Wrapping up the second book in the Warhammer 40k: Horus Heresy books.
The book itself is pretty good, but after Abnett's excellent opener (the books of the series are by diff authors) i was expecting more than "pretty good". Some things are just inconsistent, dont make sense for Imperials, or flat out arent explained at all and left me scratching my head at how it could have passed QA.
For instance, one of the main thrusts of the Imperial belief system at the time of the tale is that the universe is completely natural and scientific, there is no supernatural world at all. No angels, demons, ghosts, whatever… everything can be explained by science and reason. Theirs is a totalitarian atheism and anti-mysticism outlook, wherein the mere mention that you may believe in any sort of spiritualism at all could very well be your death. Entire cultures, indeed entire worlds themselves are literally destroyed for this sort of thing. On top of that, non-human also equals death, this is mankind at his supposed pinnacle. By the way, these are the "Good Guys" we're supposed to be rooting for, to show you how fucked-up the wh40k universe is!
Anyway, in the first book, brushes with "supernatural" void beings drive people nearly crazy, namely Garvial Loken, one of Horus the Primarch's right-hand men. One instance w/ a void beast is a pivotal event for Loken in the first book, here in this installment he fights an entire ARMY of what he would consider supernatural monsters and it's "meh… just another battlefield." Come on!
It's a major conflict within in the first book, but when an event that dwarfs it in magnitude occurs in the second book, it's never really even expounded upon at all. This is a really big deal, and not to mention (but I'll mention it anyway) it freakin kicks the ass and literally kills one of the Primarchs, which are these near immortal genetically enhanced beings, whom are all but worshipped by their fellow warriors. This should be pivotal, the entire turning point of the fall of Horus, and it's an epic fail in how it's handled.
When it all shakes out, Horus is saved by what everyone around him would consider "primitive mystical forces" that bring him back. This isnt noted by anyone, it's given no exposition after it happens, it's just totally forgotten. Wouldnt all the soldiers have ANY thoughts about this? Wouldnt Horus? Wouldnt Loken, most of all? Come on, entire worlds are crushed for belief in this sort of thing, would nobody have any kind of inner conflict about what just happened?
Nope. Horus just suddenly "turns really mean", and everyone's running around scratching their heads trying to figure out why. Also, the honor-bound and glorious warriors of the first book are not so much here, in the way that they talk, act, etx seemed to get me more pumped about what they were all about. Here, it seems to feel more like the jingoism of Horus's Cheerleaders, instead of the mighty battle cries of dedicated supersoldiers.
It's an interesting read, the world of WH40K is a compelling world.