Customer Reviews

Fulgrim (The Horus Heresy)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The Horus Heresy continues and in Fulgrim we are given an excellent look at the seductive and ultimately destructive power of chaos. Hitherto, the reader has been given a vision of the Astartes as embodying the most perfect attributes of humanity. Much of this novel focuses on the pursuit of perfection both among the human artisans, remembrancers and of course the Astartes themselves. We watch as the central players follow their individual paths to perfection and ultimately to personal ruin.

Ostian the sculptor, Serena the painter and of course Fulgrim the most perfect of Astartes seek to achieve a level of perfection, which is of course completely unattainable. Ahhh...but wait...enter the seeds of chaos and the whispers of true perfection.

The key to chaos' infiltration is the Battle against the Laer which culminates in the final battle within the Laer Temple. It's other worldly music infects all that come into contact with it.

McNeill does a terrific job of painting the chaos that inexorably infects, and finally overwhelms all those on Fulgrim's ship. The scenes described during the Maraviglia are unlike anything I have ever read. The Maraviglia depicts in microcoysm the truth of what will become the Horus Heresy. While the story does not end with the Maraviglia, everything that follows after seems anti-climatic. By the end of the Maraviglia we know that Chaos has achieved its victory over Fulgrim.

Not wanting to spoil it, I will simply say that Fulgrim's fate is truly frightening and foreshadows Horus' future.

So grab a copy of this outstanding novel and stick close to the likes of Saul Tarvitz and Gabriel Santor less the sweet, chaos laden chorus of the Laer deliver you into Chaos.

The Emperor protects.

The novel Fulgrim marks the 5th entry in the current Horus Heresy novels from Games Workshop's Black Library. It details the seduction and fall from the Emperor's grace of one of his Primarch sons. Graham McNeill, who has written one other Heresy book, returns to pen this tale of the Emperor's Children and their leader.

While I agree with the other reviewers in that parts of Fulgrim felt rushed or underdeveloped all in all Graham McNeill did a very good job in telling how one of the Primarchs gradually became seduced by the lure of Chaos. Fulgrim had always been one of the more interesting Primarchs in the Warhammer 40K pantheon in that his fall from grace was even more dramatic than that of Horus' own fall. McNeill did a great job in giving life to the character and personality of the Emperor's Children Legion. Their strive to be perfect in all things was their strenght and the battle against the Laer showed it, but it also showed how it was also their weakness and would lead to their inevitable fall from grace.

Fulgrim was a very quick read and in that McNeill did seem to rush certain subplots and characterizations. I disagree that the subplots involving the remembrancers were superflous. They were a necessary thread in how the Fulgrim and his legion were seen as not just superhuman warriors, but as patrons of the arts as well. But like all things when people strove for perfection it also leads to overindulgence and their love of the arts opened the legion and their Primarch Fulgrim into embracing hedonism as the way to perfection.

I do think the novel could've benefited from another hundred or so pages if just to bring more life to Fulgrim's brother Primarch Ferrus Mannus and his Iron Hands Legion. Ferrus Mannus and his no-nonsense Iron Hands made for a great counterpoint to Fulgrim and his Children, but with so many subplots going on in the book McNeill seem to have rushed and shortchanged the Iron Hands and their leader. Maybe they will get their own book (rumor has it that the Horus Heresy series will touch upon all the 18 known Legions and their Primarchs) down the line.

The final act of the book deals with the Battle of Istvaan V and McNeill has a way in describing the chaos and brutality of the battle between Astartes. The battle unfolded just exactly as described in brief in the Horus Heresy artbooks even down to the intervention of a behind-the-scenes manipulator which finally makes Fulgrim's fall complete. This last act alone could've taken up a whole novel all on its own and with some of the novels intersecting in certain events of the Heresy the battle may just get more detail in later books.

In the end, Fulgrim was not a perfect book from McNeill but it was still a very good entry to the Horus Heresy series. In fact, I would say that this book was better in showing how Chaos can seduce and turn one of the Emperor's own sons against him than how Horus himself was turned. While Horus was manipulated by outsiders, Fulgrim still had a chance to reject the lure of Chaos but had little will to do so. I can't wait for the next book in the series which will deal with my favorite legion and Primarch: Lion El'Jonson and his Dark Angels Legion.

Unlike some of the other reviews for this book, I thought it was fantastic. Seriously, if you don't want to read about dark and horrible goings on in the 31st Millennium, then why are you reading this series. We all know the way it goes, so why are people surprised when they read a book about a legion that falls to chaos, and find that the story is dark, sinister and violent. If you want something about the loyalist legions, Black library has produced a huge number of books to satisfy you.

Being a World Eater fan, I love the series so far. We could do with a bit more of Angron, but I'm sure we'll see this crazy blood soaked legion get their debut in one of the future heresy novels. In fact, I found this book so good, it even nearly swayed me into starting to collect an Emperors Children army. Thank Khorne for that smack up the side of the head.

Spoiler Alert

My only problem with this story is the way that Fulgrim gets possessed at the end. I thought that Fulgrim was one of the primarchs who actually made it to daemonhood? If he is "possessed", he isn't going to ascend, is he? We'll have to wait and find out.

Also, the sheer scale of the violence of the Drop Site Massacres was mind blowing. We all knew it was going to "go off." But this is crazy. I expected it at the end of Galaxy in Flames, but alas, it was not to be.

Keep up the good work, Black Library. It feels to me that the 31st Millennium is even more brutal and violent that the 41st. I love it! These guys are the REAL space marines. Not the watered down ones that exist in 40,000. And you gotta love their fascism, even the loyalists: "You either join the Imperium, or you suffer the wrath of the Space Marines!" No wonder half the legions fell to Chaos!

As the latest addition or book 5 of the Horus Heresy I was very excited to continue reading how the 31,000 century turned half of the Emperor's sons against him. This title of the book is also the central character or Primarch of one of the 20 Legions of Space Marine. Fulgrim is the Primarch of the Emperor's Children (EC) Spare Marine Legion and is held in high regards with his fellow Primarchs and the Emperor himself.

The story begins with a very quick pace with the EC in battle with a strange alien race that makes its home on a mostly watery planet. But as the Emperor deemed death to aliens and heretics its is the job of the EC to cleanse the galaxy. During the battle McNeill does a cursory job of character development and at points you will find yourself wondering which Captain is in charge of which unit since he seems rather flippant to keeping with the Codex and the approved battlegear for each company. Also, one other thing I must point out is the rich descriptions of the terrain and battles are a nice point but in the following paragraph he ruins the pace and imagery by jolting the story back to the confines of the galactic fleets grimy corriodors with the trival story of two rembrancers who ultimately play little to the overall story, unless you enjoy the symbolism of art turing everything evil.

One of the previous reviews describes the arm pumping in the air and its true! I recalled after the third arm pumping that McNeill was grasping at capturing the mood of the battle turning in favor of the EC and has possibly come to a precipice in his writing. Another example of this is his failing to realize that Fulgrim would not have turned so quickly to better himself and allow Fabius Bile to experiment with the geneseed right under his nose. And the previous books had appearances of other EC like Eidolon and Lucius but neither of these characters played a large role in this book. It would have weaved a much richer and engrossing tale if those characters actions would have been more developed in this book than focusing on the rembrancer who defecates in her paint pot to get the right color of brown!

One part of the story I found extremely enjoyable was the part that was covered in an early book where Fulgrim links up with Horus and they walk into his chambers. In the earlier book you have no idea what occured both that they were in there for several days and when Fulgrim appeared he left immeadiately leaving Lord Commander Eidolon in charge of the EC assigned to Horus. McNeill did a good job of covering the discussion between Horus, Fulgrim and Erebus. YES! Eerebus! It takes only a few minutes to read that part and although it was nice to see how Horus was able to convince Fulgrim to support his heresy. On the flip side of the coin I wish that there was more of those moments in this book.

With the story ultimately leading to the events on Istavaan III and V the time line seemed very rushed to get this book to closure. The EC find themselves on the landing zone on Istavaan V and your witness to the LZ slaughter of the Iron Hands and Salamanders at least you think you are. Because at the end McNeill gives you the get out of jail free card and explains how several units were able to escape 6 Legions! Bah! In the end this book is a story of tragedy and traitorous actions. Primarch killing his own Space Marines, Primarch killing Primarch, Legions killings Legions, and a Slaanesh Demon taking shape outside the Warp and forever taking over Fulgrim.

If you are new to the Horus Heresy I'd like to tell you not to start with this book. If you have been keeping up with the other 4 books then this is such a quick read try and grab it at a discount store. Because it is under 500 pages for $8.99 its almost too much to pay and with the cursory character development I'd recommend waiting till this is in the bargain bin. But if your a die-hard, hard-core 40K fan and have $10 burning in your pocket than pick it up and enjoy a quick read that actually leaves you finding more holes in the Hersey story than the other 4 books.

I know these books are pleasure reading, but this book was truly bad, and almost made me give up the Horus Heresy series in general. First, many of the dramatic situations are poorly thought out, even comical. Second, the characterizations of the different groups (artists, soldiers, politicians, etc.) are truly clichéd. One suspects Mr. NcNeill doesn't get out much. My advice: Go directly to book six.

Like book four, book five begins before Horus's terrible massacre with viral weaponry on Isstvan III.

Primarch Fulgrim loves art, be they sculptures, paintings, music, or otherwise. Among his expedition resides the best each medium has to offer. Things are slowly changing. The pace of change quickens after Fulgrim takes a silver blade from his crushed enemies. With the touch of the hilt, Fulgrim begins to hear a voice, calling itself the Spirit of Perfection, within his head.

The Apothecary Fabius sways Fulgrim into allowing him permission to conduct experiments toward perfection. Fabius seeks to enhance the gene-seed of the Astartes. Many Astartes, such as Lord Commander Eidolon, Captain Marius Vairosean, and Captain Lucius, submit themselves to receive augmentative surgery. (This cannot be good.)

Once Fulgrim joins the Warmaster's treasonous plans, Fulgrim tries to coax Primarch Ferrus Manus to their cause. When Fulgrim fails battle lines are drawn. Fulgrim and Ferrus Manus stand on opposing sides. Only one can be allowed to live.

**** Author Graham McNeill simply skims over the battle on Isstvan III. After all, it has been told twice already from two different point-of-views. The previous stories focused on battles on planets or ship corridors. First these were against the Emperor's enemies. However, this one focuses on the corruption of art and the secret desires of Battle Brothers. No fights between reanimated Astartes this time. No, the dark forces of Chaos bring the blood and gore to the opera house this time. This, for me, is the best part of the book. McNeill brings the nightmare to vivid life before continuing the blood bath elsewhere. The book starts out slowly, but the pace picks up quickly. By the ending readers will find themselves holding their breaths and sitting on the edge of their seats. A great addition to the saga! ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

This book does a great job of enlightening us on the nature of "Chaos". I thought that it showed how easily one might find themselves past the point of no return when exploring extreme self indulgence of any kind. There is a gothic carnival atmosphere that goes to the extreme. I'd say more, but I don't want to say too much! I hope the story continues. A must read for any Heresy series fan. The book goes to depths I didn't expect. Its much more than an "airplane" read.

I was really let down by this book, after really enjoying the first 4 books in the HH series. Half way through the novel, I actually logged on to Amazon to see if anyone else felt the same way. Things picked up quite a bit in the second half to the point where I would still recommend 'Fulgrim', but the over-the-top dialogue, constantly recycled phrases and poor pacing make this the worst of the first 5 books by far. And as another reviewer mentioned, McNeill really needs to tone down the amount of 'punching the air' that his characters are doing. It almost seemed like the author rushed the manuscript out to the publisher without going back and refining his story...And as the reviewer hit the 'submit' button, he punched the air in excitement....

The road to hell is paved with good intentions, and thats the central theme to "Fulgrim." While feeling somewhat rushed, this novel captures more of what makes the 40k universe as dark as it is. It shows corruption of the spirit, not in the fell swoop that Chaos seems to imply, but by degrees so small that you don't realize you've crossed the line until you've crossed three more.

This is made more tragic by the sheer innocence of the characters, Astartes included. When they're exposed to chaos in a raw, if well subdued form, they interperet it as beautiful. If the Emperor had made a standing order to blow up anything that remotely resemebled a place of worship, things would've gone far differently.

The interaction of the rememberancers is well done, and despite the inclinations of other reviwers, important to the progression of the books, because the overwhelming majority of the fleets weren't Astartes, they're a support staff of humans. Their corruption is also well described and deeply distrubing, with the painter adding her own blood to her paints to make the hues "just right" standing out in my mind in particular.

The only frustrating part to me is how easily Fulgrim is swayed by the sword he finds at the beginning of the novel. The primarchs were all supposed to be powerful psykers in their own right, even if they didn't use their abilities to the degree that Magnus or the Emperor did. Using a daemon possessed sword to influence a primarch stinks too much of a deus ex machina. The gradual fall due to his own pride and overamplified sense of self-perfection would've done the trick just as handily, and far more bitterly.

All told, very well done, in typical McNeill fashion, though it would've been another 5 star book if he'd had a bit more time to polish it.

This latest novel in the Horus Heresy series felt very rushed. McNeill (whose other Warhammer books are generally very good) seems to be wandering through the narrative; he spends pages and pages on an uninteresting relationship between two rememberancers, yet the central story of Fulgrim's descent into heresy feels underdone. McNeill also succumbs to some writer's tics. He tends to repeat himself, even within sentences, and his dialog strives so hard for grandiosity that it often ends up sounding silly. His characters also "punch the air" frequently when they're excited - this makes them seem less like grim superhuman warriors and more like pro wrestlers. A few memorable scenes show McNeill's talents, but despite its apocalyptic subject this novel is surprisingly boring.