Tag: review

Horus Rising: The Seeds of Heresy Are Sown by Dan Abnett – My Review

Hi everyone!

This weekend, I finished reading Horus Rising: The Seeds of Heresy Are Sown by Dan Abnett. It is the first book of the Horus Heresy novel series, which can be described as techno-fantasy or fantasy action genre. All these books belong to the Warhammer Universe, and they are fanfiction based on this game.

Dan Abnett is a British novel writer and comic creator. He currently works as a scenarist for Marvel and is known for Sinister Dexter, Black Light, Badlands, Atavar, Downlode Tales, Sancho Panzer, Roadkill, Death’s Head, and Wardog comics. He has published numerous novels dedicated to the Warhammer Universe, and some of which have found wide recognition among the reading audience.

Horus Rising: The Seeds of Heresy Are Sown presents the chain of events for the next parts and explains the main points of how the Imperium of Man looks, making us acquainted with the main ideology of it, its morals and belief systems, aims, and “mission” – all of these through the eyes of Captain Loken. We also get to know about the society structure, iterators (ideologist-philosophers), remembrancers (artists), and Astartes (genetically bred warrior-race) – which confirms the idea that poetry and love bloom the most where the fiercest wars take place.

We learn about materialism (on the surface) and the militarism as the main underlying currents of the Imperium. We take a look at the other species and civilizations, often presented by scenes in which Loken shares his memories about certain wars with Mersadie Oliton, a remembrancer who preserves his stories. We understand why Warmaster Horus is often referred to as a great leader, and that materialism, declared as the right path for humanity, may not really turn out all that perfect (cult, warp, chaos), and the rejection of warp power may cause bigger problems.

Captain Loken is portrayed as an honest, reliable, moral, and kind type, giving us a perspective we can trust. He is stoic and stubborn, but even he finally accepts certain views and facts. He is shown as a stereotypically “good guy,” and that creates an interesting effect: when he steps off the straight, appropriate path, we tend to accept and understand it. All his memories seem true, all his sympathies are justified in a way… But he is so annoying at the same time, exactly the way a stereotypically “good guy” may be maddening. If he would only show a glimpse of vice or weakness and be more human just for once!

However… It’s probably another irritating feature of this novel: the characters are schematic and not really deep. It all stays on the surface… Or should military men (well, Astartes) be like that? Nah, I doubt it.

Still, the book sets things in motion, it intrigues, and makes the narrative compelling – we wonder about the power of the warp, we are caught by the portrayal of the “Emperor, beloved by all” as perfect and distant, really reminding some kind of deity. It’s only natural that cults are appearing.

Despite somewhat shallow descriptions, we still are presented with inner conflict in Euphrati Keeler after encountering the warp, or in Warmaster Horus when he encounters another human civilization, “Interex,” which could potentially be equals to the Imperium. These moments truly capture our attention, and I’m grateful for them!

Yet, other cultures, civilizations, planets, and species so overly attractive and captivating, however we have just a brief overview of them. Sadly, we aren’t allowed to dive deeper into details; their descriptions only touch the surface.

On the other hand, the author managed to pack an impressive multitude of events and details into this medium-sized novel, so he clearly had no other choice but to sacrifice the depth. The language is also quite simple and dry for my taste, but I guess if you are not into immersive, intricate descriptions in general and want to read about your favorite Universe, this novel would be perfect for you.

Finally, I’ve never played the game itself. I started reading the Warhammer series on a bet with my husband, and the only thing I knew was that Warhammer encompasses most of the popular fantasy themes. I also had a friend long ago who wrote fan fiction short stories based on that Universe.

Nonetheless, after reading Horus Rising: The Seeds of Heresy Are Sown by Dan Abnett, I feel pretty much acquainted with this world and its intricacies, intrigued enough to continue reading the books of this series, and even curious enough to play Warhammer myself.

To sum up, an interesting read, especially if you are into the game or sci-fi/fantastic action genre in general. It is very structured and dense with events, though a bit shallow when it comes to descriptions.

Thank you so much for reading this post 🙂

© MarvellousNightmare on Coconut Doesn’t Exist

If you are interested in my readings and sessions (see the examples here), please take a look at my offer 🙂

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Farewell Letter by Janusz Zajdel – My Review

Hi, everyone! 🙂

Thanks to one of the recent prompts, I’ve decided to return to writing book reviews and sharing my thoughts and impressions about novels and stories I’ve lately read. I helps me organize my reflections, and I hope it will be useful to you too, especially if you are as passionate about literature as I am and you are looking for fresh recommendations 🙂

I learned about J. Zajdel through my husband, who knows of my love for the sci-fi genre, so he suggested I start reading this author, claiming that his style is somewhat like S. Lem. In truth, this isn’t entirely accurate. J. Zajdel was the second well-known sci-fi writer in Poland (after Lem), and they both wrote dystopian and sci-fi literature. However, while Lem often conveyed his novels in a very philosophical, sometimes even lofty fashion, which I personally appreciate a lot, Zajdel had a dry, consistent, logical style. This was probably affected by his other profession; he graduated with a major in physics and worked as a radiological engineer. One of his aims was to popularize science through literature, while another was to criticize the society and political states of his time (communism and dictatorships), which he brilliantly did.

Speaking strictly about the review topic, Farewell Letter is a short story collection composed by the author’s friends and wife after he died. It consists of his various pieces written at different moments of his life. It perfectly reflects his writing progress and gives insight into the constantly changing scope of the ideas that interested him. This collection also includes his interview, some excerpts from his novels, outlines for unpublished books and stories – very intriguing, by the way (he died at the age of 46, so he left them unfinished), and the recollections from his close circle, which portray J. Zajdel from the personal perspective. We get to know that he was a very warm and supportive friend and that he basically nurtured the present and future generation of Polish sci-fi authors.

His works were classified as sci-fi and dystopian. Still, you won’t find the mystical or pure fantasy elements in his stories, as was common with Bradbury or Lem. His narratives are very logical, concise, and painfully possible. In fact, he introduced some fictional aspects in his stories, like UFOs, teleportation, or alternative realities, but as I said before, it was not a typical fantasy fiction. These ideas and concepts are considered hypothetically possible by science. So the author described them as theories and paradoxes and played them out beautifully, testing them in his creative pieces. Also, everything happening on the pages of this story collection is justified and explained, providing a background for action. Most of the stories have nice dynamics and brilliant irony that balances his somewhat dry descriptions, which, along with capturing dynamics saves his literature from becoming dull or monotonous. My favorite among his works from this collection was The Other Side of the Mirror, because it included the elements I like: thrilling concepts (Zajdel played with a theory about dimensions and teleportation) and thought-provoking elements, something that broadens reader’s horizons.

Continue reading “Farewell Letter by Janusz Zajdel – My Review” →
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Dune: Part Two – I’ll Never Base My Expectations on Random People’s Posts and Opinions Again

Image: Warner Bros.


I usually don’t write film reviews. Lately, I’ve become so lazy that I even stopped writing book reviews (though I still read a lot). But in this very case, I decided I should definitely share my opinion.

Why is it so?

Not so long ago, my husband and I went to the cinema to see “Dune: Part two”. But before experiencing it for myself, I, as always, decided to read opinions about this film and discovered plenty of negative reviews. Judging by what people wrote in these wretched FB groups, the film was: “a disaster, it differed from the book tremendously, Chani left Paul (which really didn’t happen in the book) because she was a spoiled brat, raging feminists were ruling the world, and Chani was ruling the Universe”. There were also claims about how “the director changed the film to make it approachable for new generation. Boo.”

I felt a pang of despair while reading these posts. Just to be clear – I love F. Herbert’s Dune; his novels are among my favorite sci-fi book series. So, the thoughts about the changes and simplifying hurt a lot.

Unfortunately, my brain likes to create the negative scenarios (probably so that it doesn’t hurt so much later). I went to the cinema with a heavy heart, trying to to relax myself by thinking “at least we went out”.

Continue reading “Dune: Part Two – I’ll Never Base My Expectations on Random People’s Posts and Opinions Again” →
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