Descent of Angels

The Horus Heresy, Book 6

By: Mitchel Scanlon

Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong

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 in the depths of the seemingly endless forests.

Young Zahariel and Nemiel aspire to join the greatest of the orders, led by the example of mighty Lion El'Jonson and his vision of a peaceful and unified world. But the coming of the Imperium brings new concerns and a new destiny for the Lion as part of the Great Crusade, and the sons of Caliban must decide if they will follow him to glory among the stars.

©2007 Games Workshop Limited (P)2013 Games Workshop Limited

Great if you like Dark Angels

What did you love best about Descent of Angels?

I loved getting additional lore and backstory about the Dark Angels.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The story was about the coming of the Emperor and the creation of the First Legion. It has almost no tie in to the actual Horus Heresy. So as a tale about HOW the Dark Angels end up the Dark Angels of the 41st Millennium it's not bad. As a story of the Hersey it fails utterly.

Have you listened to any of Gareth Armstrong’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have listened to Gareth Armstrong on several other Black Library books, and he does a very good job telling this story. You always have a feel for who is talking due to the inflection of the character's 'voice' and he is very clear and brings a lot to the tale.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Not really. The story felt kind of disjointed and at times it was hard to tell the passage of time. Some events were told as if they took mere hours or days but took weeks. Other events happened concurrently or behind other events in the book. The story itself could be tighter and better told.

Any additional comments?

I am glad I have listened to it. I'm not necessarily thrilled with the story itself. But then I'm not the biggest fan of the Dark Angels, so there is that.

Lion El Johnson

loved the book and the insight into the legion that I've never really studied or looked into.

Good story

Good story, worth a listen. Dark Angels aren’t my favorite but touching on them during the Heresy is essential.

Good for what it is.

It's a good series but this book is probably the weakest story wise so far. As someone who can remember all the characters from the previous books I have a hard time remembering any characters or particularly caring.

A Wonderful Blend of Whimsicalness and SciFi

A tale of two books in one. The first half gave me Lord of the Rings vibes, and a sense of wonder of Caliban.

In the second half of the book after leaving Caliban, it felt like a very good 40k book. A little bit of intrigue, description, and politics actually helped this book.

The main drawback was that there isn't much of any Character arcs in secondary characters. This could have been helpful.

The narrator did a wonderful job, and captured the two sides of the story wonderfully. That being said, a dedicated female voice actor would help immensely with immersion.

This book made me appreciate the Dark Angels, where as other books in there series such as the death guard book, made me think they were the lamest space marine chapter to ever live.

Overall very good. I just wish we could get to the Siege of Terra quicker.

good story but very tangential to main story

A lot of people recommend skipping this book, presumably because it is very little to do with the overall storyline of the Horus heresy. it's a good story but the majority of it is not the space Opera that the rest of the Horus heresy is, it's akin to a sword and sorcery novel that's been kind of shoehorned in. again pretty decent story but very much a digression from the main storyline.

8.5/10 will read again

I definitely enjoyed the story but it was a bit stale at parts, VA did a 10/10 job tho

For the Dark Angels Fan

I give this a five star solely because I love the Dark Angels and their Arthurian theme throughout the 40K timeline. I can also see and understand the lower reviews as this not the best part of the intended Horus Heresy story. Even as it brings the Angels and Lion into the Heresy story, this is solely a history for that chapter. The audible was fantastic, definitely left a good atmosphere for the characters. Come into it as the rich background for Caliban and the Knights, and understand the HH intention is based on the involvement of the imperium during the 30K period. Good nonetheless:)

Good story, a few editing issues

They left some lien re-reads in there, but it’s an excellent story. Not like other HH books

THIS IS NOT A HORUS HERESY BOOK!! It's DA history.

I fondly recall reading about The Order and The Knights of Caliban in the original Angels of Death Codex. It was only a few paragraphs, framed by amazing classic illustrations by John Blanche. I appreciated that this book expands upon what I read in that treasured tome in the mid-90's. The author has my gratitude for that. I think he mostly did a good job. I enjoyed many of the scenes, especially the ones involving brotherhood amongst the knights. I thought those were quite convincing. You get a really good idea what Caliban was like before the coming of the Emperor. If you take it as a slower-paced tour through old Caliban, it's actually pretty good. It accomplishes that end.

Most of the problems come in towards the end. The story seems to forget what it's supposed to be about and meanders into a dead end. The ending is abrupt. Saying it's open to interpretation is putting it nicely. Most people would say it's confusing and frustrating. This book would have been much better placed outside the Horus Heresy series. Pretty much the entire book takes place loooooong before the Heresy. You're setting this book up to fail calling it a Heresy novel and I'm certain that's why people don't rate it higher. It's also just not a tight story in the least. It's a great atmospheric piece, though. If you let it wash over you and don't expect too much from it--like that it's a Horus Heresy book-- there's a decent chance you'll like it, especially if you have some connection to the Dark Angels.