Perturabo: The Hammer of Olympia

Primarchs: The Horus Heresy, Book 4

By: Guy Haley

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's summary

Born to a life of political conflict, Perturabo was always considered a child prodigy among the people of Olympia - indeed, his philosophical and scientific works were beyond compare. But then, after his rediscovery by the Emperor and decades of thankless military campaigning on the Great Crusade, the primarch begins to resent his Legion's place in the Imperium.

When word reaches him of turmoil on his adoptive home world, he orders the Iron Warriors to abandon their campaign against the alien hrud and crush this emerging rebellion by any means necessary....

©2017 Games Workshop Limited (P)2017 Games Workshop Limited

Insight Into Perturabo Revealed

Excellent story, great narration. Revealing insight into a misunderstood Primarch in the Warhammer 40k universe.

Volume issues

loved the story but had to keep raising volume for "whispering" and dropping it for "yelling" quite frequently. Good story but would rather read than listen again

Perturabo's origins

The performance of the narrator is top tier, great work.

The book shows you the origins of Perturabo in Olympia and it gives a good insight on him. The downside of the story is its inconsistency, the parts in Olympia are good but the rest is not keeping up the level.

Very entertaining but lacks focus

Story structure jumping between different points in time along with several different characters makes the first half of the book somewhat difficult to get invested in and really lacking in focus. The later half of the book has much greater nartitive focus and character development thats needed. Narration is great and diction is always the greatest appeal of Warhammer fiction.

Iron Within Iron Without

This was my first Primarch book. Started with it since IW's were my first army forever ago it seems. It was well written and the story kept me engaged. I could have listened to another couple hours of it. Well done.

A nuanced look into a complicated man

This might be one of my favorite of the primarch stories. An excellent blend of character development and action sequences. I can’t say I like Peter Turbo is a person. But as someone with BPD that has been given to fits of rage (albeit far less destructive than described here) I feel kind of seen? Overall is a good read and a sad tale. Highly recommend among the primarch books.

Iron Within, Iron Without!

To preface my review, I am new to Warhammer, and this was my first book in the franchise. So, going into it, I was extremely excited to let learn about the Primarch of the Iron Warriors, Perturabo (my favorite chaos Primarch).

This book does not disappoint. I originally wanted to listen to this because I heard Perturabo was unlikable, and while this is somewhat true, I weirdly like him because of that. While he is a petulant and spiteful man-child, this makes him more interesting (and a bit funny) because while he strives to be a force of pure logic, he's just a basement dweller whose Dad doesn't understand him. Some might think this would be annoying to listen to, but I found it to be a good choice. Perturabo's arrogance and superiority complex mixed with his background of being used by his father(s) makes perfect sense to be translated into brooding. Unlike other Primarchs, this flaw makes him more like a real person rather than just a soldier (looking at you, Dorn).

I also really liked the flash forward bits with Barabas Dantioch and the Hrud. Something about seeing super human soldiers struggling against their own mortality is quite fascinating, and I think the author did well in describing the action.

All in all, I'd give this book a 9/10. Looking forward to reading more Warhammer!

An IF fan converted to respect Perterabo

First and foremost, I’m a fan of the 7th legion. I went into this book thinking I would continue my disdain for the Lord of Iron. However, I now have a new found respect for Perterabo, and would probably now consider him my favorite of the Traitor Primarchs because of this story. 5 stars all the way down. Totally recommend.

Wish there was more of Perturabo

The chapters alternate back and fourth between Perturabo in the past on Olympia and the future, while it does all come together in the end I would of liked to hear more about Perturabo for a shorter book. The parts he was in I liked since I got to see what he was like.

Excellent lore and storytelling!

Really helps you get into the Lord of Irons headspace. Voice acting is Superb & the story is well paced. This is what 40k should be about, not waiting for GWs latest bout of insanity.