Tag Archives: Dark Angels

RAPID FIRE – Gav Thorpe Talks Luther: First of the Fallen

Welcome to this instalment of my Rapid Fire series of quick author interviews, in which I’m talking to Black Library author Gav Thorpe about his new novel, Luther: First of the Fallen. This is the second (short) novel in the Horus Heresy Character Series, after 2019’s Valdor: Birth of the Imperium, and is available to pre-order today as a Limited Edition hardback ahead of its standard release in a few months’ time. It promises to be an in-depth exploration of the Dark Angels through the eyes of Luther himself, and coming from Gav – who’s done a lot of work with this Chapter/Legion over the years – it should be a fascinating read.

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RAPID FIRE: David Guymer Talks Lion El’Jonson Lord of the First

Welcome to this instalment of Rapid Fire, in which I spoke to Black Library author David Guymer about his new novel Lion El’Jonson: Lord of the First, his second contribution to the Horus Heresy Primarchs series. It was available to order in Limited Edition hardback format as part of the 2020 Black Library Celebration, and while the standard edition was delayed for a few months over the summer, it’s now available to order at last. If you’re a Dark Angels fan, or have been looking forward to finding out more about the Lion, this is going to be the book for you.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Test of Faith – Thomas Parrott

Thomas Parrott’s first foray into tales of the Adeptus Astartes, The Test of Faith is a Dark Angels story exploring the strained relationship between two generations of Space Marines. Interrogator-Chaplain Raguel and the younger, second-generation Chaplain Hadariel lead a squad of Primaris Marines into battle aboard a vast, mobile mining vehicle, sweeping through its aged corridors and crushing the resistance of its mortal defenders. As they approach the heart of the vehicle and the nature of its crew is revealed, the bonds between the Dark Angels are tested in the heat of battle and Raguel’s true purpose is challenged.

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Dreadwing – David Guymer

The second of two Siege of Terra prequel novellas (see also Spear of Ultramar), David Guymer’s Dreadwing explores a little of what Lion El’Jonson and his Dark Angels were getting up to that prevented them from reaching Terra. Engaged in a campaign of harassment against Traitor-held worlds, tensions within the I Legion are rising as the question of whether to return to Terra becomes ever more important. While the Lion broods in silence, his lieutenants Redloss and Holguin – of the Dreadwing and Deathwing respectively – are at odds, one keen to continue the campaign and the other desperate to head for Terra.

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War of Secrets – Phil Kelly

The third instalment of the Space Marine Conquests series, War of Secrets sees Phil Kelly explore the integration of Primaris Marines into the ever-secretive, antagonistic Dark Angels Chapter. In battle against the t’au on the industrial world of Saltire Vex, Lieutenant Xedro Farren and his Primaris brothers find the Dark Angels under Interrogator-Chaplain Zaeroph to be less than welcoming. It’s not long before Farren sees hints of an ulterior mission and another shadowy enemy, whom Zaeroph will do anything to catch. Meanwhile within the ranks of the t’au a separate conflict is brewing, and loyalties on both sides are questioned.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Rage of Asmodai – CZ Dunn

A short Warhammer 40,000 audio drama, CZ Dunn’s The Rage of Asmodai sees the Dark Angel Interrogator Chaplain join forces with a squad of Relictors, led by Captain Vidarna (remember him from Ben Counter’s Heart of Decay?), to hunt down a Chaos Space Marine who has led the local population in rebellion. Though their objectives differ, the two Chapters agree to work together and achieve both – Asmodai will get his prisoner, while Vidarna will get the ‘object’ the Relictors have come for.

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Angels of Caliban – Gav Thorpe

Book 38 of the Horus Heresy series, Gav Thorpe’s Angels of Caliban continues the Dark Angels’ involvement in the series that began with Descent of Angels, and caps off the ongoing Imperium Secundus arc. In his role as Lord Protector of Ultramar, Lion El’Jonson focuses his attention on what he considers the gravest threat – the continued survival of his wayward brother, Konrad Kurze. Meanwhile back on Caliban, the Dark Angels tasked with garrisoning the homeworld, led by Luther, Astelan and Zahariel, are a mess of conflicting loyalties, ambitions and mysteries. Secrets abound and questions of loyalty become ever more important.

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Warhammer 40,000 Legends Issue Nine – Angels of Darkness by Gav Thorpe

For issue nine of Hachette’s Warhammer 40,000 Legends Collection, Black Library legend Gav Thorpe gets his first inclusion with Angels of Darkness. First published way back in 2003, this is one of the seminal 40k novels, widely credited with nailing down much of the Dark Angels’ backstory and regularly referenced as one of the best books from that period of Black Library’s output. Typically, I somehow missed it first time around – it was just one of those books that I always meant to read, but never did. Happily, its inclusion in this collection gave me the perfect opportunity to remedy that situation!

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Angels of Darkness – Gav Thorpe

One of the classic Warhammer 40,000 novels, Gav Thorpe’s Angels of Darkness was probably the first Black Library novel to really look at the Dark Angels in detail. The story of Interrogator Chaplain Boreas and Fallen Dark Angel Astelan, it cuts to the heart of this most secretive of chapters and shows how their ongoing hunt for the Fallen has come to consume them. Told across two strands, one sees Astelan captured and interrogated by Boreas in a clash of ironclad wills, while the other sees Boreas on the hunt for further Fallen in and around the Piscina system.

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Forgotten Texts: The Falls of Marakross – Steve Parker

“Behind the greatest zeal, do we not often hide our secret shame?”

Steve Parker’s first story for Black Library, The Falls of Marakross is set in the Pyrus Reach, the setting for Sabretooth Games’ long out of print Dark Millennium card game. On the Imperial world of Cordassa, under siege by forces of Chaos, the arrival of a Dark Angels force led by Interrogator Chaplain Artemius raises the embattled defenders’ hopes. Inquisitor Heiron, however, is doubtful of the Angels’ objective – are they there to support the defenders, or for shadowy purposes of their own?

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