Very good. Gav at his best!

This story gives fresh perspective on this part of the heresy and the Dark Angels. Well worth your time.

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great to listen to

Great getting an insight into the mind of Luther, and how the Dark Angels go from reasonable to pure zealots

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Good listen

Really enjoyed this expansion of the lore behind Luther. Now the lion has returned this actually has some great little story beats that would be great to see expanded upon in future.

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Serendipitous Character

I have never thought that a sassy horse would be my most favourite character! Also what an insane insight into this guy!

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the perspective telling

beautiful story telling and interesting tales told though a incredible narrator. great contrast to cypher for fallen reading

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The best Warhammer book I have ever listened to

Although the lore for the Games Workshop settings is wonderfully elaborate for a miniatures game, and the fiction created for 40K, the Horus Heresy, and the fantasy world of Warhammer is pretty good for what it is, listening to a Black Library story is usually a bit of a guilty pleasure, an enjoyable hobby which feels a bit immature and silly

That wasn't so for "Luther". The story is well done, and the performance is excellent. I can't praise this book enough. You wouldn't have to be a fan of the setting to enjoy this, and yet, as a fan, you'll love the way it illuminates the darkness and poses additional questions.

This book is a bit of a "rescue" for the Dark Angels Horus Heresy series, after some of the earlier books were quite underwhelming. Without obvious deviation, "Luther" complements and enriches the plot and setting already developed in those earlier stories, so that the whole package seems like a more rewarding and enjoyable whole.

The contents of this book are really three-fold. We have Luther, the captive, reflecting in the present on the nature of life and the universe and verbally sparring with his Dark Angel interrogators. Then we have Luther, as the narrator, telling us about his personal story, which shows us two worlds - the story of Caliban-before-the-Imperium, and the story of betrayal-within-the-Dark-Angels. The adventures on Caliban - the strongest part of the book - read as an Arthurian legend, with a slight sense of gritty reality. The knights ride out to hunt down the monsters, the "beasts" - while the greatest pleasure of the beasts is to hunt down the knights. The story of the later betrayal is something of a political thriller, with a "will-they. won't they" tension that is a complete change of pace from the stories of knights and monsters.

The unifying, if subtle, theme of the whole book is the exploration of Luther's character: we have Luther telling us about his skills, behaviours and motivations, we have Luther demonstrating this by his actions in the stories he tells, and we have Luther demonstrating this by his choices in which stories to tell and how to tell them. It's so well done, that the reader could easily write an essay on the methods used to portray Luther's personality.

As befits an charismatic leader, Luther as the narrator is an articulate and interesting story teller, likely to coin a proverb or make an observation at the drop of a hat. As befits a thoughtful man, his stories are thoughtful and reflective - in the stories about Caliban, we see the young Luther learning about the nature of his world, and the present Luther reflecting on that world (how it worked and why), while in the stories about betraying the Imperium, we see Luther reflecting on his own character and making observations about human nature.

As befits a story told by a traitor, everything we are told has an edge of unreliability. Luther himself says that he is careful to keep his lies as close to the truth as possible, and remarks that he is an "unreliable narrator". It makes perfect sense that at one point he turns to a creature of Tzeentch for advice. As is traditional for a daemon, it was, of course, completely unreliable, as it told truths in manipulatively misleading delphic utterances. And - this is the clever bit - the same is true of Luther himself. Like the daemon, he is not necessarily lying, but how are his utterances useful for his audience (in story, the audience is the Dark Angel interrogators, in the real world, it is us)? Luther never seems to utter any useful advice, while one Chapter Master who interprets a meaning in Luther's tale comes to a sticky end as a result. Luther denies responsibility for the mishap - is this itself a lie, or is he cursed, like Cassandra, to be heard but never really listened to? Meanwhile, Luther is always stating that there are meanings or lessons to be learned from his stories, but (as with the utterances of the daemon) it is never clear what these meanings could be (or perhaps I'm too thick to get it).

Altogether, this is the best Warhammer book I've ever read.

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Great story,....but

(possible spoilers)enjoy the book, but I think it could have had a better conclusion. Very open ending, could go anywhere and no where. Another spin on justifying being a traitor, different journey but same conclusions

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interesting take on the fall of the Dark Angels

An interesting take on Luther's fall but could've made a little more of the pride and how he was tempted in the first place, although I'm largely happy that the author let me draw my own conclusions about that. there is some lazy writing in here which is why it only gets 4 stars as it distracts a little from the story which in itself is good. I can't say more without getting into spoilers.

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review

To much history, the most exciting part is the end. I was hoping that was where this book would start from.

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Super book restored my interest

I was an original codex 2 fan and Dark Angels were my army many years ago. But I lost touch with the hobby, only keeping a fringe interest via some of the first 10 HH books. But the lack of DA love meant I didn't focus. Since the rumours of the lions return, I dipped back in and found this book. It's excellent Gav T have certainly matured since his initial books. I can say this book has me re-engage with the DA current setting, making them exciting again.

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