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

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When Khayon is approached by an old comrade of his with word of a dire threat, that the body of Horus has been stolen from its tomb by the Emperor's Children, he finds himself caught up in a quest across the Eye of Terror to find the one person who might be able to put an end to whatever obscene plans the Third Legion has for Horus's corpse, a warrior who has long disappeared into the depths of the Eye in the wake of his father's great failure, Ezekyle Abaddon... However, we learn some interesting things about the way the warp is. The WH40k universe is redefined to be even more grim and bleak than it already is. (Honestly though, it is getting a ~little~ nihilistic. Is the Astartes vs Cthulhu story that far away? :) ) And there are a lot of really neat little character moments that I enjoyed very much.

Works about chaos Space Marines were never my forte. They would almost always be presented as total maniac wizards or blood soaked butchers. 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. Sigismund, First Captain, Legio Astartes Imperial Fists -- Words spoken to the Templars at the First Gate to Terra If you want to get the best out of your time in the warp, you need this book. When there's so many slaves to take and so little time, you really need to maximise your killing"- Falkus Kibre.

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Born on Terra and raised to the Legiones Astartes as the Great Crusade was at its height, he ascended in rank and renown thanks to a simple fact: he was a warrior of unparalleled lethality and ability. Beneath the primarchs there has perhaps never been a more skilled warrior in combat. Iskandar Khayon - XV Legion warrior, born of Prospero. Sorcerer of the Kha’Sherhan warband and commander of the warship Tlaloc. The Talon of Horus was an interesting read. It was my very first book told from the viewpoint of the Traitor Legions. Iskandar Khayon is a Chaos Marine and a sorcerer. Embroiled in the conflict between the various Traitor Marines, also known as the Nine Legions, Khayon and a mixture other Astartes from various Traitor Legions decide to try to change things.

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. Batman Gambit: Abaddon reveals that he sent Sargon counting on Falkus summoning Khayne and Lheor to aid him and the three of them acting just like they did, unable to resist the prize that is the Vengeful Spirit.

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One of the elements which most enthralled me about this book was the way the author takes the established 40k lore about the Traitor Legions, the Eye of Terror, the nature of daemons and runs with it. The way characters from different Legions interact and display their distinct aims and perspectives is engaging. The portrayal of daemons in ways that are far more personal and visceral than the limited range we see on the tabletop version of 40k is simply delicious and I want so much more of that. Lheor and Khayon, considering that Lheorvine is from the Legion of berserkers who traditionally hate psykers and sorcerers with a passion, and Khayon is from the Legion who has psykers and sorcery as their hat. 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. Though Dorn acceded to his first captain's request to stay by his side, Sigismund had kept the real reason to himself, sensing that the primarch would not understand. Sigismund barely understood it himself, but he had made his decision. That deception had weighed on Sigismund like penitent chains ever since. It was his skill and fire that brought Sigismund to command the Templars of the Legion's 1st Company, and the most exalted position in the Imperial Fists beneath Rogal Dorn himself.