Rogal Dorn the Emperor's Crusader

The Horus Heresy Primarchs, Book 16

By: Gav Thorpe

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble, Tom Alexander, Richard Reed

Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

A Primarchs Novel

Rogal Dorn: The Emperor's Crusader is the sixteenth instalment in The Horus Heresy Primarchs series.

Listen to it because....

Six decades into the Great Crusade, expansion has been swift—but the Emperor demands the boundaries of the Imperium grow even further. To this end, four Primarchs are tasked with securing systems beyond the Northern Major Warp Storm, the very presence of which blinds even the Emperor’s psychic sight.

The story:

As the Great Crusade enters its sixth decade, the fleets and armies of the Emperor spear out into the galaxy to bring the Imperial Truth to thousands of worlds. Expansion has been swift, but must now be tempered with consolidation. Even so, the Emperor demands that the boundaries of the Imperium be pushed further into the unknown.

The Master of Mankind tasks four primarchs with the dangerous mission of securing the worlds of the Occluda Noctis—hundreds of star systems on the far side of the Northern Major Warp Storm, whose warp-churning presence casts a shadow on the guiding light of the Astronomican and blinds even the Emperor’s psychic sight. Rogal Dorn leads his Imperial Fists directly into the heart of this cosmic twilight. Isolated, battling a foe the likes of which nobody has encountered before, Dorn must use all of his strategic genius and irresistible will to conquer the darkness in the name of the Emperor.

Written by Gav Thorpe. Narrated by Jonathan Keeble, Tom Alexander, and Richard Reed. Running time approximately 6 hours 52 minutes.

©2022 Games Workshop Limited (P)2022 Games Workshop Limited

Favorite Legion, Least Favorite Book

As always, Keeble is amazing. However, I struggle to find the purpose of this book. This isn't a horrible book, I think I expected to learn something about Dorn, given the fact this is a Primarchs book, yet nothing was told that was not already known.

A perfect summary of Dorn and his Legion

If you or someone you know want a clear and fairly straightforward presentation of who Dorn is and what he's all about then this book is perfect. If you already know a lot about Dorn then this novel is likely not going to reveal much new, but that's the thing I've always liked about Dorn.

He is what he is, no deep twisted ulterior motives, no tragic and scarred history to brood over. He is what His Emperor made him to be and this novel shows exactly why he is Praetorian of Terra and no other Primarch could replace him in that role. The Emperor favors him because Dorn not only does the Emperor's will to the letter, but also the punctuation, the type face and font size.

Where another Primarch might improvise or interpret a command in another manner. Dorn does not and will not compromise the Emperor's Will and Intent. And this novel demonstrates that very well.

These are getting better and better.

This is one of the best Primarch novels so far.This book is packed with suspense, action, and understanding. It’s always great to read about the good times of the great crusade, and this story does not disappoint. 5/5 it’s a great story.

Awesome!

Great look inside the best primarch. Good showcase of the legions train of thought.
Good narrative.

Great read that shows the good and evil of the Imperium

Warning! This review contains spoilers. You have been warned!

After reading Apocalypse and Fist of the Imperium I was really looking forward to this book and was not disappointed. This is an excellent book that delves into the Great Crusade and, not just Royal Dorn, but how he became the Emperor’s Praetorian and the lengths he will go to try and peacefully bring world to compliance. It also shows Sigismund as a Sergeant which is also cool. For as good and just as it shows Dorn and the imperium to be however it also shows it’s dark and villainous side as well in not just one instance but two major instances committed by two different legions! Overall an excellent read. 10/10

Loved it

Good examination of the character of Dorn and his sons and the ending is wonderful, at least to me

Good book about Dorn and young Sigismund

Good story about Dorn and Sigismund. Their characters are developed well,but the antagonists were just not that interesting imo.

The Grimdark at its finest

An epic tale from the Great Crusade, and great look at Primarchs interacting. Complete with a Grimdark twist...

Good book for dorn

I do like rogal dorn but I feel the author got the lion and fulgrim mixed up in the writing of this book other than that this book is very good. As with the sanguinius book you don’t learn anything from his early years before the emperor but at least this book focuses on dorn instead of a remembrancer like they did in sanguinius book.

Well

I got through this like Dorn attacks a fortress...slow, plodding, and with brief bits of brilliance.