| Horus Heresy: Battle for the Abyss (Horus Heresy) | 
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Avg. Customer Rating:   (based on 28 reviews)
Sales Rank: 19038
Category: Book
Author: Ben Counter
Publisher: Games Workshop
Studio: Games Workshop
Manufacturer: Games Workshop
Label: Games Workshop
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.4
ISBN: 1844165493
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.92
EAN: 9781844165490
ASIN: 1844165493
Publication Date: July 29, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Horus sends the Worldbearer space marines to the planet Calth, where they are to ambush the loyalist Ultramarines. In addition to the main fleet, Horus sends a new doomsday battleship for use againsy the Ultramarines home world of Ultramar. A small strike force travels space and the warp to delay or destroy the doomsday ship to save the Ultramarines.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 23 more reviews...
 Just avoid December 28, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I have to agree with another reviewer, this book was absolutely terrible. Very little character development to speak of; I couldn't care less about what happened to them. Some of the primary characters' motives were difficult (if not impossible) to discern.
The plot dragged on, culminating with predictable and hackneyed writing in the final pages. I have read all of the Horus Heresy books, and 30 - 40 Warhammer 40k books. Of all of them, this one I dislike the most. The plot is not essential to the Horus Heresy storyline, and can be entirely avoided without missing any substantive materials.
I did have high expectations for this book, as until now (with the exception of Descent of Angels) the Horus Heresy series has been stellar. If your expectations are moderate, you may have a better reading experience.
Let me down December 24, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
I pretty much read straight through the book in one day. I was hoping for a real glimpse of what the word bearers were all about. It has more to do with Ultramarines then Word bearers it seems. It would have been better to read one of their books instead of a Horus Heresy one. Instead of reading some cool stuff about a Traitor legion, the Word Bearers were made to seem inept and outclassed by a handful of astartes. I pretty much just skimmed the last few chapters as you could tell what was going to happen. 3 Loyalists versus hundreds of renegades. A real let down in the series.
 The Heresy Continues - Book 8 in eh Horus Heresy series December 6, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Battle for the Abyss' is book 8 in the Horus Heresy saga, based on the history of Games Workshops Science Fiction table-top game, Warhammer 40,000. Set in the 30th Millennium, the saga tells the tale of the Imperium of mankind's expansion across the galaxy, and it's crumble from within, as the largest civil war in history threatens to destroy humanity forever. The saga up to this point has been hit or miss. While it has been brilliant to see this well known story told in such detail from many points of view, some of the books fail to really grab the attention of the reader or have plots that frustrate and annoy. Author, Ben Counter, did a sterling job with his first book in the saga, that closed off the opening trilogy. 'Galaxy in Flames' weaved several story lines together and opened up new ones for other authors to continue. The first trilogy made us care as we were brought along with the story through the eyes of several characters, some loyal to the Imperium, some to the rebels. And indeed as the tale continued in the excellent 'Flight of the Eisenstein' and the fantastic 'Fulgrim' we were pulled through the myriad of tales to create a sublime experience. Alas, Battle for the Abyss' fails to impress on the most basic levels.
Without creating spoilers, the Abyss of the title is the Furious Abyss, a ship forged by the Mechanicum of Mars as a giant ship with one mission in mind: To destroy the Ultramarines legion. The setting takes place just as Horus is about to invade Istavaan, roughly around the same time as 'Galaxy in Flames' is set. The Word Bearers, now hostile to the Imperium, and integral in the tainitng of Horus, have been charged with this duty. They test their new weapons Systems on a lone Ultramarine cruiser, arousing the attention of a nearby Imperial station, where members of the Ultramarine legion, are joined by Space Wolves and loyal World Eaters, along with a single member of the Thousand Sons. They battle the odds in pursuing the massive ship with the aim of destroying it before it can damage their legion.
The story seriously lacks anything to make us care. Firstly it suffers from a repetition of structure throughout the book. The Word bearers destroy a ship, they are pursued through the warp. They emerge into real space, have another battle, jump through the warp, emerge, have another battle etc. Gone are the subtle webs of plot present in any of the opening trilogy, as are any characters we really care about. Led by an honor guard of Ultramarines, whose flawless perfection make them as dull as they are to play in the table top game, they lack character and depth. Whereas in other books, we've been drawn into the real life and mindset of a marine, here there is nothing but bland duty. The most interesting character is Mhotep, a lone Brother sergeant of the Thousand Sons Legion, and his arc throughout the story is one of the few reasons I kept reading. The plot suffers from lack of feasability too. The largest most advanced ship ever created, containing a whole chapter of the Word Bearers legion is being attacked by three small cruiser with a total of roughly fifty marines on board. Those are worse odds than assaulting the Death Star. While there is nice imagery about warp travel, and particularly of the entities that dwell there, as well as a deepening understanding of the Word Bearers legion, this alone does not suffice to make this a good read.
The main problem with Abyss, is it doesn't feel like its part of the rest of the saga; a problem that blighted the dire 'Descent of Angels'. It doesn't really connect you with what's happening in the rest of the emerging heresy. While one could say the same of Dan Abnetts excellent 'Legion' that at least pulled one through with its intricate plot and brilliant twist. Abyss feels like a stand alone book, and suffers, I feel, from bad writing.
So while we wait eagerly for this tale to unfold, leading to its final ulmtimate conclusion, Abyss is a sad let down. And its a few more months till 'Mechanicum' comes out. Im sure you will buy this book anyway, particularly if you have read the previous installments, but I've been slating my thirst for tales of heresy by reading the opening five books again.
How I wish Black Library had replaced this book with the tale of the raising of Prospero by the Space Wolves. Now thats a tale I really want to read.
A pointless book November 10, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book is perhaps the worst-written book that I have ever read. Granted, it is the Black Library which doesn't inspire much confidence in plot or storyline to begin with, but there is absolutely no reason this book should have been written other than the fact that Games Workshop wants more of your money with no regard for quality. There are so many grammatical mistakes and misspelled words in this book, that I have a very hard time believing that an editor even looked at this before it went to print, and with spell-checking it's even more confusing as to how this got to market.
That said, this book does nothing to advance the Horus Heresy at all.
It is pointless to spend any money on this book.
 Another great chapter in the HH History October 21, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Many people don't realize the actual scope of the Horus Heresy, it took years for the plots to thicken and unfold. Many of the stories actually happen in the same time frames, so readers think "this book has nothing to do with the HH", or "I don't understand why this book ended with a cliffhanger". This is a "Historical" account of many events leading up and explaining what happened to lead up to, during and the final confrontation of the Horus Heresy. If you expect the story to end in 3 books, well perhaps this isn't the series for you. Personally I think it is a great concept.
This book I liked alot as it showed the different aspects of several chapters viewpoints in the 40K universe, yet they stuck together and faught against chaos in the name of there beloved emperor.If you are true die-hard 40k reader buy this book.
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