Volume six in the excellent Horus Heresy series does not disappoint, shedding light on the founding of the mysterious and aloof Dark Angels.

The planet of Caliban exists much as it has for thousands of years – the knightly orders protect the common people, fighting back the beasts that lurk in the depths of the seemingly endless forests. Young Zahariel and Nemiel aspire to join the greatest of the orders, led by the example of mighty Lion El’Jonson and his vision of a peaceful and unified world. But the coming of the Imperium brings new concerns and a new destiny for the Lion as part of the Great Crusade, and the sons of Caliban must decide if they will follow him to glory among the stars.

Covering the founding and subsequent fall of the Dark Angels, Descent of Angels offers an interesting insight into one of the most popular (and four primary) legions that make up the Space Marines. The Dark Angels are, of course, one of the most mysterious Legions/Chapters, too. It’s not surprising, therefore, that any fiction that promises to illuminate some of their history would be of interest to fans of the Horus Heresy/WH40k franchise. I had hoped that Descent of Angels would give readers some more meat to add to the secrets at the heart of the Legion, and it does this — not as much as I would like, but I suppose that’s not surprising. This is also not the best book in the series so far. Scanlon does offer plenty for fans of this series, and also the Legion, but it doesn’t land as well as previous novels in the series, and it didn’t hold my attention quite as much as I’d hoped.

The novel focusses on the initiation of Zahariel into the Order, the knightly… um, order on Caliban that was run by Lion El’Jonson, the Primarch of the Dark Angels. If you know nothing of the history already in place for the Dark Angels, then this is all going to sound like mumbo-jumbo, but never mind.

The action is well-paced, as well as well-spaced. This isn’t a novel devoted solely to bloodshed and carnage, as some readers of Black Library’s output seem to want. In fact, there are only three short battles that, while integral to the story and development of the main characters, feel a little like afterthoughts. Staying true to the mysterious nature of the Dark Angels, this novel has many portions of relative inactivity, when Zahariel or another main protagonist merely ponders various things about the nature of their changing lives, and the universe that is undergoing change around them.

Unfortunately, the novel ends very abruptly, without much explanation of, well, anything really. There’s no explanation to the introductory dialogue that describes some events that come in the novel and beyond. Perhaps there will be another novel that follows the story of the Dark Angels, just so the loose ends are tied up. A little disappointing, as it felt like the novel was really taking off, then nothing… Let’s hope enough people bring this up that Black Library commission another to fill in the blanks, and flesh out the role of the Dark Angels during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy, not to mention an explanation as to why they become such a secretive and semi-rogue legion.

Descent of Angels fits well with the other five volumes of the series. Writers for this series, along with other established authors who have had careers outside of Black Library (Steven Saville and Dan Abnett, specifically) really do a wonderful job of creating excellent science fiction and fantasy novels — if only they could do more!