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June 2026
Shelved The Book of Five Rings · Reading
<cite>Watership Down</cite> for birders. <br/><br/>I’m surprised this was developed into a screenplay; it can get a little impenetrable when goes into detail about bird biology, scientific species names, and flight terminology. It’s an interesting concept, but I’m not sticking around for *fourteen*(!) more books without something stronger to hold onto.
The first five books were each better than the previous one, building on and fleshing out a cohesive story. This one hits like a huge speed bump. It’s kind of like two separate stories smashed together (or maybe one and a third) neither of which have any relation to the overarching story of the series. They’re kind of lopsided as well; the first “half” drags on and you start to forget it’s a Warhammer 40K story at all, while the second half feels more like the rest of the series with some interesting warp horrors but is really rushed.
I never really got into the Warhammer game itself — too crunchy — but the setting and world built up around it always fascinated me. The neo-Roman stylings of the Empire and its various hierarchies, the vast scale of space exploration and history, and the cosmic horrors lurking in the warp. <br/><br/>The Horus Heresy books haven’t had a lot of the latter so far, which this book makes up for *in spades*. There’s the introduction of the Eldar, a fallen race that had previously conquered the galaxy, and the gradual corruption of a Space Marine legion and the civilians accompanying them culminating in an absolutely horrifying set piece. <br/><br/>This is a gripping tale that stands on its own outside of the previous books in the series, and moves along at a tight clip. My favourite of the series so far.
Definitely the most blood-soaked of the first three in this series, and starting to head toward the *grimdark-ness* of its source material, but if this trilogy arc is a barb then I might be hooked. <br/><br/>Gonna have to pace myself though; binging this series is gonna get *expensive* 😬
Just finished reading this to my six–year-old; wonderfully realised, lyrical prose, exciting, and heartfelt. The girls would groan whenever we had to stop for the night, and I was right there with them!