Mortarion: The Pale King

The Horus Heresy Primarchs, Book 15

By: David Annandale

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

A Primarchs Novel

"Banish all thoughts of mercy, because mercy is the plaything of the coward and the lie of the tyrant. Today, the blade descends on tyranny's neck."

Mortarion makes his debut in the fifteenth Primarchs novel, and wastes no time in bringing his own brand of grim justice to the galaxy.

Listen to it because....

The fifteenth instalment in The Horus Heresy Primarchs series, The Pale King tells of the atrocities committed by the Reaper in the name of justice—and the consequences of challenging his methods.

The story:

Once, the Galaspar System suffered under the cruel regime of the Order. Billions of people toiled endlessly to enrich their masters, enduring short lives of poverty, squalor and fear. But Galaspar’s sins did not go unnoticed by the Imperium, and so Death itself sentenced the Order to annihilation.

Mortarion, newly uplifted to commander of the Death Guard, descended upon the world, and with him came a slaughter of untold proportions. The sheer brutality of Mortarion’s campaign left the Imperium appalled. Seeking to understand its horrors, two noble primarchs have come to Galaspar, summoning their brother to account for his actions. But the Pale King brooks no challenge to his methods, for when the scythe falls, it reaps a gruesome toll.

Written By David Annandale. Narrated by Jonathan Keeble. Running time 5 hours and 34 minutes (approx).

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

Good story

Kid goes out on his first day on the job and crashes the car and traumatizes everyone. Dad is mildly disappointed

A mood setter

This is probably the best primarchs book I’ve read/listened to so far.

I won’t spoil anything. I will say if you are a fan of Mortarian you’ll love this book, it gives you some insight into who mortarian is and his mindset. HH fans in general should also read this for the same reasons.

Top notch Primarch building...

Terrific brotherly banter. A solid peek into Mortarion's character and heart. Cool Easter eggs.

Great Conquest Story

I had a lot of fun with this one. It showed Mortarion's resolve and also some of his relationship with his sons. The details of Galaspar's society painted a pretty good image of the life of the slaves and Comptrollers which made for an great background. Honestly, it seems Mortarion was destined to serve Nurgle from the start.

best 40k book I've ever heard

well I dunno I've listened to/read A LOT of Warhammer but this is easily my favorite involving the death guard a great look into psychology of mortarian and how he became what he is really good story even someone without prior knowledge or being a fan of 40K could enjoy