Horus Heresy (novels) - Reception

Reception

Several novels in The Horus Heresy series have appeared in UK and US science fiction charts, have occupied high positions in Nielsen BookScan genre lists, and since early 2010 have often charted in The New York Times Bestseller List for mass-market paperbacks.

Critical reception of individual titles has been mixed, yet the general tone of reviews has been mostly positive. Although the series overall has been viewed favourably, there have been complaints about its length, the multitude of characters and narrative threads, and the timeline jumps or repetitions caused by the nonlinear storytelling. The evolving series is said to have gradually acquired a backstory and terminology of its own; this has lead reviewers to question the accessibility of individual stories to new or casual readers.

Sales

Early in its publishing history, the series became a sales success in its category. Horus Rising by Dan Abnett, the opening title, set the pace shortly after its release, topping Locus magazine's "Locus Bestsellers: Gaming-Related" list of August 2006; as of Book 22 (September 2012), practically every title in the series had achieved the same or similar performance on this chart. Horus Rising's January 2011 CD audiobook release also appeared in ranked sales lists: the (abridged) edition was number 15 in a related chart published by The Bookseller, covering 2011 UK sales up to September.

Legion by Abnett, and Battle for the Abyss by Ben Counter, were listed in Nielsen BookScan's list of top‑20 fictional works by small publishers for the year ending on 23 August 2008; the books appeared in eighth and sixteenth place respectively. The next published title, Mechanicum by Graham McNeill, entered The Bookseller's "Top 20 Fiction Heatseekers" chart of 5 December 2008, shortly after its release, at number 10; series titles have consistently appeared in this list.

A Thousand Sons by McNeill was released in February 2010 and arrived at number 22 on The New York Times Bestseller List, the first ever novel on the Black Library imprint to do so. Nemesis by James Swallow followed, reaching number 26 on the List in August 2010. The First Heretic, by Aaron Dembski‑Bowden, reached number 28 in the weekly chart in November 2010 and stayed on the List for a second week, at number 33. Abnett's Prospero Burns was next, reaching number 16 in January 2011; this title also topped a science fiction and fantasy book chart published by The Times (London) in March of the same year.

The compilation Age of Darkness, edited by Christian Dunn, also entered The New York Times Best Sellers List, in May 2011, at number 31. Book 19, Know No Fear, again by Abnett, continued the trend: it appeared at number 21 in March 2012. It was followed on the List by the next series title, The Primarchs, a compilation edited by Dunn, which occupied position 29 during the week of 17 June 2012; in addition, The Primarchs had placed first in Publishers Weekly's science fiction bestsellers listing for the week of 28 May 2012. In September 2012 Fear to Tread by Swallow entered The New York Times Best Sellers List at number 13, at the time the highest entry on that chart for a series novel; the book remained on the List the week after (week of 23 September), at number 33.