Black Library Heresy

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Lore & Background

The Horus Heresy is a dark, far-future military space opera concerning a galactic civil war within the nascent Imperium of Man, and constitutes a cornerstone event of the dystopian science fantasy Warhammer 40,000 universe. The Heresy is caused by a Chaos plot to foil the Imperium's leader and founder, the mysterious Emperor of Mankind, by fomenting rebellion and internecine warfare in the expanding Imperium of Man. The story focuses on the Emperor's 18 genetically engineered sons, the Primarchs, and the legions of genetically enhanced superhuman soldiers that they lead, the Legiones Astartes, which find themselves divided into loyalist and traitor factions as they struggle for victory. The shared universe was originally created in 1987 by Games Workshop, parent company of series publisher Black Library, as the campaign setting for the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop miniatures wargame, and in 2006 Black Library began publishing The Horus Heresy series. The series includes new characters as well as establishing the background of previously established Warhammer 40,000 characters who play an important role in the post-Heresy fictional universe.

In Their Own Story

The first three novels in The Horus Heresy are an opening book trilogy. This trilogy presents some of the background and causes of the Heresy, and describes the start of the conflict. The arc's focus is on Warmaster Horus, the principal antagonist, and covers about two years in the overall Heresy timeline; most of this period elapses before the rebellion begins. Following the trilogy, the narrative is not strictly sequential and is often presented in nonlinear fashion from book to book. Apart from the initial trilogy, the stories often concern events that happen earlier or later than their position in the series would suggest, or may include time periods already covered in other series titles. The majority of stories in The Horus Heresy are set around the start of the fictional universe's 31st millennium, in contrast to most Warhammer 40,000 material, which takes place in the 41st millennium. The stories in The Horus Heresy routinely cover the conflict's background, with some going back centuries before the war (and the 31st millennium) begins. In narrower scope, the entire conflict (including the Heresy proper and its proximate formative period), is depicted as having lasted for seven years. With few exceptions, the sequence and dating of Heresy events is implied rather than stated in The Horus Heresy stories.

Reader's Guide

The popularity of the novel series contributed to the development of The Horus Heresy as a tabletop wargame spin-off of the Warhammer 40,000 miniature wargame, launched by Games Workshop's subsidiary Forge World in 2012. Initially it was a specialist game supported through a series of campaign and army books detailing the events of the conflict, alongside a dedicated range of resin miniatures. The game later evolved into a standalone system with its own ruleset and product line, and was relaunched as Warhammer: The Horus Heresy in 2022. Furthermore, publisher Cubicle 7 announced The Horus Heresy Tabletop role-playing game to be released in 2026. A sequel series, The Scouring, began publication in December 2025.

Did You Know?

• The Horus Heresy series consists of 65 published volumes, with the concluding story The End and the Death released in three volumes.
• The final volume of the series, The End and the Death: Volume III, was released in January 2024.
• A sequel series called The Scouring began publication in December 2025.
• The Horus Heresy tabletop wargame spin-off was launched by Forge World in 2012 and relaunched as Warhammer: The Horus Heresy in 2022.
• The first three novels in the series form an opening trilogy focusing on Warmaster Horus and covering about two years in the overall Heresy timeline.