The Solar War – John French

This novel was first released as a limited edition hardback, before receiving a full release in May 2019.

The Siege of Terra – the final chapter of the Horus Heresy – begins with John French’s The Solar War, which tells the story of the colossal void war that forms the opening stage of the Siege. To the backdrop of the largest void battles imaginable it weaves together a compelling, character-led tale of duty, honour, determination and even hope. While Mersadie Oliton desperately searches for a way back to Terra and Sigismund seeks out atonement in battle, Abaddon cleaves to the path laid out for him by Horus and even Ahriman diligently plays his part. As the war rages on multiple fronts, these and many other individual stories play out with the fate of Terra and the Imperium in the balance.

Make no mistake, this is a complex book. It’s bold and brave, a single coherent narrative which manages to be both action-packed and deeply characterful, with the trademark Heresy achievement of fulfilling expectations and answering key questions while throwing in a few surprises along the way. It’s the sort of book which demonstrates just how painstakingly well planned it must have been by virtue of just…working. After a slightly slow start while characters are (re)introduced and arcs established, it quickly develops into a fascinating exploration of a war taking place on multiple planes – the physical and metaphysical, body and mind, the void and Terra – as seen through largely human eyes, featuring numerous viewpoint characters both established and brand new, bringing together plot threads from across the breadth of the (50+ book strong) series…and it simply feels effortless.

It’s a book which gives Dorn the chance to shine, showing the pressures and requirements laid upon him – often self-imposed – and the tension in him between restraint and release. It’s also Mersadie Oliton’s story though, reaching back to the very beginning of the series and drawing upon themes of memory, dreams, faith and purpose, which feel like familiar John French territory. On top of that you’ve got Sigismund leading the first line of defence (and kicking ass), Admiral Su-Kassen in the thick of the logistics on Terra, Abaddon in surprisingly sombre mood and reliving his youth on Cthonia…and that barely scratches the surface. The actual void war is as explosive and all-encompassing as you’d imagine, but it’s carefully balanced against a lot of emotional character work as the key players try to find their places in the ongoing events, often putting aside their personal feelings in order to do their duty and see things through to the end.

As you might expect the overall tone is pretty bleak, with a powerful sense of scale as events proceed and the sheer scope of what’s taking place is hammered home. Even by Heresy standards the incredible cost of the war – both physically and psychologically – is really emphasised, and the mixture of wide-angle bombast and small-scale introspection does a great job of covering things from both perspectives. There are flashes of hope, however, even if they’re inevitably coloured by foreshadowing for the end of the Siege and the future of characters on both sides (including some neat links to a couple of 40k series). Crucially, despite its complexity this is as gripping and entertaining a book as you could want, perfectly balancing the need for a great story in its own right with the requirement to carefully connect back to previous stories and satisfy fans who’ve followed the Heresy every step of the way. After this as the opening scene of the Siege of Terra, the following instalments have a lot to live up to.

Check out the main Horus Heresy reviews page on Track of Words.

Click here to buy The Solar War.