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The Horus Heresy #24
Betrayer
A Horus Heresy novel
As Calth burns, the Word Bearers and World Eaters begin a bloody crusade across Ultramar. Worlds will burn, legions will clash... and a primarch will fall.
READ IT BECAUSE
It's finally revealed why Lorgar didn't lead the assault on Calth... because he's burning his way across Ultramar. But why, and why is Angron with him? Mysteries abound, and primarchs meet on the battlefield...
THE STORY
The Shadow Crusade has begun. While the Ultramarines reel from Kor Phaeron's surprise attack on Calth, Lorgar and the rest of the Word Bearers strike deep into the realm of Ultramar. Their unlikely allies, Angron and the World Eaters, continue to ravage each new system they come across - upon the garrison planet of Armatura, this relentless savagery may finally prove to be their undoing. Worlds will burn, Legions will clash and a primarch will fall.
As Calth burns, the Word Bearers and World Eaters begin a bloody crusade across Ultramar. Worlds will burn, legions will clash... and a primarch will fall.
READ IT BECAUSE
It's finally revealed why Lorgar didn't lead the assault on Calth... because he's burning his way across Ultramar. But why, and why is Angron with him? Mysteries abound, and primarchs meet on the battlefield...
THE STORY
The Shadow Crusade has begun. While the Ultramarines reel from Kor Phaeron's surprise attack on Calth, Lorgar and the rest of the Word Bearers strike deep into the realm of Ultramar. Their unlikely allies, Angron and the World Eaters, continue to ravage each new system they come across - upon the garrison planet of Armatura, this relentless savagery may finally prove to be their undoing. Worlds will burn, Legions will clash and a primarch will fall.
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published December 1, 2012
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July 28, 2022
Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus!Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus!Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus!Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus!Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus! Fuck Erebus!
May 12, 2013
*WARNING THIS CONTAINS MILD SPOILERS*
My hear is broken. THANKS AGAIN WARHAMMER 40K FOR TAKING MY HEART AND RIPPING IT TO SHREDS. I read this book in under 24 hours and a day later I still get chest pain from how much it hurt me.
*Rant ended*
Once again my dear friends, well the rest of the girls where out watching "The Host" I was reading the "Betrayer".
Gawd, how do I even talk about this?
Well Lorgar and Angron are going on a big boy trip through Ultramars 500 billion worlds or something like that. Yeah, know screwing Ultramariens and burning worlds typical heretic thing.
Only as you can probably guess Lorgar is up to something, where as he has previously tried to calm Angron down, he know encourages it. (It's odd now having worked in a hospital I'm imagining some of the things we'd say to calm someone down said to Angron needless to say we'd all be dead.)
The story was brillient, Lorgar, Guilliman, Angron Argal Tal, Kharn+Lotar (They are the ship I have in my head so there names can't be seperated.) and that Motherfucker Erebus (Yes, THAT is his canon name now...) all made stunning apperances. I honestly can't say if I want to make passionate love with all the characters or kill them. (Fine line there, probably couldn't kill Erebus he's so fashionable.)
Some of the parts with the World Eaters where really enjoyable(mainly the part about the nails killing most psykers.) going through Kharn's mind was well done and a great way to see that side of the story.
Angron's conversation well fighting Guilliman was really good because I'd always thought all of that stuff....but no one would hear me say but as the blood god's son said it they kind of HAVE to listen.
Another great moment was when Lorgar brought up (yet another thing I thought off...and don't try and give me some crappy answer...)why couldn't the Emperor have helped Angron's ragtag army? Seriously, unleash the legion to war and he'd have a much loyaler son and one not so bent on his issues with what he felt was betraying his brothers and sisters.
Can we give Aaron around of applause for another book well done?
My hear is broken. THANKS AGAIN WARHAMMER 40K FOR TAKING MY HEART AND RIPPING IT TO SHREDS. I read this book in under 24 hours and a day later I still get chest pain from how much it hurt me.
*Rant ended*
Once again my dear friends, well the rest of the girls where out watching "The Host" I was reading the "Betrayer".
Gawd, how do I even talk about this?
Well Lorgar and Angron are going on a big boy trip through Ultramars 500 billion worlds or something like that. Yeah, know screwing Ultramariens and burning worlds typical heretic thing.
Only as you can probably guess Lorgar is up to something, where as he has previously tried to calm Angron down, he know encourages it. (It's odd now having worked in a hospital I'm imagining some of the things we'd say to calm someone down said to Angron needless to say we'd all be dead.)
The story was brillient, Lorgar, Guilliman, Angron Argal Tal, Kharn+Lotar (They are the ship I have in my head so there names can't be seperated.) and that Motherfucker Erebus (Yes, THAT is his canon name now...) all made stunning apperances. I honestly can't say if I want to make passionate love with all the characters or kill them. (Fine line there, probably couldn't kill Erebus he's so fashionable.)
Some of the parts with the World Eaters where really enjoyable(mainly the part about the nails killing most psykers.) going through Kharn's mind was well done and a great way to see that side of the story.
Angron's conversation well fighting Guilliman was really good because I'd always thought all of that stuff....but no one would hear me say but as the blood god's son said it they kind of HAVE to listen.
Another great moment was when Lorgar brought up (yet another thing I thought off...and don't try and give me some crappy answer...)why couldn't the Emperor have helped Angron's ragtag army? Seriously, unleash the legion to war and he'd have a much loyaler son and one not so bent on his issues with what he felt was betraying his brothers and sisters.
Can we give Aaron around of applause for another book well done?
April 7, 2013
Aaron Dembski-Bowden hit it out of the park when he wrote this book. The characters were all amazingly fleshed out and you "love" each and every one of them. Par Erebus. That guys a jerk! I cant wait to read his next novel!
September 18, 2026
No surprise here at all given the author but this was an outstanding entry in the series. My experience with Warhammer is limited to the Horus Heresy, so my sample size is admittedly small, but if there’s a better author than Aaron Dembski-Bowden writing for Black Library I haven’t come across them yet. ADB pulls off the impossible here by writing a book about the World Eaters and Angron that actually made me care about the World Eaters and Angron. I simply would have considered this impossible prior to reading this book.
I’m usually not particularly keen on these meet-this-new-legion-and-it’s-primarch books. The thing the series does where every legion has its shtick and everyone in the legion hyper focuses on that shtick usually feels both one note and gimmicky. Certainly the World Eaters shtick as the angriest guys in the room has been used that way in previous books where they’ve cropped up. ADB makes it work here by simply taking the premise of the World Eaters at face value. So yes they’re super angry and that makes them scary and loud and intense and ferocious. But also it means they’re pretty stupid? And not that great in a fight really? And just as likely to get their allies and even themselves killed as their enemies? ADB effectively charts the fall of the World Eaters, showing how they go from an unremarkable but decent enough legion, to finding Angron, and then under his leadership nose diving in to what we see them as within these books.
Also ADB uses the World Eaters to answer a question I have long had about some of these legions that are clearly too lost in the sauce to actually do their jobs, which is who’s thinking about stuff like logistics and supplies and strategy? In a legion like the World Eaters where they’re just killing each other any time they’re bored, or the Emperor’s Children where they’re all just cenobites, who’s doing the paperwork? How does anything ever even get done? Answer: the regular humans are doing all that, and they’re mostly all annoyed that they’re stuck working for these giant trigger happy idiots. I know this is Warhammer and it is very much NOT the kind of sci-fi where you’re supposed to sit there and think about how any of this shit works, but I’m 24 books in to this series and you can’t read that much about this place without having questions. It doesn’t happen often, but when one of these authors takes a minute to actually think about the practicalities of this setting it’s always appreciated.
ADB works similar magic with the World Eaters primarch, by making Angron a not-sympathetic-character-exactly, but at least an understandable one. Angron first gets time in the spotlight in the Horus Heresy in a short story called After Desh’ea, where he kills like a hundred of his guys because they keep trying to talk to him and he doesn’t want to be bothered. In a series full of big dumb guys he comes across as both the biggest and the dumbest. Post-Betrayer? Well he’s still the biggest and the dumbest (he is literally eating his own soldiers by the end of this book) but at least there’s a person in there. Somewhere (besides the people in his stomach, I mean). But also thanks to ADB’s hard work my reaction to Angron’s whole deal has gone from “aw geez this fucking guy” to “damn that’s rad as hell.”
This is one of ADB’s strong points as a Black Library author I feel. There’s definitely a through line with his Horus Heresy work up to this point, of showing how legions are forced to deal with the disappointment of Primarchs who just completely suck shit. As I often say in these reviews, I’m very much of the opinion that the primarchs are all clowns, but some are much much worse at their jobs than others, and Dembski-Bowden seems to be the only author in the Games Workshop stable who is interested in engaging with that at all.
Betrayer is also notable because it is, twenty four books in, the first entry in the Horus Heresy that feels like it’s actually part of a series. Generally with these books they mostly just reference the series opening trilogy and then spin off in to their own things. Betrayer is doing the exact opposite, referencing and paying off events from like a dozen previous books in the Heresy. I don’t know that I always want the series to be this self referential, that sort of thing can very quickly start to feel like homework that takes the place of an actual story, but as a one off for a book that’s very clearly laying out some huge events it’s a nice bit of icing on the cake.
There’s more stuff I loved here: characterization is really on point. Lotara especially is a stand out, easily the second best written character in the entire series up to this point (and the series top character is Sevatar, another Dembski-Bowden creation, did I mention he’s the best at this?). The mech fights are awesome. The big climactic space battle is an all timer. The throne room scene is something else. Angron’s epilogue bit is bananas. There’s no real antagonist in this book (Guilliman and the Ultramarines are present but they’re essentially just cannon fodder with a handful of lines), that’s a wild way to write a book like this.
I’m basically running down a bullet list of stuff I really loved about this book at this point, but that’s because in Betrayer Dembski-Bowden is just going from strength to strength to strength. Top notch entry in the series. I feel like it almost deserves five stars on ambition alone, but then it goes ahead and grasps what it’s reaching for and at that point it’s not even a question: five stars.
I’m usually not particularly keen on these meet-this-new-legion-and-it’s-primarch books. The thing the series does where every legion has its shtick and everyone in the legion hyper focuses on that shtick usually feels both one note and gimmicky. Certainly the World Eaters shtick as the angriest guys in the room has been used that way in previous books where they’ve cropped up. ADB makes it work here by simply taking the premise of the World Eaters at face value. So yes they’re super angry and that makes them scary and loud and intense and ferocious. But also it means they’re pretty stupid? And not that great in a fight really? And just as likely to get their allies and even themselves killed as their enemies? ADB effectively charts the fall of the World Eaters, showing how they go from an unremarkable but decent enough legion, to finding Angron, and then under his leadership nose diving in to what we see them as within these books.
Also ADB uses the World Eaters to answer a question I have long had about some of these legions that are clearly too lost in the sauce to actually do their jobs, which is who’s thinking about stuff like logistics and supplies and strategy? In a legion like the World Eaters where they’re just killing each other any time they’re bored, or the Emperor’s Children where they’re all just cenobites, who’s doing the paperwork? How does anything ever even get done? Answer: the regular humans are doing all that, and they’re mostly all annoyed that they’re stuck working for these giant trigger happy idiots. I know this is Warhammer and it is very much NOT the kind of sci-fi where you’re supposed to sit there and think about how any of this shit works, but I’m 24 books in to this series and you can’t read that much about this place without having questions. It doesn’t happen often, but when one of these authors takes a minute to actually think about the practicalities of this setting it’s always appreciated.
ADB works similar magic with the World Eaters primarch, by making Angron a not-sympathetic-character-exactly, but at least an understandable one. Angron first gets time in the spotlight in the Horus Heresy in a short story called After Desh’ea, where he kills like a hundred of his guys because they keep trying to talk to him and he doesn’t want to be bothered. In a series full of big dumb guys he comes across as both the biggest and the dumbest. Post-Betrayer? Well he’s still the biggest and the dumbest (he is literally eating his own soldiers by the end of this book) but at least there’s a person in there. Somewhere (besides the people in his stomach, I mean). But also thanks to ADB’s hard work my reaction to Angron’s whole deal has gone from “aw geez this fucking guy” to “damn that’s rad as hell.”
This is one of ADB’s strong points as a Black Library author I feel. There’s definitely a through line with his Horus Heresy work up to this point, of showing how legions are forced to deal with the disappointment of Primarchs who just completely suck shit. As I often say in these reviews, I’m very much of the opinion that the primarchs are all clowns, but some are much much worse at their jobs than others, and Dembski-Bowden seems to be the only author in the Games Workshop stable who is interested in engaging with that at all.
Betrayer is also notable because it is, twenty four books in, the first entry in the Horus Heresy that feels like it’s actually part of a series. Generally with these books they mostly just reference the series opening trilogy and then spin off in to their own things. Betrayer is doing the exact opposite, referencing and paying off events from like a dozen previous books in the Heresy. I don’t know that I always want the series to be this self referential, that sort of thing can very quickly start to feel like homework that takes the place of an actual story, but as a one off for a book that’s very clearly laying out some huge events it’s a nice bit of icing on the cake.
There’s more stuff I loved here: characterization is really on point. Lotara especially is a stand out, easily the second best written character in the entire series up to this point (and the series top character is Sevatar, another Dembski-Bowden creation, did I mention he’s the best at this?). The mech fights are awesome. The big climactic space battle is an all timer. The throne room scene is something else. Angron’s epilogue bit is bananas. There’s no real antagonist in this book (Guilliman and the Ultramarines are present but they’re essentially just cannon fodder with a handful of lines), that’s a wild way to write a book like this.
I’m basically running down a bullet list of stuff I really loved about this book at this point, but that’s because in Betrayer Dembski-Bowden is just going from strength to strength to strength. Top notch entry in the series. I feel like it almost deserves five stars on ambition alone, but then it goes ahead and grasps what it’s reaching for and at that point it’s not even a question: five stars.
December 14, 2012
Possibly the darkest, most tragic book in the series yet. And that is saying something.
October 6, 2013
1. This book continues to uphold my belief that Aaron Dembski-Bowden is one of Black Library's best writers. It's a well-written sequel to The First Heretic, and I think it did great justice to the Word Bearer and World Eater Legions. You get a good look at the mind of the Primarch Angron from the perspective of his First Captain, Kharn. Lorgar Aurelian and his Legion also got a lot of airtime in this novel and with two Primarchs taking to the battlefield, the battle sequences were nothing short of incredible. Betrayer had some of the best sequences I've read in the series so far.
2. I didn't really like how Magnus was portrayed in this book. Graham McNeill did a stunning job fleshing him out in Thousand Sons, and since this novel takes place after those events, it was a bit jarring to see that he was portrayed as this arrogant figure who knew best. Whether or not this was fully intentional, we'll have to wait for future books about the Thousand Sons to find out.
3. On a somewhat related note, it's good to see that Black Library is finally moving its stories beyond the Isstvan V time frame. It seemed for the longest time they were content to write about events during and leading up to Isstvan V. This is a step into the next phase of the Heresy, and that can only mean good things.
2. I didn't really like how Magnus was portrayed in this book. Graham McNeill did a stunning job fleshing him out in Thousand Sons, and since this novel takes place after those events, it was a bit jarring to see that he was portrayed as this arrogant figure who knew best. Whether or not this was fully intentional, we'll have to wait for future books about the Thousand Sons to find out.
3. On a somewhat related note, it's good to see that Black Library is finally moving its stories beyond the Isstvan V time frame. It seemed for the longest time they were content to write about events during and leading up to Isstvan V. This is a step into the next phase of the Heresy, and that can only mean good things.
September 15, 2026
This was an excellent Horus Heresy novel. The atmosphere was perfect: pregnant with threat, dark anticipation, and meloncholy. Angron is such an intriguing character. He's presented as a foaming at the mouth monster in previous novels. You slightly feel sympathetic for him here. Another aspect of this novel I appreciated was its narrative range. You don't stay in the same place, the same war campaign, the same scenario the whole novel. You experience story momemtum. Important things happen. One problem with Horus Heresy novels is the actual narrative events can become sliced too thin. This isn't the case here. This might be the prejudice of immediacy, but this might he my favorite Horus Heresy novel since the first three. That Epilogue gave me goosebumps.
February 28, 2026
"Where's Angron?' 'Delvarus was the last to report in; he says he saw the primarch eating some of the enemy dead.' 'Tell me that's a joke.' Skane shrugged again."
I laughed so hard I got stitches, because Kharn and I both thought the same thing at the same time. It's a 'you had to be there' moment, but I promise that was an incredible joke. That could be my entire review, but I'll include some thoughts.
This is easily the funniest Horus Heresy entry. I didn't think that Betrayer was gonna be filled to the brim with everything that my favorite HH books have. Angron talked so much sense. I'm not a Traitor (unless Alpharius asks nicely, and like are they Traitors...really...mmm??), but some of these discussions were sermons, and I was those gospel church ladies with the ad-libs and the clapping. Aaron Dembski-Bowden gave us some iconic lines and heart-shattering moments. He should take all the flowers because I'm walking out of this book injured, limping, and fucking distraught, yet I had literally the best time.
I laughed so hard I got stitches, because Kharn and I both thought the same thing at the same time. It's a 'you had to be there' moment, but I promise that was an incredible joke. That could be my entire review, but I'll include some thoughts.
This is easily the funniest Horus Heresy entry. I didn't think that Betrayer was gonna be filled to the brim with everything that my favorite HH books have. Angron talked so much sense. I'm not a Traitor (unless Alpharius asks nicely, and like are they Traitors...really...mmm??), but some of these discussions were sermons, and I was those gospel church ladies with the ad-libs and the clapping. Aaron Dembski-Bowden gave us some iconic lines and heart-shattering moments. He should take all the flowers because I'm walking out of this book injured, limping, and fucking distraught, yet I had literally the best time.
April 14, 2013
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!
July 12, 2021
If you forgave Erebus for being a turdface in the first three books because E money and his empire was turds, this book will make sure you hate him.
It will also make you love angron and kharn.
It will also make you love angron and kharn.
December 28, 2012
Following on from Butcher’s Nails and the events of Know No Fear, Betrayer is a novel exploring the war in Ultramar. Focusing the roles played by both Lorgar and Angron in crippling worlds who might come to the Imperium’s defence and the aftermath of their failure at Calth. However this defeat is not the greatest concern of the Word Bearers primarch. Angron is visibly becoming less stable by the day as the mental implants continue to drag his tortured into a perpetual blood frenzy. Worse still is that they are not only driving him insane, they are beginning to kill him. Determined to keep him alive, Lorgar focuses his efforts on saving his barbarous brother through corruption.
In many ways the novel is very similar to Graham McNeill’s preceeding title in this series Angel Exterminatus. You have two very different legions working towards the same goal, one legion being shown its downfall to Chaos entirely, a primarch ascending to a greater power and with it linking directly into a multitude of other novels.
However Aaron Dembski-Bowden goes about covering events of prior Heresy installments in a very different way. In this, much of what is seen makes you want to go back to re-read titles and look at them again with the revelations now known. Right in the first few pages there are scenes which seem to address a number of criticisms and fan objections to Battle for the Abyss and the actions of Magnus the Red. Nothing so extensive that it smothers the opening of a very good tale. Instead feeling like it’s addressing older flaws on short notice while managing to make them feel at least somewhat meaningful. These scenes never last more than a few pages at a time but on almost every occasion they offer new insights into events, characters and even the primarchs themselves. Best of all none of them ever feel like they’re betraying said characters, simply expanding upon what was previously told.
Atop of these revelations, the book carries directly on from what we were shown from First Heretic. The scenes featuring Lorgar, Argel Tal and other feel like they were direct extensions from their previous novel and have fantastic continuity with what came prior to this. There are certainly some eyebrow raising moments such as the decision to resurrect yet another character from the dead but it doesn’t feel like a decision beyond those attempting the act. It’s only the choice of having the act take place which feels wrong, not the fact the characters themselves are performing it. Furthermore the author manages to reconcile Erebus between both what we saw in First Heretic and the treacherous viper he is from the others. I don’t want to ruin it but how he is presented here and treated by his primarch is closest to the brief scenes of him from Anthony Reynolds’ Word Bearers trilogy.
As for the battles, they’re competently written. While never feeling beyond anything we’ve seen in the past they’re certainly no worse than what we’ve encountered in ground engagements. Where the book seems to truly shine however is when it takes time to emphasise upon space warfare and duels between specific characters. Every time guns start firing in the void and one warrior singles out the other, you know some outstanding battles are about to take place.
Still, for all this praise I’m sure many of you are wondering about the opening statement.
Each of the Horus Heresy novels had the tenancy to do two things: Progress the story towards the endgame at Terra in some way and flesh out the legions. In Prospero Burns we learned of the Space Wolves’ outlook on life, in Legion we learned of the Alpha Legion’s role and methods, A Thousand Sons shone light on that legion’s culture, so on and so forth. Betrayer though? We learn nothing we didn’t already know of the World Eaters. Plenty about figures within the legion and a little more about Angron but not the legion itself. In what could be their one chance to shine in the Heresy they end up being constantly overshadowed.
It would be wrong to say they’re not integral to the plot but nor are they the focus of it or the ones in control. No that constantly goes to the Word Bearers and Lorgar, the acts and fates of who Betrayer constantly veers towards exploring over that of Kharn and his ilk. While seeing Argal Tal’s story furthered is a more than welcome addition, their presence really makes it clear that this is their story. The World Eaters are just there as an objective or have their veterans show just how big a joke the legion has become.
The World Eaters have consistently been written as berserkers to be unchained and let loose, but they’ve always been presented as an effective force. One with a high attrition rate, but that was usually put down to their deployment against foes dangerous enough to be completely annihilated. In this they seem to be written as dangers to themselves, especially in the invasion of Armatura, undisciplined and only achieving victory due to more controlled elements outside of the legion. Fine they’re attacking a fortress world, supposedly one amongst the best in the galaxy despite the lack of Dorn or Perturabo’s involvement, but they seem to be massacred in easily avoidable situations. Entire elite detachments abandon their posts and hundreds are cut down in situations you’d expect even semi-lobotomised killers to be smart enough to avoid. It feels especially wrong when they thoroughly outmatch their enemy a hundred times over both in numbers and firepower.
There is method to the decision to portray them in this light. Unlike other authors who come to mind, Dembski-Bowden isn’t writing this to beef up another legion to make them look more impressive. A very intricate plot revolves around internal decay involving Angron, his relation to the legion and the changes of the butcher’s nails. An extremely well handled an interesting one.
Dembski-Bowden has shown he is willing to display as many flaws as strengths within legions and resist treating them as being powerful beyond reckoning. Even emphasising those flaws when he sees it needed to enhance character or improve a tale. Were this a standalone tale I’d be praising this decision, but when following on from novels showing every other legion as an effective force it becomes a huge black mark against what should have been a much better book. The problem is this feels wrong in their one big chance to be the focus of a story, especially when next to the Word Bearers. Taking what should have been a display of a legion’s individuality and strengths as with all preceding novels, then limiting their presence and exploring how massive a failure they are.
If you’re after more Word Bearers action, insight into Angron or are interested in seeing older novels shown in a new light, look this one up. If you’re here to see worlds being eaten, re-read previous instalments like The Outcast Dead.
In many ways the novel is very similar to Graham McNeill’s preceeding title in this series Angel Exterminatus. You have two very different legions working towards the same goal, one legion being shown its downfall to Chaos entirely, a primarch ascending to a greater power and with it linking directly into a multitude of other novels.
However Aaron Dembski-Bowden goes about covering events of prior Heresy installments in a very different way. In this, much of what is seen makes you want to go back to re-read titles and look at them again with the revelations now known. Right in the first few pages there are scenes which seem to address a number of criticisms and fan objections to Battle for the Abyss and the actions of Magnus the Red. Nothing so extensive that it smothers the opening of a very good tale. Instead feeling like it’s addressing older flaws on short notice while managing to make them feel at least somewhat meaningful. These scenes never last more than a few pages at a time but on almost every occasion they offer new insights into events, characters and even the primarchs themselves. Best of all none of them ever feel like they’re betraying said characters, simply expanding upon what was previously told.
Atop of these revelations, the book carries directly on from what we were shown from First Heretic. The scenes featuring Lorgar, Argel Tal and other feel like they were direct extensions from their previous novel and have fantastic continuity with what came prior to this. There are certainly some eyebrow raising moments such as the decision to resurrect yet another character from the dead but it doesn’t feel like a decision beyond those attempting the act. It’s only the choice of having the act take place which feels wrong, not the fact the characters themselves are performing it. Furthermore the author manages to reconcile Erebus between both what we saw in First Heretic and the treacherous viper he is from the others. I don’t want to ruin it but how he is presented here and treated by his primarch is closest to the brief scenes of him from Anthony Reynolds’ Word Bearers trilogy.
As for the battles, they’re competently written. While never feeling beyond anything we’ve seen in the past they’re certainly no worse than what we’ve encountered in ground engagements. Where the book seems to truly shine however is when it takes time to emphasise upon space warfare and duels between specific characters. Every time guns start firing in the void and one warrior singles out the other, you know some outstanding battles are about to take place.
Still, for all this praise I’m sure many of you are wondering about the opening statement.
Each of the Horus Heresy novels had the tenancy to do two things: Progress the story towards the endgame at Terra in some way and flesh out the legions. In Prospero Burns we learned of the Space Wolves’ outlook on life, in Legion we learned of the Alpha Legion’s role and methods, A Thousand Sons shone light on that legion’s culture, so on and so forth. Betrayer though? We learn nothing we didn’t already know of the World Eaters. Plenty about figures within the legion and a little more about Angron but not the legion itself. In what could be their one chance to shine in the Heresy they end up being constantly overshadowed.
It would be wrong to say they’re not integral to the plot but nor are they the focus of it or the ones in control. No that constantly goes to the Word Bearers and Lorgar, the acts and fates of who Betrayer constantly veers towards exploring over that of Kharn and his ilk. While seeing Argal Tal’s story furthered is a more than welcome addition, their presence really makes it clear that this is their story. The World Eaters are just there as an objective or have their veterans show just how big a joke the legion has become.
The World Eaters have consistently been written as berserkers to be unchained and let loose, but they’ve always been presented as an effective force. One with a high attrition rate, but that was usually put down to their deployment against foes dangerous enough to be completely annihilated. In this they seem to be written as dangers to themselves, especially in the invasion of Armatura, undisciplined and only achieving victory due to more controlled elements outside of the legion. Fine they’re attacking a fortress world, supposedly one amongst the best in the galaxy despite the lack of Dorn or Perturabo’s involvement, but they seem to be massacred in easily avoidable situations. Entire elite detachments abandon their posts and hundreds are cut down in situations you’d expect even semi-lobotomised killers to be smart enough to avoid. It feels especially wrong when they thoroughly outmatch their enemy a hundred times over both in numbers and firepower.
There is method to the decision to portray them in this light. Unlike other authors who come to mind, Dembski-Bowden isn’t writing this to beef up another legion to make them look more impressive. A very intricate plot revolves around internal decay involving Angron, his relation to the legion and the changes of the butcher’s nails. An extremely well handled an interesting one.
Dembski-Bowden has shown he is willing to display as many flaws as strengths within legions and resist treating them as being powerful beyond reckoning. Even emphasising those flaws when he sees it needed to enhance character or improve a tale. Were this a standalone tale I’d be praising this decision, but when following on from novels showing every other legion as an effective force it becomes a huge black mark against what should have been a much better book. The problem is this feels wrong in their one big chance to be the focus of a story, especially when next to the Word Bearers. Taking what should have been a display of a legion’s individuality and strengths as with all preceding novels, then limiting their presence and exploring how massive a failure they are.
If you’re after more Word Bearers action, insight into Angron or are interested in seeing older novels shown in a new light, look this one up. If you’re here to see worlds being eaten, re-read previous instalments like The Outcast Dead.
July 3, 2023
When does the subjective become objective?
Betrayer is objectively the best book of the Horus Heresy judged by average rating. Yet, in my biased eyes, it’s merely mediocre.
Yes, the twist over Nuceria’s reaction to Angron’s involuntary uplifting is transcendently brilliant. Yes, there’s a cool duel. Yes, Lhorke and Lotara evidence Dembski-Bowden’s gift with minor characters. However, the book feels like hard work, and the afterword admits as much.
Betrayer wasn’t an easy book to write.
Objectively, it’s the best. Subjectively, it’s not the worst.
‘We survived Isstvan III,’ he said. ‘We’ll survive this.’
The basic premise of the Warhammer 40K universe is that if you’re a main character, you will survive right until the moment you are meant to die. The key word here is survive.
Stabbed? That’ll kind of hurt.
Shot? Scratches. Flesh wounds, for want of a better term*
A plasma blast from a Titan? Just block it with the power of positive thinking.
A second such blast? Walk it off, you’re needed to duel a Primarch in the next part.
I understand that main characters often suffer and recover from outrageous wounds. It is part of the triumph against the odds. But it turns into a bit of a piss take here. Is it meant to be a parody:
- to have Angron literally dig himself into a deeper hole and that be some grave threat to his health; and
- for it then to be a bit of a laugh when he holds up a Titan’s leg as though the laws of physics have no meaning?
I also understand there are plenty of in-universe explanations for why Lorgar and Angron survive the trials of Betrayer. I’m not auditing power levels. It is just that you can only escalate so much before it gets boring. When Talos defeated a Titan, Dembski-Bowden wroted it as clever thinking and team work. Here, it is that Lorgar and Angron are just too epic. The same is true for Khârn, Erebus and… …Argel Tal.
Telling you this, twenty-five books into a series that is specifically about how some guys are tough to kill, is not exactly revelatory on my part. The point remains though, because I believe that ability should be a means, not an end.
The outrageous feats of survival don’t serve anything interesting other than that they are outrageous feats of survival. Here’s a comparison with Angel Exterminatus : Perturabo survives what he shouldn’t – but that survival is powered by hatred and betrayal – it’s subsidiary to his relationships with others and their perceived betrayals. So… …it’s fun. It serves a purpose. Betrayer does flirt with brotherhood as its purpose, but my impression is that Dembski-Bowden doesn’t believe the Primarchs are truly capable of that.
The Banality of Evil
Betrayer is about the bad guys. And they’re really really bad. So so bad we’re told. Just let it run and run and run...
...and run.
The bleeding demigod had torn his way through the ground, giving voice to his resurrection with a bellow nothing short of ursine. Gore sheeted him, painting him in dark, rich red wetness. He threw his axes away, ruined and never to be wielded again, and breathed freedom into his lungs.
By its nature, the grimdark setting rests on a lot atrocity porn. It’s possible to execute it quite well (and Dembski-Bowden has!) but here, the atrocity porn stands as a substitute for character development, particularly for Angron and Khârn.** There is an interesting perspective around the “Butcher’s Nails” but it mostly moves in two directions: Explosive Anger and Brooding Anger. I don’t see that issue as a unique to Betrayer, neither character is particularly interesting in the wider literary universe other than that they are angry. I still think Angron had it best, with a Legion of dipshits destroying fetuses and Khârn’s violence replaced with blacked out pages. There’s just a limit to how much the escalation of violence means anything (much like the escalation of power levels!).
As for the other characters, Lorgar and Erebus feel more like plot devices, shuffling events and characters around. While Betrayer birthed “Fuck Erebus” meme, hatred of him feels forced, albeit it is valid to criticise his pantomime of evil. As for Argel Tal, I can only presume greater forces than the author dictated his path.
‘Victory is a matter of perspective.’
Betrayer is not average because the writer is average. It’s average because a great author got a bit excessive with elements of characterisation. Well, I think he did. Virtually everyone seems to disagree!
*This one is a little bit of a cheat when in context, but still illustrative.
**Delvarus of the Triarii would be an interesting exception and hopefully he is developed further.
Betrayer is objectively the best book of the Horus Heresy judged by average rating. Yet, in my biased eyes, it’s merely mediocre.
Yes, the twist over Nuceria’s reaction to Angron’s involuntary uplifting is transcendently brilliant. Yes, there’s a cool duel. Yes, Lhorke and Lotara evidence Dembski-Bowden’s gift with minor characters. However, the book feels like hard work, and the afterword admits as much.
Betrayer wasn’t an easy book to write.
Objectively, it’s the best. Subjectively, it’s not the worst.
‘We survived Isstvan III,’ he said. ‘We’ll survive this.’
The basic premise of the Warhammer 40K universe is that if you’re a main character, you will survive right until the moment you are meant to die. The key word here is survive.
Stabbed? That’ll kind of hurt.
Shot? Scratches. Flesh wounds, for want of a better term*
A plasma blast from a Titan? Just block it with the power of positive thinking.
A second such blast? Walk it off, you’re needed to duel a Primarch in the next part.
I understand that main characters often suffer and recover from outrageous wounds. It is part of the triumph against the odds. But it turns into a bit of a piss take here. Is it meant to be a parody:
- to have Angron literally dig himself into a deeper hole and that be some grave threat to his health; and
- for it then to be a bit of a laugh when he holds up a Titan’s leg as though the laws of physics have no meaning?
I also understand there are plenty of in-universe explanations for why Lorgar and Angron survive the trials of Betrayer. I’m not auditing power levels. It is just that you can only escalate so much before it gets boring. When Talos defeated a Titan, Dembski-Bowden wroted it as clever thinking and team work. Here, it is that Lorgar and Angron are just too epic. The same is true for Khârn, Erebus and… …Argel Tal.
Telling you this, twenty-five books into a series that is specifically about how some guys are tough to kill, is not exactly revelatory on my part. The point remains though, because I believe that ability should be a means, not an end.
The outrageous feats of survival don’t serve anything interesting other than that they are outrageous feats of survival. Here’s a comparison with Angel Exterminatus : Perturabo survives what he shouldn’t – but that survival is powered by hatred and betrayal – it’s subsidiary to his relationships with others and their perceived betrayals. So… …it’s fun. It serves a purpose. Betrayer does flirt with brotherhood as its purpose, but my impression is that Dembski-Bowden doesn’t believe the Primarchs are truly capable of that.
The Banality of Evil
Betrayer is about the bad guys. And they’re really really bad. So so bad we’re told. Just let it run and run and run...
...and run.
The bleeding demigod had torn his way through the ground, giving voice to his resurrection with a bellow nothing short of ursine. Gore sheeted him, painting him in dark, rich red wetness. He threw his axes away, ruined and never to be wielded again, and breathed freedom into his lungs.
By its nature, the grimdark setting rests on a lot atrocity porn. It’s possible to execute it quite well (and Dembski-Bowden has!) but here, the atrocity porn stands as a substitute for character development, particularly for Angron and Khârn.** There is an interesting perspective around the “Butcher’s Nails” but it mostly moves in two directions: Explosive Anger and Brooding Anger. I don’t see that issue as a unique to Betrayer, neither character is particularly interesting in the wider literary universe other than that they are angry. I still think Angron had it best, with a Legion of dipshits destroying fetuses and Khârn’s violence replaced with blacked out pages. There’s just a limit to how much the escalation of violence means anything (much like the escalation of power levels!).
As for the other characters, Lorgar and Erebus feel more like plot devices, shuffling events and characters around. While Betrayer birthed “Fuck Erebus” meme, hatred of him feels forced, albeit it is valid to criticise his pantomime of evil. As for Argel Tal, I can only presume greater forces than the author dictated his path.
‘Victory is a matter of perspective.’
Betrayer is not average because the writer is average. It’s average because a great author got a bit excessive with elements of characterisation. Well, I think he did. Virtually everyone seems to disagree!
*This one is a little bit of a cheat when in context, but still illustrative.
**Delvarus of the Triarii would be an interesting exception and hopefully he is developed further.
December 14, 2012
Blood... FOR THE BLOOD GOD!
July 14, 2026
Aaron Dembski-Bowden hits it out of the park with another Horus Heresy novel.
Betrayer features by far my favourite traitor legion, The World Eaters, as they are ushered along by the Word Bearers in the Ultramar System in an attempt to harry The Ultramarines.
ADB is at his best here. Watching him deal with the traitor legions is fascinating, he makes it more tragic than any other 40k writer I’ve read so far. He also gets the traitor legions, especially the World Eaters. Kharn, Angron and Argel Tal are all at their best here as ADB juggles character motivations, backstories and the meddling of chaos to create a tragic descent into madness which left me at the edge of my seat. Great stuff.
Betrayer features by far my favourite traitor legion, The World Eaters, as they are ushered along by the Word Bearers in the Ultramar System in an attempt to harry The Ultramarines.
ADB is at his best here. Watching him deal with the traitor legions is fascinating, he makes it more tragic than any other 40k writer I’ve read so far. He also gets the traitor legions, especially the World Eaters. Kharn, Angron and Argel Tal are all at their best here as ADB juggles character motivations, backstories and the meddling of chaos to create a tragic descent into madness which left me at the edge of my seat. Great stuff.
October 12, 2022
Holy fething shite!
July 15, 2023
I found it surprisingly enjoyable. The story is told from the heretics' perspective and even managed to make me feel sympathy for Angron. This is among the good ones in the 40k series.
June 22, 2023
March 2024 Re-Read using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order - Omnibus X Shadow Crusade III Chosen of Chaos (https://www.heresyomnibus.com/omnibus...) as part of my Oath of Moment to complete the Horus Heresy saga and extras.
It's taken me a while to get around to writing this as I have been feeling awful, my new sleeping tablets have been absolutely ruining me the day after, and I wanted to be able to really give this the effort it deserves.
This is by no means the objectively best or most perfect Horus Heresy novel, but I do believe this is my current favourite with so many of the characters that mean the most to me and some of the most impactful and epic scenes.
Towards the end end of the Shadow Crusade in Ultramar tensions are running high between the increasingly distracted, belligerent, and bloodthirsty Angron (who I've been calling the Red Angel in all previous reviews as he stated Angron was his slave name, but he states in this he hates being called the Red Angel) and his World Eaters, and the meticulous and scheming Lorgar and his Word Bearers. Unaffected by the increasing hostilities, Khârn and Argal Tal remain the best buddies and coolest dudes in the galaxy with the Possessed Astartes acting as the conscience and bodyguard of the berserker who fights as though possessed. Angron is becoming so consumed by his fury and need for violence that he is a real danger to himself, needing the assistance of his sons and brother on a number of occasions, while Lorgar impresses and endears himself to his bloody brother by going beast mode, taking some serious damage like an absolute champ, and bringing him into his machinations with the Darker Powers. With Erebus on the outs after making a meal out of Calth, but still with his own powers and schemes, and the Urizen taking things to the next level everyone is in serious danger and everything is on the line.
The balance of action and epicness with the genuine and manipulative fraternity and camerdarie makes this book absolutely sing. Of course Khârgal Tal are the heart and split soul of this tale with their genuine connection and the way secrets, prophecy, and lies enshroud and ultimately damn them being a microcosm of everything happening to their Legions. Angron and Lorgar mirror a facsimile of this writ large. On the Conquerer, Captain Sarin and the venerable Warhound dreadnoughts abruptly roused from slumber reflect the steady hands desperately trying to keep a grip on a wild tiller as everything changes and degrades around them. Lorgar and Erebus are the flies in the ointment, tainting everyone and everything around them with honeyed words and false benevolences.
From Angron nearly burrowing himself to death with wild axe swings like the most terrifying mole of all time, through Lorgar taking some titanic shots to the face and keeping on keeping on, to Captain Sarrin venting her frustration on her absent ship defence in one of my favourite scenes in the entire series and the brutal, but so perfectly written and in the Legion's mien, way the awol captain earns his brothers' respect again, this book is filled with epic and powerful moments crafted with care and skill to match their impact.
This is one of those books that makes me feel all of the emotions and succeeds in making me cry, which is something I always appreciate.
I wish I knew what else to say, but this really is a wonderful story of the bonds between brothers and corruption and destruction that can come from manipulating and abusing those bonds.
Bloody marvellous stuff!
***
Well, this might just be my favourite so far!
More thoughts when I've had time to percolate and process just how much happens in this one book. It feels like a miniseries in and of itself.
**Imagine more review and positive emotional ranting here that will come when my new sleeping tablets stop absolutely ruining my brain during the day**
In case I forget later, I absolutely adore this book, but it's not perfect and I don't appreciate the continued fatphobia and misogyny for quick and cheap insults, I've explained in detail before how misogyny either wouldn't exist or would be very different in the Imperium as it is significantly more egalitarian across sex and gender than our world. I also found the liberal and othering use of "cripple" and its derivatives to be crass and disappointing. These were relatively small things in the grand scheme and I ultimately loved this book, but I thinks it's important to call out this kind of stuff, especially in things we are fond of.
So bloody good!
I am not prepared for Angron: Slave of Nucrecia...
Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 19.41 Horus Heresy novels, 11 novellas, 51 short stories/ audio dramas, as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, 9 Primarchs novels, 3 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels...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.
It's taken me a while to get around to writing this as I have been feeling awful, my new sleeping tablets have been absolutely ruining me the day after, and I wanted to be able to really give this the effort it deserves.
This is by no means the objectively best or most perfect Horus Heresy novel, but I do believe this is my current favourite with so many of the characters that mean the most to me and some of the most impactful and epic scenes.
Towards the end end of the Shadow Crusade in Ultramar tensions are running high between the increasingly distracted, belligerent, and bloodthirsty Angron (who I've been calling the Red Angel in all previous reviews as he stated Angron was his slave name, but he states in this he hates being called the Red Angel) and his World Eaters, and the meticulous and scheming Lorgar and his Word Bearers. Unaffected by the increasing hostilities, Khârn and Argal Tal remain the best buddies and coolest dudes in the galaxy with the Possessed Astartes acting as the conscience and bodyguard of the berserker who fights as though possessed. Angron is becoming so consumed by his fury and need for violence that he is a real danger to himself, needing the assistance of his sons and brother on a number of occasions, while Lorgar impresses and endears himself to his bloody brother by going beast mode, taking some serious damage like an absolute champ, and bringing him into his machinations with the Darker Powers. With Erebus on the outs after making a meal out of Calth, but still with his own powers and schemes, and the Urizen taking things to the next level everyone is in serious danger and everything is on the line.
The balance of action and epicness with the genuine and manipulative fraternity and camerdarie makes this book absolutely sing. Of course Khârgal Tal are the heart and split soul of this tale with their genuine connection and the way secrets, prophecy, and lies enshroud and ultimately damn them being a microcosm of everything happening to their Legions. Angron and Lorgar mirror a facsimile of this writ large. On the Conquerer, Captain Sarin and the venerable Warhound dreadnoughts abruptly roused from slumber reflect the steady hands desperately trying to keep a grip on a wild tiller as everything changes and degrades around them. Lorgar and Erebus are the flies in the ointment, tainting everyone and everything around them with honeyed words and false benevolences.
From Angron nearly burrowing himself to death with wild axe swings like the most terrifying mole of all time, through Lorgar taking some titanic shots to the face and keeping on keeping on, to Captain Sarrin venting her frustration on her absent ship defence in one of my favourite scenes in the entire series and the brutal, but so perfectly written and in the Legion's mien, way the awol captain earns his brothers' respect again, this book is filled with epic and powerful moments crafted with care and skill to match their impact.
This is one of those books that makes me feel all of the emotions and succeeds in making me cry, which is something I always appreciate.
I wish I knew what else to say, but this really is a wonderful story of the bonds between brothers and corruption and destruction that can come from manipulating and abusing those bonds.
Bloody marvellous stuff!
***
Well, this might just be my favourite so far!
More thoughts when I've had time to percolate and process just how much happens in this one book. It feels like a miniseries in and of itself.
**Imagine more review and positive emotional ranting here that will come when my new sleeping tablets stop absolutely ruining my brain during the day**
In case I forget later, I absolutely adore this book, but it's not perfect and I don't appreciate the continued fatphobia and misogyny for quick and cheap insults, I've explained in detail before how misogyny either wouldn't exist or would be very different in the Imperium as it is significantly more egalitarian across sex and gender than our world. I also found the liberal and othering use of "cripple" and its derivatives to be crass and disappointing. These were relatively small things in the grand scheme and I ultimately loved this book, but I thinks it's important to call out this kind of stuff, especially in things we are fond of.
So bloody good!
I am not prepared for Angron: Slave of Nucrecia...
Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 19.41 Horus Heresy novels, 11 novellas, 51 short stories/ audio dramas, as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, 9 Primarchs novels, 3 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels...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.
August 13, 2026
Aaron Dembski Bowden is a personal challenge to read, however, his books dwell on deepest motives, desires and compartmentalising and that makes this book a diamond. Erebus is a piece of bald shit by the way
May 5, 2026
slow first half but really makes up for it in the second, Blood for The Blood God.
October 31, 2024
So who is the betrayer?
May 22, 2025
Great read. It's interesting to read about the World eaters at the beginning of their journey into Chaos and the continuing manipulation of Logar and his word bearers.
November 4, 2024
Amazing writing. Managed to cover technical description without becoming overly wordy. Tempo was solid. Never a dull moment.
May 26, 2022
Dragged out, unnecessary filler. Did not finish. Recommend skimming or finding a summary.
February 17, 2025
The Horus Heresy vispārējās sērijas divdesmit trešā grāmata turpina no Know No Fear romāna nodevēju leģiona Word Bearers (WB)uz Imperatoram lojālā leģiona Ultramarines (UM)planētas Calth iesākto. Betrayer ietvaros WB talkā ņem World Eaters (WE) leģionu, lai vispirms izpaustos pēc iespējas lielākas postažas un upuru radīšanā, tai skaitā arīdzan civiliedzīvotāji, un pēcāk, lai panāktu, ka UM, viens no lielākajiem leģioniem, nebūtu tik ievērojams faktors un traucēklis Imperatora pieveikšanā
https://poseidons99.com/2025/02/17/aa...
https://poseidons99.com/2025/02/17/aa...
March 20, 2025
Yeah this shit is awesome. Aaron Dembski-Bowden might be the GOAT tbh.
January 19, 2026
”It is not enough that corruption is recognised, it must be opposed. It is not enough that ignorance is acknowledged. It must be defied. Win or lose, what matters is making a stand for the virtues we will bequeath to the human race. When this galaxy is finally ours, we'll hold a worthless prize if we plant the last aquila, on the last day, on the last world, having led humanity into moral darkness.”
April 27, 2026
Absolute slammer of a book! Loved every second and it's story is utterly seismic. All my homies hate Erebus
July 19, 2015
This is another of me "as I read it" reviews, which may not turn out all that coherent by the end, but the impressions are unmitigated by the passage of time.
I had a conniption over the repugnance I felt through "Angel Exterminatus" and left the Heresy. There was only one problem - the fact that I own a copy of "Betrayer". These audiobooks aren't cheap, and I decided to carefully weigh whether I should listen to it. Points against - my word that I was leaving the Heresy and the continued degredation of quality from low and mediocre to just bad. Points in favor - Sunk costs and the fact that Aaron Dembski-Bowden has a decent track record so far.
I decided I would at least listen to what I'd already paid for.
EDIT - My decision to listen to Beytrayer has already yielded entertaining fruit. It's only a mistake in math, but it's a funny one. While the Traitors are on approach to a major World of Ultramar, Kharn states that there are a billion soldiers down there, of which a tenth are youths undergoing implatation and gene therapy.
This number makes me laugh.
Anyone undergoing implatation and gene therapy in the service of Ultramar is on their way to becoming an Ultrasmurf. Now, at the start of the heresy, the 13th legion was a quarter of a million Ultrasmurfs strong. A tenth of a billion is a hundred million (in short count countries like the US at least, it's worse in long count countries). It takes between four and six years to complete the implantation and gene therapy to make an Ultrasmurf (cite Lexicanum, creating a space marine). That means this world would be churning out between sixteen point six million and twenty-five million every year. To stay at a mere quarter million, the legion would have to be taking between 6666% and 10000% casualties every year. That is, they would have to lose the entire legion sixty-six to a hundred times every year, or once every four to six days. This would make the Massacre at Calth just another Tuesday for Guilliman.
I know the explaination is that Kharn got the numbers wrong because he's got nails driven into his brain, but I find the Guilliman Meat Grinder explaination funnier.
EDIT 2 - I've finished Betrayer, and it was actually worth the time spent. But with the losses the Ultrasmurfs took throughout, it seems like the "Whole legion once a week" loss rate might actually be accurate.
While not rave-worthy, if it had been the baseline instead of the heights of the Heresey, this series might not have made me so cross.
I had a conniption over the repugnance I felt through "Angel Exterminatus" and left the Heresy. There was only one problem - the fact that I own a copy of "Betrayer". These audiobooks aren't cheap, and I decided to carefully weigh whether I should listen to it. Points against - my word that I was leaving the Heresy and the continued degredation of quality from low and mediocre to just bad. Points in favor - Sunk costs and the fact that Aaron Dembski-Bowden has a decent track record so far.
I decided I would at least listen to what I'd already paid for.
EDIT - My decision to listen to Beytrayer has already yielded entertaining fruit. It's only a mistake in math, but it's a funny one. While the Traitors are on approach to a major World of Ultramar, Kharn states that there are a billion soldiers down there, of which a tenth are youths undergoing implatation and gene therapy.
This number makes me laugh.
Anyone undergoing implatation and gene therapy in the service of Ultramar is on their way to becoming an Ultrasmurf. Now, at the start of the heresy, the 13th legion was a quarter of a million Ultrasmurfs strong. A tenth of a billion is a hundred million (in short count countries like the US at least, it's worse in long count countries). It takes between four and six years to complete the implantation and gene therapy to make an Ultrasmurf (cite Lexicanum, creating a space marine). That means this world would be churning out between sixteen point six million and twenty-five million every year. To stay at a mere quarter million, the legion would have to be taking between 6666% and 10000% casualties every year. That is, they would have to lose the entire legion sixty-six to a hundred times every year, or once every four to six days. This would make the Massacre at Calth just another Tuesday for Guilliman.
I know the explaination is that Kharn got the numbers wrong because he's got nails driven into his brain, but I find the Guilliman Meat Grinder explaination funnier.
EDIT 2 - I've finished Betrayer, and it was actually worth the time spent. But with the losses the Ultrasmurfs took throughout, it seems like the "Whole legion once a week" loss rate might actually be accurate.
While not rave-worthy, if it had been the baseline instead of the heights of the Heresey, this series might not have made me so cross.
January 21, 2018
One of my favorite reads in the the series so far. Dembski-Bowden has proven himself time and again to be a powerful writer, skilled with imagery and language and full of powerful psychological insights. He does in this book what seems impossible, he makes Angron a sympathetic character.
October 13, 2015
At first the book did not get to me, perhaps I have read a bit too much warhammer 40k of late but in addition it might have also been my disinterest for Lorgar and the wordbearers and dislike of Angron and the worldeaters. Up until this book they always felt like one dimensional characters but Aaron changed my opinion on this. He made both legions and primarchs interesting to me, I started to feel bad for Angron and get what Lorgar was trying to achieve. But more importantly he also gave enough attention to regular space marines and humans. Now it is up to someone to finally convince me that Roboute Guilleman isn't such a bland character, I will be really impressed if someone can achieve this.
One remark though, for all his writing talent and character building I feel as if Aaron has a specialty that he can't shake off. Tragic characters, primarchs that are mentally broken and at ill ease with their legion and legionnaires that are melancholic. When comparing his nightlords novels to this one, you can't ignore the similarities between Konrad and Angron's tormented minds and Talos linked to both Khârn and Argel Tal even if Talos was more developed and complex as a character. Regardless, this was an excellent book that I will proudly place in my collection but I do hope the author has another literary trick up his sleeve.
One remark though, for all his writing talent and character building I feel as if Aaron has a specialty that he can't shake off. Tragic characters, primarchs that are mentally broken and at ill ease with their legion and legionnaires that are melancholic. When comparing his nightlords novels to this one, you can't ignore the similarities between Konrad and Angron's tormented minds and Talos linked to both Khârn and Argel Tal even if Talos was more developed and complex as a character. Regardless, this was an excellent book that I will proudly place in my collection but I do hope the author has another literary trick up his sleeve.
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