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pfaocle's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
alinn45's review against another edition
3.0
I liked the path of the main Character had to take to reach his end goal. The world building was imo somehow good. All in all a ok ish book in the series
thedadsie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
This entry of the Horus Heresy series is substantially weaker than others, and suffers from the author's refusal to write engaging characters outside of the main protagonist.
some_randow's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
aoc's review against another edition
4.0
As if hearing my comments about the series so far Descent of Angels removes itself from the immediate Isstvan 3 events which effectively began the Horus Heresy. No, this time we take a step back and tackle the formative days of Dark Angels as such as well as their Primarch - the Lion.
Coming-of-age story for one Zahariel on planet Caliban, world long lost from Terra so much so latter is considered a myth, as he joins a knightly Order and proceeds to advance from initiate to a fully-realized member. What do these knights do? Well, Caliban is a forest world with untold beasts lurking about that have kept humanity in constant fear. Using old technology these knights in their various Orders are protectors... or they were until Luther, the greatest man of his age, found a feral child surviving situations and slaying beats groups of knights couldn't manage. He named the boy Lion and soon found himself unwittingly consigned to his shadow in terms of prowess and glory. Luther and Lion have a plan to not only protect Caliban, but to also RECLAIM it for humanity. Little do they know of Lion's origin and what lurks beyond a death world that is Caliban, though...
In the story itself Zahariel remains our constant POV, aside from very brief bits towards the end, and this is very much his story giving us a window into pre-Dark Angels Calibanite culture. Entire Agoge-like sequence he undertakes to become a knight in the Order is horrifying when you realize he goes through all of it as a mere seven year old. Such is the way on Caliban if you want to become a defender of the people. We see friendships, rivalries and meeting his heroes face-to-face, but Zahariel never loses his optimistic view still tempered by harsh reality of his world. For someone coming from big events of the last five books this may be slow, but I like how Descent of Angels takes a good half of its run before Imperium is introduced and story skips to a more familiar setting. It has time to flesh out the protagonist, Lion and Luther dynamic as well as other supporting characters. On the flipside the mission Dark Angels embark on towards the end of the novel ends up being rather skimpy and I wish it was something more than, well, first contact gone wrong because Chaos gonna Chaos. I did like the inclusion of White Scars.
Would I recommend Descent of Angels? Beyond a somewhat out-of-the-blue ending, provided you lack familiarity with Dark Angels lore, I would say yes. It checks my boxes on why this legion is the way it is and what their Primarch was like in earlier days. Turns out being alpha predator makes you pretty awkward around other people. Zahariel's story is almost archetypal down being extraordinary through no fault of his own.
Coming-of-age story for one Zahariel on planet Caliban, world long lost from Terra so much so latter is considered a myth, as he joins a knightly Order and proceeds to advance from initiate to a fully-realized member. What do these knights do? Well, Caliban is a forest world with untold beasts lurking about that have kept humanity in constant fear. Using old technology these knights in their various Orders are protectors... or they were until Luther, the greatest man of his age, found a feral child surviving situations and slaying beats groups of knights couldn't manage. He named the boy Lion and soon found himself unwittingly consigned to his shadow in terms of prowess and glory. Luther and Lion have a plan to not only protect Caliban, but to also RECLAIM it for humanity. Little do they know of Lion's origin and what lurks beyond a death world that is Caliban, though...
In the story itself Zahariel remains our constant POV, aside from very brief bits towards the end, and this is very much his story giving us a window into pre-Dark Angels Calibanite culture. Entire Agoge-like sequence he undertakes to become a knight in the Order is horrifying when you realize he goes through all of it as a mere seven year old. Such is the way on Caliban if you want to become a defender of the people. We see friendships, rivalries and meeting his heroes face-to-face, but Zahariel never loses his optimistic view still tempered by harsh reality of his world. For someone coming from big events of the last five books this may be slow, but I like how Descent of Angels takes a good half of its run before Imperium is introduced and story skips to a more familiar setting. It has time to flesh out the protagonist, Lion and Luther dynamic as well as other supporting characters. On the flipside the mission Dark Angels embark on towards the end of the novel ends up being rather skimpy and I wish it was something more than, well, first contact gone wrong because Chaos gonna Chaos. I did like the inclusion of White Scars.
Would I recommend Descent of Angels? Beyond a somewhat out-of-the-blue ending, provided you lack familiarity with Dark Angels lore, I would say yes. It checks my boxes on why this legion is the way it is and what their Primarch was like in earlier days. Turns out being alpha predator makes you pretty awkward around other people. Zahariel's story is almost archetypal down being extraordinary through no fault of his own.
shimons's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
qwerqsar's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Not the best HH novel. Interesting to understand the Dark Angels origins, but the plot skips a few times.
raerae's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
lucsva's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5