Astorath: Angel of Mercy by Guy Haley

[Knockagh]

Great little read. First half especially, although it’s got the least to do with Astorath himself. I liked the world building and mood setting in the first part. Absolutely brutal and chilling scenes. Second part is a little predictable. The short at the end is a nice insight into Astoraths rather horrible existence.

Also glad to see someone bringing in the psychic awakening and making a story out of it. What would BL do without Haley describing what’s supposed to be happening!

[cheywood]

Finally got around to reading this. It’s quite good. I usually enjoy Haley’s work well enough, but some of his books I like much more than others. Where Darkness in the Blood was unfocused and a touch unsatisfying, this is tightly focused and engaging.

 

From a lore perspective it examines the relationship between Indomitus veterans and the firstborn of the blood, explores Astorath’s role in detail, and

provides a meaningful introduction to Rage-afflicted Primaris

. While that’s all well and good, the highlight of the book, for me, is the setting. Dulcis is characterful in its fecundity and pollution both. It reminds me of some of Abnett’s environmental descriptions that you see in his Inquisition work, especially Eisenhorn. On a personal note I quite like that Haley

works through a variety of perspectives instead of all Astorath all the time.

.

 

In terms of issues all that comes to mind is the Red Wings being underexplored culturally, although that’s not entirely unreasonable given the length of the book and the context in which we meet the chapter.

Edited March 4, 2021 by cheywood

[Roomsky]

Astorath, Angel of Mercy – Guy Haley

 

If it weren’t for the rare aberrations like Avenging Son and Hammer of Olympia, I would fully admit to being either stupid or insane for continuing to buy hardcopies of Haley books and expecting a good time. The ingredients seemed to be there for this one – Haley is (generally by default) the best prolific Blood Angels author and the smaller scope of this story means it wouldn’t have the shortcomings I found in his Dante series. Hell, it’s even about Enslavers – some of the coolest underutilized xenos in the setting.

 

Unfortunately, the first half of this book is just not good. The Red Wings are bland and seem almost like an afterthought – Haley’s usual talent for exploring a new faction’s identity is completely missing here. The Enslaver patient zero is only compelling in her introductory chapter, and becomes similarly bland afterwards. It’s just boring people going about mostly boring tasks. The worldbuilding of the location they occupy is about the only thing that makes the first hundred pages of this two-hundred-page book worth slogging through – it’s just neat seeing one of the many ways the Great Rift can start to affect a planet (and how the government is forced to respond.)

 

The second half makes it plain that there was a big Astorath-shaped hole in the prior material. Not because it’s marketed as his book (Valdor: Birth of the Imperium’s great even with Constantine’s limited page time,) but because he’s actually interesting, and his presence summons up other interesting personalities who tag along with him. Astorath’s own retinue is generally snarky and amusing, a big step up from the Red Wings. The locals they bring along add even further character to the world, and are very well drawn despite how limited their presence is. The premise of completing a chapter’s secret duty on a world they’ve already consigned to ruin and can’t spare the resources to save is novel and very in keeping with the setting. Even a Red Wing character who was bland before is more compelling because of his stake in Astorath’s quest. The gap in quality is legitimately startling.

 

This feels like a good 100 page novella the editors forced Haley to turn into a novel, where Haley just wrote a novella-sized prologue to pad it instead of expanding on what was already there. The beginning is so tacked on, so inconsequential, so damned boring, that it sours the whole thing a bit for me.

 

3/10 for the first half.

7/10 for the second.

By their powers combined this gets a 5.

 

If I didn’t know others liked Haley much more than I do, I’d peg this as Blood Angels Diehards Only. But I know the community well enough that this will be to the reader’s taste.

 

Maybe Haley will eventually write Corbulo novel that’ll land with me.

 

Addendum:

I wrote this whole review before checking a few replies and I see it’s at odds with some other Fraters. I see we’re once again entering the DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS DIMENSION.

[rookie40K]

Astorath, Angel of Mercy – Guy Haley

 

If it weren’t for the rare aberrations like Avenging Son and Hammer of Olympia, I would fully admit to being either stupid or insane for continuing to buy hardcopies of Haley books and expecting a good time. The ingredients seemed to be there for this one – Haley is (generally by default) the best prolific Blood Angels author and the smaller scope of this story means it wouldn’t have the shortcomings I found in his Dante series. Hell, it’s even about Enslavers – some of the coolest underutilized xenos in the setting.

 

Unfortunately, the first half of this book is just not good. The Red Wings are bland and seem almost like an afterthought – Haley’s usual talent for exploring a new faction’s identity is completely missing here. The Enslaver patient zero is only compelling in her introductory chapter, and becomes similarly bland afterwards. It’s just boring people going about mostly boring tasks. The worldbuilding of the location they occupy is about the only thing that makes the first hundred pages of this two-hundred-page book worth slogging through – it’s just neat seeing one of the many ways the Great Rift can start to affect a planet (and how the government is forced to respond.)

 

The second half makes it plain that there was a big Astorath-shaped hole in the prior material. Not because it’s marketed as his book (Valdor: Birth of the Imperium’s great even with Constantine’s limited page time,) but because he’s actually interesting, and his presence summons up other interesting personalities who tag along with him. Astorath’s own retinue is generally snarky and amusing, a big step up from the Red Wings. The locals they bring along add even further character to the world, and are very well drawn despite how limited their presence is. The premise of completing a chapter’s secret duty on a world they’ve already consigned to ruin and can’t spare the resources to save is novel and very in keeping with the setting. Even a Red Wing character who was bland before is more compelling because of his stake in Astorath’s quest. The gap in quality is legitimately startling.

 

This feels like a good 100 page novella the editors forced Haley to turn into a novel, where Haley just wrote a novella-sized prologue to pad it instead of expanding on what was already there. The beginning is so tacked on, so inconsequential, so damned boring, that it sours the whole thing a bit for me.

 

3/10 for the first half.

7/10 for the second.

By their powers combined this gets a 5.

 

If I didn’t know others liked Haley much more than I do, I’d peg this as Blood Angels Diehards Only. But I know the community well enough that this will be to the reader’s taste.

 

Maybe Haley will eventually write Corbulo novel that’ll land with me.

 

Addendum:

I wrote this whole review before checking a few replies and I see it’s at odds with some other Fraters. I see we’re once again entering the DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS DIMENSION.

I’m at the end of the first half, and yes I agree it sucks. Astorath seems to just be a cameo in his own book. I’m interested in a book titled with his name to learn more about the character. So far nothing and Red Wings are just boring. Glad to hear 2nd half picks up.

[Moonreaper666]

Off topic but was Astorath at Baal when Leviathan attacked or not? Which Blood Angel Named characters where not at Baal?

 

Interestingly the Legion of the Damned were at Baal fighting the Tyranids

[DarkChaplain]

Astorath was not at Baal during the devastation. He returned with Guilliman. There were multiple captains not around, due to other fronts being held off-planet.

[theSpirea]

Astorath, Angel of Mercy – Guy Haley

 

3/10 for the first half.

7/10 for the second.

By their powers combined this gets a 5.

 

 

You summed up my impression after reading it. It's one of those books I completely forgot about in less than a week. I gave it 6/10 and it was mainly thanks to the extra short story (Redeemer) included in the LE.

[aa.logan]

I rather liked this; having the Red Wings act pretty much as enforcers had a nice Rogue Trader vibe to it and, yes, the last section featuring Astorath more heavily was the best. The brutality of the ending was unexpected too.

 

Another great performance on the audio from Richard Reed too.