Descent of Angels (Horus Heresy Series) Book

The introduction of the Dark Angels legion, Descent of Angels seems to get a bad rep among the early Horus Heresy books. I must admit the only reason I can see why that is, is that it is quite different.

I suspect readers were less than thrilled at the approach, removing the book from the grand stage and focusing instead of the development of a particular planetary society long before the events of the series at large. But I actually found it really interesting. In general, being allowed a deeper look at a particular society was a refreshing reprieve from five books of mostly battles and spaceships (although yes, that is the primary reason for reading this series).

The characters were almost surprisingly human. The world of Caliban, with its lush green forests, military monastic orders and great hunts for wild and mythic beasts reminded me of Onderon in the Star Wars Old Republic era. And although coming through only infrequently, the book's colonial-centric social commentary on Imperial expansion was also more thought-provoking than your average 40k novel (although obviously not particularly complex).

Overall, solid entry. Made the Dark Angels another favourite legion of mine. I'm getting more and more of those, it seems.