artwork is creative and very inspirational for 40k players na dto other sci-fi genre fans. It costs around 50$ when i purchased it, Seems expensive but its hard cover, and its pages are massive. It is a must for any collectors that like dark sci-fi artwork.

[Sean]

I love this book its a great artwork piece, and the guys at the black library have some of the best science fiction around.

[Declan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. But for all the build-up it ends way too quickly.

[Bob Sheblotznik · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very good introduction to the warhammer universe. It very nicely lays out the history up until the "current age".

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

great art and more fluff.

[Victor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-have for War-hammer 40k fans.

[Johnny Profane · Rating 5 out of 5]

outstanding. plenty images, plenty text in epic size. must have for lore freaks. worldbuilding on a massive scale.