As a big fan of the Alpha Legion since Dan Abnet's Legion book, I must say I dreaded the idea of an Alpharius book not written by Dan. But let me tell ya, does this book delivers. read it, you will not regret it 🐍

This book helps clear up many years worth of speculation while raising even more questions.It perfectly encapsulates the Alpha Legion as a whole and their mentality towards the Imperium as a whole.Highly recommended if you like the Alpha Legion or just want to be less confused about the XXth Legion.

I am Alpharius, this is a lie. I will be honest, I was never really on board for the Alpha legion, the whole I am Alpharius deception was until now never really used properly for my taste; a weak gimmick not a thought out idea, this book finally gives readers much needed insight in the mind of the perhaps most enigmatic of all primarchs. Off all the primarchs, Alpharius(Omgeon) has been the most difficult to pin down with exception of the two "lost" primarchs. This, off course, has been by desig...

Deliberately obfuscating what is known about a fictional entity is a good way to make it seem enticing. As readers we are driven by curiosity to fill out all the context we can. A good example within the same universe as Alpharius: Head of the Hydra is the mystery of what happened to primarchs II and XI and the online lists of myriad clues fans have pieced together. Indeed, the whole genre of cosmic horror relies on the reader not being able to understand the whole picture in order to create a s...

An outstanding 30/40k title, up there with the best I've read. Some of the characters decision making is pretty perplexing, but that's the Alpha legion for you I guess.No end of interesting lore, and an excellent insight into some of the more mysterious Warhammer characters.

I really enjoyed this one! Told from the perspective of the Primarch himself it is interesting in many ways. We learn of his impressions of his brothers. We learn more of the Rangdan War and of the Slaugth, two vile, powerful xenos. The Slaugth have powerful tech, more so than the imperium. I was only disappointed in one fashion, I was hoping to learn more of the Alpha Legions betrayal, and why, from the primarchs pov but alas. All in all, wonderful read. The narration of the audiobook was aweso...

A collection of vignettes more than anything, in the style of the other Primarch novels. A different "feel" than Legion, but still awesome! One of my favorite power moves was in this book, made even better that The Lion didn't even catch it. Maggot men from ACT of Heresy made an appearance.

Absolutely solid WH40k/WH30k read from one of GW's best writers.I think this book does a decent job of exploring the universe as it progresses and has some fun elements of deceit/treachery from the main character, probably an alright read for people not into WH40k?Where it really shines is for fans of the genre, we get some extremely good looks at the early days of the Emperor's reign (mid-Unification, pre-Great Crusade), we get a look at one of the most secretive primarchs, and we get some exce...

Best Alpha Legion book ever. Best of all 14 Primarch series books too.Superb insights into how XX Legion collaborates with mortal humans. How it uses its network of agents to hasten or maintain compliance made by other Legions. A ton of mind-boggling reveals that may or may not be true. And the best explanation of the Imperial Truth conundrum so far:"One tends to accept most things my father says. It is not a matter of His word being law, although it unquestionably is. It is more the case that H...

A very decent mind-bender, it'll leave you questioning everything.

Mike Brooks is the greatest author to have graced the EarthThis book, brings decades of lore, scraps of information and twists them, turns them, and delivers a massively complex story, in an engaging fun an insightful way. Alpharius, in his own words. Something once thought impossible, for the Alpha Legion is so inscrutable and mysterious that the risk of revealing too ever present. But Mike stuck the landing beautifully, and gives us the best Warhammer Primarchs novel ever written, and the best...

This book more than delivers on the promise made when the Primarchs series was announced.An origin story for Alpharius, the book was very well written and paced, although I can’t help but think another 30 or 40 pages would have helped at the end of the book.Thoroughly enjoyable throughout.

Loved this book litterally changes my view on the rest of the horus heresy series I loved it

This is one of those books that are full to the brim with world building, tons of important history, and yet it still gets all the little things right. It rightly makes Alpharius feel like the most powerful of the Primarchs by far.

Remember that feeling you got when reading the first few titles in the Horus Heresy series, when the setting felt fresh and exhilarating, how every few chapters you’d sit back, astounded by what you’d read and how cleverly the few scraps of fluff that existed prior to the series were knitted together? Read this and you’ll recapture that feeling.It’s a really good book. The use of Alpharius as first-person narrator works really well- it seems such a natural fit for learning about the character. T...

This is hands down my favourite Primarchs novel (tied with Slave of Nuceria). The Alpha Legion and their Primarchs have often had some of the best stories and this novel delivers in spades.It is full of twists and turns typical of an Alpha Legion story but these surprises truly blew my mind. I also love how the author integrated the all rumours about Alpharius’ origins from the Horus Heresy rulebooks.I absolutely loved reading this and have reread it since and it’s still an incredible read. And

I was hesitant when I saw this one being released. I wondered how any writer could capture the quirkiness of the Alpha Legion in a way that didn't make it more like inception than a 40K novel. Dan Abnett had done a fantastic job writing Legion, but that was told from an outsiders perspective, not someone within the legion, never mind the head of the hydra himself. I have to say I totally underestimated Mike Brooks, the novel is absolutely fantastic and had me gripped for the 2 days it took me to...

A compelling story about the Alpha Legion. By far, probably the most fascinating and mysterious of groups/primarch(s?). Are they betrayers or loyalists of the empire? Loved the style of writing and the mental aspect of Alpharius, who's clearly snug and very arrogant - but who wouldn't be, when you dan be so deceitful?Highly recommended!

Alpharius: Head of the Hydra is one of the books in the Primarchs series, released by Black Library. It reads well as a stand-alone part of the series that focuses on individual stories that feature the titular Primarchs. For me, the rest of this series has been a bit hit and miss, but I am thrilled to report that Alpharius: Head of the Hydra goes above and beyond my expectations.The novel is told from the first-person perspective of the secretive Primarch and follows his journey through the sta...

I almost shelved this one part way through, while any lore bits about the Alpha Legion I'm gonna sink my teeth into, let alone about their Primarch this one started out rough. It was clear the author was trying to present Alpharius a certain way but it had the reverse effect for much of the book, it came off nearly masterbatory and was afraid it was going to be more generic bolter porn 'space mahrine best' crap. It does improve, still didn't love it I prefer Abnett and French's version of the Le...