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  • Fulgrim

  • The Horus Heresy, Book 5
  • By: Graham McNeill
  • Narrated by: David Timson
  • Length: 15 hrs and 4 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (3,762 ratings)
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Fulgrim cover art

Fulgrim

By: Graham McNeill
Narrated by: David Timson
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Summary

Under the command of the newly appointed Warmaster Horus, the Great Crusade continues. Fulgrim, Primarch of the Emperor's Children, leads his warriors into battle against a vile alien foe, unaware of the darker forces that have already set their sights upon the Imperium of Man.

Loyalties are tested and every murderous whim indulged as the Emperor's Children take their first steps down the road to true corruption - a road that will ultimately lead them to the killing fields of Isstvan V....

©2007 Games Workshop Limited (P)2013 Games Workshop Limited

What listeners say about Fulgrim

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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Story
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Descent into madness

Fulgrim is a little different from most Heresy books in that its as much a horror story as it is a tragedy. Sometimes psychological, sometimes downright uncomfortable it's a far cry from the relatively straightforward morality of 40k novels. Mostly Fulgrim is the slow-burning tale of a cultured, urbane man of great learning whose love of perfection proves to be not only his own undoing but that of his Legion.

The book is quite a long one, allowing the reader to savour the full measure of the tragedy. McNeill has given the stories the full depth and context needed to follow the corruption of the Legion as a whole rather than relying on clumsy shortcuts. There's a few nods to King's Needful Things and some parts of False Gods find their way into the canvas but as a whole Fulgrim is as vast, decadent and ultimately disturbing as the artworks of the Primarch himself.

David Timson as narrator is an excellent choice. Here his tones work perfectly, capturing the honeyed, menacing tones of the Primarch and the arrogance of his Astartes. Fulgrim sounds like Edward Fox and Vespasian - Jack Hawkins. Nobody else could have pulled that off

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24 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

good story ,bad narrator

I found the story to be good but the ending seemed abit rushed , the narrator wasn't great ,he would be better narrating the wind and the willows or something along those lines ,not a story set in the grim dark 41st millennium

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Struggling with the narrator

Compared to the previous books I have definitely struggled with this one, the narrator Uses the same upbeat and jolly tone for everyone. Some guy loses all his limbs but it’s okay...*jolly tone* we can blame it all on perfection and art. Author Uses nearly a whole chapter about some guy talking about a lump of marble. Not sure if they were trying to hit a word count.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Narrator more Iggle Piggle than Space Marine

Fulgrims story is an excellent descent into the realms of madness and Chaos dragging his entire legeon into the throng in search of the ever elusive Perfection.... The Narrator on the other hand would be more at home with some over acted Shakespeare or even some Black Adder. A number of times Kenneth Williams emperor of Rome popped into my head as did Iggle Piggle and the line "The Banner Falls" (listen for it) had me crying with laughter. I must admit I wish I had read this book myself I would have enjoyed it so much more...

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A difficult start, but an incredible finish

There was several points at the start of the audiobook where I paused and gave serious thought to refunding the book, the story was clunky and the narrator struggled with either the script or the voices of two female thespians.

But I persevered and boy am I glad I did.

About a quarter (maybe a third) of the way into the book it suddenly snapped into place, the story, the pacing, the characters and the narrator all gelled together.... with perfection....the tragedy of the title character and his captains was paired wonderfully with the background lore of vitally important events that any fan of the Horus Heresy will be delighted to see brought to life.

The penultimate act is excellent and easily the equal of any of the novels that have come before it.

If not for the difficult start it would be 5*

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A tragic story of perfectionism

Gripping story and superbly written. Fully represents Fulgrim, his legion (Emperors Children) and Slaanesh corruption with immense detail. The story is a tragedy with shocking scenes of love and betrayal.

The author explores real world philosophical ideas, of the positives and dangers of perfectionism, but in the crazy and messed up setting of 30k.
I Really enjoyed this book and I cant wait to start the next one.

Something other reviews write about is the narrator. Personally, it didnt bother me 99% of the time and I regret not buying this book earlier because I was put off by those reviews.
If you are dead set on the voices and narration being "correct" then it may put you off.
If you, like me, value the story arch of 30k and plot of the characters over the way the narrator "does the voices" then this is a must buy.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing

fantastic instalment in an incredible series. Excellent performance. A must read for any emperor's children fans

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great story, mediocre reading.

An amazing book that gives great insight into the character of Fulgrim and the lead up to gis fall. Sadly let down significantly by what in my opinion was poor voice acting. Would recommend the book extremely highly to any 40/30k fan but maybe not the audio book.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing continuation of story

After listening to the first 4 books (and 2 other side stories), which were dark, gritty, atmospheric and gothic, I was disappointed in this narrator’s suddenly upbeat, flamboyant and theatric portrayal of the characters (very Griff Rhys-Jones in 3 men and a boat!)
I can’t fault the narrator’s skill in reading, and I’m sure I’d love him in another setting, but it just ruined the mood of this book for me, to the point where I couldn’t even tell if the story was good and I unfortunately didn’t enjoy it... I sped it up to x1.25 to get through it without much quality loss.
I feel I’ve given a generous 3 star rating for each!

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Pantomiming through the galaxy

The narrator is very talented, but following on from the previous entries, it's a startling change of pace and not necessarily for the better.

The story is ok.

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1 person found this helpful