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  • Deathfire

  • The Horus Heresy, Book 32
  • By: Nick Kyme
  • Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
  • Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (685 ratings)

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Deathfire

By: Nick Kyme
Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
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Summary

Vulkan lies in state beneath the Fortress of Hera, and yet many of his sons still refuse to believe that he is truly dead.

After a seemingly miraculous rescue by the Ultramarines, Artellus Numeon, once captain of the Pyre Guard, urges the other Salamanders on Macragge to leave Imperium Secundus and return their primarch's body to the home world of Nocturne - there to be reborn in the flames of Mount Deathfire. But Numeon grapples endlessly with his doubts and fears for the future of the Legion while their foes seek to carve out new destinies of their own....

©2015 Games Workshop Limited (P)2015 Games Workshop Limited

What listeners say about Deathfire

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Skip this one.

This is a poor entry in the (usually excellent) Horus Heresy series. Almost nothing of import or interest occurs. There is no meaningful plot to speak of and the few interesting characters (which consist exclusively of the antagonists) receive no story arc of their own. You can also safely skip the novel without missing anything critical to the overall plot of the series save in respect of the very last line. I recommend skipping to the last page and moving on to other titles.

6 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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a continuation of the salamander legion

while Nick Kyme may not be held in as greater awe as Dan Abnett, Grahame McNeil or Aaron Demski Bowden when it comes to Black Library publications he has definitely grown in style and confidence when compared to his earlier works. Death Fire has been an enjoyable journey and is certainly something that I shall listen to again, although hearing 'Vulkan Lives' multiple times does get a bit annoying.

Saul Reichlin does a commendable job narrating the story and while his voices for the female and child characters can feel for a lack of a better term 'not quite right' at times this isn't too distracting.

3 people found this helpful

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great story, boring characters

salamander characters seem to be as boring as whale shit.
the other characters make up for it

2 people found this helpful

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Painful - repetitive

The story starts in an interesting place, with the salamanders receiving Vulkans corpse and commuting to return to Nocturn. What proceeds is 7 + hours of a boring slog through the warp and one dimensional salamanders bickering amongst themselves. The characters of the Heretic Astarte involved are never really fully explored or fleshed out leaving them also one dimensional and uninteresting. HH at its worst I am afraid- treading water

I checked out at around hour 8, and only really tubes in again for the last hour.

1 person found this helpful

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Gripping storytelling

A well narrated and highly detailed book. An unmissable book in a great ongoing series. highly recommended.

1 person found this helpful

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Yes, yes, we get it - Vulkan lives. Jeez...

Borderline skippable. WAY too long and drawn-out. The middle section of warp slog and in-fighting is very tedious.

Narrator does a great job with the character accents but I pity him having to keep growling 'Vulkan lives' ad nauseum.

I would say for HH completionists and Salamander fans only.

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Abysmal.

Whilst clearly inspired by the Odyssey (even going so far as to include Sirens), Nick Kyme manages to make this concept so boring. The plot reeks of convenience. The characters are little more than plot points who lack any motivational through-line, and the dialogue is truly awful.

How many times can you hear "Vulkan Lives!" or "Vulkan... is dead!" before you want to throw yourself into a volcano?

And on that, Saul Reichlin is perhaps the worst narrator throughout the entire Horus Heresy. They simply cannot compare to Keeble or Longworth.

Awful writing, awful pacing, awful performance.

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  • H
  • 27-04-23

Absolute drag

I’ve never heard the words “Vulcan lives” so many times in my life. The book would be an hour shorter if they removed that phrase from it. Aside from that, it was ok. I’m growing bored of the divine intervention” stuff though. Just as the heretics are about to win, something ridiculous happens to stop them.

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Nick Kyme one of the best?

Strong in theme, character development, atnosphere, tension and pacing. An odyssey both physical and emotional.

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Vulkan Lives!

I have always had an affinity for the Salamanders, but this book cemented them as perhaps my favourite legion.
I thought the themes throughout were perfectly blended: hope, despair, grief, denial; and while I never quite knew where it was going I was enthralled to continue the perilous journey with our brave protagonist Numeon.
The performance of Saul Reichlin was perfect for the book as he adds a richness and culture to the Nocturnians, a slight accent without being caricature.
Overall this goes down as one of the more emotionally rousing books in the Horus Heresy, apt it was for the most human on the Legions.
Vulkan Lives!

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  • Sebastian Ekstrand
  • 22-06-19

Salamanders at their finest!

Numeon's five stages of grief:
1. Denial
2. Denial
3. Denial
4. Denial
5. Denial

Jokes aside, a great story of the trials of the Salamanders after the Istvann 5 Massacre, and their desperate struggle to find purpose after their tragic loss of most of their legion at the hands of the traitors. Unfortunately, the story feels a bit long, and perhaps it could have been a little better with the number of chapters shortened, as the middle drags out somewhat. Still, for any fans of the Salamanders, this is a mandatory read/listen.

VULKAN LIVES!

4 people found this helpful

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  • Claude
  • 10-08-18

Vulkan Lives!

Salamanders all the way Baby! Persevering in any and every situation. The characters are very good and their growth feels real, the internal and external conflict is great! Vulkan Lives baby, above all else!

3 people found this helpful

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 03-03-20

Well. It’s a long one...

It is a loooong book. And I feel it’s a lot of filler versus having a book with lots of depth and material. One of the least favorites in my opinion.

2 people found this helpful

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  • Jorrahn
  • 23-11-17

too long didn't gel

i really wanted to love this book. In the end though i found that it was very repetitive and kind of stale. the only really engaging part was the creepy horrors of the warp. that part was excellent. I was listening to it at a store and right when the horror was stalking the protagonist a clerk tapped me on the shoulder. I nearly peed myself. the rest of the book is a bit too blunt and dull. as for the voice, I couldnt really get into his depiction of salamanders and tbh sometimes a lot of the voices sounded the same.

2 people found this helpful

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  • Wanderer
  • 10-12-20

Vulkan Lives!!!!

Very good book. Felt kinda like a fantasy journey in space with an epic cast.

1 person found this helpful

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  • Per
  • 15-02-19

Another novel that should have been a short story

One of the consistent flaws of many Black Library authors is their tendency to take content worthy of a short story and stretch it into a novel. This is no different. After an average start, it works itself into more and more of a bore as less and less happens. In the end, I had to force myself to attempt to finish, but concluded that life is too short. Not much happens, not many characters are involved, the environment barely changes and in the end it feels like the only way a sentence can be concluded is by someone yelling ‘Vulkan lives!’ My only recommendation is to stay away.

1 person found this helpful

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  • A lot of junk is sold on Amazon
  • 16-05-23

Vulcan Lives!

This story instills a level of absolute respect for the Salamanders. I often have dismissed this legion as being irrelevant to the primary focus of the civil war but I have found an honest admiration for their tenacity. Vulcan lives!

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  • Anonymous User
  • 12-05-23

The defient of all evil, Vulkan

Honour too the pyre gaurd captain Numeon and all who followed. Drake Lords. Ender of dark nights

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  • Hallur
  • 02-04-23

Boring

struggle to finish, got really tired of the VULKAN LIVES quote they were always spouting and predictable end

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  • Connor Winslow
  • 27-03-23

Epic

While my opinion might be skewed from having to sit through Damnation of Pythos, I thought this was great, classic 30k writing. An epic journey with epic battles and lots of personal journeys and character progression throughout the story. While the dialogue was pretty well written, the narrator is kind of lacking when it isn't a Salamander speaking. He's got a great voice and performance for the main Salamander characters, but in the beginning when he voices other primarchs it's distracting from the story how inconsistent and tame it is.

Still, I highly recommend this one.