Horus Rising Audiobook By Dan Abnett cover art

Horus Rising

The Horus Heresy, Book 1

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Horus Rising

By: Dan Abnett
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
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Audiobook 1 in the Horus Heresy Saga

After centuries of expansion and conquest, the human Imperium is at its height. His dream for humanity accomplished, the Emperor hands over the reins of power to his Warmaster, Horus, and heads back to Terra.

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It all begins here. Witness Horus the hero, humanity's greatest champion and the Emperor's favoured son, before it all goes horribly, tragically wrong…

THE STORY
It is the 31st Millennium. Under the benevolent leadership of the Immortal Emperor, the Imperium has stretched out across the galaxy. It is a golden age of discovery and conquest. But now, on the eve of victory, the Emperor leaves the front lines, entrusting the great crusade to his favourite son, Horus.

Promoted to Warmaster, can the idealistic Horus carry out the Emperor's grand plan, or will this promotion sow the seeds of heresy amongst his brothers? Horus Rising is the first chapter in the epic tale of the Horus Heresy, a galactic civil war that threatened to bring about the extinction of humanity.

Written by Dan Abnett. Narrated by Jonathan Keeble. Runtime 12 hours 22 minutes approx.

©2026 Games Workshop Limited (P)2026 Games Workshop Limited Science Fiction Space Opera War
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the story is incredible and is pretty well accepted as THE starting point. I personally loved Toby Longworths narration of this book myself but I recognize that subjectively some people may not have. Jonathan Keeble is my favorite hands down and so I'm incredibly pleased this was made, I used to think how amazing it would be if we re-released the books to all feature him.

TLDR: if you are just wondering if this is a good audiobook the answer is yes.
TLDR: if you are just wondering if this a more good audiobook with Keeble or Longworth the answer is also yes

you already know the book is incredible and if you didnt then get it already what are you even doin with your life bro

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.. I still prefer Toby Longworth's rendition.
Longworth's Loken, Abbadon, and <shudder> Samus are still superior. Keeble's side characters popped a little more, but I still prefer Longworth's cadence and emotion (where appropriate).

I adore Jonathan Keeble, but...

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Excellent narration and sound work. I was easily able to follow along with the book, even at work with loud equipment. 10/10

A Great Experience All Around

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Echoing the others' reviews, I appreciate Johnathan Keeble's narration. I feel he offers more emotional range in his renditions of characters, and he does so much for immersion in ever novel he performs.

*However*, for the early heresy novels, I prefer the original narration of Toby Longworth. There's a level of calm, or pressure and intrigue, that Longworth has in his dry and accented tone. Keeble, on the other hand, makes everything so tense, and that makes the Siege of Terra/TEATD such a monumental work of art. The opening novels, however? The tension is just too much, too fast.

That's just a personal preference, though. I would much rather these Reduxes be focused on the mid to late Heresy novels, like Prospero or the Blood Angels novels. I remember asking myself for this match up once before, but actually having it makes me appreciate the original more. Regardless, this is still a great performance, and I pray Keeble continues to narrate the Heresy and 40K books.

Heresy Redux?

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Don’t get me wrong; I love Toby Longworth, Garreth Armstrong, David Timson. They’re truly masters of the narration craft.

But Jonathan Keeble is on a different level entirely, at least for me. If you really want to experience JK at his best, don’t miss out on Saturnine.

The proof is in the audio.

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