The Devastation of Baal by Guy Haley.
This is a Novel that shows the life of Dante the Chapter Master of the Blood Angels when he is called upon to defend Baal and the Imperium. We are also shown a brief glimpse in to the Hive Mind of the Tyranid splinter fleet that is heading their way.
Guy Haley does a wonderful job at showing the real consequences an attack of this magnitude would have on a system, not just on the Chapter but also on those mortals looking to them for protection. Dante has been a marine for 1500 standard years, he is the oldest space marine alive who's not in a Dreadnought body or a Chaos marine (with their time shenanigans that goes on with them) and we see the weight that service has put on his shoulders and how it changes during the story. There are moments that delve into other aspects of the chapter and their unique existence thanks to their primogenitor the Great Angel Sanguinius. I felt that the story gave me a better understanding of how they deal with the flaws of their Gene-seed. It also showed me just how many off shoots from the Blood Angels there are and during the course of this novel you see the differences within them and how they choose to live with the flaws. There is a good flow of the important plot points that doesn't allow the story to go flat for too long - it is paced at a well moving tempo which I liked. I do have a habit of wandering when the storyline goes a bit slow. This kept my attention all the way through and because of that it made me what to read the various Omnibus books available for the Angels which are again well done. For someone who wishes to see more of the Tyranid actions and plans during a invasion, this is definitely worth it and in general you won't be disappointed. It shows why Dante is still going strong now with an upgrade thanks to the Rubicon Primaris surgery.
Top image used under creative commons Warhammer wiki
bottom image book cover of the version used in the review
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