Battle for the Abyss

The Horus Heresy, Book 8

By: Ben Counter

Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong

Now that news of Horus' treachery is in the open, a time of testing has come. Some Legions have already declared their allegiance to the Warmaster while the loyalty of others lies firmly with the Emperor. As Horus deploys his forces, loyalist Astartes learn that a massive Wordbearers fleet is heading to Ultramar, home of the Ultramarines.

Unless they can intercept the fleet and destroy the mighty battleship that has been sent to reinforce it, the Ultramarines may suffer a blow from which they will never recover.

©2008 Games Workshop Limited (P)2014 Games Workshop Limited

A long tedious journey to a fantastic climax

To put to words the first 7 hours of this book were alright. Hard to follow but fairly solid storytelling in some parts, but overall didn't do much to hold your attention. Characters during this time were interchangeable aside from a couple of notables. Unlikeable even which is a big deal. Even with the battle halfway through the story, it was still rather bland. That was until the ending. The ending kicked so much ass I can't go into detail due to obvious spoilers and well a lot happens. But for the last 3 hours of the book, the story and characters grab onto you and don't let go until the final lines of the book. Overall the ending really saved this book from being a loose 3 stars for me.

Good for what it is.

It’s filler. Not necessary to the broader Horus Heresy at all. A rag-tag team of loyalist Astartes stop a traitor plot; that’s the whole story.
As a standalone, it’s fine. If you treat it like background 40k content and not essential canon, it’s enjoyable enough. It’s basically “Friends” or “The Office” for 40k fans; something you throw on without worrying about missing anything important.

There is one thing however. The narrator has three voices: posh Ultramarine, Nordic Space Wolf, and full-on Count Dracula.

Good story

Like the story very much. Had the beginning I was looking for before the battle on Calph. Go Ultra Marines.

fuck Corfaron

all my homes hate Eribis and Corfaron. and for good reason. without those two none of this woulda happened

love this series

loved it, took me a little longer to finish than some others but still incredible.