In this book alone, James Swallow has proven his pedigree as a linguistic artist one hundred fold; There are numerous passages in this tome that had me shaking my head in disbelief at the awe-inspiring craftsmanship in this man's words; Rarely does one find such glorious, vividly awe-inspiring descriptions in such stalwart consistency. Absolutely phenomenal.

It's no First Heretic, but nonetheless a good read. The narrative does a satisfying job of answering what the heck the Blood Angels were up to when the Heresy broke out. The plot itself is pretty interesting, and involves a massive voyage into an unknown trap, which brings the Blood Angels face to face with the manifestations of Chaos. That's right: C-h-a-o-s; as in it's finally addressed by it's rightful name this time around. After numerous HH books where they sort of skirt around the issue, this one delves right into the heart of the matter, much to the shock and disbelief of the Astartes marines. One of the most interesting elements in the book is seeing how the secular-tempered Space Marines desperately struggle to find a rational explanation for what is happening around them. Even better, the machinations of both Khorne and Slaanesh play an active role in the conflict, and we begin to see the shape of wars to come as the Heresy develops further.

The characters are, by and large, standard issue Space Marines. Two exceptions to that are Apothecary Meros, and the primarch Sanguinus himself. The primarchs tend to be the most colorful characters in any of these books, and Sanguinus is no exception. He stands out in particular as being more empathetic to the human plight than any of the other trans-human "gods" shown so far. Unlike many of the other legions, the Blood Angels seem not to have forgotten who it is they're fighting to protect. They are also marred by a secret tragedy, and this bitter irony lies at the heart of the story, and characterized very poignantly as the tale unfolds. In my opinion, a good HH novel demonstrates how a legion's identity is unique within the universe, and to that effect, this novel succeeds on many levels.

This is definitely not a character-driven novel though. There are no Garviel Lokens or Argel Tals to be found. What keeps this one entertaining is the sense of a journey and ever-growing descent into madness. There are also some nice cameos from other characters we haven't seen in awhile, but I won't spoil that. Basically, if you love the Horus Heresy series as much I do, you're going to read this one. If you haven't read them all, this is one of the better ones out there.

The book itself is amazing. Really good writing from James Swallow. Years after reading it, I picked up the Audible version to listen to while painting and whoever voices Sanguinius.... I just can't. It's single-handedly the most silly sounding character voice I've ever heard. I mean, bless their hearts, they tried but the first time I heard the narrator doing Sanguinius' voice I broke out laughing. He's trying to do regal and angelic but it comes across like a high pitched, guy-imitating-a-girl, down syndrome baby. Then every time after it instantly ripped me out of the narration because you can't take anything seriously when he's doing that voice. In fact, the more serious the moment, the sillier it sounded. You kinda get used to it by the last 3rd of the novel but never quite all the way.

Do yourself a favor and just READ this book. It's great. Avoid the Audible version like Grandfather's plague.

This is one of the best Horus Heresy novels of all time. James Swallow rights some of the best chapter endings next to Graham and ADB. I cannot stop reading his books when I start...I don't even like vampire marines and I still read it twice back to back. Just as good as his more recent 'The Buried Dagger' if not better.

Fear to Tread covers what is likely the most important battle in Blood Angels history because it exposed to the IX Legion the flaw that was part of them. However, this book explores that the flaw was not caused by the death of Sanguinius, but rather was a part of their (and The Angel's) genome to begin with.

While many people seem to dislike James Swallow, I found that his writting style was engaging and that it was enjoyable. I can easily forgive any British military terms considering where 40k started, but he does have a tendancy to overuse the word "divot" as one other reviewer pointed out where he could have instead used other similar words a bit more. The book is slow to start, but it builds up in a steady manner and keeps suspense at key parts.

The only downside to the novel is that it is somewhat predictable (most Horus Heresy novels will be to an extent) due to the fact that the Black Library fleshed it out with previous works long ago. That said,a lot of new knowledge is added. I especially felt the personalities of each of the characters was developed, as well as the sense of loyalty that the Astartes have. This is a good read for any 40k fan, especially those of the Blood Angels.

It’s exceptional, perfect start and ending, the middle is a bit drawn out. Endure the slow period and you have an amazing book

My first meeting with Sanguinius, and he is even cooler and more badass than I had come to expect from what I knew of him previously. The setting and plot - the Chaos-infected system of Signus Prime, and the machinations of the Warmaster and his human and warpspawn allies, are horrifying, mesmerizing, and unforgettable - the essence of grimdark. But the character that sticks with you most of all is Brother Meros.....

Predictably this book basically just answers the question - what was [legion] doing at the time the previous events were happening? The legion is the Blood Angels, and their story here is good, pleasantly free of a lot of the beating around the bush and self insert characters that I half expected it to have. The horrors of chaos were a major focus. I think this is where I dip it down to 3 stars from 4. The demons should be portrayed an inhuman and unknowable, but here they are so up front and specific. They end up being portrayed as cliche human villains, seething at their plans being foiled, and having macho bragging sessions. The author doesn't know how to portray the madness and weirdness that is supposed to be going on. When the Angels are going berserk he just portrays them as getting a little violent, saying we are here to kill, literally, it just didn't come off as careful nor inspired. The part where the symbol of chaos is carved into a planet is also bad.

I like the overall story, lots of little details and side plots are good, give it a try, but hope for better in the series.

Another fantastic title from the Horus Heresy, which finally introduces the Blood Angels into the saga. This title explores how Sanguinius is betrayed by the brother he trusted the most, how the Blood Angels confront their genetic failure and the horrors it can unleash, reflecting on their identity and self-control, and like many other Horus Heresy's titles, the story combines high-action combat with the sneaky influence from Chaos. Fear to Tread adds another important chapter to the Horus Heresy, showing how Horus' rebellion affects one of the most beloved Legions of the Space Marines and giving readers a deeper insight into the origins and nature of the Blood Angels. I highly recommend it to fans of the legion and as one of the most important titles of the entire saga.

Nella storyline dell'universo di WH40K la figura di Sanguinius e i Blood Angels sono tra gli elementi più iconici..in questo romanzo il tentativo di Horus di corrompere o distruggere la legione creerà i presupposti per il tragico fato di Sanguinius e il suo determinante ruolo nello scontro finale tra Horus e l'Imperatore

A little slow on the begining when it establishes the relationship between Horus and Sanguinius but quickly picks up the pace as the Angel and his sons face a treat that defies logic while the Wolves observe them and the Word Bearers follow them

Quite nice actually

*Spoilers Below*

Once again we have a critical part of the heresy which previously was lacking in detail and where the story was a little questionable firmly fleshed out. So we've always known that the Blood Angels were dispatched to the Signus Cluster by Horus into a carefully laid trap and that the Blood Angels overcame this trap and returned to Terra for the final battle. But this has always been a bit of a weak spot to me, how can such a carefully laid trap really go wrong and how can the Blood Angels face down a planet full of Daemons culminating in the slaying of the Bloodthirster Ka'Bandha. Well now we know and we see the plots within plots amongst Chaos that ultimately undermines it's victory. Convincingly constructed and told and adding real depth and clarity to a legendary part of the heresy.

I thought James did an excellent job overall. I couldn't be more critical of his early work but after his first few books he's really grown into a great author and this is another fine piece. The early build up is great and I loved the mystery as the Blood Angels enter the system thinking that they are to be confronting xenos but are then under assault from unknown forces (and he really captures the idea that this is the first time the Blood Angels are encountering Daemons and how they haven't really got a clue what it is they're fighting). Loved the sense of betrayal by Sanguinius and how the next stage is setup with his now zealous hatred of Horus as he seeks vengeance. 5 Stars from me.

The blood angels are cool and all but it's poor writing to devote entire pages to describing characters or moments that have no bearing on the story. It's very poor writing to keep doing that page after page.