Review of Fallen Angels by Mike Lee

A review of the latest Horus Heresy novel, Fallen Angels, by Mike Lee. Originally posted at www.bolterandchainsword.com here. Some parts of the review are in reply to previous posters in the linked thread.

SPOILERS AHEAD

My Estimation of the Book

Decent book, better than Descent, not one of the best in the series. As Abaddonshand pointed out, there were tons of editing problems (the Marthes/Vardus one being aggravating and insistent). The writing was "okay"... about what I'd expect from one of the middle-of-the-pack BL writers. The structure of the book was a big let down. We basically had two completely separate stories without ANY integration whatsoever. Two books for the price of one, in other words, but the small print is that each book is a half book. So, blah.

The good parts of the book, then. The Fallen half was much superior to the Loyalist half. It dealt with the story of the Dark Angels in a real way. The Loyalist half was a slipshod attempt to tie the book into the larger events of the Horus Heresy and thus justify the book's existence. And it does so, in my opinion, on much too small a scale and by inventing things for the overall story which were not existent before. However, the Loyalist half does have value in giving us insight into the Lion's personality and character, which I think was done quite well. The half would have been completely throw away if not for that fact.

So final summary is: a decent, middling BL book, but lacking somewhat in comparison to the rest of the books in the Horus Heresy series, and undone to some extent by structure decisions and poor editing.

What We Learn About the Lion

I don't know what book the OP and the posters in the first two pages read, because the Lion in that book is quite a bit different than the Lion in the book I read.

As ODM and Lucifer have said, the Lion is revealed to be a brilliant and learned strategist (not necessarily tactician, actually... it could still be true, but the book trumpets Jonson's strategic thinking, never his tactical skill), but fatally flawed in that he is unable to judge people's motivations or personalities. This jives perfectly with the classic account of Jonson that we have had since 2nd edition. Brilliant in war, but needing Luther at his side to motivate and advise. This flaw hurts him in three different ways in the book: 1st, with Luther (NOT Luthor, by the way); 2nd, with Archoi the Techpriest; and 3rd and most crucially with Perturabo.

As for his loyalty, after reading Fallen Angels, it is unquestioned. He takes much the same tack towards treason as his children, the Dark Angels, have for the last ten thousand years. In other words, we now know where they get it from. Not culture; not events; not certain personalities in the Inner Circle; but from their Primarch. However, he is also ambitious. We have known that the Lion wanted the job of Warmaster from the 1st or 2nd book in the HH series when Horus mentions it in passing. Now we have it from the Lion's mouth. This does not besmirch his character in any way, however. Ambition is only seen as a bad thing if it leads one to do bad things. And with the Lion, he does nothing (intentionally) wrong.

Now, should the Lion have been Warmaster? The book indirectly raises the question, and the answer after the epilogue is a decided "No!" He would have been better than Horus, no doubt of that, simply because he would not have gone traitor. But his huge blind side towards others' personality and motivations would have made him nearly as bad a Warmaster as Horus. Perhaps an "Angels of Death"-style tag team of the Lion (for strategy) and Sanguinius (for charisma and motivating others) would have been the best solution. Throw Guilliman in there for logistics, perhaps.

The Rest of the Story

I am not as confident as ODM to "unravel the mystery" and explain why the Lion sent Luther and the others to Caliban. Nor am I prepared to say anything with certainty about the Watchers or Cypher. There will clearly be a 3rd novel, and Zahariel will clearly play a pivotal role in it. There will be more revelations to come, and I think there will be twists in the story about why Luther was sent home and what the Watchers and Cypher are really doing. There may be some shocking revelations about the Lion as well. It would be thematically very appropriate to reveal that the Lion, like his Legion, has a dark half which the loyal half has been for a long time hiding and trying to purge.

I will make a prediction about Zahariel, however. He will be one of the reluctant Fallen, one who is dismayed at the corruption of Chaos. He will likely be the one to warn the Lion on his return to Caliban. His knowledge of the name of the Demon of Caliban will play a large part in the coming novel as Luther desperately tries to get it from him.