Fallen Angels

[Logain the Ranger]

I picked up this book less than a week ago and just finished it tonight. Although I liked almost all of books (BftA I'm looking at you) this novel was just gripping and kept me interested all the way through. I liked the first three better, but not by much. The delving into Zarhiel's belief and loyalties was great.

[Inquisitor Engel]

I wouldn't put anywhere close to the first three, but it's certainly better than Descent of Angels.

[Logain the Ranger]

As a trilogy yes, Fallen Angels doesn't compare to them. But I must say the book really surprised me.

[Phoebus]

I didn't like "Descent of Angels" at first. After reading "Fallen Angels", though, my opinion of it increased considerably. The two truly go hand-in-hand, and I have the feeling that most of those who didn't like Scanlon's work took issue with the fact that it didn't have much to do with the Heresy. Up to that point, we'd had five chronologically arranged novels advancing the plot... and DoA took a massive step back.

 

But that's just my take! :D

[#13]

A little necromancy.

I've just finished the book. To be honest I don't like Dark Angels, I didn't like DoA as a book, it's really somewhere at the bottom of all spacemarine books I've read. But this book made me a believer. I had a hard time putting the book away, every section ended with a cliffhanger and I really wanted to continue with the story. It showed the Lion as a great tactician, but a flawed individual. And I must say I liked it that way, usually the primarchs are shown as these "perfect" superhumans and the Lion is quite different in that sense. Luther's persona was flat, but the events on Caliban were great in how they they develloped and set the stage for the follow-up book.

It's been quite a while since I've read the first three books of the series, but I think this was the book that I read the quickest of all the HH books. (With maybe the exception being the flight of the eisenstein.) Overall a big thumbs up.

[Hergrmir]

DoA and FA were books I really really liked. I'm not so sure why DoA got so much hate. One of the reasons I liked it was because it wasn't full of endless scenes of inane bloodspurts and roaring chainswords and the like. I think the Nemiel/Lion storyline in FA was way weaker than the Zahariel/Luther one, at that. But still, the Angels books really give you a sense of the character of the Dark Angels and their views on the world - on the one hand the Order preaches equality of birth, on the other hand it's EXTREMELY hierarchical. On the one hand the Calibanite faction wants to return to a free Caliban but on the other hand they consider that to involve a feudal nobility ruling over peasants (but then, isn't that the Emperor's vision as well?).

 

Unlike a lot of portrayals of flat one dimensional characters (or the wizard did it falls of Horus and Fulgrim) in the HH books, the Angels books had characters who wrapped contradictory beliefs into their worldview and had to deal with the mess that resulted in - much like most of us. One of the things I didn't like was Luther going all demonologist - it reeks too much of a wizard doing it, and it would have been nice if he was a little more disturbed about wanting to bend the taint of Caliban to his will, rather than shrugging it off and smiling MYSTERIOUSLY all the time.

[IronWinds]

Decent was horrible..... until reading Fallen which made all those not important details important. Honestly.... I wish they placed Decent and Fallen back to back in the series. Would of pissed off non-DA players but without Fallen, Decent is a crappy book, and without Decent Fallen wouldn't make sense.

[Lady_Mournival]

All the books don't have to do exactly with the heresy. Horus Rising wasn't; does the series has to be re-named the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy for you guys?

 

But anyway now with that little blurb out of the way; I thought both books were excellant and I really loved how fallen angels played out; it really makes you feel sorry for those who lost favour; especially Astellan (you have to read the short story in tales of heresy to get the full side of his story). I really can't wait to see how the next installment to the dark angels' side of things plays out! Oh, Johnson is such a ******************.

[Hergrmir]

But what was it that made Descent horrible, exactly? Other than the long wait between Descent and Fallen?

 

Astellan is a pretty good character, I'd forgotten about the Tales short story. It also puts Belath in a more interesting light. So you've got these Calibanites who're all concerned with their people and their freedom who are back on the planet, but you also see in characters like Belath that 'our people' only extends to Caliban's inhabitants for some.

 

I'm really quite excited for the next one, if there is one. I don't think Jonson is a particularly bad guy, it's just that he's SO different from everyone around him and doesn't have the capacity to empathise, like many of the other Primarchs did. Almost unsurprising that he seems to get along with Perturabo. :P

 

I hope that if there's a glimpse of PH Sanguinius, we really see him as a really empathetic sort of figure in contrast to Jonson's distance, but then I'm just a fan of parallelism in storytelling.

[Captain Juan Juarez]

Descent of Angels just didn't interest me at all. It having nothing much to do with the Heresy had nowt to do with it.

 

Fallen Angels was a much more gripping read in my, humble?, opinion.

[Captain Tezdal]

I think they were both great at detailing the DA's "seekrit" backstory so far....more Dark Angels books then Heresy books seems to me is all.

[Brother Subtle]

i enjoyed FA, and it did help make DoA a bit better.

FA still has the best last page i have read in a HH book yet, who saw that coming? all that fighting for nothing!

[#13]

But what was it that made Descent horrible, exactly? Other than the long wait between Descent and Fallen?

 

To me DoA was good up until the point the emperor comes to Caliban. Then the story gets rushed, the characters go meh... (I mean what's with all the brooding and staring Lion?) The way the whole plot against the emperor was written and Zahariel's inclusion into the legion felt off to me.

[Bartali]

I enjoyed them both. I presume there will be a third book coming along at some point ? There's the most interesting bit of the story to come ! I wonder if it will tie up with Astelan's story from Angels of Darkness

[Ethrion]

Honestly I liked both. They really need to be seen as one story divided unfortunately into two sections as when viewed like that they both make a lot more sense to one another. Descent of Angels being basically a very long preamble and background setting to what is to follow.

 

I agree that the 'space marine' end part of DoA is pretty rushed, but I have a feeling this has more to do with Black Library imposing strict word/page limit restrictions on Michael Scanlon and forcing him to condense what he would have liked to include. It's very obvious how the story is ticking along at a good pace with plenty of description then "bang bang bang" it's over.

 

Fallen Angels certainly picks up where DoA leaves off and picks up well. And like a previous post mentioned, the last page revelation is just epic. It leaves it perfectly 'grey' as befitting a Dark Angel story -

Does the Lion know who Perturabo will use the siege guns against? Does he care? Or simply is he saying "here are the weapons, what you do with them now is up to you."

and it ties in nicely with the whole Angels of Darkness theme of

the Lion basically hedging his bets and "waiting to see who would win". An almost neutral player who is very paranoid and with his own personal survival paramount above all else as his existence on Caliban as a child instilled in him.

 

 

I hope that a third DA HH book will come along at some point and that it continues with this new line of thinking that AoD started. There might be some that say it should be disregarded because it's the ravings of a traitor and one of the fallen but to be honest the perspective that the line of thinking takes really does make much more sense than just "oh Luther was jealous and got grumpy and the Lion was always good". In my opinion that would leave the whole DA fluff pretty flat and not as gripping.

[Brother Mordeus]

Hey i lost that book, liek someone said earlier that was the book i read the fastest. Zariehls description is very good, and i love the way we have an insight into his mind and his personal struggle. Its true that Luther is a bit flat sometimes but he still has his good moments, especially the small signs he gives us of his inner struggles. Cypher was wicked until the end. Dont know just love his story, his history how he became Cypher, but then when he turns to Chaos, or when we notice he has, cuz i think hes been in league with chaos for a long long time. When he was still a knight of Lupus, if you want my view on it. I mean Luther did find the books about chaos in the library where the books of the Lupus are.

 

Now there where some mistakes in the book the first being Zarhaiel ( keep getting his name wrong). Hum is it just me or are Librarian forbiden in the Legions. Or more specificaly librarians who use the warp, for i do believe that their are some librarians. Zarharliel really goes far in his use of psychic powers. Magnus had his homeworld and legion destroyed for doing that. On top of my head i cant recall but i know that their where other blatant mistakes about the fluff. If anyone remembers them...

 

Did it bother anyone how sometimes the action would stop suddenly, and go off to the other part of the story, which itself is at the peak of its action, and then itself also just suddenly stops and it goes on and on. I know it happened to me to simply skip the part coming next and just continuning reading the same part, and coming back to the other one later. D

Did anyone get that>;)

 

Good book is my conclusion, apart from some fluff mistakes, really good book. Made me do a squad of Dark Angels in my pre heresy army.

 

O and on a last note, how wicked is the Lion, and how disgusting. This is the best primarch so far, and with his legion, are the most emotional and in depth legion yet. They have such a depth and mystery in them, i just loved it. They look more human, they have human flaws in them. Yes Luther eventually falls to Chaos, but his first push towards heresy is his love for his homeland, and the slight hate he feels towards Terrans. The Lion sends them back to Caliban, because of he knows that they are not the most loyal subjects he has. Something hard to believe when you look at the other space marines who swear by their primarch or by the Emperor no matter what situation they are in. Luther swears in the name of Caliban and its people, well at least in the beginning.

 

The rebels are a bit one dimensional. Their causes are just, but the core of it revolves around old nobles wanting their privileges back, and using the Imperium's destructive colonisation as an excuse. Sar Daviel has a more reasonable cause, the one that pushes Luther to the other side, which adds a tad of volume to the rebellion. I loved how the Beasts actually kept the corruption out by killing anyone getting close enough. This kept the equilibrium, which did give some truth to the fight the Knights of Lupus where having. Almost. But not quit. Anyway i still think the rebelion could have had a bit more explaination and detail as to why it happens rather than o the imperium is destroying the forest aaaaa im sad lets fight it.

[Dammeron]

Fallen Angels is most certainly a book of two halves. One of the narratives it incorporates is superb, easily some of the best Space Marine fiction the BL have churned out, the other is blah, blah, by the numbers, space marines fighting against impossible odds cliche. The character-based stuff that occurs on Caliban is fantastic. The other half is just filler to make the book a comparable size to the others in the HH series.

[Rayuzaki]

I didn't really enjoy DoA that much but I did find Fallen Angels was a hell of a lot better :)

 

I think what irritated me about them both was how long and drawn out they seemed, you would wait ages for it to get going and at any point when it did get a grip of you it'd get flat and stop pretty quickly.

[Yogi]

I really liked Descent. Fallen angels which I m reading now.. is a little harder to keep reading as The nemiel plot is boring and tired.. The other plot is interesting though. I hate how it alternates between chapters..

[Almighty Nocturnus]

I`m not a Dark Angels guy, let me say first off. But I felt FA totally redeemed the slow start/pace of DoA. It was an enjoyable read all the way through. I`m of the mind that we don`t need a third book. The ending (and, if you are foolish enough to start reading a thread about this book and not think there will be spoilers, I have no sympathy for you...read it! Then contriute to the discussion). We get a fairly complete picture on why things turned out like they did. We know The Lion will show no mercy towards traitors - even astartes (when he macro cannons the Sons of Horus!). We know why The Lion would go so far as to blow up the planet (since it`s basically a big egg housing an ultra greater daemon). And we know how Luthor turns traitor for seemingly noble reasons in the beginning. The rest of the pieces are put together just reading the fluff in the codex. All in all, it (FA) was a masterful connection between DoA and the well-known, well-established fluff in the codex. I think all of the Dark Angels fans must feel vindicated after the beating DoA took in pretty much every 40K related forum. As a Blood Angels player, I hope we get a good HH story like that.

 

Almighty Nocturnus

[Capt. Lysander]

I haven't read Fallen Angels yet, but I don't think Descent of Angels is that bad. Lacking a lot of action: perhaps; but in context, the background on the Dark Angels' founding, and their original system on Caliban is quite interesting.

[c-wrex]

Just finished Fallen Angels and one HUUUUUUUGE plot hole kept screaming at me the whole time. This hole made the book that much harder for me to enjoy, even though I thought as a whole it was a great read. Now, before I mention this plot hole, I would like to make a disclaimer that I could be remembering wrong, but I don't think I am.

 

Here it is: According both to the short story in Tales of Heresy and the Dark Angels novel Angels of Darkness, Chapter Master Astelan is a TERRAN! All throughout Fallen Angels he is referred to as though is he Calibanite, even when the 'native' Dark Angels are making all their plans to round up and punish/inspect the Terrans on Caliban. Remember, we have two previous novels where Astelan is a Terran marine, not one from Caliban.

 

I can't believe this hasn't been brought up yet, guys. Again, If I'm wrong, and it wouldn't be the first time, please point it out to me.

 

edit: spelling

[c-wrex]

Ummm... Does this ^ bother anyone else? Or is it just me?

[CommissarStone]

As a loooong time 40K player (I started in 1988, and have always been a DA player), the only response I have for those who allege there is too much attention being paid to the DAs is - they were the first legion, once led by the Emperor personally, at least according to ancient RT fluff. If someone in the planning department of BL adheres to that tiny piece of storyline, then giving the DA "so much attention" seems fitting somehow... The first legion, the (usually self-proclaimed) greatest legion, the unforgiven legion. When you consider and compare the vampire legion, the viking legion, the devout legion, the dragon legion, the mongol legion or others with the unforgiven legion there just seems to be more potential depth in the unforgiven than in the others. Sure, plenty of story possibilities, but to what degree do any of the other loyal legions present a microcosm of the greater heresy?

 

That all being said, I think FA is the only DA book worth a damn. I'm pretty sure Gav is universally reviled for what he did in his novel, and the first HH DA novel was dull (even though it was setting a foundation for follow on explanation). The folks writing these books have tried, but they've mishandled the storyline terribly in most cases. I realize RT fluff isn't necessarily canon, and GW can do what they like with the details of their gaming universe, but I think they missed the mark completely when they tried to retcon the DA the way they did. Not sure I could have done a *better* job, but I know I would have gone about it quite differently (even with the death world knightly order theme).

 

My $0.2 US for what it's worth.

[Ian MacKay]

Just finished Fallen Angels and one HUUUUUUUGE plot hole kept screaming at me the whole time. This hole made the book that much harder for me to enjoy, even though I thought as a whole it was a great read. Now, before I mention this plot hole, I would like to make a disclaimer that I could be remembering wrong, but I don't think I am.

 

Here it is: According both to the short story in Tales of Heresy and the Dark Angels novel Angels of Darkness, Chapter Master Astelan is a TERRAN! All throughout Fallen Angels he is referred to as though is he Calibanite, even when the 'native' Dark Angels are making all their plans to round up and punish/inspect the Terrans on Caliban. Remember, we have two previous novels where Astelan is a Terran marine, not one from Caliban.

 

I can't believe this hasn't been brought up yet, guys. Again, If I'm wrong, and it wouldn't be the first time, please point it out to me.

 

edit: spelling

 

Yep, this bothers me too. I'm actually re-reading FA right now. Whoever edited this book needs to go back and read it again so they can fix the problems in the next printing. :) After all, they are supposed to make sure the author hasn't missed anything in continuity.

 

On pages 57 & 58 Mr. Lee states Astelan is Terran, just as he is in Angels of Darkness and Call of the Lion, but then he completely forgets that "little" fact. The entire sequence where they fight the cave bugs had me screaming to myself "how the hell can he know this?!? HE'S TERRAN!"

 

Also, when the group with the Lion are assaulting the gates of the forge, notice that the one marine goes from using a melta-gun to a heavy bolter and back again. WTH?

 

Other than those issues, I think the book is actually written pretty well and does a good job of bringing up some new info regarding Cypher. The fact that Astelan has now shown up as a loyalist, then Lutherite, then as un-repentant Fallen is pretty nifty in my book.

 

And the fact that A Thousand Sons and Prospero Burns are coming out back to back seems to imply that BL learned it's lesson on splitting up certain things. If FA had come out instead of Legion, I don't think there would have been as much complaining about getting left in the middle of the story. :)