Wednesday 4 January 2012

SCIENCE FICTION REVIEW: Warhammer 40K: Horus Heresy 18: Deliverance Lost - Gav Thorpe

Release Date: 02/01/12

SYNOPSIS:

As the Horus Heresy divides the Imperium, Corax and his few remaining Raven Guard escape the massacre at Isstvan V. Tending to their wounds, the bloodied Space Marines endeavour to replenish their numbers and return to the fray, taking the fight to the traitor Warmaster. Distraught at the crippling blow dealt to his Legion, Corax returns to Terra to seek the aid of his father – the Emperor of Mankind. Granted access to ancient secrets, Corax begins to rebuild the Raven Guard, planning his revenge against his treacherous brother primarchs. But not all his remaining warriors are who they appear to be… the mysterious Alpha Legion have infiltrated the survivors and plan to destroy the Raven Guard before they can rebuild and threaten Horus’s plans.


REVIEW:

Whilst I’ve been into the Horus Heresy for quite some time this one in the series, which whilst OK, didn’t quite hit the same spot or level that quite a few of the others did for me as personally I felt that Gav tried to cram a little too much into the title and whilst succeeding didn’t get it in enough detail to make it convincing enough for myself as a reader. It does have some decent characters, it has some acceptable prose, but considering it’s during a pivotal point in mankind’s civil war then it should have perhaps split the plot between two titles to allow them to be explored fully rather than rushing through to get to the meat of the tale.

All in, it is a middle of the road title for the series which in my opinion is a great shame as the rich and vivid tapestry really has all the elements available to create something a little special with enough freedom for the authors to move within the established structure.

No comments: