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ratgrrrl 's review for:
Praetorian of Dorn
by John French
April 2024 Read using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order Omnibus XV Scale and Stone (https://www.heresyomnibus.com/omnibus/xv-scale-and-stone) as part of my Oath of Moment to complete the Horus Heresy saga and extras.
I previously commented that Deliverance Lost was the benchmark of quality for the Horus Heresy that no novel should fall short of. In the same vein, Praetorian of Dorn is the Platonic Ideal.
Directly prior to the close of The Path of Heaven, the Alpha Legion enact long prepared operations in the Sol System. As the new Praetorian of Terra and it's surrounds, Dorn sends Archamus, Commander of his Huscarls, to trace and decapitate the heads of the Hydra so close to the heart of the Imperium.
This novel consists of numerous books that make up the whole story with the narrative being split between the past and present. The past follows the induction of Archamus into the Imperial Fists as one of the original 20 to don the yellow of the Legion under Dorn's stewardship through the significant moments that lead to him being Dorn's eponymous guardian and adopted son. The present is divided between the operatives and machinations of the XX Legion as the sew chaos and terror, and the VII's efforts to put together the necessary assets to undertake their ordeal.
I have made it clear many time that I am not the biggest fan of action and espionage in this series. I like them enough, but it's not what I come to the Horus Heresy for. This book is entirely action and espionage...and I absolutely love it! There's just something about the quality of French's writing that imbues action with a wickering intensity and actually manages to make intrigue intriguing. When those exquisitely crafted words come out of Keeble's mouth it's transcendent! French and Keeble are the perfect pair, especially for this book!
French's understanding of Warhammer and the way he approaches and conveys the ludicrous legendary nature and epic mythology of the Horus Heresy with such a knowing and unflinching straight face is sublime. This novel is entirely serious and has real weight and gravitas, while truly comprehending the ridiculousness of the setting and events it presents. Abnett is hailed as the Lord of the Dark Millennium for good reason with just how fundamental and foundational for the Black Library and the media around Warhammer beyond the tabletop, as well as the sheer amount of ouput of stories and the structure and content of the Galaxy and Old World through those tales, and it's undeniable that he gets what it's all about, but he is so dialed in to the house perspective, which, as we sadly see time and again, swerves from the light of the core concept and sensibilities of Warhammer 40,000. For me, French *gets* and portrays the essence of this in a way that for me personally is only matched by the artwork of Blanche, and I think he deserves a bit more acknowledgement and respect on his name.
This novel is a perfect example of this. It has all the action and espionage epicness with its mythological allusions as subtle as a Blanchean Eviscerator and all of that is perfectly rendered and engaging, but the true genius on display is in the exquisite crafting of the mirror between the Imperium and Chaos. Conceptually this is standard and fundamental fair, granted, but the beauty with which the story is crafted to show this subtly throughout, as well as very explicitly calling it directly out, but the deftness in which the less obvious aspect are wrought and the dialogue and response to the more explicit moments are something else.
This novel is breathtaking, both in the frenetic action and tense secrecy that make it difficult to take a breath, and in the very quality of the writing and the way the narrative cuts both Dorn and Alpharius, and by extension their values and motives, to the quick. And, for all it's bombast and sneakery, the end really got me with its weight and feeling. I was already over the moon with how good this was, and then French went and actually *moved* me as a parting blow!
I absolutely adored this, even when it felt like too much and overwhelming with how much pain and low capacity I've been in with my chronic health while listening. It hits like a Powerfist to fsxe, even as its garots with monofilament wire from the shadows.
I genuinely can't wait to return to it and hope it comes up again in another omnibus. Even if it doesn't, I will return to it as an intro to the Solar War in the Siege of Terra.
Bloody. Marvellous.
Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 29 Horus Heresy novels, 16 novellas (including 2 repeats), 98 short stories/ audio dramas (including 6 repeats), as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, 13 Primarchs novels, 4 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels and a short story...this run. I can't say enough good about the way the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project suggestions. I'm loving it! Especially after originally reading to the releases and being so frustrated at having to wait so long for a narrative to continue.
I previously commented that Deliverance Lost was the benchmark of quality for the Horus Heresy that no novel should fall short of. In the same vein, Praetorian of Dorn is the Platonic Ideal.
Directly prior to the close of The Path of Heaven, the Alpha Legion enact long prepared operations in the Sol System. As the new Praetorian of Terra and it's surrounds, Dorn sends Archamus, Commander of his Huscarls, to trace and decapitate the heads of the Hydra so close to the heart of the Imperium.
This novel consists of numerous books that make up the whole story with the narrative being split between the past and present. The past follows the induction of Archamus into the Imperial Fists as one of the original 20 to don the yellow of the Legion under Dorn's stewardship through the significant moments that lead to him being Dorn's eponymous guardian and adopted son. The present is divided between the operatives and machinations of the XX Legion as the sew chaos and terror, and the VII's efforts to put together the necessary assets to undertake their ordeal.
I have made it clear many time that I am not the biggest fan of action and espionage in this series. I like them enough, but it's not what I come to the Horus Heresy for. This book is entirely action and espionage...and I absolutely love it! There's just something about the quality of French's writing that imbues action with a wickering intensity and actually manages to make intrigue intriguing. When those exquisitely crafted words come out of Keeble's mouth it's transcendent! French and Keeble are the perfect pair, especially for this book!
French's understanding of Warhammer and the way he approaches and conveys the ludicrous legendary nature and epic mythology of the Horus Heresy with such a knowing and unflinching straight face is sublime. This novel is entirely serious and has real weight and gravitas, while truly comprehending the ridiculousness of the setting and events it presents. Abnett is hailed as the Lord of the Dark Millennium for good reason with just how fundamental and foundational for the Black Library and the media around Warhammer beyond the tabletop, as well as the sheer amount of ouput of stories and the structure and content of the Galaxy and Old World through those tales, and it's undeniable that he gets what it's all about, but he is so dialed in to the house perspective, which, as we sadly see time and again, swerves from the light of the core concept and sensibilities of Warhammer 40,000. For me, French *gets* and portrays the essence of this in a way that for me personally is only matched by the artwork of Blanche, and I think he deserves a bit more acknowledgement and respect on his name.
This novel is a perfect example of this. It has all the action and espionage epicness with its mythological allusions as subtle as a Blanchean Eviscerator and all of that is perfectly rendered and engaging, but the true genius on display is in the exquisite crafting of the mirror between the Imperium and Chaos. Conceptually this is standard and fundamental fair, granted, but the beauty with which the story is crafted to show this subtly throughout, as well as very explicitly calling it directly out, but the deftness in which the less obvious aspect are wrought and the dialogue and response to the more explicit moments are something else.
This novel is breathtaking, both in the frenetic action and tense secrecy that make it difficult to take a breath, and in the very quality of the writing and the way the narrative cuts both Dorn and Alpharius, and by extension their values and motives, to the quick. And, for all it's bombast and sneakery, the end really got me with its weight and feeling. I was already over the moon with how good this was, and then French went and actually *moved* me as a parting blow!
I absolutely adored this, even when it felt like too much and overwhelming with how much pain and low capacity I've been in with my chronic health while listening. It hits like a Powerfist to fsxe, even as its garots with monofilament wire from the shadows.
I genuinely can't wait to return to it and hope it comes up again in another omnibus. Even if it doesn't, I will return to it as an intro to the Solar War in the Siege of Terra.
Bloody. Marvellous.
Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 29 Horus Heresy novels, 16 novellas (including 2 repeats), 98 short stories/ audio dramas (including 6 repeats), as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, 13 Primarchs novels, 4 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels and a short story...this run. I can't say enough good about the way the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project suggestions. I'm loving it! Especially after originally reading to the releases and being so frustrated at having to wait so long for a narrative to continue.