The End and the Death: Volume I (2024)

A book as sprawling labyrinthine and deranged as the Imperial Palace itself. I enjoyed reading most of this, I will probably never think about it again and I am glad that it is over.

Abnett essentially doubles down on all the peak-Abnett stuff that no-one but him really likes.

John f*cking Grammaticus - absolutely central role, thank god because we all want to know what happens with that guy.

Thank God the Basilio Fo sub-plot is still going, that vitally interesting character.

Well it is what it is, lots of wonderful details, extremely purple prose, several extended sections where Abnett is very insistent on showing his English degree and a whole mess of strands-ov-fate bullsh*t, collapsing-dimensions last minute character transport and Quite Dumb acts of _subtle manipulation_.

This did not need to be two books but at least every part of the model range was mentioned so thats good. PEACE.

Its nearly over! Soon we will be FREEEEE!

While Dan Abnett is a competent writer, I feel that this book could have used an editor to cut out at least around 200-250 pages of it - that way, maybe we could have gotten a single 7-800 page final book, instead of two.
Then again, based on the writing here, I get the feeling that either Mr. Abnett follows the footsteps of Zola and Dickens, getting paid by the word - or GW is a small, struggling company that desperately needs any income it can get.

Anyway, the book has quite a number of basically superfluous battle scenes that do nothing to advance any plotlines, only show that Choas is bad and evil - which might be ok if we haven't had to muddle through 60+ books establishing that fact. Also, Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith would be proud with the sheer amount of mind-breaking, sanity-blasting eldritch vocabulary thrown at us readers. Especially when it comes to Choas, which faction, it bears repeating, is Eeeeevil.

The POVs of Malcador and the Primarchs are somewhat interesting (no mean feat after 60+ books), and at least we do not get any new out-of-character revelations or derailings on that front.
The Emperor and Horus may be somewhat exceptions, but the Big E has always been controversial. Here, He seems to harken back to the ruthless, well-intentioned extremist Abnett seemed to favor in earlier books - and we get a bit more insight into his motivations, and those make slightly more sense.

Unfortunately, the Oll Persson subplot is decaying in quality, mainly due to John Grammaticus' pestiferous presence.

Overall, it is a book that feels unfinished and not in a good way. I still think the closing duology should have been given a thorough editorial cutting, and published as a single, larger volume, instead of a bloated, messy cashgrab.

With these books, I often come back to a single question. Is it interesting?

So much of the series is disposable bloat. Explosions and gore. This isn't. It's written in a fascinating way. It's told like a Viking saga or an epic poem. For the first time in 50 od books, this feels like the mythological epic the series was sold as.

It raises a few questions too. Pressingly, can it stick the landing?

Yes, I finished this book in one day. Partially because I was on a long flight, and mostly because it was great.

Cannot wait for Volume II. A satisfying beginning if an ending to a series that deserves it.

Is it possible to justify a 60+ book series?

No.

But damn does Dan try hard.

The first half of the book is genuinely amazing, a mood piece, seeing 60+ books of main characters all reduced to essentially Dark souls NPC's in a world that has well and truly fallen apart.

In the second half though, in a pretty Abnett fashion a more conventional structure picks up and the story starts moving towards a more avengers-esque conclusion. That being said the writing remains good, effective (the 2nd person section especially) so this isn't much of a criticism.

Starts off promising. Hope it stays like this. Not many books handle the details of Terra! so I'm really looking forward to it. But he does a great job and gives the right feeling already for fans of the whole 40k books in the start.

Was a great read. Really enjoyed it. Looking forward to the 2nd and 3rd.
Few minor details in the start gave me high hopes for epic dan abnett detail love BUT they were mentioned and either he will resolve these issues in the next book or the one after because he didnt resolve them in this book...

Well, here it is: The beginning of the end. The End and the Death.

The End and the Death is an interesting read overall in that it tackles the seemingly endless final day (Quite literally as the warp unwraps time itself on Terra.) of the Siege while moving all of the important pieces into place to make sure they are where they need to be when the fateful moments come to pass. Much like Abnett's Saturnine, the individual moments are where this book shines. While there are a few, small subplots that felt a tad stretched (Keeler's felt really dragged out...) all of the stories are interesting on their own even if they only serve to provide a snapshot of what is happening on that final day. Others still are hugely important and having the Emperor himself alongside the Primarchs, Valdor, and the Sigilite share scenes is fantastic. Also, for once, the Perpetual stuff is pretty cool! I was quite invested in that part of the plot where I struggled with it in previous books and I'm actually looking forward to seeing where it goes.

That said, for as much as I enjoyed pretty much every aspect of this book from a story perspective, I do think the decision to have such short chapters undercut the momentum of the book in several places. I think thematically that works given the focus on time in the story, but that still doesn't take the bite out of reading a really cool chapter following, say, Corswain only to jump to a totally different scene in the middle of something quite important to talk about crucified Titans and beheaded tanks just to set the scene. Are both scenes amazing? Yes! Is it jarring. Still, yes, unfortunately. Despite that issue, it is a credit to how engaging Abnett has made all of these plots that I could always find a way to be drawn back in when I felt the tonal whiplash from the stories jumping around.

So, how does it do as the first part of the finale? Well, if the second volume is anywhere near as long as this I'm sure there's still a great deal to cover, but it does feel the story is right on the edge of the precipice before the final fights. Despite clearly being only a first part, I also think it ends in a place that makes the whole experience of reading the book fulfilling while leaving everything set to be finished in volume 2.

Overall, what a book. Looking back at my Saturnine review, I'm glad I mostly stuck with things to see it through to the end and I'm glad Abnett's the one writing it out. I can't wait to see what is in store in Volume 2.

Incredible. This doesn't just tie up every loose end and get the pieces in to their final places, but introduces an entirely new and brilliantly executed concept that takes the stakes to maximum. Cannot wait for the last one now.

I was not ready.
Sigillite the hero.
Sanquinius.
Sympathetic magic...
This book is all the finale of the Horus Heresy should be and more.

This was fun. Initially a slow start to the final 3-4 books. They can’t show everything so early.

There were some characters I would have liked some longer chapters with. But ultimately the escalation of stakes at the end made the slow burn so so worth it.

Certainly, there are some interesting bits in this book, but It should have been at least 300 hundreds pages shorter. I understood the situation was really f*cked the first 20 times i read it from slightly different angles that contribute absolutely nothing to the plot (that, or being this long and end the f*cking story instead of splitting it in THREE more books)
Talking about plots, so glad we still have such thrilling sub-stories like Basilio Fo's or the fight for survival of high commander Icaro, among many (many) others
Also, i can appreciate that Abnett has a really high prose and like to show off, and i would have liked it if the vast amount of superfluos stuff of this book didnt backfired It, making the book extremely tiring to read
We all knew why we were here after 60 books, so i would have liked it if we could get a bit to the point.
Honestly really disapointing, and i actually payed for this book

You know those scenes in movies where someone gives a big speech before the battle or cavalry charge? Well this book has a ton of them! Major characters, minor characters, Primarchs, soldiers, even demons all get speeches, some more than one! The plot moves at a SNAIL'S pace. It's ridiculously padded, every conversation goes on FAR longer than it should, you're reading the literal smartest people in the galaxy miss conclusions you saw immediately. Some sub plots go NOWHERE, but surprise there's a volume 2, this book is simply padding the plot. When stuff happens (finally) it's cool, Abnett works very hard on the feeling and atmosphere which is great, but there's not enough actual stuff *happening*. It all becomes so tedious and the Warp is a total deus ex machina (how do I get these characters together---the Warp does it!) Could have easily been both volumes in one book, barely anything happens in this one.
Oh and I'm pretty sure Abnett is just making up words now. That, or he wrote this one with a dictionary from 1894 open on the table beside him.

Did I finish this in essentially a day? Yes. Am l upset about the inevitable cliffhanger? No. Will I be preordering the second part as soon as I can? Yes.

I don’t feel this one made as much progress as it could have but I’m glad it’s left certain parts until the second book. I feel like we’re going to learn a lot in the second part.

One of the best

Totally worth the wait. One of the best warhammer books. You will enjoy it. The audiobook is top notch, the performance is always great. Many secrets are revealed. Great read and listen.

So….this is it then: the end of the journey. Well, not completely yet of course, but with this book the story really does begin to near it’s conclusion. I’ve mentioned this before, I feel sad it’s all about to end, but at the same time I’m also reaching the point where I’m feeling that it really is time to end this.
At a page count of 650+ pages this massive book explores many characters that we’ve been introduced to over the course of the Horus Heresy, as they set upon all of their final journeys. A valid question is if this book doesn’t try to tell too much, and is drawing the story out. I certainly did not feel that way with this first volume. The book moves along at a brisk pace, has plenty of action and surprises, and I certainly could not put it down for long over the course of the week that I read this. It ends of course on a cliffhanger. With the words “ to be concluded in volume 2”, which as we know now isn’t the truth. As we get two more books Volume 2 and 3. I do have to admit that fills me a little bit with worry as I honestly for the life of me don’t really know how this has enough story left to cover two more whole books. But I guess that question will be answered soon enough. If this first volume is anything to go by though, I definitely think we hopefully will be in for a very satisfying conclusion. And let’s be honest, we all deserve that right?

(4.5!)
Another suitably epic entry into the series, wonderfully written by the master.

I was surprised at certain events happening so soon in this book; literally thought one thing would be the closing line and (minor spoiler) it happened on something like page 335.

Massive fan of the break up chapters which glance over snippets of the horror of the galactic civil wars culmination (several chapters titled “Fragments”).

Emotive writing driving the escalation of the Siege and very well done.

My main drawback is the (my opinion) overuse of seemingly invented words, a few and it’s “yay go scifi” but after dozens on one descriptive page it was just a headache…
and one particular phrase which while fitting it seems jarring seeing as it’s never been used in the other 65 books!

Penserò a Rogal Dorn ogni singolo giorno fino all’uscita dell’ultimo libro.

Wow, despues de 3 años leyendo esta saga, llegamos al final. "La epica conclusion de la guerra" todas las traiciones desveladas, todos los personajes importantes ya puestos en el tablero. Este es el fin y la muerte para todos. Con el autor que empezó esto hace mas 10 años; Dan Abnett, no es mi autor favorito de la black Library, pero sí que supo juntar a muchos personajes y darles una cohercion a todos, las luchas de cada uno por un objetivo particular. Multiples batallas ocurriendo, perdiendo y estancandose, todos queriendo ser la "mano del destino".
Quien tenga el truco final para ganar la guerra, para entrar al palacio o para salir del mismo.
Por lo mismo esperaba mas muertes, no de personajes anonimos, carne de cañon. Sino de los importantes.
Supongo que se guardo todo para la segunda parte.

Abnett continues to impress as he brings the Siege to it's end. I must say, this does not feel like it needs to be three books - there are many somewhat irrelevant storylines throughout, but nonetheless this is engaging and action-fuelled.

I’ll be honest, I expected a 600 page part 1 of 3 to be a bit of a slog to read but this was captivating. The story of the end of the siege of terra is told at such a fast and frantic pace it really does convey the feeling of utter chaos (In both the usual sense and the very Warhammery sense). Still 2 books to go but so far so good on the ending of this series.

Great book, nice switch of focus to what the ruinous powers really want.

A superb start to the final book in the Horus Heresy. It is everything I wanted it to be. Epic, powerful and moving. If you have reached this point in the series, you are going to read this. And you should!

It is finally here. The first volume of the endgame of the Siege of Terra and the Horus Heresy as a whole, a story spanning sixty books written by over a dozen writers. It is fitting that Dan Abnett, the author who penned the first book,Horus Rising, which released in 2006, is the one to finish it. To deliver a satisfying conclusion to such an incredibly expansive and epic story would be a monumental task for any writer and I cannot imagine the pressure and amount of work that went into it. What I can say is that Abnett has risen to this challenge like the Emperor himself rising from the Golden Throne one last time.

As you would expect from any Warhammer novel, The End and the Death is extremely grimdark. There is violence and death on an unimaginable scale. It is brutal, terrifying, and graphic. An overwhelming sense of despair permeates every page. Yet, despite this, there is still some hope as the Emperor and his greatest warriors make one last desperate gamble to end the siege and save mankind from the Ruinous Powers of the warp. Many fans will already be familiar with the endgame as it has been a part of the established lore since the early days of Warhammer. I was pleasantly surprised by the number of jaw-dropping moments in the first volume. Abnett handles these moments with expert precision, exploring them in depth, capturing their significance and instilling each with such feeling that I’m not ashamed to admit brought one or two tears.

About a fifth of the book consists of what can only be described as fragment chapters. These provide glimpses of the siege through the eyes of both loyalist and traitor alike. Some are very much for fan service as Abnett throws in a few cameos from characters throughout the Heresy. Others are used to foreshadow a massive revelation that resonates with the ongoing Arks of Omen story in the 40k setting. Nonetheless, I still found it frustrating whenever the story jumped from the middle of a major moment to a fragment chapter, before going back to said moment. I would have preferred that Abnett focused only on the major players at this late stage in the siege.

Like all books in the Siege of Terra, The End and the Death is told through multiple narrative perspectives. The three standout points of view for me were Malcador the Sigillite, Sanguinius the Great Angel, and the Warmaster himself, Horus Lupercal. Malcador has always been a favourite character of mine. He is the closest thing that the Emperor has to a friend and has always played the role of a secondary father figure to the Primarchs. This makes for some truly heart-warming scenes that left me an emotional wreck as Malcador prepares for the greatest task in his centuries-long life. Similarly, Sanguinius scenes are just as moving as he fights against fate despite the grievous wounds he suffered while defending the Eternity Gate in the previous book. Horus’ chapters are unique in that they are written in second person. This works very well as Abnett submerges the reader in the madness that inflicts Horus’ mind. It simultaneously makes him more human and shows what he has become. There are plenty other perspectives that make for great reading, especially those of the last remaining loyalist Astartes, whose stories have been at the heart of the Heresy since the beginning.

Overall, the first volume of The End and the Death is a fantastic read. The endgame to the Horus Heresy is in the best hands possible and I have no doubt that Abnett will absolutely deliver a heart-breaking and awe-inspiring finale, one that has been nearly two decades in the making since the release of the first book. My only concern is how long we will have to wait for the second volume. Six months tends to be the average length between books and considering how Abnett has brought us right to the precipice with the cliffhanger of an ending here, it would be a shame if Games Workshop decided to wait that long to release the concluding volume to the Horus Heresy.

This is spoiler free, some details but no spoilers

Well this one is hard to rate. To say that there are huge expectations for this book is understatement.

Abnett does well enough, but endnig something so wast so massive as is Horus Heresy is not easy task.
Still book is great and if you liked the ones before you will enjoy it. Characters are awsome, story is very solid. I have to point out the superior writing technics Abnett uses. He proves himself again and again as god tier author. There is one scene, I dare to say rival Edgar Alan Poe.
It continues with a trand of breathtaking world building.

It is not all great of course.
Book have big problem with phasing. I need to elaborate a bit. Book have 4 large parts made of chapters.

It starts great and gets faster and better untile second half of third part. Then it hits breaks. Story slows down as if Dan realized that there must be seconde book.
At this point it goes from scenes of desperate last stand into scenes of discussions about who is above who in Imperial hierarchy, from Vengeful Spirit to library .

Also there is just too much stuff, some characters appear just to not show up later for no reason.
Some character (who is for no reason missing seconde book in row) never even shows up.
It can get overwhelming sometimes.
Maybe this book would benefit from being split even more. Two large books and one smaller (Knight of grey, Fury of Magnus style book) to relief main story a bit.

What would however definetly improve the book is bit of shuffling and cutting of scenes, putting them to the volume II, putting some of them closer. Moving the ending.

That is all I can say without spoilers. It is still absolute bomb of the book and I belive that the sconde part will be masterpiece. The issues with the book are just frustraring. It is like a cheeseburger. The ingredients are of the highest quality, the meat is exacly as you wanted it, sure the order of the ingredients is bit off, cheese is not on the meat but on the tomato, bacon is not in just on the plate, still if you take bite it tastes great if you dont bite into pickle, pickle breaks the tastes synergy untile next bite without it.

This is my firs rewiew sorry for buchered english I did my best as not native speaker, feedback welcomed, I have lot to say about other books

Dan Abnett waffles too much. It's just a constant diatribe to ensure his own relevance in the 40K lore.

I want to say I enjoyed this penultimate book, but it's just such an arcane tome of utter boring. Yes, Grammticus and Co are back doing their thing. Talking about the past. Talking about the future. Talking about... Well, anything as long as it isn't about the man behind the curtain.

The sheer density of prose in this book makes it boring and awkward to read. Lots and nothing happens because of it. It could comfortably be half as long and still make perfect sense.

Also, you'll have to read about how the clocks have stopped about seven times by the time you finish this. Time freezing on Terra due to the warp? More like never finishing this damn book because of the impenetrable language.

These final novels should have gone to writers who don't feel the need to pad things out die to their ego. Dembski-Bowden or Thorpe would have at least remained concise.

Bad:

Too long
Too slow
No satisfying half time climax
Pace off
Suffers from having to recollect characters that don't have enough function in the narrative to help the story flow.

Good:

The turns of phrase and writing are good (even if structure is not desirable) and subject matter of bits is distracting

Some of the narrative threads are really good in terms of pace, characterisation, development and narrative.

Comment:

Have you read a book with loads of pov characters where you groan when it shifts to the less interesting characters or plotlines just as you're enjoying where it's going? E.g. ASOIAF. That's this.

It feels it needs to move everything towards the conclusion, whilst reminding the reader of the scale (with numerous throwaway vignettes), and whilst not resolving anything.

4.5*
An excellent beginning to the end of the Horus Heresy series. Abnett packs in a ton of information, revelations, and action -- at first, I was worried it would become overwhelming or a fractured mess, but I should have had more faith in Abnett's skills. I can't think of a better way to approach this phase of the HH, and the novel gets everyone where they need to be for the final act.

Now, we just have to see how Volume 2 shapes up -- if it's another ~500pp tome, that might actually be a problem: it really feels like everyone is pretty much where they have to be, so hopefully Abnett won't draw it out too much.

A must for fans of the series, of course.

In preparation for vol 2 (which I think got published today) I picked this one and I have to say what a book. This will allow me to have a normal wait period between books of couple of weeks (instead of waiting 6 months between publishing of vol 1 and vol 2) which is a plus since book is huge, lots of things take place and they will remain fresh in my memory so I can start with vol 2 ASAP.

I have developed a bit of a backlog when it comes to Siege of Terra story arc but decided to pick this one up out of order nevertheless. And what a book. I have to say it whetted my appetite for going through the rest of Siege books, if for no other reason then to learn more about the heroes mentioned in here.

When looked at from the context of the series, book (or should I say books, since volume 3 is expected in next 4 months) stands on its own. Knowledge of the universe and setting is of course a plus but it is not necessary to know absolutely everyone or everything mentioned to enjoy the story.

When you look at the book physically it is huge, 650+ pages. But to read it, it will take you a day or two (in a single sitting so to say) because it is written very well. Story flows very fast and once you start you will be glued to it until the end.

Aside from the main characters - Emperor, Malcador, loyalist Primarchs, Horus the betrayer - we are given glimpses of total war and horrors shaking the Terra and especially main Palace compound. We see never ending infantry bloody combat of the "mortal" army regiments, Titans and heavy armor combat with incredibly powerful weapons fired at ridiculously close ranges, Legionnaires fighting from huge closed areas once hosting thousands to claustrophobic bunkers and underground fortifications to defending the mountain peaks against the incoming hordes of unthinkable horrors.

All support characters - Oll, John, Malcador's Chosen - also come and go on these pages, people thrown into the fire, trying to find the solution, way how to help stem the tide of lunacy and carnage.

I especially liked the portrayal of Alpha Legion (I am really warming up to these guys), Dark Angels (splintering of the the Mighty First might not be as clear cut as one would expect) and of course Legio Custodes.

For the first time we see Custodes for what they are - secret army tasked with two most difficult tasks - defending the Emperor and keeping the darkest secrets in the universe. But they are not infallible. In communication between their various cadres they show very little patience and understanding even for their own comrades in arms if they see their duty or authority is questioned. Valdor as always is Titan in its own right, and here it seems that he is beginning to eye the Legions in a same way as Thunder Warriors - tools whose usefulness is more and more under question. Although they seem like automata, Custodes are much, much more and it shows - they scheme, play power politics and are identified as a very powerful force that has lots of influence on Terra. But can it be trusted, especially with the ever growing influence? In the time when everything is turned on its head, can any of the very powerful segments of Terran government and military be fully trusted?

You know with all of this in the play, role of formations like Alpha Legion becomes more and more interesting. I know this is way of thought that has nothing to do with the actual universe (just my mere projections) but I have a feeling that nothing in Emperor's plans is done by accident. For every force there seems to be a counter-force. And reading about Custodes in this book, Valdor's comment in Alpharius (another great book) comes to mind - when he (Valdor) says that while all other Primarchs are generals and soldiers in their own way, he (Valdor) is not sure what is Alpharius supposed to be. He definitely sensed danger, a force with shady objectives that can endanger the Custodes or people and organizations they protect.

Author manages to portray the level of devastation and loss of life in this apocalyptical war between Legions. Their downfall from which they will never recover and never again roam the stars in their hundreds of thousands. Having said that I still hope Thunder Warriors will appear from somewhere, that would truly be epic.

Book is very readable, very cinematic, main story chapters with lots of [what author calls] fragments sections in between. In these fragments sections we are given scenes from the battlefields, civilians escaping the city battlefields, we see actions of Abaddon and his troops, Horus' POV (which is hilarious) and finally Neverborne's thoughts and reactions on the Horus' progress. Chapters are relatively short so pacing is pretty fast. All in all very well organized, with only downside being author's use of some more exotic dictionary that made me scratch my head for a while.

Book achieved what it promised to be - a true epic, story about what definitely qualifies as the bleakest moment in a bleak SF setting. I did not expect story will span three books but OK :) I have to say that I did not find any of the chapters to play filler role - even short chapters have a very strong effect.

What more can W40K ask for - heroes greater than life, epic battles, small bits about personal life of Emperor and other secretive characters, plus portrayal how knowledge about the universe and Chaos was known to humanity for a long time (library scenes, pictures with thrones and Babel Tower, and then the hidden vault - I truly enjoyed this).

Highly recommended. If you want to read a truly epic story this is a book for you.

A great entry into the series, one minor quibble was a seemingly large dip into word soup, I have a more than decent vocabulary and yet found myself stopping in mid sentence to go look up certain words I'd never come across before, at least in Dan's case, the words for the context, I like a Nick Kyme novel where word soup is often both thick and lacking consistency, however the usage of Dan's extended vocabulary became a distraction that I found pulling me away from the planned cver to cover reading I had to a 3 sitting job.

Would like to give this 4.5 stars. The prose is Abnett turned up to 11. Equal parts enjoyable and unintelligible (Zuzzuration?). Felt like there was a little bit of filler, notably Rann’s chapters (where is sigismund?!) but overall plot lines I really enjoyed. The twist with Horus and all the vengeful spirit chaos shenanigans were great. Excited for part two!