The series is not all high points, but I was very happy with the last installment "The Outcast Dead" and I therefore had high hopes that the next book could continue on this high level.
Many of the later Horus Heresy books have concerned themselves too much with telling various side stories that don't really focus a lot on Horus or the Emperor, and which don't really move the main plot forwards. So for Deliverance Lost, which focuses on the tale of the Raven Guard and their struggle for survival after Horus' attempt to massacre the whole legion, I was hoping for a book full of primarchs and maybe even some more insight into the mind of the Emperor himself.
I'm happy to say that Deliverance Lost manages to deliver pretty well to all of my expectations. It's not quite up there with the best of the books in the series, but it's definitely a worthwhile addition and contains plenty of heretical goodness that makes it a great read for any Warhammer 40k fan.
As I mentioned, Deliverance Lost tells the tale of the Raven Guard legion of Space Marines.
The Raven Guard were among the legions that were ambushed at Istvaan V, when several loyal Space Marine legions came under attack from Horus and his allies, some of which were masquerading as still being loyal to the Emperor.
We join the Raven Guard primarch, Corvus Corax, as he makes his desperate escape from the planet of Istvaan together with the tattered remains of his legion, and heads for Terra to seek help from the Emperor himself.
The plot thickens when we find out that the traitor Space Marines Alpha Legion have managed to slip in several spies into the ranks of the Raven Guard, which hope to secure any secret weapons that Corax might be granted by the Emperor and bring it back to the traitor legions and strengthen Horus even further.
Without spoiling any of the plot of Deliverance Lost I can at least reveal that Corax is indeed bestowed a mighty gift from the Emperor, something that has the potential to completely change the course of the war against Horus.
Unlike a lot of Warhammer 40k books there is very little focus on war and fighting in Deliverance Lost.
So many Warhammer 40k novels serve as little more than an excuse to fill page after page with dramatic accounts of epic battles, and like we've seen in Savage Scars or Titanicus, it takes a lot more than large battles to make a great 40k novel.
Instead the book focuses a lot on the primarch Corax and the inner turmoil he goes through after the loss of the majority of his legion. He must fight his inner demons that fills him with guilt, he must fight the hidden enemies of the Alpha Legion inside his own forces and even on Terra he is greeted with suspicion and mistrust by his brother and the Emperors steward.
Deliverance Lost does a good job of creating believable characters that are more than just completely flat good or evil guys. I wish that the character development of the Alpha Legion spies and Corax himself had gone a bit further. It's clear that Corax has been pushed to his limits and could almost fall into the arms of Chaos in his attempts to rebuild his beloved legion, but I feel that this aspect is not explored quite enough in the book.
At the same time there are also hints of the Alpha Legion spies beginning to feel some doubt about their task, as they infiltrate deeper and deeper into the Raven Guard and their affinity for their temporary home starts to grow. I would have liked to see this complicated relationship explored a bit more than what we actually get in the book.
What makes me really happy is that Deliverance Lost feels, like The Outcast Dead also did, as a book that is moving the story of the Horus Heresy further along.
We get too see a bit more of how the Imperium is preparing itself for the final attack against Terra and we also get a bit more insight into the primarchs of the traitor legions, including Horus himself.
So all in all I can warmly recommend Deliverance Lost to any Warhammer 40k fan, especially if you're a Horus Heresy fan.
The only caveat is if you need a hefty dose of big battles in your Warhammer 40k books.
I'm looking forward to the next Horus Heresy book "Know no fear", which will tell the tale of the Word Bearer legion's attack on the Emperor loyal Ultramarines on their home planet of Calth.
Subscribe in a reader
No comments:
Post a Comment