For me:
FYI this is gonna be a long post. With a LOT of HH spoilers!
Why this post: When I started reading the heresy I already knew that this will be a great overtaking for me personally, and I wanted to make a little record, so I started to write down my favorite scenes as I was going through the books. The main incentive behind this post is that I honestly can't talk to anyone about Warhammer. My life situations is so that I don't meet people often who are interested in 40k lore the way I am. So maybe I'll find some like minded folk here.
My 40k story in short: My first exposure to 40k was through Dawn of War and the Dark Heresy ttrpg, in around 2013-ish. I remember it was so interesting to me that I basically started reading warhammer wiki sites instead of books first, because I was hungry for details. My first real 40k books were the Eisenhorn+Ravenor series and only later, in the last 4-5 years did I start also playing and painting.
Heresy reading time: I started reading Horus Rising during the end of 2023, so reading the whole series took me about two and a half years.
What I did read: Disclaimer - to be fair I left out some stuff. I read 60 books: the main storyline and the Siege of Terra (plus 2: Era of Ruin and Ashes of the Imperium) plus some standalone short stories here and there. I skipped Descent of Angels, Fallen Angels, Battle for the Abyss, Nemesis, The Outcast Dead, and Damnation of Pythos (some of which I plan to read later). And I still plan to read the primarch novels.
My very short review of the Heresy: I know the memes that some people say these books are bad. Yes there are some good ones and some not so good ones. I did read a fair bit of classical literature in the past, and of course, a random bestseller or fantasy novel usually doesn't reach those heights, but it honestly doesn't have to. I think a book is good if you're having fun reading it. When it comes to the Heresy, if I think about it as a big book series, I could say it's an okay series. BUT! I don't think about it as just a collection of books. To me the heresy is like a big art piece, worked on by a collection of artists in a span of 20 years. And if I look at it that way, it's a singular work of art. Maybe that's a bit too sentimental but that's how I feel personally. Finishing it felt fulfilling, and it feels good to think back on the past few years I spent reading it. I love 40k and I think the series did justice to it, and it was a great journey to me personally.
Here it comes, some of my favorite moments from the Horus Heresy:
Just to note, I know there are some scenes that people keep mentioning again and again. So I decided not to focus on those. I wanted a personal record of some scenes that I personally resonated with. Of course there are countless more that I could list, but this post will already be pretty long so I decided to cut some out. Again: this will all contain spoilers, soo read with that in mind.
It'd been a long time I'd read this, but I remember the visceral horror of how Abnett slowly builds up the mistery of it, and the tension just builds and builds, and then Jubal/Samus starts rampaging. A scene that leaves everyone that's present dismayed and horrified and defines the series. We also encounter some of the driving motivations and questions that are carried through the series and resolved with huge paybacks in the End and the Death. The Imperial Truth preached by the Emperor tells that the universe was governed purely by science, logic, and physical laws that gods, ghosts, and daemons were mere primitive superstitions. When Loken encounters Jubal/Samus, his rational mind tries to categorize it as a chemical infection, a neuro-toxin, or alien mind-control or something, and he cannot accept that he just witnessed demonic possession. Samus's warning, "Samus is the man beside you... Samus is the stranger at your elbow" acts as a metaphor for the entire Heresy. The real threat would not come from external xenos empires, but from the brother standing right next to them in the squad. It was chilling to read, and I loved it.
As the summoned creature lunges to destroy the characters, Keeler raises her silver Imperial Aquila. She doesn't use weapons or psychic powers, she just acts out of absolute, unshakeable faith in the Emperor’s divinity. In some ways this scene is the origin-moment of the Imperial Cult, and gives some hints about the misteries of faith in the universe. I remember that I was totally surprised reading this, but these are my favorite 40k moments. Those little motes of light and hope in the great darkness. A truly heroic moment that sent chills down my spines. It also sheds light on the great irony of the Imperial Truth: The Emperor enforced the secular Imperial Truth to starve the Chaos Gods of worship. However, by stripping humanity of spiritual defenses and denying the existence of daemons, he left thinkers like Sindermann entirely defenseless against demonic manipulation. Ironically, the very thing the Emperor banned becomes the only effective shield against the Warp.
Moderati Cassar watches in disbelief as Princeps Esau Turnet orders to fire on the surviving loyalist Space Marines after the virus bombardment. The moderati refuses, and pulls a gun on the princeps, and in turn gets shot in the back. It's a horrifying, chilling moment, and it's well written, you feel that this is also a big moment where loyalty and righteousness almost prevails, but it doesn't. It's one of those crazy moments at the beginning where you just keep saying "no! no! no!" in your head.
I'm not going to detail this, I know it's a well known moment but I had to include it. I'm not crying. You are.
It was truly heartbreaking to see Little Horus slaying Tarik, and the fight between Loken and Abbadon.
..."Yes, we hurt them here. They'll remember this."
Commandeering a Thunderhawk, Saul Tarvitz makes urgent vox contact with Nathaniel Garro aboard the Eisenstein in orbit, alerting him to the impending viral bombardment of Istvaan III before flying down to warn the ground forces. Just another heartwarming moment. It's a fulcrum of destiny, a great moment that will lead to the galaxy turning upside down, and it hangs on the balance, AND the only thing that tips the scales the right way is... true brotherhood and friendship! One friend trusting the word of the other. Man, just amazing.
I'm already bristling just thinking about this scene. I have to add here that I'm an Emperors Children fan so this book was special for me. There's something deeply disturbing and tragic about Fulgrim and his legion's corruption. I think this first moment of Fulgrim is somehow encapsulating that all. His adoptive mother entranced by his beauty and resolving to brutally murder the one who spoke against keeping the baby. Chills.
Christopher Tester has a very good voiceover about this moment. It's a beautiful scene where we get an insight into Fulgrim's profoundly damaged soul, and it's heartbreaking. I remember reading this scene multiple times. So witty, deep, thought provoking and full of emotion. It's just perfect. A mastery of character drama.
This book does a great job of building up the friendship between these two brothers and it culminates in this terrifying moment of betrayal, with Fulgrim having second thoughts at the eleventh hour. It was truly heartbreaking to read. Just as an honorable mention: the moment when Fulgrim kills Vespasian is also very cool. That's a crucial moment where the legion's soul dies a little.
A special one again. The Word Bearers are standing ready on the sands of Istvaan V, and one of the newly landed Raven Guard captains are walking up to Argel Tal with a greeting, and Argel Tal thinks back on his childhood. Reading it you know that the moment of atrocity is nigh, and there's this beautifully corrupted scene of his loving family, weak, hungry and sick, and Erebus coming for the child, for "Argel Tal. Last Angel." as his mother says. In literature there's something very important, called subtext. It's when something is not explicitly said, but you know it from what is implied, and was built up to that point. As Argel Tal comes back from the memory he whispers "Forgive me". It made me cry. This moment is pure mastery of subtext. It's not described why he says it but the meaning of it falls on you with the weight of a boulder. It's a moment of utter betrayal. Betrayal of creed, brotherhood, humanity. Incredible scene.
This book is a shot of adrenaline and I loved every moment of it. I just loved the buildup to the count, the chaos, the shock, the surprise. Start the count.
It's hard to remember and I couldn't find it, but there's a moment when Ventanus realizes that blades can kill the deamons and he does some action movie jump attack and kills one. And from that point hope returns a little. I loved that scene.
Magnus breaks into the imperial dungeon, and the Emperor's plan is shattered in a single moment. And in that moment the Emperor says: "Magnus". And Magnus says: "Father". And the scene ends. So much weight, so little words. I loved it.
I think this is one of the coolest moment of the series. Dantioch collapses the Scahdenhold onto the forces of the traitor Iron Warrior Krendl's army and steals his ship. Incredibly cool and this also builds our relationship with Dantioch that gets it's payoff in Pharos.
Another moment of which Christopher Tester did a pretty good voiceover. Sevatar directly challenges Curze's lifelong justification that he had to be a monster to enforce order. This scene is legendary. Man I wish the heresy had more night lords.
I was just surprised by this scene, I didn't know it happened but it was pretty cool. Still the main fun moment in this book is him bashing in Fulgrim's head. But I won't list that, I'm still an EC guy, come on.
There's a moment when the Emperors Children start murdering each other and their humans in extasy on the old eldar world after some changes happen. After the act, at the spot of the bloodbath there's only Julius Kaesoron left alive. Forrix goes to him and he's like: "You killed your own men" and Kaesoron says "They weren’t mine, They never were." and then Forrix is like "No? Then whose were they?" and Julius says "They belong to Slaanesh!". And the world shakes. I think this is the first time the name is uttered with clarity in the series and the buildup to it is magnificent. I can't convey it but I was shivering when I read it. Also later Forrix says "Damn Slaanesh" and he starts bleeding from the mouth, thats also pretty cool and shows how dangerous chaos is, even just saying a word.
There's a moment in Betrayer where Magnus and Lorgar talk, and Lorgar shows him this huge space fortress ship, much like the Furious Abyss that they lost. And Magnus is like: You built two. And Lorgar goes: Oh no... I built three. And there's a third gigantic fortress ship. I thought that was pretty cool. Somehow I felt that this book should have been better by the way. I felt similarly with the Blood Angels book, Fear to Tread. And not because there were no cool things happening. There were a lot of cool scenes but they didn't pack the punch they should have. I think it was a writing issue maybe. I'm not sure. Still, in Betrayer the primarch scenes and when Angron saves Lorgar, those were still cool. Also the end where Angron is locked up, that was pretty chilling too.
There's a part in Scars where the Alpha Legion is trying to blockade the Khan's forces in space and they do their White Scar space tricks with the extra fast ships and witty strategy, and they just break through even though outnumbered. I think that scene was awesome and really well built up. It made my blood pumping as I read it, and I went like "let's goooo". That's how a White Scars novel should be. By the way, I realized during reading that the scenes (throughout the whole series) in which the Khan was talking made me listen very intently. I don't know why. His meetings with Ilya and his conversation with Magnus and later Morty were also very exciting.
I liked this book, even though I know many did not. In the end, the part where the last alpha legion operatives are there and one of them kills the other before it could utter to Corax who sent them was pretty cool.
In Pharos I really liked the Night Lords, particularly the twins. There is so much beautifully written tragedy around them. We see Kellendvar remembering their past as kids, the hunger, the homeless scavanging, we see them watch the fireworks of rich nobles. Kellendvar brings up this night to Kellenkir several times over the decades, hoping to spark a sense of shared humanity in his increasingly monstrous brother. But Kellenkir doesn't actually remember it. The whole story culminates in Kellendvar executing his posessed brother in the end, saying "We both died a long time ago". Another heartbreaking and beautiful moment of the series.
Pharos was one of my favourite books from the series. A lot of cool actions, great characters and interesting misteries. I think the connection between Pollux and Dantioch was a really well written and great part of the story, and honestly the concept of an Iron Warrior and an Imperial Fist as friends had really great potential in the whole storiline to show a kind of element of boundless loyalty on the loyalist side, I think it was executed really well. Dantioch's tragical death was one of the moments that again made me shed some tears.
The conflict of the two primarchs turns out to be almost an essay between determinism and free will, between the two prophetically gifted primarchs. Curze uses his foresight as an absolute moral absolution, while Sanguinius sees his foresight as a burden to bear, not an excuse to fall. The core tragedy here is that Curze desperately needs Sanguinius to break. If the noble, beloved Angel succumbs to despair or monsterhood, it proves Curze was right all along that the universe is purely vile, and Curze was just a realistic victim of it. Sanguinius’s refusal to break denies Curze the validation he craves.
I think this antology was quite good, I would have liked to read more about Corax during the heresy, it's a pity he didn't play a part in the ending. I know a lot of people didn't like this antology that much but I think Corax was written very well, and I loved to read his scenes. His honorable character is admirable. I hope we can see more of him maybe in the Scouring. The antology ahd some pretty cool fight scenes but still what I will bring up here is the ending where Corax kills Hef, the last failed Raptor. It's pretty sad, and it's the sad conclusion of Corax's long project of bringing the Raven Guard back to full strength.
I think this book did a pretty good job of presenting the relationship of Russ and Horus. In the beginning, Horus meets the newly found Russ, and there's some resentment and jealousy at first but they become close. I also liked the part where Russ plays chess with Malcador and there's a wholesome moment where it's implied that hes like a second father to him. In the end Russ fights Horus with the Emperor's spear and injures him. Later when they escape, Bjorn asks Russ if everything they did failed and Russ says "The spear tasted his soul, and I spoke with him. I spoke with him." And Bjorn asks "With who? With the traitor?" And Russ says "Not with the traitor. Not with him. I spoke... I spoke with my brother." Oh man... I remember crying reading this. The heresy did a great job showing how much they loved Horus, atcually loved him, and how attrocious was that they had to turn against him. As the Khan put it: "So I fight for a Father who I never loved, against a brother that I did."
This short is basically a story device to Balsar Kurthuri to terra so he can be part of the Knights of Grey. As he returns to terra the Custodes are trying to catch him and captain Noritz, the Imperial Fists who's been with them for a while dies to protect him. I liked the Raven Guard stories and I think is sucks soooo much that Noritz dies here, and almost as a sidenote. I really liked him and it's just sad that I couldn't see him be part of the siege as a guy who was with the Ravens.
Titandeath is a magnificent book. Great characters, great story. I love how we see Esha born, her love story with Harrtek, the inside workings of the Legio Solaria. The parts where Sanguinius and Raldoron discuss the battle at Beta Garmon II were interesting to read too. When the final battle culminates, there's a moment where Esha is facing the chaos corrupted Harrtek, and her friend, Jehani sacrifices herself for her even though they had a falling out. And she says "Legio first." Man, shivers and tears again. Great writing.
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From the Siege of Terra: I will breafly just drop in a couple of favorites, but it was really hard to choose, there were so many amazing moments, and I could make another post like this just from those 11 books. But this post is already super long. One of my favorites was when in Saturnine the Mournival is hammered and Abbadon gets teleported out barely alive and he's just crying and he's like "Take me back." Man my heart broke reading it. Another insanely cool one is when in Warhawk the Khan beats Mortarion, and Morty is like "You know I cannot die." and the Khan is like "But I can. And that makes the difference." and wins. I was crying man. So satisfying! The last one I'll mention is the storyline of Khargos and Ammit in Echoes of Eternity. It's a pretty cool story of wholesome bromance, sad, tragic, and wery well written. The ending of it is brutal, Khargos lying beaten, forgotten on the ground and crying "Apothecary" as the irony makes even him laugh as he dies(?). And the End and the Death... such a finale.
Anyhow, that's my list of favorite moments from the Horus Heresy. Man, what a ride it was. I know probably in the comments people will bring up some huge ones I didn't mention but still, I wantet to write about some less well known ones. I'm greatful if you read this, and happy that I could share my thoughts with you. The Emperor Protects.