Fulgrim

Not my favorite, but maybe the best of the Horus Heresy.

I don't like the emperor's children or many of their characters to begin with, and this book made me dislike them more. They were prancing dandies shouting perfection perfection etc.

But! This book embraced all those annoying, offsetting, decadent, and offensive traits to make the reader hate then more and more as the book goes on. The imagery is truly top tier and while I don't like the focus of the book, it rivals Eisenhorn and Gaunt in quality. A must read if you are going through the Horus Heresy. It ties the last two books together neatly while telling its own descent into madness. And much less Lucius than the last three books. I hate that guy lol.
And David Timson did a great job too, characters were easy to tell apart.

7 of 7 people found this review helpful

Great Narration, okay story

What did you love best about Fulgrim?

The dropsite massacre, being so iconic in the heresy, is portrayed for the first time and is really quite incredible.

Would you be willing to try another book from Graham McNeill? Why or why not?

Absolutely, while Fulgrim wasn't my favourite book of his, I have read others and consider Graham McNeill to be amongst the best Black Library authors there are

Which character – as performed by David Timson – was your favorite?

I quite liked the portrayal of Eldrad Ulthran. I was curious as to how he would pull off the voice of the Eldar and I believe he did it justice

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The Istvaan V dropsite Massacre and the beheading of Ferrus Mannus

Any additional comments?

I liked the character of Fulgrim before reading this book, and now he is one of my least favourite traitor primarchs. I'm not sure what that says about the book, though.

5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Cannot Recommend for Everyone...

"Fulgrm," as a book itself is alright. It was a decent look into the Emperor's Children, and if you've read the Fabius Bile books - you see exactly why Fabius made the decision he did in book 2. Also, a call out to Saul Tarvitz and Solomon Demeter, amazing characters. Right up there with Garviel Loken, Garro, and Torgaddon. Their last moments are truly harrowing. Sadly though, Ferrus Manus. The Bruenor Battlehammer of the 40k universe he is not lol.

While I will say there were a lot of lessons to be learned through the book in terms of personal introspection and how destructive emotions such as jealousy, spite, superiority, etc can all crumble someone's inner strength - this is one of the ONLY times that I cannot recommend a book to someone based on the merits of the writing and story.

To be blunt, the book should come with a trigger, or at least an "Explicit Content" warning, and I do not state this lightly. While the fall of the Emperor's Children due to their personality and behavioral flaws are both fascinating and horrifying, it should be noted that there are visceral scenes of self-mutilation, personality disorders, sexual violence, and a level of brutality that far exceed the normal "Bolter Porn."

Marines die. They die horribly. This is standard 40k. The Grimdark and ultra-violence is not only expected but embraced by the 40k lore. It has been for 3 decades, of which I've been a part of since 1997. There's a certain level of acceptance towards the gratuity of the bloodshed - primarily due to the impersonal, "war is hell" nature of the violent actions.

This book touches on something deeper, and for those reading it in 2019, some might find the imagery unsettling, I know I did, either based on personal experiences or through an empathetic connection to loved ones and family that may have suffered from some of these issues as well.

The book is not bad by any means, however, it is unsettling. Many might say, "Well that's the point..." and I would not disagree. These issues shouldn't be hidden away, and the book confronts them openly, with a stark frankness. However, that does not mean it was handled the best way either. In this instance, there should be some pains taken by either the Black Library or Audible to have a "Know before you read..." text or blurb so that folks that are sensitive to these sorts of imagery can steel themselves for it, or pass and come back at a later date.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Rough beginning for narrator

For the first 5 or so hours I was zoning out or lost. No matter the situation the narrator sounded like he was narrating a water buffalo wandering around in some national geographic show with no emotion. The voices all sounded the same I couldn't tell who was talking. I ended up stopping for the day and when I started it again he seemed to get a better rythem although I did find myself zoning out occasionally.

3 of 5 people found this review helpful

Poor little primarch

Fulgrim... I didn't know much about his turning but to think it happens the way it does. Man.. Thats tough I love the idea. Gonna be using it in my black crusade campaign =). And fabius bile, excellent.

Nature documentary

The reader sounds like a nature document in tv and the book it self spends a tad too much time beating around the bush.

difficult start, worth it in the end.

this wasnt an easy listen fornthe 1st 3rd.
it was meh for the 2nd 3rd
it wrapped up awesome.

<br /><br />Tragedy

The cruel & tormenting passage to perfection.
Epic war.
The love betwix brothers.
Death to the false god of mankind.

Chilling and Good

The writer and reader earn their pay here with a grim account of a mighty warrior's fall to darkness. Not for the faint of heart but very well done.

dam b

my lad ferrus was taken from us too soon, and his chapter suffers. RIP. damn.