Sanguinius: The Great Angel cover art

Sanguinius: The Great Angel

The Horus Heresy Primarchs, Book 17

 Preview
Try Premium Plus free
1 credit a month to buy any audiobook in our entire collection.
Access to thousands of additional audiobooks and Originals from the Plus Catalogue.
Member-only deals & discounts.
Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Sanguinius: The Great Angel

By: Chris Wraight
Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble
Try Premium Plus free

Auto-renews at $16.45/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $24.99

Buy Now for $24.99

About this listen

A Primarchs Novel

"I have always been the master of wretches, and have learned from that. I am a wretch myself, a non-standard. To purify and to transform – that has been our gift."

Sanguinius, the very image of an angel, has chosen to obscure the origins of his Legion, and prevents outsiders from setting foot on his home world. A remembrancer attempts to discover why.

Listen to it because...

The 17th instalment of the Horus Heresy Primarchs series offers a glimpse of the Blood Angels Legion – and its celebrated primarch – from the outside, as we peer into the shrouded secrets of its past.

The story:

Sanguinius is the Great Angel, most beloved of all the primarchs, his mighty exploits celebrated throughout the entire Imperium as the Crusade expands into the void. And yet the origins of his Legion are shrouded in mystery and rumour, his unique physical form is an enigma, and his perilous home world remains off-limits to all but his own secretive people.

When a discredited remembrancer arrives with the expeditionary fleets to chronicle the primarch’s deeds, he has to work hard to uncover the truth behind the legends. As he accompanies the \\IX Legion to war against the enemies of the Emperor, the curious scholar comes to learn much more than he expected – not just about the subjects of his study, but also the nature of the Imperium itself.

©2022 Games Workshop Limited (P)2022 Games Workshop Limited Adventure Science Fiction Space Opera Fiction
All stars
Most relevant
Not for someone new to fandom.
Required readings: Horus Rising, Echoes of Eternity, the End and the Death.

That said, really fun book, watching someone work hard to show the brutal side of the Blood Angels. In most works, Blood Angels are noted for their nobility and splendour, and the Black Rage is the boogeyman. Here, we see that the Curse always affected them. Also provides a nice insight into more of Sanguinius’ character before he became depressed about his death. Do recommend

Of the Blood

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
What can I say, I was pretty much hooked for the whole book and I loved the take on a remembrancer’s view of things. Amazing! Nearly could give it 5 stars but I wanted more.

One of the better Primarchs books

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
it's a fine enough story, but I feel that he just didn't feature in it enough to get a real sense of his character, even though the book is about him.

too little actual Sangga

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Like many Chris Wraight’s books this one starts a bit slow, taking its sweet time.
Somewhat confusingly you are following the story of the Primarch through the eyes of one of the remembrancers. But then, somewhere in the middle you get the realization that the book is not about Sanguinius per se. It’s about the legend of the Great Angel, about how they have to hide and keep in secret the Red Thirst. I like how you get to see Sanguinius through the eyes of another person who is somewhat objective, and not shy from uncomfortable truth both in-universe and the for us the fans. You see the action of the Primarch, who can be merciful and just like we used to see him in other books, but also quite merciless and not shy from stuff that would make him a villain in any other universe.
You get very a interesting question: is truth more important than the legend? And both of the sides provide plenty of valid arguments: on one hand, the truth is the truth, but on the other, in the universe so cruel, any form of hope and inspiration may be the difference between the life and death of the species.

Overall, we get better understanding of the mind of Sanguinius.
Bonus points for references to Horus Rising - it was fun to see and hear about the characters we encounter at the first book of HH.

Great book overall

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Brilliant read/listen. One of C.Ws best among such great works. No spoilers but it helps forge the Imperium of what it is today.

Masterfully wrought

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If you want some sweet info on Hawkman..this the book. Gives it a listen 👍

The bestest big boy who ever was

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I found the story to be bland, weak and lacking any kind of interesting moments. For a book about Sanguinius, it spent more time talking about everything EXCEPT the Primarch.

There are better Primarch reads. Try Robute Guilliman or Alpharius. Both were way better.

I really didn’t enjoy this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Not terrible, but generally 'beens there done that before' . Ending ends on a grim dark note. Primark interactions were interesting, much more time spent here and during the Legion prior to finding Primark might of been more interesting imho.

Stock standard, with interesting ending

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
I enjoyed it in its own right, it just didn't feel like a book from The Primarchs series. I expected to have a picture of the legion in the great crusade. How they enact the Emperor's will and how it affects them. This was also short. I feel like this should have been part of an anthology or something.
We do a get a lot of good Sanguinius in the Battle of Terra but I would have liked to know more about him as a war leader - and with more of the book focused on him as a character rather than as a subject through a third party character's eyes.

A good book. Very 40k. Not really a Primarchs book

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Such a disappointment for Blood Angels fans. There's barely anything about Sanguinius in the story

Disappointed

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.