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Praetorian of Dorn

11K views 29 replies 12 participants last post by  Stephen74 
#1 ·
Horus Heresy Book 37, Praetorian of Dorn by John French, now has a confirmed release date of August 27th. So in three weeks we'll be able to pre-order the newest Horus Heresy novel with Dorn vs Alpharius all over the cover.

Buuuut...

John French Book Signing ? Warhammer World

If you happen to be in the Nottingham area on the 19th around 4pm-7pm, you can drop into Warhammer World for free and pick up an early release copy, and get it signed by John himself.

So i'm super-freaking jealous as it would cost me £100 to get to Nottingham, so obviously I won't be taking advantage of this... anyone here lucky enough to be capable of going?


LotN
 
#3 ·
Saw this earlier, The Wall Without sounds absolutely awesome! Can't wait to see how Terra is defended on both physical and psychic fronts.

Looks like it will be out -THIS- weekend!
Not according to the info we have on John French's signing of the book this Friday. The book will be available there on early release and then go up for pre-order on the 27th.


LotN
 
#7 ·
So I think your dates was wrong, LoTN.
Huh, weird. Then the early release is only by a single day. What's the point of that?

Or is it? Is that really Alpharius?
Look at the weapon, that is the Pale Spear. Alpharius's own weapon. I think that's really him, for maybe the first time ever that is really the First Head of the Hydra.


LotN
 
#10 · (Edited)
Finished Praetorian of Dorn...... Unbelievably complex. So many plot strands woven together and comming to a screaming peak at the finale of the book. This is what the Heresy has been waiting for. I give it a 10/10. The Horus Heresy has been revitalized and kicked into high gear again, the plot thunderously pushing forward after languishing for so many years with filler stories about the Shattered Legions or Calth/Imperium Secundus.

Teaser
 
#12 ·
I want to wait for the softback but who knows when they will be available to the public. I am actually really excited for this after 3 anthologies of republished short stories, they are back with what looks 3 novels (even though one by Gav Thorpe) that may turn it around.
 
#15 · (Edited)
Dramatis Personae.

The VII Legion ‘Imperial Fists’

Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists, Praetorian of Terra
Archamus, Master of the Huscarls, ‘The Last of the First’

Sigismund, Lord Castellan of the First Sphere, First Captain, Marshal of the Templars
Fafnir Rann, Lord Seneschal, Captain of the First Assault Cadre
Boreas, Sergeant, First Company

Halbrecht, Lord Castellan of the Second Sphere, Fleet Master
Effried, Lord Castellan of the Third Sphere, Seneschal
Camba Diaz, Lord Castellan of the Fourth Sphere, Siege Master

Demetrius Katafalque, Captain, 344th Company
Kestros, Sergeant, 65th Squad, 344th Company


The XX Legion ‘Alpha Legion’

Alpharius, Primarch of the Alpha Legion
Ingo Pech, Captain

Mathias Herzog, Captain
Phocron, Headhunter Prime
Kel Silonius, Headhunter
Kalix, Headhunter
Hekaron, Headhunter

Myzmadra, Operative
Ashul, Operative
Incarnus, Aventian progression savant
Sork, Agent, captain of the scavenger vessel Wealth of Kings

Omegon


Imperial Personae

Malcador, Regent of the Imperium

Su-Kassen, Solar Command Staff, former Admiral of the Jovian Fleets
Morhan, Strategos, 56th Veletaris Tercio, Second Solar Auxilia Cohort (the ‘Saturnyne Rams’)

Chayo, Magos, Primary Voice on the Unbreakable Truth
Armina Fel, Astropath-adjutant to Rogal Dorn

Heliosa-78, Cult Matriarch of the Selenar
Andromeda-17, Personified-scion of the Selenar
 
#16 ·
A question on something mentioned in the book. I'll spoiler it just in case.

 
#17 ·
Who knows. In Angels of Caliban, Curze says that the one who kills him hasn't even been born yet. However, in Nemesis, the master of the Callidus temple asks to dispatch M'Shen to assassinate Horus. Continuity mistakes for everyone! Still can't fuck up as much as Mcneill did in the Outcast Dead however.
 
#20 ·
Finished Praetorian today and WOW!! That ending was fantastic and unexpected, and I loved French's depiction of the Alpha Legion and their methods of war. Before this novel I felt that of all the Black Library authors, only Rob Sanders truly understood how the Alpha Legion functioned and waged war, but I am very glad to see that French gets it too. Archamus was a very good leading character, an ideal Fist through and through, and for the first time seeing Dorn from the perspective of somebody close to him rather than somebody who just happens to have been thrown together with him added a lot more depth to the VIIth Primarch.

Best scene for me was the meeting between Alpharius and Dorn in the past when they both discussed their methods of war. It was a great moment that offered pros and cons to both sides of the conflict, Dorn's honest front-line approach vs Alpharius's secretive and manipulative approach. What I liked most was that neither side appeared completely right, both arguments had merits and at times felt right and other times felt wrong. I personally sided with Alpharius as I was reminded of Tywin Lannister's question "Explain to me why it is more noble to kill 10,000 men in battle than a dozen at dinner." Alpharius clearly supports this ideal, while Dorn believes that a billion men dead in honest warfare is better than a hundred men killed by dishonest means. Dorn's argument on the aftermath had a lot of good points, but I felt that ultimately his attitude came off as warmongering and uncaring of lives. There is a difference between disliking dishonest methods of warfare and outright disregarding the value they have, no matter how many casualties the lack of these tactics causes.

(Warning: MASSIVE SPOILERS HERE.)



LotN
 
#22 · (Edited)
Yeah this book was fucking garbage and I don't consider it as canon. I only got it because I loved French's 'We Are One' which to me is the best literature on the AL. Felt like it was written by a different author.

 
#24 ·
 
#30 ·
Just finsihed listen to the audio book.
It's one of the better stories but its fleshed out way to much with tedious descriptive writing which I hate. There is lots to it and it will be interesting to see how the legion plays out now. They were forced to take this route against their will, so now, will they go full retard and back horus 100%? How would the heresy have turned out had Dorn not been as thick as a fortress wall?

And who came first? Negan or Alpharius?

One question that was unanswered, unless I missed it in all that god awful dreary descriptive rubbish, was why did this all happen now? Did alpharius push for it (or more likely manipulated horus in to letting him do it) to turn speak to Dorn? or was Horus trying to achieve something that is yet to be revealed to us?

Thought the final fight was a little cliche. Bad guys kicking arse and then all of a sudden, miraculous turn around. Bleh.
 
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