A Good Read (or eight)
In high school I was a voracious reader, but since coming to college I found that my time goes everywhere else first, and reading is just an afterthought for a plane ride, or while waiting for the doctor. Recently I've found the time to get back into reading, and have been enjoying spending time with a good book, no 1's or 0's involved. My choice of literature ranges from epic poetry (Beowulf being the most recent) to "classic literature" (such as Pride and Prejudice) to science fiction, my choice in high school. But I'm not here to talk about my history, rather to write up the first book(s) that actually made me want to write a review. These come from the Black Library, the publishing house for Games Workshop, maker of Warhammer 40,000 (40k), and are part of the history of 40k. I expected a nice "history" lesson, since I like to roleplay when i play any game and now I could really curse the foul beings of Chaos, but got literature that is coherent over the entire set, is well written, and deals with many themes that are extremely prevalent in our society today.
The Series
The series I'm referring to is the Horus Heresy, and for those that don't know their 40k fluff, that is the time period around 30,000 AD when Horus (the leader of the Great Crusade to bring mankind back to itself, and eliminate threats to mankind) turns his back on the Emperor of mankind and almost kills him. That is all I knew of the story before picking up this series, and is a good basic lead in. I had initially expected Horus to be evil, the emperor to get stabbed, and not need to get past the first book. Boy was I surprised when Horus turns out to be a man of noble character, a well-tempered commander who knows his troops and doesn't like fame. After about 30 pages I realized this was going to be good when the author was using the knowledge that everyone will go into the series hating Horus to trick the reader. There are eight books in the series, with 5 currently written.
The story centers around a captain in the Luna Wolves Space Marines legion, Garviel Loken, who commands the 10th company. He is a rising star and becomes close to Horus, it is through his eyes that we see most of the plot unfold. The other main characters are also captains in the Luna Wolves, with Horus as the leader of the Luna Wolves and in charge of all Space Marine (and support) legions across the galaxy.
Plot Lines
The main plot long, as I said, follows Garviel, however other lines branch off of his. Three key journalists (Rembrancers) are followed after they're introduced, as well as a Chaplain from one legion, and Horus. These weave together as the one tries to figure the others out. In addition the start of the religion of the Emperor is described, which I'm finding fascinating reading. Between the books these are perfectly tied together, as the books are written one after the other, and the authors styles don't differentiate much. The plot unravels first with the reader hating Horus (if you knew the story ahead of time) then loving him as his men do, then back to hating him, b ut recognizing him for the tragic hero he is.
Recurring Themes
There are definite themes in this book that are in our society today, themes that present both sides of the argument in a very well articulated way. Maybe I'm just weird, but it was obvious that this was written after the Iraq war started, because many of these are things that keep coming up in the news. For instance:
At the start of the first book many journalists (to use the best term that comes to mind, for it also includes photographers, poets, painters, etc) are embedded in the fleet. The Space Marines argue if they should be there, or if they're wasted space. These disagreements between them then get into freedom of speech, if the journalists should be able to lambaste the Space Marines, whose ship they're on, when the Space Marines are responsible for the journalist's very survival. Finally these civilians end up getting in the way, and a few are killed for being in the wrong place. The collateral damage that comes out of this is a very interesting argument about civilian casualties in a time of war. As events unfold, the civilians eventually are forced to keep in their rooms, and some are killed to prevent them from writing of atrocities they saw. There is a strong 1984 feel to the story from the civilians angle, and it echoes the rise of many of the world's dictators. Gain power, gain trust, quietly kill off the dissenting opinions until its too late.
Each legion has its own feel for combat, some specializing in prefect execution of maneuvers, others just brutal slaughter. As the Great Crusade has gone on, the people at home no longer feel the threat of alien attack, and as such now turn their eyes to making the Space Marines fight a clean war. The people want the Crusade, but don't want to see the carnage. This puts the Space Marines in the position of fighting as they always have and winning (for 200 years!) or somehow changing and not being themselves.
Honor is very strong in this story, the honor of upholding one's leader, one's nation, and one's fellow man. This comes to bear when Garviel is forced to choose between what he swore to uphold (his Emperor, and mankind) and those he's sworn to stand by, his battle-brothers. This is something we could all take a lesson from today, for it seems as if people's word isn't their bond anymore. Besides that, people are afraid to support their country if it errs. I'm not saying things should be overlooked, I'm saying its your country, support it (this isn't just America, this is any country. If you're British, support Britain, she's your motherland, same goes for France, or Russia). Many times in the first three books do people have to try to determine what's best for them (in some cases their life is on the line) and what they have sworn to stand for. Others have to choose what's the best path for those oaths, not all make the "right" choice.
On the other hand, a lot of those choices stem from faith. It is really, really interesting to me that the Great Crusade is preaching "Imperial Truth", which amounts to Atheism. The 'dangerous cults' that worship 'gods' being things that are to be feared, and crushed. What makes this interesting is in the 41st millennium the Emperor is worshiped, so obviously something changes. At the start they kill any who believe in anything that can't be seen or touched, and in the end they kill anything that refuses to believe in the Emperor, which i think sums humanity up perfectly. Its not religions that make us kill each other, its differences. That point is made abundantly clear in these texts, where it is an unthinkable question to ask why they don't leave some poor society alone if it won't interact with humanity.
Speaking of humanity, the books (and 40k universe) also touch on human nature with their descriptions of the leaders of each legion, the primarchs. Each primarch is physically above all humans, even above all Space Marines, their bodies perfect. Yet their minds are described as flawed, some primarchs being too defensive, some having severe blood-lust, and it is clear that Horus is too ambitious. These are traits that can be seen in the Marines that are in their legions (I won't get into how they get there... that's too in depth), for they exhibit the same behaviors, pride, lust, or honor.
Real Literature
Some of you are still reading (heck some probably stopped after you saw 'Warhammer') but thinking "This is just drivel, its fluff for some dumb game, and matters naught." You couldn't be more wrong. For instance, Horus is the perfect tragic hero, as laid out by Aristotle. To be a tragic hero one must:
- Be noble
- Have a flaw
- Have an undoing
- Discover it was brought about by his own actions
Well, Horus is clearly noble, having been bred to be a perfect human being, and second in charge of humanity. His major flaws are pride, and ambition, clearly stated in the book through his actions when his honor is impugned or his reveling in being named the Warmaster of the Great Crusade. His undoing occurs in the story when he is goaded into action that is designed to kill him. Actually it merely mortally wounds him, and that starts the turn of events leading to humanity's downfall. I'd prefer not to write an essay on this, so you'll have to trust me when I say this is good literature. Great style, and decent imagery.
In addition to that, the character development that happens in response to the recurring themes is great. Some characters rise to the occasion, standing firm in their convictions, others turn their back on their oaths to gain power. Others you can't tell where they stand until something hits the fan. Simply astounding.
Summation
In the end this series (as I've read so far) can be summed up as a tragedy, and a good commentary on the human soul. The men that have physical perfection get yet more ambitious, instead of humble, and are able to be manipulated by other, darker humans, among various demons. If Horus wasn't prideful, or if he wasn't quite so ambitious, maybe none of this would have come to pass. You must read this series, don't take it as "Oh, 40k fluff, its unimportant" but see it for what it is. Great literature, masterfully tied together, with excellent development of both plot and characters. I literally can't put it down. As I write this, I'm still reading book 3 in the series.
