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[edit] Synopsis
Descent of Angels is the title of the sixth book of the Black Library's Horus Heresy series, written by Mitchel Scanlon and released on September 29, 2007. The viewpoint character is Zahariel El'Zurias, who begins the novel as an Aspirant of the Order (an organisation of techno-barbarian knights). In order to earn his knighthood and seeking vengeance for a knight with whom he had developed a strong friendship, Zahariel sets out on a quest to slay one of the remaining great beasts, despite the objections of virtually every one of his contemporaries. Zahariel encounters a group of humanoid creatures(most likely the Watchers in the Dark, a group of creatures that council the Dark Angels Inner Circle), who warn him to abandon his quest, hinting that the nature of the beast makes it unkillable. Despite this, Zahariel continues and eventually prevails, thanks mainly to his latent psychic ability, known as Terrorsight (a colloquial term only otherwise found in the Dark Angels novel Angels of Darkness). Shortly after Zahariel returns victorious and receives his knighthood, the Imperial Army arrives, and with it the Legion that the Lion will come to command. Zahariel and his cousin are selected as candidates then accepted as initiates for the Dark Angels Space Marine chapter.
The first half of the novel is set on Caliban and covers the final battles of the Order under their future Primarch Lion El'Jonson. The Order's warriors mount the final stage of their crusade against both the 'great beasts' of Caliban's vast forests and the rival Knights of Lupus, eventually triumphing against both.
The book's second half describes Caliban's (re)unification with the Imperium of Man as well as the actions of the Dark Angels Legion during the early years of the Great Crusade.
[edit] Reception
Descent of Angels was received with mediocre reviews, though few official reviews were written(please help with citations). The common criticisms deal with the lack of progress with the central plot of the Horus Heresy, that the book is about Zahariel rather than Lion El'Jonson and Luther, who are central figures in the 40k universes canon material for the Dark Angels.
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