Descent of Angels (Warhammer 40,000 Novels: Horus Heresy) (Pt. 6) by Mitchell Scanlon
|
List Price: Our Price: $4.91 You Save: $4.08 (45%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $3.39 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of Descent of Angels (Warhammer 40,000 Novels: Horus Heresy) (Pt. 6)
Book Review: Solid story
Summary: 4 Stars
I enjoyed the author's style or writing as much as Dan Abnett's or Sandy Mitchell's. The story was enjoyable, but as mentioned, less a Horus Heresy book and more a Dark Angel's background. Regardless it was an interesting story and filled out at least a small part of the Horus Heresy storyline. It's worth reading as a 40k fan.Book Review: I'm assuming that there will be a sequel to this one.....
Summary: 4 Stars
Great info on pre-imperialization of Caliban. Good take on Luther and the seeds of resentment between Earth born Angels and Caliban born ones. My high rating is based on it having a sequel. The scope was smaller than that of Fulgrim, but it was still a good read.Book Review: A poor "Heresy" entry, but good standalone tale.
Summary: 3 Stars
With Warhammer 40K popularity at an all time high, finding new fans beyond the tabletop battle fields amongst PC gamers and sci-fi novel enthusiasts alike, the Horus Heresy books have been in full swing now for little over 2 years. Many have voiced their disappointment that the Heresy seems to have astrayed from the primary storyline in favor of Legion-specific tales. Personally, I happen to like the Legion-specific entries (most specifically Fulgrim), but the Dark Angels entry into the Horus Heresy series was overall a weak one.
While this novel would have been fine as a standalone tale, chronicling the era of the Dark Angels just before the coming of the Emperor, it fails to capture the tension and fear that the Heresy series has thus far presented. While it is not poorly written, the pacing of the story just doesn't match up. Furthermore, the book doesn't actually tie-in to the Heresy other than hints and foreshadowing of chaotic taint upon the Dark Angels. The ending, which may or may not scream "sequel"(very unlikely) depending on how you look at it, leaves the reader with many questions and even fewer answers.
As a Dark Angels tale however, this is an intriguing book. Following the story of one up-and-coming knight, Descent tells the tale of the young warrior's trials to achieve knighthood on the harsh and terrifying world of Caliban. Within its deep jungles and foreboding darkness, Caliban hides many Great Beasts. To embark on a quest to slay such a beast would be one of the final steps to achieve knighthood. We find that our protagonist shares many traits in common with Lion El'Jonson, soon to be Primarch of the Dark Angels. But an encounter with mysterious beings in the darkest region of the world foreshadows an impending doom not only upon Caliban, but upon the rest of the human race as well.
Following the young boy from apprentice to knighthood and eventually to the ascension of Astartes, the book is rather compelling in its delivery but fails to capture that same magic that has made the Heresy series so pulse-pounding. If this book wasn't titled under the Horus Heresy line, it would have been excellent. As it stands, it was an overall weak Heresy offering that was disappointing for many. Being that the release dates between the Heresy entries are so long, Descent succeeded only in fueling readers' impatience and thirst for more Heresy. When compared to Fulgrim (The Horus Heresy) and Horus Heresy: Legion (Horus Heresy), Descent of Angels doesn't stand up to par with the rest. I would recommend saving Descent of Angels as a side read rather than an entry into the Horus Heresy.
Book Review: Horus Heresy, Book Six
Summary: 3 Stars
Set on the planet of Caliban. No one knew where Lion El'Jonson came from. He was found, naked and alone, in the most deadly region. Within a year he had not only learned the people's language, but had become super intelligent. Caliban was a world in which humanity resided far from the top of the food chain. The Lion had risen quickly in the ranks of the Order. It was the Lion that swayed the masses into killing all the mighty beasts of Caliban. Section-by-section those beasts were to be forced into extinction. It would take over ten years to complete.
Zahariel and Nemiel were cousins. They were admitted into the Order, long before the age of ten, while still children. The two cousins had healthy competitions between each other that helped them strive to better themselves. Yet as they grew up they could not help but begin to feel a bit of strife when the other won. Zahariel was an idealist and caught the eyes of those in the higher ranks more often than Nemiel did. Once all the great beasts were taken care of, as well as a brief war between orders, Caliban would change forever. All knew this; however, none even dreamed that the biggest change would come from the stars in the form of the Imperium.
*** This story begins as if a grandparent were telling a story to his grandchild. The prelude is several pages long and the narration seems to wonder a bit too often. Three quarters of the book is on Caliban, before the Astartes even show up. The focus is mainly on the boy named Zahariel. I witnessed much of this story from his point-of-view. I saw his events from as young as age seven. The character of Primarch Lion El'Jonson is seen through Zahariel as well, so I found myself subjected to the boy's overwhelming awe too often and it eventually became irritating to me.
The Imperium enters late in the story. Soon gaps of time began to pop up. It made the Dark Angels (Lion's Legion) section feel rushed and the ending felt anticlimactic to me. All-in-all, this story is a good read, but nothing special. ***
Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
Book Review: A good entry in the Horus Heresy but ends just as it became interesting
Summary: 3 Stars
I've been a huge fan of the Warhammer 40K universe created and built-upon by the creators of Games Workshop. The mixture of gothic and sci-fi gives this particular literary universe it's own unique voice. The Horus Heresy series of novels have ranged from very good to great in trying to explain the beginnings of the Horus Heresy event from different points of views. Descent of Angels is the latest entry in the series and details the role of the Primarch Lion El'Jonson and that of his Dark Angels Legion will play in the coming galactic civil war.
Mitchell Scanlon gets the writing duties and he does a good job in explaining the backstory of the Dakr Angel Legions' origins and the time of their Primarch's life before being rediscovered by the Emperor's Great Crusade. As much as I thoroughly enjoyed reading about pre-Great Crusade Caliban it added little to the story of the Horus Heresy which has been building up from the previous five books in the series. Maybe the story and the role of Lion El'Jonson and his Dark Angel Legions was just too epic to do in one book, but Scanlon did the unforgivable by ending the book on such an abrupt manner that it literally screams Book 2 to finf any sort of meaning and closure to Descent of Angels. Maybe it will happen later down the series. I sure hope it does or this entry in the Horus Heresy series would be the worst and a bad step back on a series which has been done well, so far.
While the book was well-written and the characters given much room to grow to have distinct personalities the flaw of not having much to do about the series theme of the Heresy and having such an abrupt ending makes this entry the weakest of the bunch. Hopefully, the next book in the series which is titled Legion will bring back the series to talking about the Horus Heresy.