In a weird way the books came across as more hard hitting than some of the video games that have been released, like Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior or early Warhammer 40k PC games.

The action was a lot more hectic. The characters were more realistic. There also happened to be a lot more honesty in the books than in early Warhammer games and Fire Warrior. Through the development of the story you’re witnessing the history that is merely mentioned in the games. You are seeing the heroes and villains of the galactic civil war that grew from Warmaster Horus’s decision to betray the God-Emperor.

Click through for a recap of the Horus Heresy novels…

Title: The Horus Heresy: Galaxy in FlamesAuthor: Ben CounterPublisher: The Black LibraryRelease Date: 2006Price: $7.99Rating: Two thumbs up, 90/100, B+, **** out of five.Pros: Quick pace, gives more explanation to different events, develops all major characters wonderfully, fixes most of the problems that popped up with False GodsCons: The pace is occasionally too quick for the level of detail that it has, still has some of the same problem that False Gods had.Overall: It’s well worth the money, even with the pacing and detail flaws.

Horus Rising and False Gods opened up the story of the Horus Heresy. It followed the formerly honorable Space Marines legion known as the Luna Wolves. Galaxy in Flames follows the quickly fracturing Luna Wolves as some remain true to the Emperor and some remain true to Warmaster Horus.

This is one of the hardest books in the Horus Heresy to read because it’s the most heartbreaking…

Title: The Horus Heresy: False GodsAuthor: Graham McNeillPublisher: The Black LibraryRelease Date: 2006Price: $7.99Rating: One thumb up and one down, 79/100, C+, ** 1/2 out of five.Pros: Incredible writing, great story, memorable characters are built up more, hard-hitting descriptionCons: Same problem most sequels have. Too much attention to smaller details and it occasionally blocks out the story. Also inconsistently deals with characters.Overall: It’s full of flaws but for a sequel it’s worth the money.

With False Gods, Graham McNeil has written a great second installment to the Horus Heresy series that tries too hard to outshine Dan Abnett’s Horus Rising.

Click through for the full review…

Title: The Horus Heresy: Horus RisingAuthor: Dan AbnettPublisher: The Black LibraryRelease Date: 2006Price: $7.99 (Borders price)Rating: Two thumbs up, 100/100, A+, ***** out of five.Pros: Incredible writing, great story, memorable characters, hard-hitting description with Tolkien-esque attention to detail.Cons: It can be a little hard to follow in terms of the topics brought up. If you don’t understand British English, it will take some time to get used to the writing style.Overall: More than worth the price and avoids the pulpy nature of Science Fiction

The Horus Heresy is a Warhammer 40000 licensed book series that takes place 10,000 years before standard franchise, illustrating the events that lead up to the perpetual war. The series is up to eight books, one of which has been released this month (August 2008) with a ninth to be released in December 2008. Horus Rising, written by Dan Abnett, is the first of eight books that detail the rise and fall of Horus and his faithful legions of genetically engineered Space Marines…