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Praetorian of Dorn (Novel)

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DornPraetorian
DornPraetorian.jpg
Author John French
read by Jonathan Keeble
Publisher Black Library
Series Horus Heresy
Preceded by Angels of Caliban
Followed by Corax
Released 20 August 2016


Praetorian of Dorn by John French is Book 39 of The Horus Heresy series. It was released on 20 August 2016 in hardcover, e-book, and MP3 audiobook formats. It was released during the 2016 "Summer of Reading" event along with 5 "Secrets of the Solar War," short descriptions of the Solar System during the Horus Heresy. The audiobook has a running time of 12 hours and 57 minutes, and it is narrated by Jonathan Keeble. It was included as part of the "Nine Loyal Primarchs" set for 2016 12 Days of Christmas: Day 9.

The novel describes the fighting between the Imperial Fists and the infiltrated units and operatives of the Alpha Legion in the Solar System leading up to the Battle of Terra.

Cover Description

The Horus Heresy reaches the Solar System - will the defences of Rogal Dorn and his Imperial Fists hold against the onslaught?

Recalled from the Great Crusade after Ullanor, Rogal Dorn and the VIIth Legion were appointed as the Emperor's praetorians but only after the Warmaster's treachery was revealed did the full extent of that sacred duty become apparent. Now, the Solar System comes under attack for the first time since the war began, and many of the seemingly impregnable defences wrought by the Imperial Fists prove inadequate. With all eyes fixed firmly upon this new threat beyond the gates of Terra, who will protect Dorn from the enemy within?

Notable Characters

Early cover for Praetorian of Dorn

The VII Legion 'Imperial Fists'

  • Rogal Dorn, Primarch of the Imperial Fists, Praetorian of Terra
  • Archamus, Master of the Huscarls, 'The Last of the First'
  • Sigismund, Lord Castellan of the First Sphere, First Captain, Marshal of the Templars
  • Fafnir Rann, Lord Seneschal, Captain of the First Assault Cadre
  • Boreas, Sergeant, First Company
  • Halbrecht, Lord Castellan of the Second Sphere, Fleet Master
  • Effried, Lord Castellan of the Third Sphere, Seneschal
  • Camba Diaz, Lord Castellan of the Fourth Sphere, Siege Master
  • Demetrius Katafalque, Captain, 344th Company
  • Kestros, Sergeant, 65th Squad, 344th Company

The XX Legion 'Alpha Legion'

  • Alpharius, Primarch of the Alpha Legion
  • Ingo Pech, Captain
  • Mathias Herzog, Captain
  • Phocron, Headhunter Prime
  • Kalix, Headhunter
  • Hekaron, Headhunter
  • Myzmadra, Operative
  • Ashul, Operative
  • Incarnus, Aventian progression savant
  • Sork, Agent, captain of the scavenger vessel Wealth of Kings
  • Omegon

Imperial Personae

  • Malcador, Regent of the Imperium
  • Su-Kassen, Solar Command Staff, former Admiral of the Jovian Fleets
  • Morhan, Strategos, 56th Veletaris Tercio, SEcond Solar Auxilia Cohort (the 'Saturnyne Rams')
  • Chayo, Magos, Primary Voice on the Unbreakable Truth
  • Armina Fel, Astropath-adjutant to Rogal Dorn
  • Heliosa-78, Cult Matriarch of the Selenar
  • Andromeda-17, Personified-scion of the Selenar

Secrets of the Solar War

Five "Secrets of the Solar War" were released on the Black Library website leading up to the publication of Praetorian of Dorn.

Day 1: "Terra has been made a fortress but it is a fortress with two walls: the wall within, and the wall without. The wall within is the gate from the Imperial Dungeon to the Emperor’s mysterious Great Project. Here stands the Master of Mankind himself, at the head of the Custodians and the Sisters of Silence. The wall without is the spheres of defence that extend from the literal walls of the Imperial Palace to the darkness beyond the edge of the Solar System. On this outer wall stands the Praetorian of Terra, Rogal Dorn, and his Imperial Fists. If either wall falls then everything is lost."

Day 2: "The Imperial Fists’ defence of the Solar System is divided into Spheres. All the defences and forces within each Sphere are commanded by a senior Imperial Fist raised to the rank of Lord Castellan by Rogal Dorn. The First Sphere is the outermost, and comes under the command of Sigismund. The Second is commanded by Halbrecht, while the Third, under Efried, encloses the Martian battle sphere and has the traitorous tech-priests fully bottled in. Terra is marshalled by Dorn himself. The Imperial Fists forces in the Solar System are divided between each of these commands, along with thousands more ships, void defences and millions of mortal troops. Separated by millions of kilometres, signals sent between the forces assigned to each sphere take hours to reach each other. When the invasion finally comes word will pass by a single astropathic flare, a psychic message passed as fast as thought that says that the traitors have come to the walls of Solar: 'Fire on the mountains'."

Day 3: "Alpha Legion units placed into enemy territory are trained and conditioned to pursue broad mission objectives in whatever way they think best. The scope of these objectives are called mission parameters. An Alpha Legion force or warrior might have been given a series of potential mission parameters before its infiltration, some of which might be radically different in shape: killing or protecting the same individual, for example. Each parameter will have a single activation word or phrase that will set an infiltrator off towards a set of objectives. A word spoken down a vox or scrawled on a slip of parchment is enough to change the direction of their action from one parameter to another. And it is not uncommon for members of the same force to be following different mission parameters..."

Day 4: "Archamus is Master of Dorn's Huscarls, but also bears the honour of being the Last of the First. This First were those Imperial Fists created after Rogal Dorn was reunited with the Emperor and given command of the VII Legion. They were also the first to make their oaths to Rogal Dorn, and their names were the first to be etched on the walls of the Temple of Oaths aboard the Phalanx. By the time of Praetorian of Dorn, Archamus is the last of this honoured brotherhood."

Day 5: "The Solar System is the graveyard of countless civilisations that rose and fell long before the Emperor unified Terra and sent the Great Crusade into the stars. Artefacts and wreckage fill the gulf between planets and moons. Labyrinths of crushed ruins sit beneath the cities of Terra and the stones of the Imperial Palace. The people who live and toil in the system that birthed humanity have cultures, traditions and rivalries that existed before the rise of the Imperium, and persist even under its unity. The Jovian void clans, the gene-cults of Luna, the smugglers and pirates that hide within the debris reefs, are just a few of the hundreds of ancient factions clinging to the bones of those that came before that make up the 'unity' of the Solar System."

Story

After an astropath was used as a sorcerous conduit for Horus Lupercal to contact Alpharius, Maloghurst questioned the Alpha Legion's loyalty to the Warmaster. Horus explained that they could never trust them but their nature to serve their own ends. Their forces would serve to weaken those of Terra before the final battle could take place, but it would take time before the actions show their results.[2]

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

Sources

Related Publications


Horus Heresy Series
Novels I Horus RisingII False GodsIII Galaxy in FlamesIV The Flight of the EisensteinV FulgrimVI Descent of AngelsVII LegionVIII Battle for the AbyssIX MechanicumX Tales of HeresyXI Fallen AngelsXII A Thousand SonsXIII NemesisXIV The First HereticXV Prospero BurnsXVI Age of DarknessXVII The Outcast DeadXVIII Deliverance LostXIX Know No FearXX The PrimarchsXXI Fear to TreadXXII Shadows of TreacheryXXIII Angel ExterminatusXXIV BetrayerXXV Mark of CalthXXVI Vulkan LivesXXVII The Unremembered EmpireXXVIII ScarsXXIX Vengeful SpiritXXX The Damnation of PythosXXXI Legacies of BetrayalXXXII DeathfireXXXIII War Without EndXXXIV PharosXXXV Eye of TerraXXXVI The Path of HeavenXXXVII The Silent WarXXXVIII Angels of CalibanXXXIX Praetorian of DornXL CoraxXLI The Master of MankindXLII GarroXLIII Shattered LegionsXLIV The Crimson KingXLV TallarnXLVI RuinstormXLVII Old EarthXLVIII The Burden of LoyaltyXLIX WolfsbaneL Born of FlameLI Slaves to DarknessLII Heralds of the SiegeLIII TitandeathLIV The Buried Dagger
Siege of Terra I The Solar WarII The Lost and the DamnedIII The First WallSons of the SelenarIV SaturnineFury of MagnusV MortisVI WarhawkVII Echoes of EternityGarro: Knight of GreyVIII The End and the Death (Volume IVolume IIVolume III)
The Primarchs Roboute Guilliman: Lord of UltramarLeman Russ: The Great WolfMagnus the Red: Master of ProsperoPerturabo: The Hammer of OlympiaLorgar: Bearer of the WordFulgrim: The Palatine PhoenixFerrus Manus: Gorgon of MedusaGrandfather's GiftPerturabo: Stone and IronMalcador: First Lord of the ImperiumKonrad Curze: A Lesson in DarknessJaghatai Khan: Warhawk of ChogorisVulkan: Lord of DrakesSons of the EmperorCorax: Lord of ShadowsAngron: Slave of NuceriaScions of the Emperor Konrad Curze: The Night HaunterGhost of NuceriaThe Passing of AngelsThe Abyssal EdgeMercy of the DragonLion El'Jonson: Lord of the FirstIllyriumThe Revelation of the WordMorningstarWill of the LegionEmbers of ExtinctionAlpharius: Head of the HydraBlood of the EmperorLoyal SonsMortarion: The Pale KingRogal Dorn: The Emperor's CrusaderSanguinius: The Great AngelHeirs of The Emperor
Horus Heresy Characters Valdor: Birth of the ImperiumLuther: First of the FallenSigismund: The Eternal CrusaderEidolon: The Auric Hammer
Novellas Promethean SunAurelianBrotherhood of the StormThe Reflection Crack'dFeat of IronThe LionThe Serpent BeneathCorax: SoulforgeScorched EarthTallarn: ExecutionerPrince of CrowsThe Crimson FistThe PurgeRavenlordThe Seventh SerpentTallarn: IroncladCyberneticaWolf KingThe HonouredThe UnburdenedGarro: Vow of FaithSons of the ForgeDreadwingSpear of Ultramar
Collections AngronThe Imperial TruthSedition's GateEchoes of RuinDeath and DefianceBlades of the TraitorMedusonBetrayal at CalthEchoes of the ImperiumVirtues of the Sons/Sins of the FatherEchoes of RevelationLupercal's WarCthonia's Reckoning
Short Stories The Lightning TowerThe Dark KingArmy of OneKryptosDistant Echoes of Old NightLost SonsDeath of a SilversmithThe Divine WordThe Kaban ProjectThe Gates of TerraLord of the Red SandsSerpentLuna MendaxRivenBjorn: Lone WolfThe Wolf of Ash and FireHeart of the ConquerorChild of NightThe ShadowmastersThe Devine AdoratriceDaemonologySins of the FatherThe Final Compliance of Sixty-Three FourteenVoraxThe Value of FearBrotherhood of the MoonVirtues of the SonsImperfectHowl of the HearthworldA Safe and Shadowed PlaceGunsightBlack OculusWolf MotherTwistedChirurgeonTallarn: WitnessIronfireHands of the EmperorBy the Lion's CommandAll That RemainsThe PhoenicianArtefactsGhosts Speak NotPatienceInheritorTallarn: SirenBlackshieldMyriadInto ExileThe Grey RavenThe Painted CountExocytosisThe Last Son of ProsperoOrdo SinisterThe Ember WolvesRestorerThe Laurel of DefianceImmortal DutyDuty WaitsMagisteriumNow Peals MidnightDreams of UnityThe Board is SetThe Atonement of FireA Lesson in IronMassacreTwo Metaphysical BladesPrologue to NikaeaOld Wounds, New ScarsAbyssalThe Last CouncilA Rose Watered with BloodBringer of SorrowLantern's LightThe Serpent's DanceThe Lightning HallEater of DreamsBloodhowlAmor FatiThe Fields of AbundanceThe Shel'tain AffairPrimacyThe NineVisageThe Last Loyalist
Audio Dramas Raven's FlightGarro: Oath of MomentGarro: Legion of OneButcher's NailsGrey AngelBurden of DutyGarro: Sword of TruthWarmasterStrike and FadeVeritas FerrumThe SigilliteHonour to the DeadWolf HuntCensureThief of RevelationsKhârn: The Eightfold PathLucius: The Eternal BlademasterCypher: Guardian of OrderHunter's MoonWolf's ClawTemplarGarro: Shield of LiesMaster of the FirstThe Long NightStratagemHerald of SanguiniusThe WatcherThe Eagle's TalonIron CorpsesGarro: Ashes of FealtyRaptorGrey TalonRed-MarkedThe EitherThe Heart of the PharosThe Thirteenth WolfChildren of SicarusPerpetualThe Soul, SeveredValeriusThe Binary SuccessionDark ComplianceBlackshields: The False WarBlackshields: The Red FiefHubris of MonarchiaNightfaneBlackshields: The Broken Chain
Artbooks Visions of Heresy (2013)Visions of Heresy (2018)Art of the Horus Heresy
Script Books Horus Heresy: The Scripts: Volume IHorus Heresy: The Scripts: Volume II
Graphic Novels Macragge's Honour