The Lion

The Horus Heresy #Novella

by Gav Thorpe

With their crusade against the Night Lords reaching its height, the Dark Angels find themselves thrust into a new battle. Beset by daemons and forced to choose between two brother Legions, the Lion's loyalties will be tested and a secret will be discovered that could change the face of the war, and the destiny of the Dark Angels Legion.

Read it because
The Lion is finally forced to choose as a side as the Iron Hands and Death Guard come to blows over a mysterious artefact. And when he claims it for his own, the Dark Angels primarch sets his Legion on a course that will haunt them for ten thousand years.

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Novella, Audiobook, Short Stories, Fiction

95 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

Gav spent 14 years as a developer for Games Workshop, and started writing novels and short stories in the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 when the Black Library imprint was launched in 1997.

He continues to write for Black Library, and his first 'homegrown' novel series The Crown of the Blood has been released via Angry Robot.

Currently living in Nottingham, Gav shares his home with his loving and very understanding partner - Kez, and their beautiful little boy - Sammy.

Reviews

[Dylan Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another short following the Lion and his Dark Angels out in the Thramas reagion, continuing his unending war against Curze and the Night Lords. Follwoing ADB's awesome short story "Savage Weapons", we see the Lion having to make tough decisions when a Mechanicum planet he helped to pacify comes under attack by forces of the Death Guard and Iron Hands. The short is interesting in many ways. We get to see how the Lion handles stress, and how he can't handle it quite as well as some of his brothers, and a early character meets his tragic end with no more than a glance of regret from the Lion. This really solidifies my dislike for the idealilogies of the Dark Angels. Though getting to see both the Death Guard and Iron Hands post-Istvaan was great fun, and what the short means in the future will be awesome. The T-machine(I cannot remember the spelling) and the gathering in Ultramar will be very interesting in the coming weeks! Also, the progression for Typhon is quite awesome, I cannot wait to see more of him!

[Arnis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Primarks – būtne, kura ir ne tikai skaistāka, spēcīgāka, gudrāka un visādi citādi pārāka par parastu mirstīgo, bet arīdzan pār superkaravīriem astartes. Viņiem šie superkaravīri būtu jāiedvesmo uz varoņdarbiem, uz Diženā Krusta kara un cilvēces reiz kolonizēto planētu atkalapvienošanu ar cilvēci, bet ne visi Primarki, reiz izkaisīti pa Visumu, ir vienās domās, ne visi Primarki ir vienlīdz lojāli Imperatoram.

https://poseidons99.wordpress.com/202...

[Danny Saines · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story that got stronger towards the end but failed to grip me as much as it’s short story predecessor Savage Weapons.

[RatGrrrl · Rating 4 out of 5]

March 2024 Re-Read using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order - Omnibus VIII Angels of Darkness (https://www.heresyomnibus.com/omnibus...) as part of my Oath of Moment to complete the Horus Heresy saga and extras.

A cracking novella!

Continuing the thread of the Dark Angels defending precious manufacturing worlds the Lion and his knights of Caliban head to a super secret site and discover Iron Hands and Death Guard engaging in space over the precious and bizarre device all covet, but not before the Night Lords show off newly gained warp travel abilities, the Lion pulls some of his own sick moves, and the I Legion have to contend with a Daemonic incursion on their flagship because sokeoje wants a word with the Primarch.

I nearly gave this full marks, but it could be just a little tighter, nonetheless this is definitely a banger.

I love seeing weird, amorphous, definitely not a tabletop model Daemons like the in the end of Descent or Angels, but it's also really exciting to see recognisable Daemons, especially pink and blue horrors as I'm playing Chaos Gate (1998) while listening and I absolutely love the models in that and the way they wave their big arms and hands about when they get shot. Plus, all the descriptions and handling of all the warp goodness and its mutable denizens were written wonderfully.

The dialogue and interactions between the representatives of the Legion are great and fascinating as the Heresy is admittedly on earlyish stages, but the relative cordiality is interesting. The quest item itself is mind-boggling epic and horrifying and I look forward to continuing to pull that thread.

I also really enjoy the continuation of just how bad vibes genius weirdo the Lion is all the time and increasingly as time goes on. The various authors, including Thorpe in this instance, continue to handle this strangeness and discomfort well it's a joy to read.

Great stuff!

Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 16.41 Horus Heresy novels, 8 novellas, 41 short stories/ audio dramas, as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, 8 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

[Rev · Rating 3 out of 5]

"The Lion" is a novella takes place around 80 or so days after the previous battle between The Lion of the First Legion's Dark Angels & Curze of the Eighth Legion's Night Lord's, though mainly aiming to delve further into the multifaceted psyche of Lion El Jonson.
Thorpe therefore gifts readers with a narrative that is just as much about the Lion's internal struggles as it is about his external battles, blending his psychological depth & complex dynamics with the constant high-stakes action we see all throughout the Heresy.
The story then highlights nearly every important personality piece of the Lion, his isolation, rigid adherence to duty, & of course complicated relationship with his legion & his brothers in relation to their different philosophies & measures of government.
Portraying The Lion as this figure of immense strength & tactical brilliance, but also as a deeply flawed leader, struggling with his inability to inspire trust & camaraderie within his sons whilst at the same time grappling with the utter brutality of his nature & I love that about him.

[TuralyonW3 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Stunningly awful; a slap in the face to readers who have been following Nemiel through two books (Descent of Angels and Fallen Angels). Just absolute nonsensical characterization of him by Thorpe. A huge fail by the editor(s) as well. I've been reading the Horus Heresy for 2 years (have read about 30 books) and this is the first time I've been truly offended by incompetency. I'm having to take a break from the whole Heresy for a while.

[Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gav Thorpe finally produced a decent story. I thoroughly enjoyed the politique within the Death Guard and the outright strange thinking of the Lion. Much of the story plodded along and the death of Brother Nemiel was pointless, abrupt, and out of character for Nemiel. But the story still managed to be good. Although, that nearly dropped it down further.

[Alfonso Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bastante mejor de lo que me esperaba, una novelilla corta sobre los Angeles Oscuros que es mejor que las dos novelas anteriores, que se me hicieron pesadísimas y que me hicieron replantearme qué hago leyendo la Herejía de Horus en su casi totalidad. Ya es obstinación llegados a este punto.

Pero bueno, esta novelilla es una agradable y bienvenida "palate cleanser", como dirían los ingleses.

[Stefan Koepeknie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark Angels vs Daemons in a void fight with a rare Lord of Change appearance. Typhon of the Death Guard prior to becoming Typhus (Nurgle's herald, champion, & host of Destroyer Plague) plays a later role.
Audiobook @ 3 hours.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

best short story in the Primarchs novel so far

[Eric Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I still don’t know how I feel about the Lion but it was an interesting read. His reintroduction novel to 40k is on my upcoming read list so we will see how I feel after that.

[Jake Josling · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uncharacteristically poor writing from Gav Thorpe and uncharacterisctically poor performance from Graham Armstrong. A real let down.

[Tyberius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Literally slapped his head right off... didnt even mention it. Wowzers

[Joshua · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a below-average quality HH book. Things just seem to happen for no clear reason. So much plot armour surrounds Jonson in this novella that it felt pointless to read.

[Ross Cudmore · Rating 3 out of 5]

Set shortly after the short story "Savage Weapons" the Lion is two years into an ongoing conflict with the Night Lords with no clear end in sight. Some fun action scenes as the Lion must deal with the creatures from the Warp as they invade his ship. Wasn't a huge fan of how the character of Nemiel was handled (one of the main characters in "Descent of Angels" and "Fallen Angels").

[Garry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Following on from the short story Savage Weapons, the Dark Angels have failed to bring the Night Lords to a decisive battle in the Thramas Crusade. When word reaches the Lion of a Mechanicum world caught in the cross-fire of the Death Guard and Iron Hands he realises a means of defeating the Night Lords lies within his grasp.

The novella begins with the Dark Angels fustrated at being unable to defeat the Night Lords and rejoin the real war being waged elsewhere. When hearing of the plight of Perditus a Mechanicum world the Lion heads there with all speed. This first half of the story sees the Dark Angels fighting for their lives against a tide of daemons unleashed against the Dark Angels flagship durring a brief void engagement. Here we see a brutal execution of a character for disagreeing with the Lion over the repeal of the Nikaea Decree.

The second half of the story is very distinct featuring a ground confrontation between the Death Guard and Iron Hands. This is the part of the story I loved as it featured my favourite traitor Calas Typhon. Finaly we see some of the future corruption of the Death Guard and Typhon's degree of faith in his patron in the warp.

The novella ends with Typhon gaining blessings for his faith that will bear terrible fruit latter in the series. Meanwhile Lion El'Johnson gains possession of the means to finaly defeat the Night Lords and leave Thramas to deal with the ambitions of one of his brothers.

The story of the war between the Dark Angels and Night Lords continues in the novella Prince of Crows.