The Crimson King: The Horus Heresy, Book 44

It's a good book.

I think I was expecting too much. Magnus is my favorite primarch, and Ahriman is one of my favorite characters, and the Thousand Sons are my favorite legion. Do you see a trend?This is a good book. It really is. But the opponents of the Sons just annoy me. It's so strange how the Space Wolves I run hot and cold with. Some of their books have utterly shocked me with how much I like them, and others I just want them dead so they shut up and stop annoying me.The story of how Magnus is broken is interesting, and fits. And I freaking love the cover.Pick it up. And don't be the fanboy I was and expect your new favorite novel. Although, I hope it is for you.

Husband loves these books

The Crimson King is an stellar addition to the Horus Heresy series, and Graham McNeill has raised the bar for his peers.Characters are presented with good and interesting detail throughout the text, and the Warhammer universe is shown in new ways. I most enjoyed their surprisingly nuanced perspectives on various lore items (example: The Council of Nikea). Without spoiling detail, Dio Promus' defense of Prospero's Razing is the most complete and impeccable vindication of their actions ever presented in the Black Library.

I'm torn... I've been reading the HH series since they first came out, buying every book and then rebuying for the new format. So I've invested a lot of $ and time. I honestly can't remember when I've enjoyed one of these books (A Thousand Sons)?Black Library realized after Flight of The Einstein that they had to slow down the pace of development or else they would be at The Battle of Terra within 20 books. So, we get painfully incremental story development over a decade.This is a great business model. Somebody has made a *bleep* ton of money but I hope readers are finally "wise" to this game. I can't count how many versions of the Istvaan Massacre I've read. Now with The Crimson King we get a poor follow-on to the Prospero Burns duology, providing insight into a storyline that nobody asked for...But I'm a sucker and I MUST learn the details of the final battles despite how much I feel *bleeped* over...

Good story about what happens to Magnus after he’s “killed” by Russ. It dragged a bit at times, and the whole concept (slight spoiler alert) of Magnus having fragments of his soul spread throughout the galaxy is a bit Harry Potter-ish, but it was a pretty cool story overall. Magnus is a bit Mary Sue OP, considering fragments of his soul are powerful enough to combat powerful forces arranged against them (a fraction of his soul without a vessel...), but still, good storyline, fun read, and I would say worth the $12 or whatever it costs.

It’s a good book. Not one of the best of the series for me but pretty important for telling the story of how the shards of Magnus’ soul were brought back together and explaining the decision of the Thousand Sons to join the Warmaster.

It’s ok. A bit to much magic..that being said yes I know it’s magnus but it was a bit to much. I like magnus the red and think hh haven’t done a good job with him or Ahriman. This book well..it’s. 2 out of 5. Not great but worth reading but it can get an it boring.The whole shard thing is confusing. With them and the necros.I want to really like the red cyclops and Ahriman but the no one has ever done them justic. The only book I like with Ahriman is it is when the book is about the inquesutor and his story into the black library.Don’t read. Waste of time.

This book continues where we left off with Magnus and the Thousand Sons after the destruction of Prospero. Aside from there being a bit too magic throughout the book, the stakes were high and the adventures engaging.Magnus and his Sons are one of the most interesting characters in the series and I feel really bad for them as they try to make things better but just make things worse.Spoilers below:This book shows us how the Thousand Sons are embracing Tzeentch more and more. One can see this in Ahriman who at the end of the book shows how cold he has become. Indeed, he shows that he is willing to sacrifice the life of one of his brothers if it means obtaining what he seeks. Truly, the tragedy shows here as Ahriman used to be a nice guy in the previous Thousand Sons book. Now, he seems to embrace the mindset of "The ends justify the means" which is repulsive.Magnus is going a little crazy with his soul being split and Amon is forced to stop his father from doing crazy things such as committing suicide. Moments like this pull at the heart strings and show the tragedy of the Thousand Sons and how far they have fallen and continue to fall.Malcador's agents are an interesting group who try to stop Ahriman and his cabal but fail.Another interesting tidbit is that Magnus makes it clear to his sons that the only reason they will ally with Horus is to obtain his final soul shard from Terra. This therefore means, that Magnus cares little who wins the Heresy which makes sense considering he was betrayed by both the Emperor and Horus.

As with 'Magnus the Red', a novel in the 'Primarchs' series, you can't go wrong with this title. I am a self professed fan of all things Thousand Sons, so yes, it can be easy to say I'd be biased, but this book contains everything that makes the Thousand Sons chapter so interesting. They have moral dilemmas, even in the worst of conditions. These are not blood-thirsty slayers like Emperors children, or the world eaters, etc. Ultimately I think in spite of all that has happened to them (and Magnus) they were never 'bad' and got painted by a brush meant to tarnish them by a plot from Horus. I'll not argue that Magnus didn't dis-obey a direct order from the Emperor, but Magnus' reason for doing so (to save the Imperium and warn the Emperor of Horus' upcoming treachery) is a great reason.Anyhoo, the book itself sees Ahriman (one of my fave characters in all of the Black Library) and others attempt to collect key 'shards' (splinters) of Magnus' soul that have been hidden/spread around space after his defeat by Russ, and casting the massive spell to rescue the remaining Sons out of reach. Each 'shard' is either a physical or psychic manifestation of Magnus, and with them being spread around, Magnus is dying. So its a race against time to find the various pieces and attempt to rebuild their primarch (even though each shard has some life of its own, which in turn is a very interesting part of the book). Lots of good action, suspense, they are hounded (as always) by the Space Wolves, and others, and some of the key human characters from the early HH Novels (The Thousand Sons) make a return to prominence and what happened to them is explained after they fled the upcoming destruction of Prospero. As well, there is a cool sequence where an event in the original 'Thousand Sons' novel occurs 'for the first time' within this novel, in one of those vaguaries of the warps handling of time/space. That was a cool sequence, even though I'm still not entirely sure of the significance of the name even after all my readings. You can't go wrong with this book if you like BL literature, its easily one of the better reads, and well worth reading if you are a fan of the coolest of the Space Marine legions. ;) One criticism, though the cover is cool, there is no equivalent 'battle' like that in the book itself, so the cover is a bit mis-leading, but that is a minor quibble.

A very good book. Like others have said, reading the previous books concerning the razing of Prospero greatly adds to the enjoyment gained from reading this novel. After Magus's flight from his home world he is literally a broken soul. The story concerns how his warriors both on the Planet of Sorcerers and an expedition led by Ahriman strive to make their leader whole again. The Imperium of course are not going to make it easy for them. The story is a little of a slow burn but once it gets going it is exciting and punchy, the action is well done and you get a real sense of a race against time as the novel reaches it's end.The writing is excellent and the author has a great vocabulary. Magnus himself is written very well. You get a real sense of the immense power of this being, most of the other Primarchs pale in comparison. You get to know his lines of thinking, you may not agree with his decisions but you can understand how he reaches them. How he is written carries over perfectly from the first two books that concerned the razing of Prospero, which as a pair, are probably my favourite books in the series so far. One of the main attractions to reading this series for me, is that it heavily features the Primarchs themselves. A lot of the time, they are not written too well in my opinion but Magnus is in all three books, probably the best depicted Primarch so far and that is a another big plus to this novel for me. The novel also visits many of the places and the odd character from the original two novels which are a delight to discover as you read it through. The novel also feature much of the mysterious and the arcane. Strange places and minor characters encountered in both real space and the warp. I really like this in a novel, it adds to the mystery and wonder of the setting, it is very well done in this book and is something I would love to see more in these novels. The novel also moves the story forward which is a big plus.Overall this is a very good read. I rate it five stars, it is much better than some of the more recent releases in the series, it also moves the story forward. In my opinion it is one of the better books in the series by one of it's best authors.

Dopo la distruzione di Prospero per mano degli Space Wolves il primarca Magnus cade in profonda crisi.. questo romanzo prosegue le vicissitudini della legione dei Thousand sons e del loro primarca nella ricerca di una loro via tra la lealtà tradita dell'imperatore e il fascino dell'eresia..bel romanzo che approfondisce le dinamiche dei personaggi e la loro psicologia..

Awesome!