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astrogazer 's review for:
Descent of Angels
by Mitchel Scanlon
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
This book is the first of the horus heresy series to pull us back from the titular events that we’ve followed thus far. Instead, we join Zahariel on the planet Caliban, where The Lion has come of age and begun to bring the wild dangers of caliban to heel. The imperium has yet to arrive on Caliban, and the Emperor yet to find his lost primarch. The majority of the book follows Zahariel coming to manhood, and knighthood, within the Order, the group of knights that The Lion has usurped and begun to use to cull the dangerous Great Beasts from their world. Though arduous, this task is completed and along the way Zahariel discovers he has innate psychic abilities. Just as the end of their great campaign is achieved, the imperium arrives to bring Caliban into compliance. In the process, Lionel el’Johnson is discovered as one of the lost primarchs and brought into the imperium fold personally by The Emperor. The most worthy of Caliban, Zahariel included, are selected to be transformed into Astartes if young enough, or elite warriors if not, to join into the emperor’s Great Crusade. The Lion takes control of the Dark Angels (apparently the second legion to have been adopted by their long lost primarch, Horus was the first primarch to be found) and he, along with his right hand man Luther, move to Sarosh for the Angel’s first mission to bring that world into compliance. Doing so uncovers treachery by the local population as it is discovered they are covorting with an entity of Kaos who must be defeated. In the process, the loyalty of Luther, Zahariel, and a number of other Angel’s is brought into question by The Lion as internal jealousies bring motivations into question.
Overall I didn’t find this backstory as immediately captivating as the other events, legions, and settings that were the focus of the first five books. Nonetheless I did enjoy the story overall and have a feeling the world building and lore will pay off in later installments of the series.
Overall I didn’t find this backstory as immediately captivating as the other events, legions, and settings that were the focus of the first five books. Nonetheless I did enjoy the story overall and have a feeling the world building and lore will pay off in later installments of the series.