Fulgrim by Graham McNeill

It is the 31st millennium, and humanity is at the peak of its powers. As the Great Crusade, led by Warmaster Horus, continues to conquer the galaxy, Fulgrim, Primarch of the Emperor’s Children, leads his warriors into battle against a vile alien foe. From the blood of this campaign are sown the seeds that will lead this proud Legion to treachery, taking them down the darkest of paths of corruption. Leading up to the carnage of the Dropsite Massacre on Isstvan V, this is the tale of Fulgrim's tragic fall from grace.

A solid installment of the Horus Heresy.

hard work

After the brilliance of the first 4 books, this was a slog. 500 pages, and only the last 80 or so really got going.
It's not dreadful, but where I read the first 4 in a couple of days each, this took me more than two weeks to wade through.

The first half of the book is a bit of a slog, and I struggled to keep going. That's half the reason it took me almost a year to read. (The other half is that I kept misplacing the book. This is what I get for reading a physical book.)

Allow me to save you roughly the first hundred pages or so. Fulgrim is great. Like. Really great. The best. Everyone loves him. Their breast swells with pride to even think of him. He's really good friends with everybody. And also perfect. The most perfect. The most best perfectest most perfectest best ever.

That's it. That's the first hundred pages. You're welcome.

If that's all this book was, I probably wouldn't have gotten much farther. I'm not sure I could deal with ~500 pages about how very perfect the Emperor's Children are, or strive to be. Or how very strong Fulgrim's relationship was with his various brother-primarchs.

Fortunately, it does get better, and the second half was truly phenomenal. Knowing everything I know now about Fulgrim, I think he's probably the most tragic figure in the 40K universe. And that's saying something.