Horus Heresy: The Outcast Dead/Deliverance Lost

Since last I spoke of the Horus Heresy series, I have read not one, but two further novels in the series; The Outcast Dead, by Graham McNeill and Deliverance Lost by Gav Thorpe. And now I shall make discussion of them, as is traditional. 

It's been a while since I read them though, and I've read a few other things since then, so I'll not do a full analysis (hahahaha shut up, you know what I mean) but rather just a quick comparison between the two, and why they are, taken back to back, such a good example of why I enjoy this series so much, even after having read almost 20 books. 

Which is not to say that they are good books, necessarily. 

In fact, Deliverance Lost is pretty much the definition of a poor book, and The Outcast Dead, while better; as you'd expect from Graham McNeill; is far from without it's flaws. 

It's in their subject matter, rather than the quality of the work involved, that they serve as good examples of the Horus Heresy series' current charm; namely, it's versatility. In the early days of the series it ran the risk of, and often succumbed to, repetition; so many novels, by so many authors, all recounting this Space Marine battle or that one, but the wider ramifications of the great betrayal at the heart of the series, and the intricacies of how this Universe actually functioned, were never explored; or  if they were it was in a perfunctory manner designed to give you just enough information to herd you to the next gunfight. 

Of late, things have changed.

We'd had hints of a new direction for a while; notably, but not exclusively, in the 13th book, Nemesis. It was with book 16 though; novella collection Age of Darkness; that they fully embarked on their new direction. These two books embrace that change wholeheartedly, with TOD dealing with events among the 'little people' on Earth for the first time, and DL, while it does deal with Space Marines and has a couple of battles, has as it's main focus a story of obsession, genetic engineering and espionage. As I said above, neither book is entirely successful and DL falls apart completely at the end but it's pleasing to see these new avenues being explored, and new story telling roads being traveled. 

I'm not suggesting for one second that Space Marine battles should be excised completely from the series; it's entirely based on a tabletop game involving Space Marines shooting each other; but it's nice that they're acknowledging that they have created, perhaps by accident, a Universe ripe for exploration. Some very good writers ply their trade in the Warhammer/Warhammer 40,000 tie-in range; as well as some very bad ones of course; and it should be interesting to see what they come up with now that they're free to spread their wings. Mistakes will be made, like Deliverance Lost, but when they find their rhythm I predict some excellent space opera could be forthcoming. Can't wait.