Hardly any Astartes or space stuff, this one stays grounded on Mars and explains a little of how deep and how far ranging the Emperor's planning goes. I might as well start signing my paychecks over to Black Library because they have been getting all of my spending money.Ī much appreciated change of pace in the Heresy saga in terms of story and characters. The guff about the 'Dragon of Mars' was ridiculous and the final battle is over far too quickly which really is a swizz after being forced to endure such a deathly dull book.Īt this point I can honestly say that my enthusiasm for the rest of the series went right down the toilet.

There's also the creation of a terrible war machine, a story which has already been told elsewhere and also the perspective of the Titan Legions which really is the only aspect which worked. Once again, we get one side told from the perspective of 'normal' humans, something which is overdone by this point in the series and none moreso here as the humans are as dull and unengaging as it gets. Boy was I setting myself up for a huge disappointment! Rather than the rise of the Dark Mechanicum and a massively draw-out high-tech war (which is after all McNeill's raisen d'etre), we get a plodding story which weaves several seperate strands together to knit an underwhelming whole.

Of every Horus Heresy novel to date, I think I was looking forward to this more than any.

Fulgrim by Graham McNeill