Descent of Angels: Loyalty and Honour

by Mitchel Scanlon

Book Overview

Book six in the New York Times bestselling series The planet of Caliban exists much as it has for thousands of years - the knightly orders protect the common people, fighting back the beasts that lurk... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1844165086
• ISBN13: 9781844165087
• Release Date: October 2007
• Publisher: Games Workshop
• Length: 413 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

Great Horus Heresy Installment

I have been enjoying every Horus Heresy book put out (I've read up to Mechanicum) but have not yet written a review. I enjoyed this book all the way to the end which is a great set-up for the Dark Angels schism and am looking forward to the sequel coming out in July. Another author had it right when he said that we already know what happens in the heresy, the point of reading these books is just to enjoy the ride.

Background Story of the Dark Angels, Highly Recommended for DA fans

It is fair to say that after reading through the first five books, chances are your adrenaline are already pumping high, as well as your expectation for the next book. The story of this book isn't about the heresy, yet, but it does shed some light on the most secretive Legion/Chapter. GW has deliberately kept this legion in the dark and gave a background story of how things turned out that led to the current state of the Dark Angels, now this story could be subjective subjective, but you will get the sense that things aren't what they seem. The story starts off wonderfully, explaining the life of a young space marine, and how he raised between the ranks of the order, soon to be Calibanite Dark Angels. This part takes two third of the book, leaving only the last third of the book to a short astartes action. Sadly though, the book ends in a cliffhanger, leaving a possible sequel, which would make all the sense in the world, given that there is much more to tell about the civil war that almost turned the Dark Angels to chaos, but it does give a hint about who might turn out to be the future Lord Cypher (aka Cypher), WH40k most mysterious and popular rogue Dark Angel. The writing is not that great, you'll feel towards the end that there is so much to tell in the story but only few pages to go (rushed?). Expect a sequel sometime after the series have finished with the Siege of Terra.

A fitting break in the Heresy

I can understand the frustration some have with the book, but it is a good point to take "a break" from the battles of the Heresy and discover the background of one of the most prominent Space Marine chapters and how the order was split apart. Nobody can say if there will be a book 2, so taking points of for not knowing this is quite strange. It explains well the background of the Dark Angels on Caliban and how Lion El'Johnson was so ill fated that he destroyed his chapter in the end. This is a great way of starting the whole prospect of the fallen angels and Luther! I hope there is another book, but there is nothing wrong with this one! A safe buy for all 40k enthusiasts and people who want more than splatter and gore from the series!

I'm assuming that there will be a sequel to this one.....

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.

4.5/5

As a diehard WH40k and Space Marines fan, I found this book to be a pretty good read except for a few things. Firstly, the author has the tendancy to say the same thing 6 different ways. I understood what he was trying to go for after the 2nd time it was said. Secondly, it wasn't a turn off for me but it's a little more warhammer-ish than WH40k as it's described, but the characters do in fact use a form of power armor, autoloading pistols and chainsaws even if the culture, setting and method of transportation don't necessarily fit some of the technology, in my opinion. All in all I was very happy with the book and the chance to get some insight as to how the Dark Angels came to be and where their awesome chapter started to go wrong!