The Talon of Horus (Volume 1) (The Black Legion)

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It is a bulky and somewhat crude, but very effective weapon prototype that gained widespread use at the time of the Horus Heresy. Two belts of ammunition are fed into the gauntlet from the right side and the howling faces of Daemons cover the casing ejectors. It is assumed that the Talon, used in conjunction with the Daemon Sword Drach'nyen, provides Abaddon with his ranged combat abilities and confers at least the same benefits as a standard Lightning Claw in melee. Another topic of interest is Abbadon himself, and the ways in which Aaron Dembski-Bowden (ADB) makes him into a charismatic leader and an almost (I should stress the “almost”) sympathetic character. This can seem rather at odds with the ways in which he is usually represented in the Horus Heresy or mentioned in other Warhammer 40K volumes. I nevertheless believe that the author managed to mostly “get away with it”, largely because he is portraying Abbadon from Iskandar’s perspective, rather than coming from a hostile view, or at least a view from someone who either does not know or dislikes the former first Captain. Hellhole Prison: The Eye of Terror, naturally, albeit a more literal example than most. Discussed at length by Khayon, who even calls it a "convenient hell to throw your enemies into" for the Imperial perspective. Panthera Awesome: After losing Gyre, Khayon's next Daemon familiar, Nagual, takes the form of a Prosperine lynx, an extinct Smilodon-esque apex predator from Prospero the size of a horse, with canines the length of short swords capable of biting through Space Marine armour. Demonic Possession: After escaping the III Legion ambush, Kibre's surviving warband have become daemonhosts. Khayon later uses an incomplete version of this as one of his many, many ways of bringing down fortresses singlehanded.

A Father to His Men: Played surprisingly straight by Abaddon. Gone is the bellicose gloryhound of the Horus Heresy novels and far distant is the megalomaniac Bad Boss of the 41st millennium. He's shown to be charismatic and empathic to the needs of his soldiers (whilst still asserting his will to achieve his goals). Khayon is especially impressed / disturbed that he knows the name and notable deeds of every single soldier he meets aboard the Tlaloc. He even manages to elicit a vague reaction from the usually unresponsive Rubricae.Works about chaos Space Marines were never my forte. They would almost always be presented as total maniac wizards or blood soaked butchers. Her faith in the Emperor would prove to be so absolute that it would provide psychic protection against the powers of daemons summoned from the Warp, and Keeler would go on to become one of the earliest Saints recognised by the Imperial Creed. Keeler informed the First Captain that the Warmaster would eventually strike out for Terra, and when he finally did, Sigismund would be forced to choose where he would make a stand. Brown Note: The Talon of Horus, to anyone with psychic senses, due to the fact it was used to kill Sanguinius and mortally wound the Emperor. Khayon also notes that in its presence, Space Marines of the Blood Angels and their Successors are driven into berserker madness by proximity to the weapon that killed their Primarch.

Khayon: He did not answer, nor did he watch as I left. He was seeing Sigismund again, dwelling on replies he could never speak to a brother he had once admired and who had died despising him.

A third original element is the fight around Horus’ body, the demise of his Legion, once the most powerful of all. The attempt of the Emperor’s Children to gain supremacy and resurrect him, thanks to the skills of the infamous Fabius, makes up the core of the narrative of this first volume of the trilogy.

I find myself unable to describe any scene without adding more spoilers. The story is magnificently captivating, the new realisations about the WH40K universe are numerous; the finale blows your mind both with the adrenalin of the action, and the emotionality of the statements and conclusions being drawn. In ADB's previous series, Night Lords, First Claw meets Falkus Kibre and the remains of the Justaerin, noting that they reek of corruption and possession. In The Talon of Horus we find out how it happened.Wont go into any more details but .... let me just say Fabius Bile also shows up here, and what a cameo.

Sigismund's companies landed at Mondus Occulum as the rest of the Imperial expeditionary force was fighting across the surface of Mars. After a rapid deployment under fire in the shadow of Pavonis Mons, thirteen companies of the Saturnine Hoplites regiments of the Imperial Army advanced on the lines of circumvallation surrounding the forge of Ipluvien Maximal. Further south, two companies of Imperial Fists and four regiments of Jovian Grenadiers (nearly 15,000 Imperial Army soldiers) under the command of the Imperial Fists' Captain Camba-Diaz made planetfall in the Mondus Gamma forge complex.Just Before the End: Invoked in that the story is set at the very end of 999.M41, the most advanced stage in the story-line GW reached at the time of publication, The Time of Ending. The most recent edition of the game does advance the timeline by almost 200 years, showing that both Khayon and Abbadon's plans have not succeeded...yet... Anti-Villain: Khayon is a lot nicer than most other Chaos space marines and even loyalist Astartes. He's troubled by the memories of the Burning of Prospero and his goal is not as much domination as it is to find a cause - and brothers - worth fighting for. Equalled by the Eternal Crusader, now revealed to be the Imperial Fists Gloriana class Battleship and counterpart to the Vengeful Spirit.