Aqui Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 I apologise in advance if this has been done to death, but as someone who only has a cursory knowledge of the Dark Angel's history (I had read the "Deathwing" back story in an old Space hulk supplement once, but I'm not sure if that is still canon, and that was a long time ago...), I'm not sure what to think about the book. I haven't quite finished it yet, but I wanted to put some kind of context into what I have read. I quite like what I have read so far, and I have a better understanding of where they came from (as in the mindset of the Calibanites etc), but is that how they are like to you, the DA players? So, does the book do the First Legion Justice, or are they left "wanting"? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221473-descent-of-angels/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother_Darius Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 Its a very good book, in that the Horus Heresy novels give you a sense of. "Where we come from". However consider that the )ion was really only with his chapter for the first 300 years or so. The Chapter has been in existence for 10,000+ years. While knowing the origin of your parents is helpful, its only a portion of what makes you, be you Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221473-descent-of-angels/#findComment-2645961 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Styphus Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 It's a nice break from all the Fallen back story that fluff nowadays can't get away from. A lot of people probably dislike it as it doesn't involve Space Marines for most of the novel, and it doesn't portray certain characters too well. That bit about Native Americans fighting the minotaur genestealer is still cannon. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221473-descent-of-angels/#findComment-2646035 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gillyfish Posted February 3, 2011 Share Posted February 3, 2011 I rather enjoyed the book - most people (I think) enjoyed the early parts but objected to the ending which seemed to be rather 'tacked on' and perfunctory (see what you think when you reach it). Now that Fallen Angels is also out, the ending is perhaps less objectionable, but given the slow build, I think many people found the ending to be rather anti-climactic. I just hope I haven't put you off reading the rest of it! :mellow: Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221473-descent-of-angels/#findComment-2646074 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aqui Posted February 3, 2011 Author Share Posted February 3, 2011 I rather enjoyed the book - most people (I think) enjoyed the early parts but objected to the ending which seemed to be rather 'tacked on' and perfunctory (see what you think when you reach it). Now that Fallen Angels is also out, the ending is perhaps less objectionable, but given the slow build, I think many people found the ending to be rather anti-climactic. I just hope I haven't put you off reading the rest of it! :mellow: Well, I've enjoyed the book up to now (about 70 pages left), and to be honest it hasn't disappointed so far. The only book in the series that to me was a damp squib so far was Fulgrim as I felt it was rushed and made Fulgrim to be far less than I imagined (at least at the end of the book). I won't be reading Fallen Angels until I've read the others. I know that it wouldn't matter too much if I did, but I suppose there's a reason as to why they're in that order, right? ;) To be honest, it wouldn't matter if most of the book in the HH series were pants - I'm far too much of a completist to stop now ^_^ Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221473-descent-of-angels/#findComment-2646081 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brother Styphus Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 I think the phrase you are looking for is "Damp Squid" ;) ------edit--------- I'm going to come right out and say that I'm taking jokes from The IT Crowd. Nobody can pick up my tone or sense of humor, so from now I will ruin all of my own jokes and references. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221473-descent-of-angels/#findComment-2646169 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legio Draconis Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 I liked both books. I have been a fan of the dark angels since the beginning and I never found any problems with the books. Brother Styphus: IT crowd joke are perfectly ok with me. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221473-descent-of-angels/#findComment-2646552 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bringer of Redemption Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 I liked it. Gilly is right about the very end being a bit of a let down, but I just started Fallen Angels and it picks up more or less where Descent of Angels left off, and I'm enjoying that so far as well. I would probably recommend a bit of sequence breaking--just go right to Fallen Angels after you're finished, rather than going through the rest of the HH books, and it'll feel like less of a let down. --BoR Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221473-descent-of-angels/#findComment-2646927 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bonsai Monkey Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 I liked the stories so far, although I feel like the ending of fallen angels was missing something that I cant put my finger on? Not disappointing, more anti climatic but not at the same time. Its almost a complete ending with no blink of what is happening next. Just me, but I like the little bit of mysterious hinting for the next part of a story to come? On a side note, has anyone read angels of darkness by gav thorpe. its advertised in the cover of fallen angels? The blurb says that the secrets of the dark angels are revealed? Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221473-descent-of-angels/#findComment-2646995 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legio Draconis Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 Angels of darkness is another good book, though where I think It fails is that it really is two books run together with alternate chapters for each book. Don't get me wrong I liked it alot, but as Gav Thorpe said angels of darkness was more of a character study into the fallen than a straight up dark angels book. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221473-descent-of-angels/#findComment-2647015 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slim Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 Decent of Angels definitely needs to be read in conjunction with Fallen Angels to get the most out of both books, from there I would definitely recommend Angels of Darkness - it brings some interesting extra pieces of background into play. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221473-descent-of-angels/#findComment-2647169 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandmaster Anaziel Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Descent of Angels is one of my favorite HH books. I think it shows what the Dark Angels are at their core. And how important honor is to them. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221473-descent-of-angels/#findComment-2648229 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord_Hail Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Personaly i liked it because it was a break from the other books and it helps explain our parnioa...... Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221473-descent-of-angels/#findComment-2648343 Share on other sites More sharing options...
shabbadoo Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 The book is good, but I was hoping it would actually be about what the Dark Angels were doing during the Horus Heresy. No such luck. However, it does delve into the formative years of the Lion, the formation of The Order, and it gives some insight into the dark nature of Caliban and its people. There are some other bits about key elements linked to the Chapter's history that originate on Caliban, but I'll not spoil them be mentioning what they are. The book is very much about Caliban, the Order, and the Lion, but not that much about the Dark Angels Legion. Even still, fans of the Unforgiven ought to enjoy it. The second book, Fallen Angels, digs more deeply into the Dark Angels Legion itself during the early years after the Lion has taken command. Central to this story are the rivalries that exist between Calabanite and Terran Dark Angels, as well as between the Lion and Luther. It is in this book that we begin to see the more prevalent themes in the modern Dark Angels background begin to take shape. While I enjoyed Descent of Angels well enough, I enjoyed Fallen Angels more. I would be very surprised if there isn't at least one more book slated for the Dark Angels in the Horus Heresy series. It would be the perfect opportunity to flesh out the fall of Luther, what the Lion is up to while on Crusade, the final conflict between the Lion and Luther, the events surrounding the scattering of the Fallen, and the destruction of Caliban. Epic stuff to be sure, yet still only a side note in the grand scheme of things. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221473-descent-of-angels/#findComment-2648399 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candleshoes Posted February 8, 2011 Share Posted February 8, 2011 I am happy that the HH team, years ago, decided that this was a section of story worth telling. To me, Caliban as a planet, with its traditions and inhabitant, way of life, and the Lion's actions, was always the most interesting "birthplace" of all the primarchs. It also raised the most questions. Luther himself was another wonderful idea from the original core of fluff, an idea that always for years seemed to be made of smoke, as his part, his actions, his motives, could always be taken differently ... he was always a much more complex and resolved father figure than say, Kor Phaeron, and Luther almost seemed to exhume everything that the Lion lacked, or was unable to learn in his younger years in the Order. His appearance in DoA and FA really do flesh him out ... but in a way that leaves more questions than where we started! It is my personal opinion that the way in which early Caliban, the knightly orders, the traditions and the Lion himself, could and should have been written differently. In a place where literally every Grimm fairy tale is true, and to quote DoA "The forest defined our lives.", where everything around you meant you harm ... does not match with what was written. The chance to really dig deep and make them more than a stereotype came and went. This isn't to say that I didn't appreciate or read/buy the books, I just thought it was a missed opportunity to make the Legion, the men who would make up the Legion, the Knights that they are, from a place where staying alive is the only happy ending. Link to comment https://bolterandchainsword.com/topic/221473-descent-of-angels/#findComment-2651496 Share on other sites More sharing options...
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