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There are so many Horus Heresy books that it can be hard to know where to start.

The Horus Heresy is one of the most intriguing parts of Warhammer lore, and perhaps the most well-fleshed out, too. But the Horus Heresy doesn’t take place during Warhammer 40k, it takes place during Warhammer 30k. In other words, Warhammer 40,000 means it’s set approximately in the year 40,000, while the Horus Heresy is set in the years around 30,000. 

What is The Horus Heresy?

The story of the Horus Heresy is long and there is an awful lot to it (that’s the whole point of this article), but the general gist of it is this:

• The Emperor made 20 Primarchs, kind of demi-god-like beings who are a kind of super, super human. And from each of these he made a legion of the Space Marines, each one having the genetic traits of its Primarch. 
• The Primarchs led their Space Marine Legions in a Crusade to regain the parts of the Milky Way galaxy that had been lost during a previous era, the Age of Strife. 
• As the Crusade was going well, the Emperor made one of the Primarchs, Horus Lupercal, the Warmaster, who would lead all the others in the Great Crusade. The Emperor left the Crusade to return to Terra and work on a secret project.
• Horus is wounded in battle at the Serpent Lodge on Davin. The wound is terrible, and to save himself Horus made a pact with the powers of Chaos. 
• One of the Primarchs–one who is the most powerful psyker, Magnus the Red–learned about Horus’s treachery and tries to warn the Emperor via psychic communication. Instead, he opens a rift into The Warp inside the Webway, letting daemons loose and ruining the Emperor’s project.
• At Isstvan III, Horus destroys all of the Space Marines who will not follow him into betrayal from the Emperor’s Children, World Eaters, and Death Guard. 
• Learning of this betrayal, eight Space Marine Legions are dispatched to Isstvan. One the planet of Isstvan V, three legions–the Iron Hands, the Salamanders, and the Raven Guard–are again betrayed, this time by the other five legions–the Emperor’s Children, the Iron Warriors, the Night Lords, the Word Bearers, and Alpha Legion. This is known as the Drop Site Massacre, and it nearly wiped out the three loyalist legions. 
• The next major betrayal would happen at Calth, where the Ultramarines were attacked by the Word Bearers, and it was thought that the Ultramarines’ Primarch, Robute Guilliman, was killed. 
• The traitor legions headed toward Terra, with the first–the Alpha Legion–arriving for the Battle of Pluto. They fought with the Imperial Fists, who had been fortifying the solar system, and the Alpha Legion’s Primarch, Alpharius, is thought to have died.
• After much war across the galaxy, the traitor fleets enter the Solar System, led by Horus, and begin the Siege of Terra. 
• Eventually, the Emperor sees his chance to stop Horus and teleports aboard Horus’s ship. There he finds Horus standing over the dead body of Sanguinious, the Primarch of the Blood Angels. The Emperor and Horus fight, and Horus is killed but the Emperor is mortally wounded.
• The Emperor is brought back to his Golden Throne, the only place he can be kept alive.

How Long Was The Horus Heresy?

From the time when Horus was made Warmaster (001.M31) to when the Siege of Terra took place, there were 14 years of war.

How Many Horus Heresy Books Are in the Series?

Currently, there are 54 Horus Heresy books in the Horus Heresy series from Games Workshop’s publishing arm, the Black Library. They began to be published in 2006 and the most recent came out in 2019. There are currently six books in the Siege of Terra series, with a seventh scheduled to come out in September 2022.  

What is the Horus Heresy Books Order?

I’m going to list the books in order, and I’m going to say what I like and don’t like about them. But speaking as an author, it pains me to give books bad reviews, and I’ve sworn off of Goodreads for that purpose. But, I figure that the wargaming world is probably a lot harsher than anything I’m going to say here. So let’s go.

• Horus Rising, by Dan Abnett (2006) Must read beginning. Good characters and descriptions of the Sons of Horus. Good hooks and a great start.
• False Gods, by Graham McNeill (2006) Another must read.
• Galaxy in Flames, by Ben Counter (2006) The events of Isstvan III. Not as good, but important for its plot points.

• The Flight of the Eisenstein, by James Swallow (2007) The final in the series of the beginning. Must read.
• Fulgrim, by Graham McNeill (2007) Changes characters but contains the Drop Site Massacre. Important for plot points.
• Descent of Angels, by Mitchel Scanlon (2007) Conflicting opinions. I didn’t like it.
• Legion, by Dan Abnett (2008) One of the best of the series.
• Battle for the Abyss, by Ben Counter (2008) Not very good.
• Mechanicum, by Graham McNeill (2008) I liked the story about Mars, but it’s not necessary to the plot.
• Tales of Heresy, by Nick Kyme and Lindsey Priestley (2009) An anthology with some neat stuff, and really well-written, but not necessary. 
• Fallen Angels, by Mike Lee (2009) Important if you like the Dark Angels, but it’s not necessary )or that great)
• A Thousand Sons, by Graham McNeill (2010) The setup of the Thousand Sons and important to the plot. Good stuff.
• Nemesis, by James Swallow (2010) Interesting but weird. 
• The First Heretic, by Aaron Dembski-Bowden (2010) The first by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, who I love. 
• Prospero Burns, by Dan Abnett (2010) One of the best. 
• Age of Darkness, by Christian Dunn (2011) Another anthology. Pretty good but not necessary
• The Outcast Dead, by Graham McNeill (2011) A good one, but people argue about a plot point. If you read it, you can argue too!
• Deliverance Lost, by Gav Thorpe (2012) Meh
• Know No Fear, by Dan Abnett (2012) Good introduction to the Ultramarines, and the Battle of Calth
• The Primarchs, by Christian Dunn (2012) Four novellas about the Primarchs. Primarchs are hard to relate to, and these aren’t great.
• Fear to Tread, by James Swallow (2012) Not great, but read if you love the Blood Angels
• Shadows of Treachery, by Christian Dunn and Nick Kyme (2012) Another anthology, but this one is really good.
• Angel Exterminatus, by Graham McNeill (2012) Intro to the Iron Warriors. Good, not great.
• Betrayer, by Aaron Dembski-Bowden (2012) A very good book about the World Eaters, and so I love it.
• Mark of Calth, by Laurie Golding (2013) Another anthology. Some good some bad.
• Vulkan Lives, by Nick Kyme (2013) Salamanders stuff. I kinda like it, but not really.
• The Unremembered Empire, by Dan Abnett (2013) A bunch of Primarchs getting together and it has the same problems the Primarch books do.
• Scars, by Chris Wraight (2014) Really good.
• Vengeful Spirit, by Graham McNeill (2014) Good and bad. Fun definitely.
• The Damnation of Pythos, by David Annandale (2014) Not good.
• Legacies of Betrayal (2015) Anthology. Not a good one.
• Deathfire, by Nick Kyme (2015) Fine for Salamanders lovers
• War Without End (2016) Middling
• Pharos, by Guy Haley (2015) Fine, but nothing great.
• Eye of Terra (2016) More short stories. 
• The Path of Heaven, by Chris Wraight (2016) The sequel to Scars, so a good follow up if you liked that one. I did.
• The Silent War (2016) More short stories. Good not great.
• Angels of Caliban, by Gav Thorpe (2016) More Primarch stuff. Has some important plot points, but isn’t wonderful.
• Praetorian of Dorn, by John French (2016) One of the best of this era. 
• Corax, by Gav Thorpe (2016) Collection of Gav Thorpe’s stuff, and doesn’t really have direction. I like Gav Thorpe, but this one feels weird.
• The Master of Mankind, by Aaron Dembski-Bowden (2016) I love Aaron Dembski-Bowden and this one does not disappoint. Don’t miss it.
• Garro, by James Swallow (2017) Follow up on a character that we’ve been following for a while. Good if you like him, but skip if you don’t.
• Shattered Legions (2017) I haven’t read it.
• The Crimson King, by Graham McNeill (2017) More Thousand Sons. Fine.
• Tallarn, by John French (2017) Short stories, really well written. 
• Ruinstorm, by David Annandale (2017) Some plot points, but not amazing.
• Old Earth, by Nick Kyme (2017) Fine.
• The Burden of Loyalty, by Laurie Golding (2018) Anthology. Doesn’t seem necessary.
• Wolfsbane, by Guy Haley (2018) Feels like it’s moving the plot, and is important in that way, but feels like filler.
• Born of Flame, by Nick Kyme (2018) Meh.
• Slaves to Darkness, by John French (2018) Good for plot points, but nothing amazing.
• Heralds of the Siege, by Nick Kyme and Laurie Golding (2018) Another anthology. Fine. 
• Titandeath, by Guy Haley (2018) Interesting if you like Titans. I don’t like Titans that much. 
• The Buried Dagger, by James Swallow (2019) Interesting stuff about the Death Guard. Pretty good.

The Siege of Terra Books

These are technically the start of a new series and I admit that I haven’t read them all. (I know, I know. This has been what everything has been building up to. Here are the few thoughts that I have:)

• The Solar War, by John French (2019) Horus et al have finally arrived and the siege begins. It’s a must read for the plot, and the writing is strong. We’ve been waiting a long time to get here.
• The Lost and the Damned, by Guy Haley (2019) More siege. Cool stuff, but felt like it was padding things out.
• The First Wall, by Gav Thorpe (2019) Now this one is what I’ve really been waiting for. Let’s see the Imperial Fists’ defenses in action. Good stuff
• Saturnine, by Dan Abnett (2020) And that’s as far as I’ve gotten! Can wait to read the rest!
• Mortis, by John French (2021)
• Warhawk, by Chris Wraight (2021)
• Echoes of Eternity, by Aaron Dembski-Bowden (upcoming)