Gongsun Zan Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Greetings brothers, With the Siege of Terra starting in a few weeks, I'm looking to catch up on the key events and character beats prior to the Siege. Which novels / short stories would you say are essential reading before the siege starts? I'm not familiar with all the books, but I'm thinking of starting out with at least the following: Praetorian of Dorn Master of Mankind Slaves to Darkness Ruinstorm Path of Heaven (?) Old Earth (?) Any others that you think I should add to this list? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wulfburk Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Restorer - Chris wraight (after path of heaven, whilst scars should be read before both if you havent already) Wolfsbane and Titandeath are good but not 100% necessary, i loved wolfsbane, titandeath less a bit. Now peals Midnight - john french ( read it last of all, is exactly 1 second before the solar war novel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karden00 Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 Your list is good. I would also add... Third Edition rule book As well as Bill King’s writing from an old White Dwarf, which was (to my knowledge) the earliest comprehensive treatment of the story. Here is a link: https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/514769/battle-holy-terra-short-story Call me old fashioned, but the HH and The Siege is fairly old stuff, and (if you’re anything like me) it can be very rewarding to track how this current fiction evolves from stories that were printed decades ago, at a time when no one could’ve thought we would be where we are today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karhedron Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 A lot of it depends on what aspects of the story interest you. I like the stories showing the evolving stories of the Primarchs since they are in many ways, personifications of the Legions they lead. Below is my list of the keys stories in the journey from Istvaan to Terra. I don't necessarily argue that these are the best stories, but they are important to show how key characters get to be in certain places. 1 Horus Rising 2 False Gods 3 Galaxy in Flames 4 The Flight of the Eisenstein 5 Fulgrim 6 Descent of Angels 7 Legion 10 Tales of Heresy (only "After Desh'ea") 11 Fallen Angels 12 A Thousand Sons 14 The First Heretic 15 Prospero Burns 18 Deliverance Lost 19 Know No Fear 21 Fear to Tread 23 Angel Exterminatus 24 Betrayer 26 Vulkan Lives 27 The Unremembered Empire 28 Scars 29 Vengeful Spirit 32 Deathfire 34 Pharos 35 Eye of Terra (only "Aurelian", should be read alongside "First Heretic") 36 The Path of Heaven 38 Angels of Caliban 39 Praetorian of Dorn 40 Corax 41 The Master of Mankind 44 The Crimson King 45 Tallarn 46 Ruinstorm 47 Old Earth 49 Wolfsbane 51 Slaves to Darkness 52 Heralds of the Siege 53 Titandeath 54 The Buried Dagger Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlisimo Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 The epilogue in Ruinstorm is all you need or want from that book, imo. Keep The Path of Heaven in there, and read it before Master of Mankind (it hints heavily at the project that’s revealed in TMoM). The characters in TPoH will make more sense if you read the entire - and excellent - White Scars arc (Brotherhood of the Storm, Scars, short story Brotherhood of the Moon, The Path of Heaven, short story Restorer) but only Restorer is directly related to the Siege. Old Earth is unlikely to have much of an effect on the Siege of Terra unless they surprise us. If you know how it ends, that’s probably enough. Horus’s story in Slaves to Darkness is preceded by Vengeful Spirit (which provides a little bit of backstory to the Emperor) and Wolfsbane. Optional, but I’m not sure Slaves to Darkness makes much sense without them. The First Heretic and Betrayer are also indirectly related to the Siege but pretty fundamental to the overall story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manchu warlord Posted March 18, 2019 Share Posted March 18, 2019 I will also add the novella Spear of Ultramar. It talks about the Ultramarines trying to get to Terra as fast as they can, while fighting pocket resistances forces the Warmaster has left behind, deliberately to slow Guilliman and his vengeful army behind. Though, I do not know if this novella takes place before or during the Siege. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tymell Posted March 19, 2019 Share Posted March 19, 2019 It's also tricky to say what will or won't be necessary, since we don't yet know all of what will be covered in the Siege series. For example, we've previously seen one rogue group of Iron Hands in Riven and The Keys of Hel. It's possible they'll turn up for the Siege, in which case those two stories would be good to read beforehand. But if they don't, then those tales are much less essential (though still enjoyable in their own right IMO). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluntblade Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 What would make Old Earth essential, from a Siege-prep point of view? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kelborn Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 It brings Vulkan to Terra for a glorious "Surprise, mother!" moment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tymell Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 What would make Old Earth essential, from a Siege-prep point of view? As with my last post in this thread, I feel like it's hard to say until we've read the Siege itself. Old Earth sees: *Vulkan (and his Draaksward) getting to Terra*Numerous perpetuals being assassinated by Eldrad and Narek *Narek then rejoining his legion *A large portion of the Iron Hands forces basically withdrawing from the Heresy altogether. How much impact any of that will have isn't fully known at this point. Some of those points could be important for some of the books coming up, or they might just prove minor. It brings Vulkan to Terra for a glorious "Surprise, mother!" moment I would love something like that Just think how satisfying it'd be to have Lorgar take a sudden hammer to the face right when he thinks everything is going to plan?* *It could even make for a fitting moment: it's already been established that perpetuals throw off divination/prophecy, and I could just see Lorgar believing he knows exactly who is present at Terra, as the Gods foretold and so on, then Vulkan's presence taking him completely off-guard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manchu warlord Posted April 12, 2019 Share Posted April 12, 2019 What would make Old Earth essential, from a Siege-prep point of view? As with my last post in this thread, I feel like it's hard to say until we've read the Siege itself. Old Earth sees: *Vulkan (and his Draaksward) getting to Terra*Numerous perpetuals being assassinated by Eldrad and Narek *Narek then rejoining his legion *A large portion of the Iron Hands forces basically withdrawing from the Heresy altogether. How much impact any of that will have isn't fully known at this point. Some of those points could be important for some of the books coming up, or they might just prove minor. It brings Vulkan to Terra for a glorious "Surprise, mother!" moment I would love something like that Just think how satisfying it'd be to have Lorgar take a sudden hammer to the face right when he thinks everything is going to plan?* *It could even make for a fitting moment: it's already been established that perpetuals throw off divination/prophecy, and I could just see Lorgar believing he knows exactly who is present at Terra, as the Gods foretold and so on, then Vulkan's presence taking him completely off-guard. Despite being forbidden to join his big brother's adventure to Terra, I fancy Lorgar still finds a way to get there. He could get there through the Webway somehow - don't ask me how (maybe Sor Talgron's trap in the novella The Purge could have something to do with it) - gets through, and was then confronted by Vulkan. Lorgar could believe that he needs to be there, at Terra, to help force a victory for the traitors, and lots of soliloquy could develop on his part. While the big battle rages on Terra's surface, a another battle - with Lorgar, Word Bearers and daemons VS Vulkan, the three Draaksward and others - is occurring down in the bowels of the of Imperial Palace. There's eight novels; something like this could easily fit half a novel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mc warhammer Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 “the board is set” could be read to infer vulcan will be taking part in the defenses Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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