The Lion: Son of the Forest

Warhammer 40,000

By: Mike Brooks

Narrated by: Timothy Watson

Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins

Publisher's summary

The Lion. Son of the Emperor, brother of demigods and Primarch of the Dark Angels. Awakened. Returned. And yet...lost.

LISTEN TO IT BECAUSE

Witness the Emperor’s First Son make his dramatic return to the 41st Millennium! Much has changed since he last walked among the stars, but not Lion El’Jonson’s drive to protect humanity from the threats that assail it from all sides.

THE STORY

After ten thousand years of dreaming, locked in stasis at the heart of his shattered home world, Lion El'Jonson wakes to the nightmare of Imperium Nihilus.

In this midnight age, the dying embers of humanity are threatened on all sides by the hungry darkness. Alone, even the Lion has no hope of prevailing against such evil – but there are those who would aid him in his quest. Hunted to the edge of endurance, many among his Fallen knights have long-awaited the day their liege would return to redeem them. The Lord of Shadowed Paths must gather these lost loyalists to his side once more, and stride forth to vanquish a traitorous son and the twisted Chaos warband that calls him master.

Faced with these strange times, the Lion can be certain of nothing and no one, except for himself. But in a galaxy without the Emperor, without the Imperium, without his Legion, and without Caliban…who is he?

©2023 Games Workshop Limited (P)2023 Games Workshop Limited

Character growth and a great return

The lion returns to have actual character growth and be a likable protagonist. Can’t wait for the next book or when he meets up with Robot Gorilla Man

Good

I enjoyed it much and found it worth a listen. I needed four more words.

A slow start, but it sticks the landing.

It's a good story, but finds itself wrongfooted especially in the earlier chapters. it comes out the other side ok. but it feels like the end was written first and the story was walked backwards.

great book

love to see the lion is back can't wait till he meets up with the big blue

Everything you expect it should be.

The story gave a dead on impression of the lion and how one should picture his return to the Turmoil of the galaxy, his confusion and quest for reconsiliation with his sons is truly masterfully written.

Best 40k in a while

I think the Lion is just more 'relatable' than Guiliman. Granted it's tough to relate to any superhuman character, but the Lion's trials are comprehensible and his regrets are certainly predictable.

The story is a well written re-introduction for this character to the setting, and opens doors for many intrigue-heavy plots with plenty of action on the horizon.

Absolutely Epic! ( minor spoilers )

Just gripping from start to finish. And the end, magnificent. Still plenty of mystery at the end, and sure there is some hopping around in the beginning and it may seem like some of the initial narrators are uninteresting, everything ties together phenomenally. Stellar character development, lots of mystery and things not necessarily fully explained, but they aren’t explained fully to the reader or the characters, so I think that’s okay and leaves room for more to be done. I don’t feel like almost any interaction was unnecessary, save for the ones with some of the tech priests with pronoun that left me confused initially( kept hearing they and having to rewind because I wasn’t sure if they were talking about one priest or a gaggle of them ). But nothing at all left a bad taste in my mouth. The story jumps over some things, but not in a way that leaves you confused about the progression of the story. In fact it benefits the tale, because if bogged down in every bit that was fast forwarded, the book would’ve been lower quality as a result and some people would complain it was filler. This is a complete story, though it leaves tales left to be spun about the lions new origins, and I’m so looking forward to see how his story unfolds and finding answers to some of the questions still floating around. Well done. One of my new favorite WH40k tales. You will not be disappointed

FOR THE LION!!

Absolutely fantastic!! I have been a Son of the First from the 2nd Edition of 40k and this tops all the stories, IMO. A must read/listen!!

The Fallen have Risen

Before I get into the book I just want to say that the narration was phenomenal. Timothy Watson was the perfect choice. His range is amazing, being able to take on the noble Lion as effortlessly as he does a warp tainted heretic. The narrators of these Black Library books are so important as they become the voice of the characters. From this moment on, no other narrator will ever be able to hold a candle to Timothy's rendition. He is The Lion. But he also did an amazing job with The Lions sons, whether voicing an ancient Space Marine or a golden tongued sorcerer.

The novel itself is a masterwork. I had high hopes for this novel and it surpassed every one of them. I won't give away any of the story here but if you're at all into 40k Lore then this is a must read, whether you are a Dark Angels fan or not. The 10,000 Eyes were an amazing adversary and were a better foe than the standard chaos tainted space marine fodder we usually get, that exist only to be torn apart by bolter fire. This novel does a fairly good job of making you ask what it means to serve, what it means to be loyal and what it means to be forgiven. That last bit is a theme we don't often see in WH40k, forgiveness. It's something the Imperium of Man doesn't really "do" and to have like Lion El'Jonson be able to come to terms with what happened on Calaban and his Fallen Sons is an impressive amount of character development and uts similar to what we have seen with Robute. I know there are 40k purists who will complain that forgiveness and understanding are not grimdark enough and that the Primarchs should remain the men they were in 30k but that's just unrealistic. People developed and change and while the Primarchs are Post-Human, they are still human. The Galaxy is far from saving, farther than it's ever been, but with the Emperor's sons returning things are going to only get far more interesting.

Loyalty is it's own reward.
FOR THE LION!!

Awesome

I only have one question. When will we get more stories about the Lion? I couldn't stop listening. I have been waiting for his return for years.