The Primarchs series of Novels is， I think， intended to shed light on their nature and that of their Legions。 Some have been origin stories， others exemplary battles。 With The Buried Dagger and several shorts being dedicated to Mortarion’s life on Barbarus The Pale King inevitably falls into the latter camp。A look at his first action in the Great Crusade， this book shows Mortarion in a his driven， dour glory。 Like his brothers Perturabo， Angron and Curze he’s perhaps unexpectedly principled and The Primarchs series of Novels is， I think， intended to shed light on their nature and that of their Legions。 Some have been origin stories， others exemplary battles。 With The Buried Dagger and several shorts being dedicated to Mortarion’s life on Barbarus The Pale King inevitably falls into the latter camp。A look at his first action in the Great Crusade， this book shows Mortarion in a his driven， dour glory。 Like his brothers Perturabo， Angron and Curze he’s perhaps unexpectedly principled and dogmatic- his methods may be brutal， but then again， so is war itself。 Annandale doesn’t portray him as likeable per se， but The Order， his opponents in this Compliance are pretty vile， even by the standards of 40k- every choice he makes is justifiable if not laudable。 As is often the case with this series， a hundred or so more pages would really help- the hints at the Legion’s preparation for this war are tantalising hints that id love to have seen more of， and likewise for the mentions of blending the Terran and Barbarus drawn recruits。 Plenty of the Legion’s big hitters get cameos and there is plenty of interest in amongst the unrelenting gore。If only I wasn’t scared of painting pale colours my Iron Warriors would be getting some allies after reading this… 。。。more