Books in Brief : Fallen Angels by Mike Lee

Once again the Heresy clock is stuck in the hours before High Noon and the show down between the Emperor of Mankind and his wayward son the Warmaster Horus seems as far away as ever. I'll admit to growing frustration at the lack of forward momentum in this series, despite the wealth of great tales coming from the Black Library.

I'd happily read all the spin offs and side stories they can print; but pretty please, with sugar on top, give us some fethin progress!

Taking up the story of the Dark Angels again and following on from the series duff note Descent of Angels; Mike Lee had his work cut out to re-ignite my interest in the so far poorly served Chapter; returning to the main protagonists of the first book Zahariel and Nemiel as they continue their divergent paths towards the schism of the Great Betrayal.

The book is an improvement on its slow paced predecessor and benefits from being set in a more relevant period, between the events of Istvaan III and V; with some exciting combat on the Forge World of Diamat and some interesting developments on Caliban.

But it again seems to suffer from what is becoming the 'curse' of the Dark Angels in that the author appears confused and conflicted as to the motives of the characters or the plot as a whole. This in turn muddied the waters for me as the reader and I'm again left with the feeling that no one really knows what's going on with the 1st Legion.

So although I enjoyed this book for the most part, I came away with a yearning for clarity and tied up loose ends that it's somewhat hurried ending just didn't deliver.