The Solar War
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- Create Date：2021-06-01 11:54:56
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：John French
- ISBN：1789992907
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Summary
Explore the final stages of the New York Times Bestselling Series The Horus Heresy in this fantastic miniseries， a must have for all fans！
After seven years of bitter war， the end has come at last for the conflict known infamously as the Horus Heresy。 Terra now lies within the Warmaster’s sights， the Throneworld and the seat of his father’s rule。 Horus’ desire is nothing less than the death of the Emperor of Mankind and the utter subjugation of the Imperium。 He has become the ascendant vessel of Chaos， and amassed a terrible army with which to enact his will and vengeance。 But the way to the Throne will be hard as the primarch Rogal Dorn， the Praetorian and protector of Terra， marshals the defences。 First and foremost， Horus must challenge the might of the Sol System itself and the many fleets and bulwarks arrayed there。 To gain even a foothold on Terran soil， he must first contend the Solar War。 Thus the first stage of the greatest conflict in the history of all mankind begins。
After seven years of bitter war， the end has come at last for the conflict known infamously as the Horus Heresy。 Terra now lies within the Warmaster’s sights， the Throneworld and the seat of his father’s rule。 Horus’ desire is nothing less than the death of the Emperor of Mankind and the utter subjugation of the Imperium。 He has become the ascendant vessel of Chaos， and amassed a terrible army with which to enact his will and vengeance。 But the way to the Throne will be hard as the primarch Rogal Dorn， the Praetorian and protector of Terra， marshals the defences。 First and foremost， Horus must challenge the might of the Sol System itself and the many fleets and bulwarks arrayed there。 To gain even a foothold on Terran soil， he must first contend the Solar War。 Thus the first stage of the greatest conflict in the history of all mankind begins。
Reviews
Ian
，
Pretty dull - I'm not particularly invested in the HH series and found this a bit of a slog to get through。。 the repetitive action scene-cliff hanger-unrelated monologue wore thin and a lot felt unfortunately filler-y。I listened to the audiobook and the narrator had a great delivery。。 and it was nice for the heretic Astartes not have something other than the standards 'evil voice' in most 40k stuff。It's not badly written and will probably appeal to a lot of folk。。 but it's too little story sprea Pretty dull - I'm not particularly invested in the HH series and found this a bit of a slog to get through。。 the repetitive action scene-cliff hanger-unrelated monologue wore thin and a lot felt unfortunately filler-y。I listened to the audiobook and the narrator had a great delivery。。 and it was nice for the heretic Astartes not have something other than the standards 'evil voice' in most 40k stuff。It's not badly written and will probably appeal to a lot of folk。。 but it's too little story spread to thin with too much wheel spinning。 。。。more
Andrew Alvis
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John kicked the Siege off in a big way。 A great start to the final leg of the Horus Heresy。
Edward
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Not really my cup of tea。 There are only so many ways you can describe a space ship blowing up， I suppose。 Only really cared about a few of the intertwined stories， although Mersadie's was the best。 Not really my cup of tea。 There are only so many ways you can describe a space ship blowing up， I suppose。 Only really cared about a few of the intertwined stories， although Mersadie's was the best。 。。。more
Siobhan Harmer
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 LOOOOOOOOOKEN！
Justin T
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（Audiobook）
Chris
，
This was a disappointing book。 I have read other books by this author and loved them。 The writing in this book was boring and filled with run on sentences and contradictory statements。 The story itself is a great addition to the overall history of the 40k universe as long as you can get through the bad writing。
Jessica Woods
，
One word: Boring。 French clearly spent a lot of time in the bath tub with rubber duckies and toy ships as a child because he is excellent at describing ships and fleet warfare。 Unfortunately that's the only place he excels here。 In addition， French was also clearly traumatized by Blood Angels players as a kid， because he goes out of his was to all but omit them from the narrative。 The characters' are bland and have the personalities of granite blocks。 The combat is about as fun as sitting throug One word: Boring。 French clearly spent a lot of time in the bath tub with rubber duckies and toy ships as a child because he is excellent at describing ships and fleet warfare。 Unfortunately that's the only place he excels here。 In addition， French was also clearly traumatized by Blood Angels players as a kid， because he goes out of his was to all but omit them from the narrative。 The characters' are bland and have the personalities of granite blocks。 The combat is about as fun as sitting through a long winded algebra class and French clearly doesn't trust you to picture groups of people however you want because instead of describing a crowd of people as a crowd he will describe it as "The Men and Women of the crowd"。。。。。 What， afraid our train of thought wont be diverse enough or something do you？ On that note， why doesn't he ever describe it as the "women and the men？" always guys first， its almost like he's suggesting something。。。。 。。。more
Chris Bowley
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"Clunky and confused narrative" - anonymous review on audibleThe main problem is that there are way too many story arcs。 These arcs are mostly unrelated （other than they are happening at approximately the same time in the story） and do not converge as the book progresses。 Some of these arcs seem to exist solely to take up some of the word count。 As an example - the book spends some time on Abaddon's backstory and whilst this is fairly interesting and well-written， has no place in this novel。 I w "Clunky and confused narrative" - anonymous review on audibleThe main problem is that there are way too many story arcs。 These arcs are mostly unrelated （other than they are happening at approximately the same time in the story） and do not converge as the book progresses。 Some of these arcs seem to exist solely to take up some of the word count。 As an example - the book spends some time on Abaddon's backstory and whilst this is fairly interesting and well-written， has no place in this novel。 I wouldn't even say Abaddon is a main character here。It felt similar to Praetorian of Dorn （though a little bit better） in that there is a whole lot of nothing going on that hardly furthers the story。 If you did however like that book， you'll probably like this too。 It's a bit of a shame because there are some very good and memorable individual scenes which almost bumps it up to 3 stars。 。。。more
Tom Pearson
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I'm a big fan of John French's ability to write within the 40k universe anyway， so was always going to enjoy this novel。 Horus has arrived， he's at the gates of Earth， and The Solar War is the perfect entrance！ Really enjoyed this， fans of 40k， the Horus Heresy， and large scale space battles will too。 I'm a big fan of John French's ability to write within the 40k universe anyway， so was always going to enjoy this novel。 Horus has arrived， he's at the gates of Earth， and The Solar War is the perfect entrance！ Really enjoyed this， fans of 40k， the Horus Heresy， and large scale space battles will too。 。。。more
Ray
，
Having read a large number of Horus Heresy novels in the build up to the Siege， and knowing that this is only a 8 book series I had high expectations starting this book。 This book failed to meet those expectations。 While it was no surprise that Horus arrives at Terra， having a hole story where this is achieved by the warp just ruined the story。 Having continued to read the series I would recommend skipping this book and beginning with book two of the siege。
Michael Good
，
What an absolute load of shite！ 10 or so f****** years I have waited for the ending and it was so shocking I’m genuinely fuming！ All this time and the greatest naval encounter in history was that dogshit。 I’m speechless， how has that been published。 I am truly fed up of reading 40k， fuck it I’m reading GOT books。 Does anyone get bored to fuck with utter ridiculous chaos ritual bull shit。 It’s that far fetched and shit I can’t read it half the time。 If written well and done with some limitations What an absolute load of shite！ 10 or so f****** years I have waited for the ending and it was so shocking I’m genuinely fuming！ All this time and the greatest naval encounter in history was that dogshit。 I’m speechless， how has that been published。 I am truly fed up of reading 40k， fuck it I’m reading GOT books。 Does anyone get bored to fuck with utter ridiculous chaos ritual bull shit。 It’s that far fetched and shit I can’t read it half the time。 If written well and done with some limitations it reads well。 Yea the warp is a fucking mess and it’s hard to get your head round some of it but make it believable。 What the fuck happened to Jubal Khan？？！ One the greatest warriors to take part in the crusade and he’s cast aside like a nobody why even bother。 Too much shit descriptive bollocks， pointlessly wasting pages when John French should of been blowing our minds with duels of heroes and raw naval engagements。 I understand the ending is set in stone so plot twists maybe difficult but that just seemed like the ending of GOT all over again。 Yea cheers pal。 I’m gutted。 A decade or so building up to this。 Pure shit。 Looking back， the books have got worse and worse。 。。。more
Augustus Neary
，
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Spoilers Ahead， be Warned。I have many conflicting feelings about this novel。 I went into it with high expectations， and incredibly excited to dive into the events of the siege of Terra。 But as I began reading I was left confused， and momentum-less。 The events that take place in this book in themselves are very exciting and truly impressive， but I found myself having a very challenging time following exactly what was happening。 I’d read a chapter， and go “huh？”。 I don’t know if that’s my skills a Spoilers Ahead， be Warned。I have many conflicting feelings about this novel。 I went into it with high expectations， and incredibly excited to dive into the events of the siege of Terra。 But as I began reading I was left confused， and momentum-less。 The events that take place in this book in themselves are very exciting and truly impressive， but I found myself having a very challenging time following exactly what was happening。 I’d read a chapter， and go “huh？”。 I don’t know if that’s my skills as a reader in question， or perhaps John French going a bit too wordy with his descriptions of void battles and the like， but I had a real struggle imagining and attaching myself to most of the events happening within this book for the first 3 acts。 I also was very disappointed by the lack of momentum I felt while reading this book， I felt myself being dragged back to it solely to finish it rather than being impulsed and excited to jump back in。 I feel like John French bit off a bit more than he could chew with the amount of characters within this novel; there’s so much jumping around with such a variety of characters I didn’t feel myself becoming that attached to any of them like I have in previous 40K novels。 Mersadies story of survival and flight which should have been very impactful didn’t really have any effect on me until she finally comes back into contact with Garviel。 The two kids she protects。。。 well felt cheap and it would have been better if they weren’t in the book at all。 I LOVED the story of Jubal Kahn and the White Scars， but felt they weren’t fleshed out enough and they’re discarded as soon as their developed。 Big disappointment in those regards。 And as I mentioned before the VOID BATTLES。 Which are the meat and potatoes of this book I could not imagine for the life of me。 The wording felt over complex and convoluted， almost as if it were trying to confuse me by attempting the height of drama and expert wordsmanship。 I was so excited for these moments but could not enjoy them as I could not envision them to any scale， I would reread and still gain very little more。 There are truly some INCREDIBLE moments。 As I mentioned earlier the scenes with Jubal Khan are riveting and I couldn’t put my book down。 The scene of Neptune’s moon Laemedia was macabre and brutal， and really paints a picture of how heinous the forces of Chaos are。 Unfortunately these amazing moments are bogged down by the rest of the book in my opinion。 I genuinely believe I need to give this book a second read in a year or so; and see how I feel about it then。 With the complexity of the events and the sheer density of it all I think I’ll enjoy it much more with a second reading。 But who can say？ Perhaps I’ll have the same issues then as I have now。 。。。more
Alistair
，
So after 50+ books。。。 what is the rush to get to earth aka terra？ This was a wasted opportunity。。。。。there was was three potentially excellent books hat could have been developed here。 Instead we are given snippets of what could have been in one book that feels like I’m reading the Cole/cliff notes condensed summary。
Jack
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Not my favorite
Angus
，
It can't be easy to write a novel drawing together threads from 54 previous books while also being a fresh and exciting start to a new （sub）series， and yet John French has done just that pretty well in this beginning of the end of the Horus Heresy。As if the pitch wasn't daunting enough， The Solar War also had find some way for its readers to feel personally engaged in descriptions of tens of thousands of spaceships blowing each other apart。 Space battles in the Horus Heresy so far have often bee It can't be easy to write a novel drawing together threads from 54 previous books while also being a fresh and exciting start to a new （sub）series， and yet John French has done just that pretty well in this beginning of the end of the Horus Heresy。As if the pitch wasn't daunting enough， The Solar War also had find some way for its readers to feel personally engaged in descriptions of tens of thousands of spaceships blowing each other apart。 Space battles in the Horus Heresy so far have often been among the weaker sections， since there's only so many times that you can describe torpedoes firing， warships turning， void shields flaring and reactors going nova before it gets repetitive。 Thankfully， although there is enough void war sections that give you a sense of scale， the novel keeps most of its focus on an extensive selection of characters old and new。Impressively， The Solar War even finds time to give characters such as Abaddon some much-appreciated backstory and development， really helping to paint him as a future Warmaster。 Appearences from both Loken and Mersadie Oliton provides a nice callback all the way back to Horus Rising， and Sigismund's thankless quest for Dorn's redemption is also handled well。 The chapters rapidly shift from location to location to cover all these different perspectives， giving us a good sense of the all-encompassing nature of the titular War。 We spend a fair bit of time following Mersadie and her ship of refugees， eventually realising that there is nowhere left to run。 The wolves are at the gates， and the Imperium is making a last stand。Although I appreciated the references to past books in the series， this may well be confusing to anyone that isn't up to speed with them - even the now-customary Dramatis Personae only helps a little On the flip side， if you've read enough Horus Heresy novels you'll be wondering just how many more times we're going to see a specific number of ritual cultist sacrifices cause some Chaos mayhem which the Imperium yet again is left flat-footed by。 Dorn， in particular， doesn't have much to show for all his years of preparation， but at least he's got a few books left to make up for it。All in all， this is a solid start to the Siege of Terra， showing aspects of the War both big and small and with more twists and turns than you might expect。 。。。more
Christian Freed
，
Oh man！ This is what I've been waiting for。 Horus has finally turned his full military might on the heart of the Imperium: Terra。 What a great opening salvo as heretic armies launch their bid to claim the throne， kill the Emperor and let Chaos reign。 Too bad there are a ton of good guys with just as much savvy waiting for them- and they've had seven years to prepare。 Bring on the war！ Oh man！ This is what I've been waiting for。 Horus has finally turned his full military might on the heart of the Imperium: Terra。 What a great opening salvo as heretic armies launch their bid to claim the throne， kill the Emperor and let Chaos reign。 Too bad there are a ton of good guys with just as much savvy waiting for them- and they've had seven years to prepare。 Bring on the war！ 。。。more
Cesar Felipe
，
4。2 Stars。The immense scale of the final war of the Horus Heresy is certainly in full force here。 However， this is both a blessing and a curse for this book。Being a 40k fan and having read several books in both the 40k and Horus Heresy series， I was certainly expecting the dark and grim prose that characterizes the universe。 At the same time， John French could be accused of doing this style far too well！ The descriptions of the massive battles， and the high gravity of the human-scale situations， 4。2 Stars。The immense scale of the final war of the Horus Heresy is certainly in full force here。 However， this is both a blessing and a curse for this book。Being a 40k fan and having read several books in both the 40k and Horus Heresy series， I was certainly expecting the dark and grim prose that characterizes the universe。 At the same time， John French could be accused of doing this style far too well！ The descriptions of the massive battles， and the high gravity of the human-scale situations， have often such a dense metaphorical and ornate style that the scenes themselves--though epic and full of action--become bogged down with poetic prose and figurative imagery。 Worse still， several scenes have a dream （or more often nightmare） -like quality that because of the nature of this universe can easily transition into reality and viceversa， not to mention the appearance of flashbacks or intruding memories into the otherwise linear story。 The result is a long-winded narrative that trudges way more often than it flows， and that in my view could have told the same story in a shorter length， without so much flair and grandiosity。 But to be fair， some people （including 40k fans） will prefer this unconventional style， and I'll admit some imagery is simply jaw-dropping。 But that still makes it far from an easy read。Regardless of the style， the story gives an enjoyable feel of inevitability， of destinies fulfilled， and things converging to a meaningful finale。 And they do。。。 in part。 After all， this is just the first part of a series， so while a lot gets finality in the theater of war， it is also meant to set the stage for the rest of the conflict。 I just wish it didn't make me feel so exhausted when it is but the first book in an 8-book series！ Ah， WH40k， you rascal。 Never change， you。 。。。more
Craig Tyler
，
The story has a few background flashbacks and a lot of ship-to-ship battles， but the over-arching story of the invasion of the terran solar system by Horus is awesome。
Roberto Golović
，
Loose ends hastily tied or not at all。 Otherwise well written。
Kirt
，
Sort of like a guilty pleasure GW books ， only wish they would tighten up the stories and focus more on charcter develeopment etc
Will Curran
，
As incredible as the first three books of the Horus Heresy。 I never imagined the opening space battles of the siege of Terra would be so epic。 Possibly the best of the entire series - really looking forward to the rest。
Bushelyard
，
Början på slutet av Horus Heresy serien。 Inget man bör börja med om man vill ge sig in i Warhammer 40k bokträsket då det börjar dra ihop många av de olika story-linesen från de tidigare böckerna i HH-serien。 Med andra ord， låt dig inte luras av undertiteln "The Siege of Terra #1"。 Klassisk 40k Grimdark， så tolka betyget därefter， alltså rätt rå， med en hel del överdrivna och snäppet för långt utdragna stridsscener。 Dock väger en hel del av övriga berättelser upp för detta。 Början på slutet av Horus Heresy serien。 Inget man bör börja med om man vill ge sig in i Warhammer 40k bokträsket då det börjar dra ihop många av de olika story-linesen från de tidigare böckerna i HH-serien。 Med andra ord， låt dig inte luras av undertiteln "The Siege of Terra #1"。 Klassisk 40k Grimdark， så tolka betyget därefter， alltså rätt rå， med en hel del överdrivna och snäppet för långt utdragna stridsscener。 Dock väger en hel del av övriga berättelser upp för detta。 。。。more
John McDonnell
，
Well a few more secrets tossed to masses about the past in the 40K universe。 The narration （audio version） saves an otherwise average story。 Still worth reading。
Rory
，
The siege of Terra starts with an excellent opener， great continuation of the stories of characters from the original Horus Heresy trilogy （Horus Rising， False Gods and Galaxy in Flames）。 Am very excited to move on to The Lost and the Damned。
Robert Bailey
，
Writing about the Siege of Terra， in any capacity， is probably going to be an impossible thing to get right， but here John French does a commendable job of detailing the opening salvos of the conflict。 By combining his trademark by-the-numbers style， no doubt sharpened in the studios of Forge World， with his much more character-driven storytelling ability seeded across the Ahriman trilogy， he has been able to produce an extremely solid opening entry for this most paramount of series
Christopher Prats
，
For reference， I 'read' this title via Audible， and it is the platform I'm going to be recommending you use for this specific title。 The Horus Heresy' conclusion can only happen through the supreme expenditure of martial might， and willful defiance， because this is it。 This is the conclusion to the Warmaster's galaxy-spanning rebellion。 The immovable force that is the Praetorian's VIIth Legion and those allies he has with him versus the bulk of Horus' war host。And so naturally， I kind of expecte For reference， I 'read' this title via Audible， and it is the platform I'm going to be recommending you use for this specific title。 The Horus Heresy' conclusion can only happen through the supreme expenditure of martial might， and willful defiance， because this is it。 This is the conclusion to the Warmaster's galaxy-spanning rebellion。 The immovable force that is the Praetorian's VIIth Legion and those allies he has with him versus the bulk of Horus' war host。And so naturally， I kind of expected this one to be， well， another entry of 'bolter-porn，' as is common for these large scale book entries。 There isn't anything wrong with bolter-porn， BUT， the strength of this series， at least to me， has been the characters and how they tell the stories of this tumultuous time。 We get a well paced story wherein the grandeur of the war is balanced against the seemingly inconsequential experiences of a certain returning character from the series' opening entries。 Honestly， this was a treat， and while I love this franchise it does tend to get repetitive。 Overall， it was a very pleasant read and it led to a very satisfying， in that grim dark way only 40k manages to achieve， ending。 。。。more
Tadas Talaikis
，
Good start， then wars， wars， and nothing in a substance。
Winston
，
Some cool stuff happens but at some point in the middle I lost interest。 The end was pretty good though。 For me this book was an Oreo except with the cookie in the middle， essentially。
Lee Frost
，
And so the end begins。。。I’m really not a fan of space battles and void wars， that is the main reason for my score， however I understand the necessity for this final showdown to begin。This is war on a grand scale， with a lot of characters， but the little details that take you back more than a decade to Horus Rising make it so familiar。I cannot wait to start the next， going to feel very strange when this is all over。。。
Jorge
，
I understand the allure of giving 5 stars to this book。 Yeah， it is the Horus heresy！！ And the book is well written， with a lot of Primarchs and Space Marines and battles！！ Yeah。 OK。 May be I did imagine this lore to be a little more。。。 I do not know， but better， less focused on the characters， more diverse， more Imperial Guard& Fleet and less Primarchy。 More Human， less augmented。 This book tries， but never gives the feeling of the Imperium fighting， it is like heroes fighting and everyone else I understand the allure of giving 5 stars to this book。 Yeah， it is the Horus heresy！！ And the book is well written， with a lot of Primarchs and Space Marines and battles！！ Yeah。 OK。 May be I did imagine this lore to be a little more。。。 I do not know， but better， less focused on the characters， more diverse， more Imperial Guard& Fleet and less Primarchy。 More Human， less augmented。 This book tries， but never gives the feeling of the Imperium fighting， it is like heroes fighting and everyone else， well， dying in the background。 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=The Solar War
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=The Solar War&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft
The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,The Solar War&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0