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Graham McNeill
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A Thousand Sons (The Horus Heresy) Paperback – March 1, 2010

by Graham McNeill (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 161 ratings
Goodreads Choice Award nominee
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Censured at the Council of Nikea for his flagrant use of sorcery, Magnus the Red and his Thousand Sons Legion retreat to their homeworld of Prospero to continue their use of the arcane arts in secret. But when the ill-fated primarch forsees the treachery of Warmaster Horus and warns the Emperor with the very powers he was forbidden to use, the Master of Mankind dispatches fellow primarch Leman Russ to attack Prospero itself. But Magnus has seen more than the betrayal of Horus and the witnessed revelations will change the fate of his fallen Legion, and its primarch, forever.
Previous page
  1. Print length
    558 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    The Black Library
  4. Publication date
    March 1, 2010
  5. Dimensions
    4.17 x 0.98 x 6.73 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1844168085
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1844168088
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ The Black Library (March 1, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 558 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1844168085
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1844168088
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 9.4 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.17 x 0.98 x 6.73 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 161 ratings

About the author

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Graham McNeill

Graham McNeill

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Hailing from Scotland, Graham McNeill narrowly escaped a career in Surveyinh to join Games Workshop, where he worked for six years as a games developer. In addition to many novels, including False Gods, Fulgrim and Mechanicum for the prestigious Hoeus Hersey series, Graham has written a host of sf and fantasy short stories. He lives in Nottingham, UK.

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
161 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome....Mcneil delivers on this one
Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2010
Verified Purchase
I've been one of the more vocal critics on Mcneil's work of late, feeling that some of his heresy and sigmar and ultramarine books have fallen far short of some of his earlier works.

But this one delivers. From the view point of the Thousand Sons Space marines, it delves more deeply into the minds of the primarchs like Magnus than any of the heresy books, which up this point have done a poor job of doing the Primarchs any justice in describing their powers and personalities.

Forget the view from the Space Wolves, you see how to a great extent that the Thousand Sons were treated with great injustice and hypocrisy by the Emperor, Leman Russ, and Mortarion. Read this book and you'll see how the Thousand Sons were set up or allowed to fail from the very beginning. If you're wondering at that, let's just say the mutation problems started at the gene labs on terra, not in the times of Chaos just before the Rubric.

Where before the Thousand Sons have been painted as villains, you see any thing but as their homeworld is viciously attacked by Russ, the Praetorians, and the Sisters of Silence. The courage Ahriman and the thousand sons show in defense of their homeworld has not been seen in this series since stand of Saul Tarvitz's loyalists.

There are some questions though as how the Thousand Sons could be on the Planet of sorcerers all that time and yet have been named in accounts as being part of the attack on Terra as well as having battle with the Space Wolves on other worlds.

But after you see the hypocrisy in the attack(like Wulfen attacking thousand sons for being mutant sorcerers), you will see Magnus' legion differently.

The flew to close to the sun, but the thousand sons are now not revealed to be the villains they have been painted to be in the Space Wolves books. The Thousand Sons in the space wolves have become totally corrupted at that point and you're looking at a totally different group marines than the heroes that stand bravely in this book.
9 people found this helpful
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Justin & Kathryn Floyd
4.0 out of 5 stars read this with Prospero Burns
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2014
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Good two-part read, A Thousand Sons followed by Prospero Burns. If you like 40k and the Horus Heresy story, you will enjoy these. Thousand Sons legion are good guys with questionable methods juxtaposed with the Space Wolves, loyal to a fault but brutal, even to their own brothers...
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Brandon Martinez
5.0 out of 5 stars A great read
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2011
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I have to say this is the best book of the Horus Heresy series I have read so far, and I have read about 8 of them. This book was pretty well written, a few typos here and there but not to bad. It has good action sequences and plenty of plot twists. It is also the first time you get to see the Emperor speak in any of the books. But the reason I like it so much is because the "bad" guys the Thousand Sons legion and Magnus the Red are so well done, that I really identify with them and actually was rooting for them even though I knew what the outcome was going to be. Generally I don't identify with evil characters at all. In all the other books I honestly felt no love for the heretics and chaos marines. But I am a Thousand Sons fan now after reading this book. So a must read if you are into WH40k and the Horus Heresy.
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Christopher D. Thompson
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2010
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I have been reading about the Warhammer 40,000 universe for years. During that time I have read hints of the tragedy of the Thousand Sons and their Primarch, Magnus the Red. It is wonderful to finally read what exactly happened. It was kind of a bummer already knowing the end result of the book, but the author didn't leave me wanting for the material included. This book is written well and makes for a excellent read. I recommend it to anyone who has some experience reading the about this alternate universe.

Chris
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Dr. Evil
5.0 out of 5 stars McNeil at his BEST!
Reviewed in the United States on May 8, 2014
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Magnus the Red and his merry band of Witch Kings, break the Emperor's Treaty. What does the Emperor do? He sends the Wolf, just like Marcellus Wallace. Leman's boys come to Prospero to enforce the treaty (genocide the Thousand Sons). They land unmolested, finally Magnus unleashes his Sons. The Wolves are an unstoppable, but the Sons do not die quietly. The mental pictures McNeil's creates are fantastic. Could not put it down.
One person found this helpful
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A Disappointed Reader
4.0 out of 5 stars Is gud
Reviewed in the United States on October 13, 2019
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A lot of really good lore and a story that leaves you hoping for a better ending than the one you know is coming.
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Idiosyncracy
5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT 40K book
Reviewed in the United States on August 12, 2015
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EXCELLENT 40K book.

Not only does it give you amazing detail on the chapter, but also some of the biggest key points of the Heresy!!!
I was blown away as I was not expecting that.
Once again, Graham McNeil proves to me he is my number ONE Warhammer author!
One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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LawsonPI
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best in the series
Reviewed in Canada on January 5, 2015
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Couldn't put it down. One of the best in the series
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Superfly
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Book of the Horus Heresy yet (read the first 10)
Reviewed in Germany on July 6, 2012
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This book is refreshingly diffrent from the start of the series. It manages with a lot less battles but makes up for it with keen insights to the Emperor's past and plans for the future, as well as how the "Thousand Sons" percieve the Warp. In the end i really felt pity for Magnus (well, maybe already from the first few pages) and althouh i don't really know the Legion per se in M41, regarding the time of heresy they are my most favorite of the 18 Legions.

Do follow up with "Prospero Burns" as it completes the picture.

Also, if you are a little sick of the books where it's 80% Spacemarine putting bolt or chainsword into something, go and read "Legion". I think it's one of a kind and will remain that way as far as heresy books are concerned.
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P. Stearman
5.0 out of 5 stars A great tragedy!
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 31, 2010
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I very much enjoyed this book, a well told story with generally well fleshed out characters and a very convincing and sympathetic portrayal of the Thousand sons and there troubled past and seemingly bright future under Magnus the Red.
That said not all the characters get developed that much but with a big story to cover that would have eaten up necarsary pages, Ahriman is the main protagonist and we see much through his eyes. He comes over as a genuine human whose intentions are all for the good, as with Magnus, and therein lies the great tragedy, the road to hell is paved with good intentions!
Some have said this book is a little 'slow' but I think what they mean is 'We want more battles!'. The pace of this story and themes of power and knowledge give this book a deeper undercurrent than some of the others in the series and much for the reader to consider.
I also liked that there was no simple division of good guys/bad guys.. loyal hero/evil traitor in this work. Little is black and white and therein lies another theme of the work. The Thousand sons come over as seekers of knowledge for the greater good whilst the space wolves come over as a bunch of ignorant barbarians. Looking forward to seeing how it seems from the other side and as mentioned by others its a shame that its counterpart is not here now, but nevermind, I'll happily re-read this before Wolves of Prospero comes out.
4 people found this helpful
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jareld r.
4.0 out of 5 stars Good service
Reviewed in Canada on June 15, 2019
Verified Purchase
Arrived as described and couldn't be more content with it.
Sellers sent a follow and delivery confirmation email, which was good
Only improvement would be shipping speed, but it went through customs to get to me which takes its own time as well
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jareld r.
4.0 out of 5 stars Good service
Reviewed in Canada on June 15, 2019
Arrived as described and couldn't be more content with it.
Sellers sent a follow and delivery confirmation email, which was good
Only improvement would be shipping speed, but it went through customs to get to me which takes its own time as well
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Agnes Hartmann
5.0 out of 5 stars Hält was es verspricht
Reviewed in Germany on April 6, 2013
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Graham McNeill ist definitiv einer der Black Library Autoren, die man lesen kann. Mir persönlich gefällt sein Schreibstil noch deutlich besser als der von dan Abnett, da er nicht nur unendlich langatmige Schlachten beschreibt, sondern wirklich ein durchgehender Plot, Gefühlsleben von beschriebenen Charakteren und Immersion geboten wird. Der Roman ist größtenteils aus der Sicht von Ahriman, dem Chief Librarian (war das auf Deutsch Großscriptor oder so? - hach ja die Übersetzungen - der Grund weswegen ich auf Englisch lese) der Thousand Sons geschrieben. Da er allerdings in der Handlung so weit voranschreitet, dass er tatsächlich mit der Zerstörung Prosperos endet, wunderte ich mich doch warum da noch eine Fortsetzung namens "Prospero Burns" geschrieben wurde... (man lese weiter in meiner vernichtenden Kritik der Fortsetzung). Naja - tolles Buch für sich allein stehend, bloß nicht die Fortsetzung lesen!
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