# Praetorian of Dorn



## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Horus Heresy Book 37, Praetorian of Dorn by John French, now has a confirmed release date of August 27th. So in three weeks we'll be able to pre-order the newest Horus Heresy novel with Dorn vs Alpharius all over the cover.

Buuuut...

John French Book Signing ? Warhammer World

If you happen to be in the Nottingham area on the 19th around 4pm-7pm, you can drop into Warhammer World for free and pick up an early release copy, and get it signed by John himself.

So i'm super-freaking jealous as it would cost me £100 to get to Nottingham, so obviously I won't be taking advantage of this... anyone here lucky enough to be capable of going?


LotN


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

Looks like it will be out -THIS- weekend!


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Saw this earlier, The Wall Without sounds absolutely awesome! Can't wait to see how Terra is defended on both physical and psychic fronts.



Brother Lucian said:


> Looks like it will be out -THIS- weekend!


Not according to the info we have on John French's signing of the book this Friday. The book will be available there on early release and then go up for pre-order on the 27th.


LotN


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

Why else would the advert say five says to go if not out this week?


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

I just had an email blast from Black Library:

Coming on Saturday

Praetorian of Dorn
A Horus Heresy novel by John French​
So I think your dates was wrong, LoTN


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## Kharn The Complainer (Aug 19, 2015)

Lord of the Night said:


> newest Horus Heresy novel with Dorn vs Alpharius all over the cover.



Or is it? Is that really Alpharius?


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Brother Lucian said:


> So I think your dates was wrong, LoTN.


Huh, weird. Then the early release is only by a single day. What's the point of that?



Kharn The Complainer said:


> Or is it? Is that really Alpharius?


Look at the weapon, that is the Pale Spear. Alpharius's own weapon. I think that's really him, for maybe the first time ever that is really the First Head of the Hydra.


LotN


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

Could possibly be ebook only the first week. That sounds plausible to me.


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

Black Library & Warhammer Digital - Book 39: Praetorian of Dorn (eBook)

Available now!


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

Finished Praetorian of Dorn...... Unbelievably complex. So many plot strands woven together and comming to a screaming peak at the finale of the book. This is what the Heresy has been waiting for. I give it a 10/10. The Horus Heresy has been revitalized and kicked into high gear again, the plot thunderously pushing forward after languishing for so many years with filler stories about the Shattered Legions or Calth/Imperium Secundus.

Teaser 


I will say this much, theres an epic and unbelievable death that noone saw comming that will have serious ramifications.


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

God dammit why do I not have enough spare to be buying Heresy novels right now.


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## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

I want to wait for the softback but who knows when they will be available to the public. I am actually really excited for this after 3 anthologies of republished short stories, they are back with what looks 3 novels (even though one by Gav Thorpe) that may turn it around.


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## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

Also, is there a kind soul who could show the dramatis personae of the novel? I would want to know who is in the novel.


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Looking forward to this. I will be downloading it later.


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## Lorgar Aurelian (Oct 28, 2015)

*Dramatis Personae.*

*The VII Legion ‘Imperial Fists’*

Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists, Praetorian of Terra
Archamus, Master of the Huscarls, ‘The Last of the First’

Sigismund, Lord Castellan of the First Sphere, First Captain, Marshal of the Templars
Fafnir Rann, Lord Seneschal, Captain of the First Assault Cadre
Boreas, Sergeant, First Company 

Halbrecht, Lord Castellan of the Second Sphere, Fleet Master
Effried, Lord Castellan of the Third Sphere, Seneschal
Camba Diaz, Lord Castellan of the Fourth Sphere, Siege Master

Demetrius Katafalque, Captain, 344th Company
Kestros, Sergeant, 65th Squad, 344th Company 


* The XX Legion ‘Alpha Legion’*

Alpharius, Primarch of the Alpha Legion
Ingo Pech, Captain

Mathias Herzog, Captain
Phocron, Headhunter Prime
Kel Silonius, Headhunter
Kalix, Headhunter
Hekaron, Headhunter

Myzmadra, Operative
Ashul, Operative
Incarnus, Aventian progression savant
Sork, Agent, captain of the scavenger vessel Wealth of Kings

Omegon


*Imperial Personae*

Malcador, Regent of the Imperium

Su-Kassen, Solar Command Staff, former Admiral of the Jovian Fleets
Morhan, Strategos, 56th Veletaris Tercio, Second Solar Auxilia Cohort (the ‘Saturnyne Rams’) 

Chayo, Magos, Primary Voice on the Unbreakable Truth
Armina Fel, Astropath-adjutant to Rogal Dorn

Heliosa-78, Cult Matriarch of the Selenar
Andromeda-17, Personified-scion of the Selenar


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

A question on something mentioned in the book. I'll spoiler it just in case. 



In the book, Archamus, an IF captain, thinks of something that Dorn said to him. That Terra is a fortress with two walls. The emperor guards the "inner wall that is the war of the paths beyond the golden gates" and the outer wall that is the solar system. I may well be wrong, but I thought Dorn was ignorant of what was going on under the palace, and was growing increasingly frustrated with the Emperor's apparent disregard for the Heresy. Am I wrong, or is it just another continuity error?


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## Angel of Blood (Aug 18, 2010)

Who knows. In Angels of Caliban, Curze says that the one who kills him hasn't even been born yet. However, in Nemesis, the master of the Callidus temple asks to dispatch M'Shen to assassinate Horus. Continuity mistakes for everyone! Still can't fuck up as much as Mcneill did in the Outcast Dead however.


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## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

Hello and thank you for provididing the answer! I can't quote you directly as the forum is a bit broken down for me at the moment.


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## Mellow_ (Aug 5, 2012)

The ending is amazing! Makes the whole story of dozens of plot twists worth it with some actual meaty substance that a reader can chew on and take the next few weeks crying over whilst they digest the ramifications.


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Finished Praetorian today and WOW!! That ending was fantastic and unexpected, and I loved French's depiction of the Alpha Legion and their methods of war. Before this novel I felt that of all the Black Library authors, only Rob Sanders truly understood how the Alpha Legion functioned and waged war, but I am very glad to see that French gets it too. Archamus was a very good leading character, an ideal Fist through and through, and for the first time seeing Dorn from the perspective of somebody close to him rather than somebody who just happens to have been thrown together with him added a lot more depth to the VIIth Primarch.

Best scene for me was the meeting between Alpharius and Dorn in the past when they both discussed their methods of war. It was a great moment that offered pros and cons to both sides of the conflict, Dorn's honest front-line approach vs Alpharius's secretive and manipulative approach. What I liked most was that neither side appeared completely right, both arguments had merits and at times felt right and other times felt wrong. I personally sided with Alpharius as I was reminded of Tywin Lannister's question "Explain to me why it is more noble to kill 10,000 men in battle than a dozen at dinner." Alpharius clearly supports this ideal, while Dorn believes that a billion men dead in honest warfare is better than a hundred men killed by dishonest means. Dorn's argument on the aftermath had a lot of good points, but I felt that ultimately his attitude came off as warmongering and uncaring of lives. There is a difference between disliking dishonest methods of warfare and outright disregarding the value they have, no matter how many casualties the lack of these tactics causes.

(Warning: MASSIVE SPOILERS HERE.)



But the biggest shock was that Alpharius is dead!! The Lord of Serpents is truly dead and gone, no tricks this time or secret identities to be revealed in the end. Alpharius is truly dead. And yet he isn't with Omegon taking the name once and for all. To the very moment when Omegon thought "I am alone," I didn't think Alpharius had fallen for real, I thought it would turn out that he was really Silonius all along or that the whole switch between the two was further compounded by another character switching with them. But no, Alpharius really died. And Dorn didn't tell anybody, hence why Imperial records don't acknowledge this momentous event. I truly have no idea where the Alpha Legion and Omegon's story is going to go from here, I always believed that Alpharius and his half of the Alpha Legion would fall to Chaos (resulting in guys like Bale and Sindri Myr) but Omegon would remain loyal and become Janus, while his Alpha Legion would carry on the fight for the Emperor against Chaos.

But with Alpharius gone and Omegon ascending to his twin's mantle, anything could happen now. Anything.




LotN


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## Lord Mephiston (Sep 16, 2010)

All i can say after reading Praetorian Of Dorn is 

#dicksoutforAlpharius
#NeverForget


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## Malus Darkblade (Jan 8, 2010)

Lord of the Night said:


> Finished Praetorian today and WOW!! That ending was fantastic and unexpected, and I loved French's depiction of the Alpha Legion and their methods of war. Before this novel I felt that of all the Black Library authors, only Rob Sanders truly understood how the Alpha Legion functioned and waged war, but I am very glad to see that French gets it too. Archamus was a very good leading character, an ideal Fist through and through, and for the first time seeing Dorn from the perspective of somebody close to him rather than somebody who just happens to have been thrown together with him added a lot more depth to the VIIth Primarch.
> 
> Best scene for me was the meeting between Alpharius and Dorn in the past when they both discussed their methods of war. It was a great moment that offered pros and cons to both sides of the conflict, Dorn's honest front-line approach vs Alpharius's secretive and manipulative approach. What I liked most was that neither side appeared completely right, both arguments had merits and at times felt right and other times felt wrong. I personally sided with Alpharius as I was reminded of Tywin Lannister's question "Explain to me why it is more noble to kill 10,000 men in battle than a dozen at dinner." Alpharius clearly supports this ideal, while Dorn believes that a billion men dead in honest warfare is better than a hundred men killed by dishonest means. Dorn's argument on the aftermath had a lot of good points, but I felt that ultimately his attitude came off as warmongering and uncaring of lives. There is a difference between disliking dishonest methods of warfare and outright disregarding the value they have, no matter how many casualties the lack of these tactics causes.
> 
> ...


Yeah this book was fucking garbage and I don't consider it as canon. I only got it because I loved French's 'We Are One' which to me is the best literature on the AL. Felt like it was written by a different author. 



hey guyz im sirloinois no im alpharius i transferred my brain to sirloin steak. 

what REALLY bothered me was Dorn being mute the whole fight while alpharius rambled on like a pyscho. 

Why say you planned the entire operation to allow the enemy to win then not elaborate especially when your reputation boils down to being a two-faced snake. But no Dorn just stands still like a mute retard then guts Alpharius whose head explodes in a ball of light and blood because I don't know. 

$15 down the drain and the dumbest decision making to kill off Alpharius when his story has the most potential to be fleshed out and turned into something amazing. And no one speak about a traitor primarch dying on terra because they shouldn't have been able to sneak by on my watch. Such a deus ex machina cop out to avoid explaining the ramifications of the event in the future.

Also LOL at space-ships bigger than countries spinning around like leaves in outer-space because physics would allow that to happen without the ship breaking in half and the machinery and crew inside wouldn't be puking the entire time or exploding due to g-force/etc. changes


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## Lord of the Night (Nov 18, 2009)

Malus Darkblade said:


> Yeah this book was fucking garbage and I don't consider it as canon. I only got it because I loved French's 'We Are One' which to me is the best literature on the AL. Felt like it was written by a different author.


Don't see why you quoted me there unless you wanted me specifically to see this post. If that's the case, then... well fine. Your opinion is your own.


LotN


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## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

I recently finished it and I must say I was heavily disappointed. The mystery invasion wasn't really spelled out, like why where the Alpha Legion attacking the world by themselves so far in advance? Why were Alpharius goaded into a fight with Dorn he obviously wouldn't win? And then I would say the portrayal of the Imperial Fists were really bland. We follow one really uninteresting character, completely ignores the presence of the others (Sigismund gets heavily sidelined). There is no deep look into Dorn and his thoughts and the Imperial Fists as a Legion isn't explored. What makes them unique? What makes them stand out? Now the ending was spoiled by me, but it still felt underwhelmed. I have no problem with them killing off Alpharius, even though they could do more with him, just because the Alpha Legion has been way too OP in the past. And Omegon seems to take over the roll anyhow so I imagine it is he who will be killed by Guilliman later on in the timeline. No I was really excited for this and felt really dissapointed. It wasn't bad or an abomination like much of Nick Kymes work, but I had high expectations and it didn't live up to it because of its blandness. It fell into the same trap as the Ahriman-books which has been as much of a let-down, and it's a shame because Jonh French had some decent shorts in the beginning which felt like he could reach somewhere high with his writing.


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## Kharn The Complainer (Aug 19, 2015)

forkmaster said:


> I recently finished it and I must say I was heavily disappointed. The mystery invasion wasn't really spelled out, like why where the Alpha Legion attacking the world by themselves so far in advance? Why were Alpharius goaded into a fight with Dorn he obviously wouldn't win? And then I would say the portrayal of the Imperial Fists were really bland. We follow one really uninteresting character, completely ignores the presence of the others (Sigismund gets heavily sidelined). There is no deep look into Dorn and his thoughts and the Imperial Fists as a Legion isn't explored. What makes them unique? What makes them stand out? Now the ending was spoiled by me, but it still felt underwhelmed. I have no problem with them killing off Alpharius, even though they could do more with him, just because the Alpha Legion has been way too OP in the past. And Omegon seems to take over the roll anyhow so I imagine it is he who will be killed by Guilliman later on in the timeline. No I was really excited for this and felt really dissapointed. It wasn't bad or an abomination like much of Nick Kymes work, but I had high expectations and it didn't live up to it because of its blandness. It fell into the same trap as the Ahriman-books which has been as much of a let-down, and it's a shame because Jonh French had some decent shorts in the beginning which felt like he could reach somewhere high with his writing.





Alpharius wanted to tell Dorn how to win (as vague as that is) which could explain much of the issues you have with the book. It was never meant to be a full on invasion. It was a deception wrapped in a riddle covered in a ploy hidden in a trick.


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## Khorne's Fist (Jul 18, 2008)

Kharn The Complainer said:


> Alpharius wanted to tell Dorn how to win (as vague as that is) which could explain much of the issues you have with the book. It was never meant to be a full on invasion. It was a deception wrapped in a riddle covered in a ploy hidden in a trick.


Whilst overall I enjoyed the book, the AL secret squirrel bullshit reached new heights in it. I think the riddle wrapped in an enigma you mention was missed by most either because they were too bored with it all at that stage, or it was wrapped a little too tight, and went over people's heads.


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## forkmaster (Jan 2, 2010)

Kharn The Complainer said:


> Alpharius wanted to tell Dorn how to win (as vague as that is) which could explain much of the issues you have with the book. It was never meant to be a full on invasion. It was a deception wrapped in a riddle covered in a ploy hidden in a trick.


Ahh okay! Thank you for clearing that out! 



Khorne's Fist said:


> Whilst overall I enjoyed the book, the AL secret squirrel bullshit reached new heights in it. I think the riddle wrapped in an enigma you mention was missed by most either because they were too bored with it all at that stage, or it was wrapped a little too tight, and went over people's heads.


That's my problem with it, definitely!


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## Brother Lucian (Apr 22, 2011)

forkmaster said:


> Ahh okay! Thank you for clearing that out!
> 
> 
> 
> That's my problem with it, definitely!



I think that was the point of the book actually. Alpharius outsmarted himself by getting too clever for his own good, earning an intimate encounter with Dorn's chainsword for his efforts.


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## Noble Korhedron (Jan 24, 2007)

WITHOUT spoilers, please; has anyone tried 'Obvious Tactics', the graphic novel? I never got a chance to read it when it originally released over fifteen years ago.....


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## Stephen74 (Oct 1, 2010)

Just finsihed listen to the audio book.
It's one of the better stories but its fleshed out way to much with tedious descriptive writing which I hate. There is lots to it and it will be interesting to see how the legion plays out now. They were forced to take this route against their will, so now, will they go full retard and back horus 100%? How would the heresy have turned out had Dorn not been as thick as a fortress wall?

And who came first? Negan or Alpharius?

One question that was unanswered, unless I missed it in all that god awful dreary descriptive rubbish, was why did this all happen now? Did alpharius push for it (or more likely manipulated horus in to letting him do it) to turn speak to Dorn? or was Horus trying to achieve something that is yet to be revealed to us? 

Thought the final fight was a little cliche. Bad guys kicking arse and then all of a sudden, miraculous turn around. Bleh.


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