Prospero Burns: The Horus Heresy, Book 15

Dan Abnett is, by far, the finest author of the Black Library. Not only is Abnett's work good for what some may snidely call tie-in fiction, it is just good hands down. Abnett has a real way of exploring the human condition under the stress of conflict we mortals can only begin to imagine. You can search for a Warhammer 40,000 book with better plot, character development, and action sequences than those written by Abnett but you will be hard pressed to find one. That being said I was a bit uneasy at the prospect of Abnett taking on a Space Wolves novel. Of all the original Astartes legions, the Space Wolves are near the bottom of my list as far as favorites are concerned. But, much like Aaron-Dembski Bowden was able to accomplish creating an endearing and sympathetic version of the Word Bearers, Abnett has taken the idea of barbaric space vikings and created something much much scarier.Prospero Burns is of a more narrow scope than most of the Horus Heresy novels to date. That's not to say that there isn't a fair share of epic conflict, but there is a greater focus on character. Those who enjoyed Abnett's Legion will find much to like about Prospero Burns. The story follows a man from Terra named Kasper Hawser. Hawser is a man dedicated to finding and conserving lost knowledge. He is easy to sympathize with, having come through personal hardships aplenty, and his desire to learn drives the plot. Some of my favorite aspects of the story were Hawser's flashbacks to Terra. These flashbacks give perspective of Terra during its golden age, with wonders and marvels that scream for a Unification Wars series after the HH series is finished.Some might despair at a mere human as the main character but I find it best to see the nature of the Astartes through the eyes of mortal. Through Hawser's eyes the Space Wolves are revealed as a much different legion than is most commonly accepted. The Wolves are not barbaric space vikings at all, but instead they show a compelling degree of strategy and stealth that most legions tend to avoid. I figured it would be difficult to depict the Wolves in a sympathetic light when it came to the destruction of Prospero. If you've read Graham NcNeill's A Thousand Sons, then you get my meaning. Somehow Abnett found a way to accomplish this however. The sack of Prospero is a tragedy for both legions and I love the image of the Wolves as grim executioners, the Emperor's ace in the hole. They take the responsibility for some of the toughest duties, duties that other legions would frown upon.I've read some complaints about deus ex machina regarding the plot but I don't feel like these complaints have much credence. The incident I assume these complaints refer to is hinted at during the entirety of the book, a minor thing that seems of no consequence until the final showdown. If anything I gave a little smirk when it finally hit me.Prospero Burns is a great novel. For Abnett to turn the Wolves into a force that even I can respect is no small accomplishment. This novel was well worth the wait and an excellent addition to my 40K collection. Highly recommended.

You know when you launch a new RPG and you want to build an axe wielding village burner without equal? But then you realize that in order to get your Strength, Dexterity and hit points high enough, you're going to have to dump a stat.... and what stat do you usually dump? That's right, we all know you take that bucket of Charisma points, dump it into the toilet and pull the handle faster than you can say "Leonard Pyle is a great conversationalist".Then you end up with dialogue options during the game like "Gunnar Gunnarsonsonson no like Talk. Only talk to Axe. Axe like to drink blood. Short conversations."Yeah, that's pretty much the Space Wolves in a nutshell. They're planks of wood with a frowny face painted on them until it's time to kill something. Because of that fact, the story has to be chronicled by someone who is most decidedly not a Space Wolf. A human with very thin motivations to visit the home planet of the Space Wolves except for "Heyyyy man, it just seemed like a good idea, you know?"Not that this is a bad story. Far from it. I think Dan may have written something bad in his life... like maybe when he was an angsty teenager, but he hasn't written anything bad since. Either way, this is a great story and phenomenally written. Dan is a master of the Simile and highly proficient with Metaphors to boot.His description of scenes sometimes has me put down the book for a moment and go, "Ok, ok, that was damned good sir. Damned good."So, although the Space Wolves are probably the most boring group of beings in Warhammer 40K (My love of the Thousand Sons has nothing to do with this! They did nothing wrong!), except for maybe the Hrud, this book is still outstanding and I wouldn't skip it. In fact, I think it's a must-read of the Horus Heresy series.

The latest four books represent a marked departure from the storytelling that was evident in the earlier Heresy books. Nemesis, Thousand Sons, First Heretic and Propero Burns all delve deeply into character development and the results of ambiguous decision-making, where the first 10 or so novels were simply means to explore exciting battle scenes and introduce the primary characters.The vessel by which Abnett chooses to present this story is initially frustrating and puzzling. For the first third of the book, you are kinda waiting for the other shoe to drop, as you learn much more about the narrator than you do the Space Wolves or the falling of Prospero. Ultimately, this adds a rewarding layer (or two) to the story and makes for a more comprehensive read.This novel deals much more with the motivations and composition of the 6th legion than it does the actual battle of Prospero, and creates sympathetic characters on all sides. The only thing keeping this from a 5-star rating on my end is that much of the first 150 pages or so seem to act as filler as opposed to background and context material. Once the story begins in earnest, the story is as captivating as it is intriguing, and does provide another enlightening chapter to the Heresy series.

Loved the perception change I had about the Fenris Wolves after I read this.Great insight into their workings as a legion and brotherhood.Great twist at the end...

The timeline is a bit jarring. Take your time. It is worth it. The ending is also pretty cool I find. Made me like the space wolves and lemon russ.

Well, I thought it would be impossible to write a good book on Space Wolves but it seems I was wrong! 'Prosper Burns' is a fascinating story, that actually made me feel like I'm becoming part of the pack with awe and fear! Marvellous!

Antes de hablar del libro en si; diré que me llegó de manera rápida, tán sólo en 5 días y en perfectas condiciones.Sobre el libro. Debo de decir que si quieres saber más sobre la Legión de los Lobos Espaciales este es un buen lugar para enterarte de detalles que con anterioridad no se sabían o son explicados de mejor manera. Una buena lectura cortesía de Dan Abnett que no decepcionará para nada.

It is very rare for me to feel strongly enough to review a product on Amazon much less a book, but this book is simple being sold short. After reading a thousand sons which has a rating of 4.5 stars I was dreading another monotonous book, with so much of the plot given over to irrelevant storyline. Thankfully Prospero burns is so much better than A thousand sons which I have finished very recently.Prospero Burns is a great book end of story. It is told from the point of a remembrance (for all intensive purposes at least) who becomes attached to a great company of the space wolves. The book is detailed and concise, more to the point it is believable (within the context of the Warhammer universe. One of the reviews criticised this book for not giving information like the exact orders of the Emperor to Russ, when this would have been implausible due to the point of view that is used. Some storeys are left open to be continued in other books, but that is what is great about this mythology. For the first time in quite a few Horus heresy books I couldn't put the book down, despite it being 2 am and having a very important test the next day. And that wasn't even the finally few chapters of the book.In a thousand sons the characters come across as arrogant and it makes most of them very difficult to relate too. Which to be fair is somewhat in keeping with their generally legion mentality; however it's overdone to the point where they come across as completely naive. I read A thousand sons wanting to love them but for a group that can apparently read the future, they make an awfully lot of mistakes. Having read this far into the series Magnus comes across as easily the most fallible and irritating Primarch to date.The reason I have thrown both books into the same pot is because they are essentially the same story told for 2 different viewpoints. For all my reservations about a thousand sons it is a book that has to be read to read this one. Both books were designed to overlap, although much to the detriment of a Thousand sons. The best comparison available for this book is the book which tells the other side of the story and as such they can't be split apart.I apologise for the highly convoluted nature of this review, I've edited it several times and can't get it right. To any times I've referred to a thousand sons, "I recognise my failing and will be sure to correct it".

Dan Abnett beweist erneut, dass er ein Meister seines Faches ist, wenn er den Fall von Prospero zum Anlass nimmt, uns in das Wesen der angeblich unberechenbarsten und primitivsten der Astartes einzuführen.Zur Vorgeschiche: Magnus der Primarch der Thousand Sons hat sich zu tief in die okkulten Geheimnisse des Warhammer-Universums vorgewagt. Trotz eines klaren Verbotes seines Vaters des Emperors hält sich Magnus nicht an dieses Edikt und wird zur tragischen Figur, wenn er eben mit jenen verbotenen Kräften den eigenen Vater vor der Häresie des Horus warnen will und damit eine Grenze überschreitet, die zu seinem Todesurteil wird. Prospero, der Planet und Sitz von Magnus, muss brennen.....Zur Geschichte: Kasper Hawser alias Ahmad Ibn Rustah ist Wissenschaftler, der es sich zu seinem Lebensziel gemacht hat, das alte Wissen der Menschheit, wo möglich, zu retten und zu bewahren. Denn die Menschheit darf nicht mehr in ein erneutes Zeitalter der Dunkelheit zurückfallen. Sein Lebensweg, den wir in kurzen Einblendungen kennen lernen, führt ihn im hohen Alter nach Fenris, einer sagenumwobenen und wilden Welt, die kaum ein Mensch betreten hat, geschweige kennt. Doch so glücklich ist seine Landung nicht, wird er doch von den wilden Stämmen Fenris als "schlechter/böser Stern" wahrgenommen, er muss sterben....Damit eröffnet Abnett seine Einführung in die Welt der Space Wolves, die dem Leser aufgrund der zahlreichen Rückblenden in Kaspers Leben manchmal etwas verwirrend und nicht wirklich relevant erscheint. Und dennoch darf der werte Leser versichert sein, dass sich aus diesen Retrospektiven eine Intrige entwickelt, die ihren Höhepunkt im Konzil von Nicea und letztlich in der Zerstörung von Prospero findet. Genial!Genial, mit welch gewohntem Detailreichtum Dan Abnett uns die Space Wölfe beschreibt, die wir am Ende zu schätzen , nahezu lieben lernen. Wer hätte das nach Ben Counters "Battel for the Abyss" und vor allem nach Graham McNeills "A Thousand Sons" gedacht!? Hier schließt sich ein Kreis, von dem wir nicht wussten, dass es ihn gibt...Genial, wie Dan Abnett mit historischen Orten und Figuren spielt. Ob es das bedeutende christliche Konzil von Nicäa 325 n.Chr. ist, oder die historische Figuren des Kasper Hauser bzw. des persischen Astronomen und Geografen Ahmad ibn Rustah , die hier verwertet werden.Am Ende leiden wir mit Magnus, mit Kasper Hawser und am meisten mit der undankbaren Rolle, die den Space Wölfen vom Emperor zugedacht ist, nachdem wir erleben durften, wie liebenswert und sympathisch diese sind. 5 Sterne!PS: Für Fans der Space Wolves ist es interessant zu sehen, was aus diesen im Laufe von 10.000 Jahren nach der Horus Häresie wurde. Dazu William Kings Omnibus "The Space Wolf"..... spitze!