Lorgar of the word bearers

He needed no surer sign of his destiny than that which had been sent to him dad in the guise of a child: a pupil ready to be enriched with faith and the Truth. What else would better show the people of Colchis that a new age had dawned, an age with the Covenant broken down and rebuilt by the hand of the great Kor Phaeron?Vote: ☆☆☆1/2

Not bad at all, but in the end this novel set in Lorgar’s past and uprising on Colchis was more a book about Kor Phaeron and I enjoyed a lot more the short Great Crusade/Horus Heresy parts than the rest of it.
Still a good read, but in the end it left me wanting more.

Review also published here

Lorgar: Bearer of the Word
is a highly unconventional
Horus Heresy
/
Primarchs
novel. It features few boltshells fired at all and is relatively light on «present-day» Great Crusade/Horus Heresy content. Instead of showcasing the Word Bearers Legion’s conquests, it showcases them only brielfy in interlude sections.
The bulk of the book? Lorgar’s childhood and upbringing on Colchis. Almost the entirety of the novel is told not through the Primarch’s eyes, but his «father» Kor Phaeron, probably the main architect of the entire Heresy. Besides Lorgar, the second viewpoint comes in the form of Nairo, one of Kor Phaeron’s slaves at the time of Lorgar’s arrival, whose views are juxtaposed against those of the ever-ambitious and corrupt archpriest of «the Powers» of Chaos.

Indeed, Lorgar: Bearer of the Word is taking the reader back to a time when the Primarchs were figures of myth and incredible awe, rather than the glorified action heroes of the later
Horus Heresy
series (looking at you,
The Unremembered Empire
…). While the big focus of the novel, as he well should be, Lorgar is kept reasonably ambiguous in certain respects, while the interpretations of his character through Kor Phaeron and Nairo tell us a lot more about themselves.

Kor Phaeron, true to form, is a bastard of the highest order. This novel does little to really humanize him. He’s corrupted by the Powers-that-be from the moment we first meet him here, preaching while raising himself up above others — despite being exiled from the Holy City of Vharadesh. He is abusive, quick to anger, arrogant, an egomaniac for all his worship and sermonizing on the glories of the Pantheon. If you think you’ve felt disgusted by this man before, you might find that you have underestimated his spite greatly.

Growing up as the acolyte of Kor Phaeron, Lorgar actually did pretty well for himself. Despite brutal punishments even just for daring to raise questions, it seems strange that the Urizen would stay with his father-figure for so long, to the point of defending him and saving his life, obedient to a fault and despite the urgings of Nairo. The final section of the book manage to leave the reader with a new perspective on this, however — and I felt a little chilled thinking about the nature of the Aurelian’s own ambition and calculations. If you’ve ever wondered why Lorgar may be inclined to throw his First Captain into the meat grinder of Calth and expecting him to lay down his life there, this story may give you plenty of reasons for it.

On the other hand, Nairo is a more tragic figure. Being an older slave, he is lucky to still be alive in his lord’s service (or not, depending on how you look at it). He has dreams of his own, a different moral compass to all other highlighted characters and could be described as the angel in Lorgar’s ear, opposed to Kor Phaeron’s status as the devil. He wishes for equality and the abolishment of slavery, urges caution against his master’s ambition and develops a deep friendship with the new messiah. His relationship with Lorgar highlights the best of the Primarch and gives us a look at what he might have become, had he not been stuck with the Dark Heart as his adoptive father…
The polarity between the two point of view characters does a solid job showcasing the various aspects that the young Primarch might represent for the preacher, the slave, and Colchis as a whole. Threat? Opportunity? Freedom? Conquest? Religious Truths? Maybe even a son?

Despite this being a Black Library novel, action is for the most part glossed over unless necessary to further Lorgar’s (or Nairo & Kor Phaeron’s) development. Late in the book, cities fall one after the other with no more than a name drop, for example, whereas the first and final compliances are showcased with a little more detail to characterize Lorgar’s twin approaches: The Word, or the Mace. I applaud Gav for not making this a Primarch action flick — it is with in-depth characterizations that this Primarchs series scores, not «Bolterporn». The strongest parts of all previous books were when the Primarchs were left to talk and interact with their environments, or butt heads in the case of Russ, and the weakest when the Emperor’s sons were reduced to the gods of war that they are. We’ve seen plenty of the latter throughout the galactic civil war already, and Primarchs should instead focus on giving the reader a greater understanding of its protagonists instead.

Lorgar: Bearer of the Word does that swimmingly. While hardly a bad word can be said about Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s foundation for the Urizen via
The First Heretic
,
Betrayer
and connective tissue stories throughout, it only briefly looked at where the Aurelian came from, his very humble beginnings in the deserts of Colchis, beaten by his master and all too impressionable. Where Dembski-Bowden’s Heresy work gives us a Lorgar that falls from the Emperor’s Grace, and vice versa, turning from naive worship and making him a force to be reckoned with and the architect behind the Heresy itself, this prequel hands us the idealistic Lorgar, the ecclesiarch, the one to turn Colchis from the Powers to the Emperor’s light, making the eventual reversal all the more tragic.

Stylistically, Gav Thorpe is also playing to his strengths. His origins in writing lore material are evident in a lot of his work, down to his narrative approach. With Lorgar being delivered in a more historically-inspired fashion and married to mythological, spiritual metaphor and accounts by what may be described as the messiah-Primarch’s apostles, with a strong focus on dialogue over frantic action, the novel benefits greatly from his fairly unique style.
Thorpe even goes so far as to reinvent Colchis’s whole calendar system, turning the world’s days into trials in their own right, further reinforcing the hold religious tradition may have on a civilization that experiences as much as seven whole days during one full rotation of their world. While the impacts of the «Translator’s Note on Time» included at the start of the novel are rarely make a massive impact on the unfolding story, they do explain much and give everything an interesting vibe. Colchisian culture is just as much a factor in Lorgar’s relative childhood as his master and confidant are.

One thing that did disappoint me about the novel was the relatively abrupt end to it. Don’t get me wrong, I liked the end, and it ended on an important event for Lorgar. However, I would have really liked to see a little epilogue about the Emperor and Magnus coming to meet Lorgar on Colchis, as it felt like the natural end point to Lorgar’s ongoing visions about «The One». That this didn’t happen confused me, as it’d have held great opportunity for Thorpe to pitch Lorgar’s faith against the insidious nature of Kor Phaeron one final time and giving the reader an understanding of the Emperor’s opinions on the zealotry rampant on his son’s homeworld.

Another small nitpick would be that Erebus got only token mentions throughout the interlude chapters, but I guess including him in greater capacity would have diluted the exploration of Lorgar’s relationship with Kor Phaeron, which I’d consider the highlight of the book.

One final note on the Dark Heart before I wrap this up, though. I saw some comments about Kor Phaeron still being depicted as a meanspirited, vile being with little redeeming qualities and that making it hard to empathize with the character. While I can see the hiccup for some people, I feel that this is exactly as it should be. Kor Phaeron was ruined by the Powers long before Lorgar appeared on Colchis. His exile made him even more bitter and wrathful, the effects of which we see here. We don’t need to turn villains into victims of circumstance every time. Kor Phaeron is an utterly ambitious, zealous, calculating madman whose ambition, zealotry and madness needed a little more depth, as did his relation to Lorgar. He needed to be a fleshed-out villain, not a misunderstood tragic anti-hero. He’ll never be that, and for that I am thankful. In my eyes, Lorgar: Bearer of the Word did a great job turning Kor Phaeron from an oftentimes shallow, mustache-twirling Bond-villain into a believable antagonist full of spite but also with his own insecurities and doubts, his own burdens and faults. He has become relatable, if not exactly somebody to empathize or even sympathize with.

Be that as it may, I quite enjoyed this book. I’d say it ties with
Perturabo: The Hammer of Olympia
for my favorite in the series so far. It lends credence to Kor Phaeron, makes subtle comments on Lorgar Aurelian, shows the immediate effects of Monarchia in its brief interludes and connects a lot of dots in a creative and engaging way. The new perspective on well-established characters has also made me enthusiastic about the Word Bearers again and I am sorely tempted to re-read The First Heretic sometime soon.
Lorgar: Bearer of the Word manages to uphold the high standard of the
Primarchs
series with little trouble and is essential reading for any fan of the Word Bearers or devoted acolyte of the Pantheon, if you ask me.

6/10

Curioso que en las otras entregas reclamara más contexto acerca de los Primarcas, y en esta que nos explican muchísimo sobre Lorgar y el motivo de su futura traición, haya disfrutado tan poco. Quizás sea porque los Portadores de la palabra son una de las legiones que menos me interesa, todo el tema de fanatismo religioso me atrae entre poco y nada.

En cualquier caso, misma opinión que los anteriores, recomendable solo para aquellos fans acérrimos de la Herejía de Horus, y tampoco es que sea imprescindible.

Sadistic and abusive priest meets impressionable little boy. What could go wrong?

In the Warhammer 40K universe the one name, inside the Imperium of Man, linked with heresy and treason is Horus the Warmaster. Yet Horus fell to the forces of Chaos due to the events engineered by Erebus of the Word Bearers. This is the story of Erebus’ Primarch-Lorgar.

Lorgar the Bearer of the Word could rightly be said to be the cancer in the body of the Astartes. It begins on the strange religious world of Colchis. The Prophet Kor Phaeron (yep-the Dark Apostle Kor Phaeron of the Chaos Marines) finds an amazing young boy in the desert and raises him to worship the «powers». Now these powers represent the primal forces and while called different things their names are merely the old, or original if you prefer, names for the Chaos powers. Notice the following names and titles? Khaane, the King of Storm and Lord of Blood; Tezen, Queen of Mysteries and Lady of Fate; Slanat, Prince of Hearts and Sire of Dreams; and Narag, Princess of Life and Mother of Hope. Now compare these old Varadeshian (a place that is obliquely referred to in the Horus Heresy books as the birthplace of the corrupt power’s direct influence in the corruption of the Word Bearers and Horus, eventually) names to the names used 10K years later to describe the Chaos Gods, aka Ruinous Powers, such as Khorne (Dark God of Warfare, violence and murder); Tzeentch (Dark God of Change and Sorcery); Slaanesh (God of Pleasure and Pain); and Nurgle (God of Disease and Pain). See the connection?

We find the precursors to the Word Bearers (bear in mind this takes place before the Emperor came to claim Lorgar) to be religious fanatics. We find them worshiping the Ruinous powers, though they don’t call them that. It shows from the very start Lorgar and his order were corrupted. Though it doesn’t go into the details-this is why the Word Bearer’s were punished by the Emperor for venerating him as a god. Strangely this only led the Word Bearer’s further down the path of heresy. We see the foundation of why the Word Bearer’s were the focus of the Ruinous powers as the way to infiltrate the Astartes Legions and the eventual corruption of Horus (Erebus plays a major part).

So why didn’t I give this a 5 star review? Primarily because the book focuses on the story of Lorgar before the Emperor’s coming. But the momentous events are barely hinted at- from the Emperor’s coming, the events that led to the Emperor censuring the Word Bearers for their non-secualr veneration of Him nor the «turning» of Lorgar into the corrupted leader of the first of the fallen Legions.

Still this is a well written story-the events before the coming of the Emperor shed light on what drives Lorgar. His religious upbringing made him easy prey for the Chaos Gods. His ability to spread his Legions among the other Marine Legions and especially to set up Horus, falsely led by Erebus, to become the supreme Heretic. I just wish they had told us more about the momentous events. Merely hinted at it would have been a great background tale. Still it was a great and fun read to learn about Lorgar. It answered a lot of questions I had about just how the Legions were infiltrated by the forces of Chaos.

Of all the Primarch novels thus far, Lorgar may be the most interesting in terms of execution. Gav Thorpe deftly takes what we presume to know of Lorgar and his upbringing, of Kor Phaeron, Colchis and the Covenant, and turns elements of it on its head.

The prose has an odd feel to it. When action comes it is all too often glossed over, save a few notable exceptions. At first this felt as though Thorpe were holding back, and to an extent he is. Between the conceit of having it be an in-universe text (complete with notes on the passage of time on Colchis, and being divided into discrete books), as well as an interest numerical divider (Book, Chapter, Segment; i.e 1 1 1), I realised what the objective was. This book is steeped in minimalist mimicry of religious texts. The vibe that bleeds from it is of proper Old Testament, the language hinting at far more than it conveys.

Lorgar is, as is to be expected, bursting with religious metaphor and symbolism as Lorgar gradually comes to terms with the divided faiths of Colchis. Whether it is being schooled in the divergent creed of Kor Phaeron or to his own conception of the Truth of the One, Lorgar is every part the devoted disciple. While many beliefs are forced upon him or around him, perhaps the most compelling is the efforts of the slave Nairo to act as a moral compass for Lorgar.

What is interesting is that Lorgar himself is rarely the focus of his own story. Instead we see much of what he does through the lenses of Kor Phaeron and Nairo. Again, this speaks to the religious mimicry of the novel; almost set up like competing gospels regarding Christ.

Another fascinating angle is how real the novel feels. Yes, it’s a feudal broken desert world with only slivers of technology still extant; yes it takes place in the 31st Millennium, but ultimately it is the story of a boy finding his way in the world. The abuse that Lorgar suffers at the hands of Kor Phaeron and his all-too-human reactions to it are an uncomfortable read, but which enriches the novel all the more. I was struck by the notion that where others are overwhelmed by awe in the presence of Primarchs, the default instinct of Kor Phaeron is to beat it into submission, to try and force it to fit his mould and his design. Of all the origins of the Primarchs, perhaps only Angron has been as ill-treated and abused; even Mortarion’s dark father at least pretended to love him.

The meat of the novel is interspersed with vignettes from the Great Crusade. Kor Phaeron secreting away the Old Faith, the Purge of the Loyalists, the Burning of their Emperor worship. Also touched upon again is an extension of the scene where Lorgar takes counsel with Kor Phaeron and Erebus, flagellating himself in the aftermath of Monarchia. The constrasts drawn between the main text itself and these segments help to root our understanding of Lorgar in how he goes forward, a relvelatory path that we end up finishing alongside Kor Phaeron.

The last pages of this novel are definite food for thought, and perhaps illustrate as much of the secret drives of Kor Phaeron down the millennia as much as it broadens and deepens Lorgar.

Checked this because of the author and was very disappointed. Boring, pretentious and obnoxious — read a quarter of it and gave up. Gav Thorpe is a wonderful author and the Malekith novels are to this day my favorite epic fantasy books. However now BL has stopped publishing stuff about Elves, everything is dedicated to neverending Horus Heresy sequels and spin offs which made the series a drag and a bore. They should have wrote the final battle for Tera a long time ago and be done with it. Now it is too late to salvage anything, methinks. Two stars only because of the author.

Colchis, a planet of never ending religions, wars between religions, secretive sects and unknowable cults. Upon this planet the story of Lorgar, Primarch of the Word Bearers, the XVII Space Marine Legion, is birthed.
Kor Phaeron leads a ramshackle band across the burning sands of Colchis. He moves from place to place, delivering the Word of the Powers to those who will hear it, and beating those who need to hear it into submission and subjugation. Upon finding a village of the nomadic Declined, he is offered a hidden treasure, a boy. He has only been with the Declined for a few days and has doubled in size from a babe to a speaking young child. It is a sign from the Powers, thinks Kor Phaeron. He asks the boy, named Lorgar to come with him, for he sees things in the child. The Declined cry and wail at Lorgar’s departure and Kor Phaeron calls his armed warriors to make sure the legend and memory of Lorgar is removed from the face of Colchis, to be forged by him into what it should properly become. Lorgar listens and stares as he hears the people who rescued him from the deadly sands, killed to the last man, woman and child.
So begins Lorgar’s education at the hands of Kor Phaeron. He is made to listen and learn, beaten and made example of, and taught that he is but a servant, a slave and Kor Phaeron is the master. It isn’t very long before Kor Phaeron knows that the boy is unusual and can pick up languages withing a fewminutes of reading them. He wants to read the books, not be taught the lessons. He is a raw blade, unforged and yet so very deadly straight from the fire. Kor Phaeron harnesses and molds this and turns Lorgar into a disciple.
As Lorgar grows in knowledge and strength, he gains size as months pass. He surpasses Kor Phaeron in knowledge, power and influence amongst the followers of the Powers. He kills finally for Kor Phaeron and the path is laid ahead for a retribution towards the Covenant, the most far reaching of religions on Colchis. The wars begin and city after city fall. Lorgar stops referring to the Powers and has visions of the Golden One and the One Eyed Seer. He carries this message to his hordes and though Kor Phaeron is ever the servant of the Powers, Lorgar is not, as he follows the One from his visions. These visions carry the war and the Word across Colchis and the planet eventually is delivered to Lorgar’s vision. And the One arrives on Colchis and changes everything.

This book was amazing! The emphasis on the religious nature of the Word Bearers, including the breaking of their belief in the Emperor as a god, and their zeal and unbreakable will to be the fervent warriors that they become is laid bare before the reader. Why Lorgar is the way he is shows strongly here and Mr. Thorpe has delivered yet another wonderful entry into the fifth book of the Primarchs series. This one really kept me turning pages, because Lorgar’s motivations and beliefs are always hinted at in the Horus Heresy books, but mostly the workings of Erebus and Kor Phaeron are written about. This book shows what power Lorgar, the Urizen has over his chapter and his sons. I really recommend this one. It was so very good!

Danny

Lorgar is very religious. I just have no idea what he believes.

Not really. We know his homeworld is in the thrall of the four powers of Chaos, but how that actually governs society or actual beliefs is kinda hazy. Chaos isn’t exactly known for unified action, so it is a surprise we don’t get any portrayal of rivalry between those four.

In this book Lorgar comes to believe in a fifth god, “The One” that binds them all. And that’s it. We’re not really given a run down on the theology. Swap in and out whatever you like.

Is it really a big deal that we aren’t given the articles of faith? In a book of only 200 odd pages, you probably don’t want to bog that narrative down on whether you can spin the censer clockwise or anticlockwise.

But Lorgar is very religious.

My problem is that it’s just a little too vague. Because this is a prequel, we do know where Lorgar ends up, so the book sort of makes sense, in that Lorgar’s faith leads him into trouble. The problem is that Lorgar’s future worship of the Emperor of Mankind doesn’t work when Lorgar hasn’t even met the Emperor yet. What we’re left with is that Lorgar is very religious and I don’t know why.

Well, that’s a little unfair. His mentor is a disgraced holy man, who trains/abuses Lorgar, so Lorgar’s perspective is through that. Except at the end his mentor wonders if Lorgar was the master manipulator all along. It’s an interesting element of complexity to the relationship that also undercuts the reasoning why Lorgar is religious – if it wasn’t his mentor, then who/what was?

A novel doesn’t have to spoon feed the answers to me. There doesn’t even have to be answer. But it’s very important to Thorpe that we know Lorgar is religious – tied in with his mentor, perhaps, but something else as well. And it’s a gap that I don’t think is deliberately ambiguous, more an expectation that simply saying Lorgar was religious would be enough.

A nice read, but I wanted more from it. On one hand the story is quite short and I would love to learn more about Lorgar, I would especially appreciate more data on him meeting the Emperor for the first time. On the other hand, the second half of the book seemed a little blurry to me compared to the first one. The story of Aurelian’s origin is very interesting. I questioned why people seem to hate Kor Phaeron as much as they hate Erebus, it often seemed he was just there and played a lot lesser part in the overall mess than the First Chaplain. Now I have enough reasons to hate Kor Phaeron! If you want some — go ahead and read this book. As a boy Logar had it as shitty as his unfortunate brothers — Angron and Konrad. The main difference is that they knew exactly who their enemies were, when little Bearer of the Word was abused and lied to by someone he trusted most. Some parts were especially heartbreaking. Gav Thorpe managed to give us some very well written characters, I am always impressed when «normal humans» in HH or 40k novels turn out interesting. I wish this novel had a stronger finale though.

Pretty okay Primarch book where we actually get to follow their origin from a young child to an adult.
The setting is pretty interesting set on a desert world where a zealous spiteful priest takes up a young Lorgar to be his student.
I just wish the writer took it a few steps further and added some twists along the way as the story was pretty straightforward and predictable. There could have been some more visual worldbuilding as well the stuff that was in there was intruiging but needed a bit more explanations for me to grasp the visuals. I understand it’s tough to push an entire origin story and build a whole world around it in a novella though.

The story of Lorgar and his youth has always been one of great interest to me; it sets the seal on his and his Legion’s ultimate path to becoming the fanatical disciples of the Chaos Gods, and what I’ve read of his backstory always sounded like it would make a good story, so I was most excited to read this. I haven’t read (and at present) have little desire to read the other Primarchs books, so I’m not sure how this compares to them, but Lorgar is a very unusual beast of a book; certainly not what I was expecting, and I will always wonder what another writer might have done with the story (particularly Aaron Dembski-Bowden, who did a fantastic job of bringing the Word Bearers to life for me in the Horus Heresy series), but Gav Thorpe has certainly done a good job with this and his works makes for a very intriguing read.

Bolter porn, this is not; more thoughtful than something you might expect for something set in the Warhammer universe, with the exception of a few segments set during the Great Crusade (which tie nicely into ‘The First Heretic’ as the Word Bearers discard their devotion to the Emperor and set the foundations of their fall into the embrace of Chaos), the book focuses mostly on Lorgar’s youth on the planet Colchis and his tutelage under the disgraced priest/his adoptive father figure, Kor Phaeron. I confess the initial relationship between the two was not what I expected- more akin to that of master and slave than father and son, but it seems fitting, given the characterisation of the latter (namely a power-hungry wretch) to see the young Primarch that falls into his lap as a tool to feed his ambition than as an adopted son, and he is disdainful, even abusive to his charge initially. But as time develops and he is exposed more and more to the characteristics of Lorgar, that shifts, and the dynamic between the two moves closer to what is seen between them during the Heresy novels.

Thorpe has done a great job of capturing the character of Lorgar in this novel; the Primarch of the Word Bearers was never a warrior or a general, he is a orator, a statesman, a philosopher and while he is capable of killing (and willing to), it is not the first avenue he chooses. Lorgar prefers to win battles through appealing to people’s hearts and minds, through the power of his oratory than the spilling of blood, and the charisma and charm he has to win over the more recalcitrant of those he encounters, while not what I expected, makes more sense for this character than to make him a blood-soaked zealot who leads from the front. Thorpe with his development of the characters also ties Lorgar: Bearer of the Word nicely into other books to contain these characters; Lorgar’s compassion, devotion to those who show him loyalty and kindness to the lesser, even to the point of risking death to defend them, fits in with his actions in First Heretic and Betrayer (his willingness to throw himself into a hopeless battle against Corax to save his sons, his devotion to Angron, his gentle nature around the Blessed Lady), as well as Kor Phaeron’s fear he will be cast aside should Lorgar have no further need of him, a fear proved accurate by the events of ‘Know No Fear’. Kor Phaeron is also a complex character, at times seeing Lorgar as nothing but a tool to claw his way back into power in the sect that threw him out, at others, genuinely concerned and caring in his attitude towards his adopted son, though his greatest concern is clawing his way back into power. Some of the other background characters are also intriguing, not just by themselves, but also their role in shaping the developing Primarch and the views that will ultimately see him become the architect of the greatest war in the galaxy.

As I say, ‘Bearer of the Word’ was not what I was expecting, but overall, a thoroughly engaging and enjoyable read that gave a great level of depth and dimension to one of the most pivotal characters of the Horus Heresy that fits well with the other books he has a prominent role in and I recommend this to anyone with an interest in the Word Bearers, the Horus Heresy and Warhammer 40,000 in general, or who just fancies a different and thought-provoking sort of book.

Gav Thorpe, nails it on this book. It is certainly not your conventional hack and slash narrative in the grim-dark universe. Thorpe uniquely going to and from points in time of the Word Bearers Legion that are weaved masterfully together enabling for a holistic perceptive on not only the philosophy of the Legion but that of their Primarch. It is catalogs the growth of Lorgar from a young-boy to his ascendance of ruling his home-planet of Colchis under the tutelage of his adopted-father, Kor Phaeron. To understand the values and ethical standards that Lorgar impresses upon himself and that of his Legion. This book is a must. Delightful, yet slow at times. Thorpe provides a categorical account of this development whilst, subtly or not, eluding to far greater forces at play.

A solid read for anyone a fan of the 40k Universe.

Best.

I have loved all of the Primarchs books until this one. I found the story to be disappointing and a bit disjointed. I couldn’t get into the characterization in spite of the fact that I think Lorgar is probably one of the most interesting characters in the entire WH40k universe.

I’m glad I read it, and I would encourage anyone who is looking for a fleshed out view of the primarchs to do so, but it was not my favorite and I won’t be rereading it like I do most other WH40k books.

It is not a bad book but a perfect example of a meh book.

It is the rise of power of Lorgar who used religion as the way to conquer his homeworld. That should make an interesting tragic story and there is a sub-plot on how Lorgar could have been a force of good for the 40k universe in the long run that should have been gripping.

should have been…. this book should be called Kor-phaeron: the huge d*ck. I get why even so many Wordbearers hate his guts and I can’t understand why he is still around in the 40k universe. He has little to no redeeming qualities or qualities at all that would explain his longevity. Erebus on the other hand is a vile piece of scum but at least he has a certain twisted charm to him and sickening cunning that easily explains his survival and influence.

The subplot as said, there are a few as unsubtle as it gets in the 40k universe moments, where Lorgar made a choice that doomed him in the long run; but I don’t get them. It never really became clear to me why Lorgar would defend Kor-Phaeron, except for the father son relation that is forced in there, that I believe has little foundation other then plot necessity. In the end we get a sort of reflection that hint’s that Kor-Phaeron was used by Lorgar all along, but no I don’t see that; for Lorgar never ever needed him so why pretend the entire time?

Lorgar did not act like a primarch at all, it almost felt like a failed clone of Lorgar was playing his part, oh and the lay-out of the book was weird.

I don’t know a damn thing about 40k universe other than what I’ve picked up from the video games I’ve played. But, here’s a brief breakdown.

This book doesn’t take you into much about the 40k universe. It is set in Colchis, a dry, arid planet of sand and intense climate changes, where the days and years exceed that of Earth. Lorgar is discovered by the prophet Kor Phaeron, a over zealous madman hell bent on revenge after his exile from Vharedesh, the capital city of Colchis, by the Covenant (a religious sect based on «The Old Faith»). Lorgar is adopted and put under the tutelage of Kor Phaeron, where his gifts and talents begin to mold under the word of the truth from Kor Phaeron. Lorgar’s thirst for knowledge eclipses what Kor Phaeron can offer through studies of the word and begins to quench his thirst through the slaves aboard the temple rig of Kor Phaeron, creating a confidant in Nairo, the head slave. This adds moral conscience to Lorgar’s development, helping aid his decision to purge the planet of heresy.

If you don’t know much about 40k, then you’ll need to have a phone or computer nearby to look up some of the names and other words being tossed around. The book is a page turner that’s for sure, but I don’t think I would start here in the series.

Also, any 40k enthusiasts out there that read this review please correct me if I’m mistaken anywhere.

This book was so engrossing and fascinating to me that I managed to read it all in a single session, coming out of it very much doubting the thoughts I’d entered it with.

There’s an incredibly common fan joke to curse out Erebus, saying he manipulates Lorgar and caused the carnage of the Horus Heresy… but man, Kor Phaeron gets let off the hook far too much. This book changed that for me, showing what a sadistic, self-absorbed and cruel abuser he is, alternating between a fatherly role he reluctantly takes with the mysterious bronze-skinned youth who seems to be a messiah-like figure to himself and his cultists, and a barbaric abuser whom savagely beats a boy just looking for approval and acceptance.

Even the interactions between a younger Lorgar and the fellow slaves is amazing, seeing a man who would go on to be a traitor to his gene-father and brothers of titanic proportions, be so kindly and sweet to slaves wasn’t just heartwarming, it was tragic.

If you’re looking for a Warhammer 40k book filled with brawling and wars and battlefields, it’s best to search elsewhere, because like Lorgar this book is philosophical and not keen on the acts of war and slaughter, unless it’s showing Phaeron’s darker side. A beautiful book showing the softer, and more sinister, side to a man who just wanted the truth.

Like Guy Haley’s Perturabo this is an origin story, in this case the tale of how Lorgar came to unite Colchis under a single faith. In showing Lorgar’s rapid growth – physically, at least – from infant to demigod, under the harsh gaze of the powerful, manipulative Kor Phaeron it poses questions about nature versus nurture, and sheds light on what drove him even from an early age.

This isn’t always an easy book to read, dealing as it does with what is essentially an abusive sort-of father and son relationship. That relationship is the core of the story, however, and provides a very personal sense to the book that we haven’t seen very much with this sort of character before. It’s probably not the book for anyone wanting to see the Word Bearers in action, or really anything about the legion itself. Instead it’s for the reader who wants a tight, character-driven story, and who enjoys taking a step away from the battlefront.

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Having only read the first two books in the 50+ HH books a couple of years ago, I decided to give it a go at reading the entire HH series in chronological order. Starting with the «Last Church» audiobook set in 30,800. Next in the long list was «Lorgar: Bearer of the word» set roughly around 30,841 — 30,857.

I found the book to be entertaining and would recommend to others looking to delve into the origin story of Lorgar. For others like myself who have little to no knowledge of the historycharacters in the Word Bearers I found it very helpful to look up in advance of reading the book http://wh40k.lexicanum.com to give an overview of who is who. Once I read the Lexicanum I found I enjoyed the book even more than I believe I would have otherwise.

The audiobook version was very well read and is ideal for anyone looking to listen whilst doing other things i.e. commuting or in the car etc.

I’ve been reading the Horus Heresy series for that past year or so. I really didn’t like any of Gav Thorpe’s books in that series, to the point where I nearly skipped this one. I’m glad I didn’t! His Heresy books seem to have poor characterization and confusing plotlines but this book was different.

He did a great job of characterizing the relationship between Lorgar and Kor Phaeron. That’s one of the things that puzzled me when reading the Heresy series — how does Lorgar allow this? How did he end up the way he is? Gav did a great job of answering these questions in a satisfying way.

I only took off 1 star because there wasn’t much action in this book, but that might be a plus to some readers. It’s definitely worth a read and it convinced me to put his Dark Angels series on my read list!

I really wanted to give this book a 3 star review, but even the vague Dune references could not save this.

While Gav Thorpe is a good author and the writing style was good. Sadly the story and characters of this book were all a waste of imagination. I have seen rocks with more personality than Lorgar. And that is quite sad when the whole idea of how he got so big was the whole Cult of personality deal.

But all it was in essence was a psycho was strong and could take a beating. Who cried a lot and had a unhealthy relationship with an older priest.

I read this in hopes of learning more about Lorgar and how he got to be so damaging to the Imperium that he ended up. All i got was boredom.

Id give this book a 1, but the writing style does elevate it a bit.

I LOVE this book, so much so that I read it again this year. The world of Colchis is vibrant, deep, and memorable. The book reads almost like a movie script — a film or animation adaptation would be awesome. Definitely shades of Dune, Mad Max, post-apocalyptic desert vibes, etc. Kor Phaeron is so incredibly, deliciously bad — everything he does only serves his own interests. His ruthless nature is disturbing but that’s why he’s such a great villain after all.
This book definitely makes you feel for Lorgar — he probably could have been any kind of Primarch… that he landed on Colchis and became absorbed in religion is only because he has such a great mind; in fact Guilliman is probably his best loyalist foil. Something tells me we will be seeing more of him in the coming years.

I’m not a big fan of Mr. Thorpe’s writing but I found this story to be very engrossing. It recounts the fateful meeting between the young and tragically impressionable Lorgar and the ambitious Kor Phaeron. Thorpe does a great job of describing the desert world and the religious fervor that infuses life on the world of Colchis. The reader sees Lorgar grow but is never certain about his inner feelings and the story ends with Lorgar and Kor Phaeron’s religion dominating Colchis in anticipation for the One to Come. In the closing moments of the story, the reader’s foundational assumptions are shaken as Thorpe provides another way to view what happened.

Quite an interesting book to read this one. Not seeing any of it from Lorgar’s viewpoint made it quite challenging to work out exactly what was intended on his part at times, and the ending certainly raised more questions in this respect. Kor Phaeron I found a more interesting character here, seeing him from his viewpoint and a slave’s viewpoint — not quite the one dimensional character I have seen in the past, get a better view of his motivations here, dark as they are. Other characters in the book are also good, and gives a real good feel for what Lorgar’s upbringing was like, and how it contributed to what he was like later.

This has been my favourite of this series so far and I think shows where it can really shine. Many of these books have recollected largely irrelevant and uninteresting past events related to their target primarch and / or are just plain boring (Valdor). This book does what you really want it to and digs down into the origin and development of one of the most interesting primarchs of all and the people who shaped who he became as he grew.

You see a young boy grow up with an angel and a devil on his shoulder and (spoiler redacted). Despite its know conclusion it still has the scope to surprise you.

This should be the way these primarch books are written about, wholly about the primarchs during the circumstances they were in that were not previously shown in other HH books. I’ve been really interested in the 17th legion ever since finishing reading The First Heretic.

Gav Thorpe delivers here in spades, showing the humble beginnings to the dominating influence that he has over his home world of Colchis. A definite recommended read for any fan of 40k Lore whether loyalist or traitor legion fans.

My favourite Primarch is featured in this ‘origins’ novel and it was a real page-turner. Fantastic to read the moment when ‘little’ Lorgar is discovered by Kor Phaeron. The poor fella never knew what him, literally.
It was fascinating to discover how Lorgar became indoctrinated, at an early age, into religion. How Kor Phaeron’s relationship with the rapidly growing, and maturing, Lorgar changes over time.
Overall, a great read for all fans of the linchpin of the Horus Heresy.

p.s. Gav Thorpe is on a roll right now.