Delving into the Raven Guard - Deliverance Lost?

[Welcheren]

Greetings,

 

If I wanted to get a detailed account of Corax's personality and the culture of the XIX Legion, which HH novels would you guys recommend?

Obviously, I have read, re-read and re-read relevance codices, Lexicanum entries, as well as learning from broader discussions.

 

Should I start with Deliverance Lost, given my goal, or will it only reveal what I already know from the Lexicanum?

 

Eventually, getting to all HH novels would be great, but I need to pick and choose which to select first.

Edited January 4, 2020 by Welcheren

[Dagoth Ur]

If it's the post-Corax legion culture you are after,then I would recommend Deliverance Lost (lot of people dont like the novel,I very much enjoyed it) and Corax' primarch novel. If it's the pre-corax/terran legion culture you are after, then you should get the Forgeworld Blackbook that deals with the Raven Guard (book 3 I think....)

[Welcheren]

For me, it is definitely about Corax himself and his impact on the legion.

 

Noted. That's one vote for DL and Corax: Lord of Shadows.

 

How about Ravelord?

 

Obviously, I eventually want to read or listen to all of them. But I need to prioritise.

Edited January 4, 2020 by Welcheren

[Kelborn]

Haven't read all of them, so take my two cents like you want.

 

Ravenlord is a pretty decent collection of - I believe- near every short/ novella about the Raven Guard throughout the Heresy. It's more about their fight against Horus' forces.

 

Haven't read DL but Corax' Primarch novel was superb. Especially the part in which a Terran Raven Guard compares the pre- and post Corax Legion along with the Night Lords.

Fun fact: Guy picked that up in his Curze Primarch novel, as well.

 

If it's the overall culture and transition from Terran into Corax you're looking after, I highly recommend you to read the 3rd black book of Forgeworld. Their Raven Guard article is among my tip top favorites. Read it about 5 times already just because of the fluff.

[Fedor]

You can get almost all of 30k Raven Guard work in Deliverance Lost, Corax (compiles Gav's novella and audio work he did after DL) and the Primarchs series book. after that, as already said check out the Forgeworld book three lore. It gives more legion culture and background, where the HH arc has that but is primarily about Corax and his ill-fated attempt to replenish the Legion.

Edited January 4, 2020 by Fedor

[Welcheren]

Excellent. Thanks guys.

 

I think I'll start with Lord of Shadows and then go for DL.

[Jareddm]

Good choice. Looking back on it, I'd say the foreshadowing in Lord of Shadow made me like Deliverance Lost more.

[Welcheren]

So be it then.

[Tymell]

Good choice. Looking back on it, I'd say the foreshadowing in Lord of Shadow made me like Deliverance Lost more.

 

It might be a bit late, but I'll echo this wholeheartedly. I really enjoyed Corax's Primarchs book, and one of my favourite aspects is how it felt like it enhanced what came before (real world)/after (chronologically). I felt like Deliverance Lost and Corax would be more satisfying having read Lord of Shadows first.

[Welcheren]

Never too late to support good points.

[Biscuittzz]

I'm also probably too late but having devoured any and all Raven Guard material, I'll go against the grain and say read DL and the other Thorpe works first. Read the Primarch's book last.

 

Lord of Shadows is an amazing book and you will only find it's downhill from there if you read any of Thorpe's work. It gives an amazingly balanced look at how the Legion operates, how they interact with others and what Corax and his personality are like. DL and other works only really do the latter.

 

The Corax anthology is quite good to be fair, my main gripe is with DL. It's not that its bad or divergent ( it actually follows the FW book fluff very well), it's just the way it's poorly written and the multitude of plot armour within. Let me know if you find yourself constantly saying any of the following: " Well, that would never happen....." " That's ridiculous..." "Why didn't they just do...." 

[Lord_Caerolion]

There's also an interesting section in the Night Haunter Primarch book featuring Corax as well, somewhat continuing the theme in the Corax Primarch book of both contrasting and comparing the two Primarchs, albeit at very different periods of the Night Haunters regression. Plus, it's just very well written, and incredibly creepy.

[DarkChaplain]

Deliverance Lost is actually pretty decent, especially on a second read when you know where it's going and can pick up on all the buildup and foreshadowing better. A lot of the gripes I had the first time around got washed away with the benefit of hindsight, as the confusion / sense of wrongness is intended.

There's one major section I really didn't appreciate much, in the first half, but it characterizes Corax and his closest sons pretty well. The Corax anthology builds on that nicely, beating Corax down gradually to where he needs to be.

[Claws and Effect]

I'm going to echo a few things, and throw a couple other things out there.

 

Read Lord of Shadows first, because it gives the best insight into who Corax is and why he makes the decisions he does.

 

Then read at least the account of Istvaan V from First Heretic I think it is.

 

Then Flight of the Raven. It's either an audio drama or novella.

 

Then Deliverance Lost and Corax.

 

Then lastly read Shadow of the Past from the Sons of the Emperor anthology.

 

That will give you Corax's story in chronological order.

 

I can't stress reading Lord of Shadows before Deliverance Lost enough. The insight into Corax's personality in it is pretty crucial to certain things in Deliverance Lost making sense. (Gav is really bad about having his characters make decisions without explanation of why they would do that. I believe Guy Haley deliberately filled in some of those gaps)