Roboute Guilliman: Lord of Ultramar (The Horus Heresy: Primarchs)

The best of the Imperium at work. Bobby shows all his leadership, tactical and strategic skills here as he crushes the ork madness and erases them from the empire.

The “Warhammer 40,000” universe created by Games Workshop and it’s licensed fiction division Black Library is populated by many fascinating figures, but some of the most compelling are the 18 genetically engineered “sons” the God Emperor of Mankind built to lead his super soldier armies, the Adeptus Astartes AKA the Space Marines. In the current 41st Millenium timeline of 40K many of these demigod like Space Marine Primarchs are missing, dead, or have been transformed into demonic beings. So they’re more figures of legend than actual characters. The “Horus Heresy” line of prequel fiction that chronicles the intergalactic civil war that set the stage for the world of 40K has allowed us readers to spend some time with the Primarchs and given us some great glances into what make these characters tick. Black Library though recently kicked off another line of fiction that should give readers an even greater insight into the fathers of the Space Marine Legions. I’m happy to report that their “Horus Heresy Primarchs” line is off to a promising start with “Roboute Gulliman: Lord of Ultramar” by David Annandale, which focuses on the titular father of the Space Marine legion known as the Ultramarines. What makes “Lord of Ultramar” so much fun and so interesting is it’s essentially a character study of the titular character. Gulliman is a character of contrasts. He’s a warrior fighting for the day when humanity no longer needs to go to war. He’s a a person constantly trying to balance reason and action. The idea of endless, thoughtless war haunts and terrifies him and he seeks to inspire his sons to be something better. Annandale let’s us see Gulliman wrestle with these fears too. We get to go inside hisdavid_annandale head, hear his private talks and hopes with most trusted advisors, and we even get to see some of his writings on war. My favorite among these sequences involves a bit of Warhammer 40K lore that shows Gulliman tormented by some earlier dealings with the Legion of one of his brother Primarchs, Lorgar and his Word Bearers. So Annandale provides some great humanizing moments for Gulliman, but he also lets his protagonist be the demigod like bad-ass we know him to be. In the novel the Lord of Ultramar and his sons descend on an Ork infested world. So we get to see Gulliman lead the Ultramarines into battle and some of those scenes are so much fun and so METAL! One of the things I love about 40K is over the top action scenes and Annandale provides quite a few of those and they’re all immensely entertaining. Gulliman is such a great character that as a reader you want to spend almost all your time with him and he can’t help but eclipse some of the other characters in the book. Still there were quite a few supporting characters I found especially interesting like Gage, Gulliman’s second in command, and Hierax, a member of a special type of Space Marine unit that Gulliman is trying to reform called The Destroyers. We journey with these characters and their Primarch as they try to break the grip the Orks have on an ancient world once home to a human culture while trying to preserve the artifacts and heritage of the disappeared culture. It leads to some fun, large scale battles that take place on mountain sides and brutal underground fighting. The climax of the novel where Gulliman and the Ultramarines discover what really happened to the humans that called the planet home also made for a fun and chilling reveal. So with “Roboute Gulliman: Lord of Ultramar” David Annandale follows through on the promise of the “Primarchs” series and gets it off to a great start with a fun and fascinating look at the titular father of the Ultramarines. I look forward to reading the next book in the series and more of Annandale’s entries in the Ork invasion storyline “The Beast Arises,” which I have yet to complete.

Required Military Reading And For Personal Use. Foremost An Awesome Book. This Awesome Book Will Change Your Life For Good.

This isn't a great book. And this is coming from a Robotue Guilliman fan boy. The book meanders along and doesn't have a good payoff. It really doesn't give you any insight into the character of Roboute Guilliman, the operation of the Ultramarines, or how Ultramar and Macragge operate. You're better off reading the Horus Heresy books like Know No Fear, Angels of Caliban, Unremembered Empire, Ruinstom, or Pharos. Even Betrayer gives more insight. This book is very disappointing.

A lot of the reviews really downplay this book, while I see a few points that could have been improved, they are just that. Few. The action synchronized with the drama of the Astartes and their Primarch was rich in lore and insight that I've come to ne familiar with in the 40k universe. Loved the inner workings of Lord Guilliman and the 'Art of War'-'Codex Astartes' transcripts. 9.5/10 For a first book in the series, I'm impressed and tbh, rather excited for what's to come!

What a nice surprise this turned out to be. It reads almost like a thesis in its level of intelligence and smart writing. We get to see some real insight into Guilliman's mindset and his type of strategizing, snippets of what becomes the Codex Astartes. I've heard and seen a few strange reviews complaining about the book, but that may be because it isn't necessarily action packed. Some have said there isn't any look into the mind of the Primarch of the 13th, but maybe they read a different book than I did. Annandale knocks it out of the park again!

I haven't read the Horus Heresy series but I thought this would be a good start before I consider going into the main series. It was enjoyable. Quite solid action as I like Annandales works. Never disappointed in him. Looking forward to the next in the series.

This is the best Primarch book i have read so far. Guilliman and Ultramarines are doing what they do best. A very good look for how 13th wage war. This is not bolterpr0n as some reviewers claim. I strongly recommend it.

I thought was very good, nice action, ultramarines led by guilliman, what more do you need? Well written and kept me turning the pages. Worth a read especially if you're a fan of the of the primarch series and some crusade action like I am. It's nice to read about things before the heresy.

It was an ok book i'd say. A little short (I hadn't taken a look at the number of pages so I guess the joke is on me!) but depicting the ultramarines very well. Was also a little disappointed with the end. Not that it was not good, but the story I think made you expect more.

Good story and interesting to read about another primarch. I enjoyed the information about him. Would recommend to anyone looking someone information

I really thought that it would be more descriptive about the primarchs and everything, but it was just another battle on an X world and not really muhc more was learn about Roboute.

Although all of the Primarch's books make for good entertainment, only some of them are compelling parts of the super-story that is warhammer 30k. This is one of them. Behold, reader, Guilliman's hope, and Guilliman's folly.