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  • A Thousand Sons

  • The Horus Heresy, Book 12
  • By: Graham McNeill
  • Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
  • Length: 16 hrs and 29 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (2,498 ratings)

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A Thousand Sons

By: Graham McNeill
Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
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Summary

A Horus Heresy Novel

Censured at the Council of Nikea for his flagrant use of sorcery, Magnus the Red and his Legion retreat to their homeworld to continue their use of the arcane arts in secret.

Listen to it because

One of the most tragic tales of the entire Horus Heresy unfolds as the Thousand Sons are brought low by their relentless quest for knowledge. Magnus is sure that he knows better than the Emperor – but isn't that what caused Horus to fall as well?

The story

Censured at the Council of Nikea for his flagrant use of sorcery, Magnus the Red and his Thousand Sons Legion retreat to their homeworld of Prospero to continue their use of the arcane arts in secret. When the ill-fated primarch foresees the treachery of Warmaster Horus and warns the Emperor with the very powers he was forbidden to use, the Master of Mankind dispatches fellow primarch Leman Russ to attack Prospero itself. But Magnus has seen more than the betrayal of Horus – and the witnessed revelations will change the fate of his fallen Legion, and its primarch, forever.

©2010 Games Workshop Limited (P)2010 Games Workshop Limited
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What listeners say about A Thousand Sons

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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Immersion hampered by mediocre narrator.

Unfortunately the narrator sounded like he was reading a declaration rather than a novel. At times I struggeled to follow if it was narration or dialogue.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

1000/10

I always thought Magnus did nothing wrong, and this book vindicated my thoughts

Screw you lemon you big soggy wolf punk

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing story

The tragedy of the Thousand Sons is beautiful told and you really feel their emotions.

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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

Great story!

This has been my first audio book and I absolutely loved it. Couldn't wait to listen to the next chapter. Great story which was well read.
Highly recommend.

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

Great book, not so great narator

I loved the story and the only reason its not a 5 star is the narator was hard to follow sometimes at least for me and i kept on rewinding to figure out who was talking and what was going on

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

Poor sound

Good performance but sound quality is terrible. Disappointed as it ruins the enjoyment of the entire story.

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

A good look at a more scholarly legion

Much like with Fulgrim, I didn't know much about the legion the book was based on before starting.

I really enjoyed getting to see the Astartes from a more scholarly perspective. They are always portrayed as warriors first but this book was the first one where that didn't entirely feel the case.
Characters like Magnus and Ahriman are clearly more interested in the pursuit of knowledge than fighting, and I thought that was a refreshing change.

One of the most significant events this book touches on is the Council of Nikea. And I have to say that was awesome to see a few Primarchs and the Emperor himself together in one place to decide the outcome.

The Horus Heresy series up to this point has done a good job of showing the variety within the Astartes. I assumed when starting that they would begin to feel old very quickly, but their spacing of some of the interesting legions with abstract elements like the warp (or the excess of Slaanesh in Fulgrim) does a great job of breaking the usual mould.
As a final note I have to commend Graham McNeill again here. I still find his writing to be less than engaging from a language perspective, lots of reuse of the same words and some descriptions/similes that seem unnecessary and don't make sense) but he is great with portraying the ideals and story of the legions. His characterisation of the players in the books is very very good and definitely his strongest point. I like how he takes a lot of time to describe their thoughts. He excelled at these elements in both this and Fulgrim. Lots of introspection, which I enjoy.

Overall good book, all though I wasn't particularly fond of the narrator, it's not awful though.

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

Good story hit and miss performance

I enjoyed the story and nicely fills gaps in the Heresy as a whole. Plenty of emotion that has you again feeling for the traitor legions before they turn which is something this series has done very well. I do however agree with some of the comments about the narrator. Action scenes were exciting and fast paced and suited the narrator well. However his pacing was too fast during slower moments and felt a little rushed. Also as many have said the difference between characters voices was near non existent and it took a long time to get who was who. Also he did my biggest annoyance with the series as a whole not just this book or this narrator it happens every few books. The small child whining tone of what are supposed to be superhuman warriors getting all high pitched in moments of distress. Hate that it is happening Not the worst by far in this book (I'm looking at you dark angels - the background I was most looking forward to). That all aside another good chapter in what is a great series so far.

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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

one of the better HH novels.

Great story and narration. The novel holds important threads of the Horus Heresy. Great read.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic story, narrator needs more effort

Absolutely loved this story 10/10 honestly. However, the narrator just needs a bit more oomph when the characters are yelling and such. It’s a bit lacklustre during parts where he reads the line casually and then follows with “he yelled” and Ahriman’s voice was a little too high pitched I feel.

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