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The Dark Angels story is one of the more heartbreaking tales in the times of the Horus Heresy. It is a story that, if you’ve read most of the non-Heresy Warhammer 40,000 stories, is filled with betrayal and internal civil war while the Imperium of Mankind falls into a civil war itself. The question remains of whether or not the problems of its directly linked story, Descent of Angels, are still around.
The Charge of Change
Where Descent of Angels didn’t have that distinct Warhammer 40,000 feel, Fallen Angels fixes that. It actually has the same kind of dynamic in storytelling as the last two 007 movies where the first one was almost all story and the second was the resolution of the story bringing us to the point that we saw coming. Where its predecessor had a story that seemed like it was trying to build up to something, Fallen Angels is definitely the pay off for the Dark Angels story. It’s well-written, engaging and relentless on both the emotional aspect and the action of the book.
It also further develops some of the characters that might have been only mentioned here and there in its predecessor. Fallen Angels is almost like a book for the underdogs of the legion and works like a charm. The word “almost” is there because of the fact that it also still manages to develop the Dark Angels’ ideology a lot more as well as furthering the development of all the major characters.
It’s Just Stuck
Yes, a lot of the story backtrack tracks to earlier events for the sake of development. Some of the backtracking actually helps the story out. However, what’s really played up when it comes to the half of the legion that turns traitor is something that is heavily downplayed in Descent of Angels. Due to the fact of how much the closing of this book’s predecessor plays down its closing battle, references back to it just seem unnecessary. The difference in the portrayal of events is very jarring and it’s noticeable. These parts just feel unnecessary. It probably wouldn’t have felt that way if the closing was further developed to show how much of a major event it was.
If you look at the two Angels Horus Heresy books, their presentation is very much like the last two 007 movies where the the first is the story development and the second is the resolution. However, this format only works in certain circumstances. If the second resolves the bigger things that happened in the first and only refers to the bigger things, it works. If the second picks up directly after the first one lets off, especially if the first one lets off in the middle of a battle that isn’t even finished, it works. If you’re continuing the story an extended amount of time after the end of a unfinished battle, especially if you’re using a battle that needs to be finished as a major plot point, the story development falls short. Something is going to get missed. Either way, it is a war story and the battles are just as interesting as the characters and circumstances. Don’t gloss over the battle by essentially saying that the Imperium won. Show us how they won.
It’s Still Good
Despite the occasionally unnecessary, and usually awkward, backtracking that builds up certain events in the book, Fallen Angels is a pretty solid book. You still care about the story. You still want to reach the resolution of the story.
There is a certain level of investment, especially if you’re this far in the series but it would’ve been just as engaging if the two Angels books were either back-to-back or were combined into one long book with some added content to cover the time lost between what is now two books. It is a fun read.
Also, coming soon is a review of the newest book, A Thousand Sons, which came out this month (March 2010).
Purchase [The Horus Heresy: Fallen Angels @ Amazon] Read [The Bolter and Chainsword] Also Read [Lexicanicum]
Other books in The Horus Heresy series:
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