Warhammer 40,000 author Dan Abnett answers fan questions regarding lore, storytelling, and worldbuilding across his novels.
Uploaded by Ars Technica, 2021 · Watch on YouTube ·
Abnett plans to begin a new arc of Gaunt's Ghosts novels exploring the regiment in unusual circumstances, with other Sabbat Worlds Crusade material planned to appear beforehand.
“I'm going to go back and bring in a new arc of books”
Abnett reveals that while he is bound by strict non-disclosure rules, meetings have taken place and he is very optimistic about the development of the Eisenhorn series.
“very optimistic about the way it's going to shape up”
Abnett notes that the massive twist in Penitent required special permission from Games Workshop and was kept secret for years, with major ramifications planned for the sequel, Pandemonium.
Abnett identifies the Sons of Horus as his favorite Traitor Legion due to their tragic arc and the bond he formed with them while launching the Horus Heresy series.
“having written Horus Rising and set that all in motion”
Abnett recounts how the entire Horus Heresy storyline originated as a budgetary constraint for the tabletop game Adeptus Titanicus, which could only afford a single mold for both opposing sides.
Abnett reveals he did not plan the iconic line, 'I was there the day Horus slew the Emperor,' far in advance. He came up with it on the spot when sitting down to write the opening scene, playing on readers' expectations of the lore.
“I honestly don't know how much I thought about that opening line which has now become very famous”
Abnett deliberately avoided classic Warhammer 40,000 alien species like Tyranids or Orks on the planet Murder. Instead, he invented brand-new creatures like the Megarachnids to emphasize that the Great Crusade was a frontier expedition into the unknown.
Abnett designed the 30K Space Marines, including the Mournival, around classical concepts like the four bodily humours to reflect an age of reason. Unlike their dogmatic 40K descendants, they were trained as statesmen and philosophers meant to lead humanity once the Crusade ended.
Abnett explains that writing franchise tie-in novels means balancing personal creative instincts with reader expectations. He focuses primarily on writing what would entertain him as a fan, while accepting that no book will satisfy every reader.
Abnett recalls a confidential meeting early in the series where Games Workshop's head of IP explained the internal canonical truth behind the Emperor. This conceptual framework was intended to guide the authors behind the scenes without ever being fully spelled out to the audience.
21 books, 4 series; 3 reviewed on LuvemBooks. Dates and covers from Amazon.
4.7/5
reader rating · 2,303 ratingsKnow No Fear is the nineteenth book in the Horus Heresy series, written by Dan Abnett, depicting the catastrophic Word Bearers' assault on the Ultramarines at Calth — an act of total, unprovoked betrayal that drags Roboute Guilliman's Legion into a desperate fight for survival. Black Library named it a Hall of Fame title in October 2016, calling it one of the series' most impactful entries.
Reviewed Oct 10, 2026
4.6/5
reader rating · 2,058 ratingsProspero Burns is the fifteenth entry in Black Library's Horus Heresy series, written by Dan Abnett, following Imperial archaeologist Kasper Hawser as he is adopted by the Space Wolves legion as an oral historian and witnesses Leman Russ's march on the sorcerer-world of Prospero. It earns attention for Abnett's immersive world-building and command of battle writing, though readers expecting wall-to-wall combat will find its pacing demands patience.
Reviewed Oct 7, 2026
4.7/5
reader rating · 136 ratingsTales of Heresy is the tenth entry in the New York Times bestselling Horus Heresy series, a seven-story anthology set during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy, written by Dan Abnett, Mike Lee, Anthony Reynolds, James Swallow, Gav Thorpe, Graham McNeill, and Matthew Farrer. It earns attention as an essential companion piece that fills narrative gaps and expands the cast of the broader series.
Reviewed Oct 6, 2026
4.6/5
reader rating · 177 ratingsLegion is the seventh entry in Black Library's Horus Heresy series, written by Dan Abnett, and centres on the enigmatic Alpha Legion and their primarch Alpharius Omegon as a shadowy organisation called the Cabal attempts to sway the Legion's allegiance before the galaxy-spanning civil war erupts. It stands as one of the series' most distinctive instalments, built around deliberate ambiguity rather than straightforward heroics.
Reviewed Oct 6, 2026
4.7/5
reader rating · 9,356 ratingsHorus Rising is the first novel in the 54-book Horus Heresy series, published by Games Workshop's Black Library imprint. Written by Dan Abnett, it chronicles the early 31st millennium during the Great Crusade, centering on Horus Lupercal — Primarch of the Luna Wolves Legion and the Emperor's most favored son — as he is elevated to the rank of Warmaster and the first tremors of rebellion begin to surface. The novel is the foundational entry point for one of science fantasy fiction's most ambitious shared-universe series, and one that Wikipedia's reception overview describes as having earned critical approval and frequent bestseller list appearances across its run.
Reviewed May 7, 2026
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