Azrael (4) (Space Marine Legends)

One of this author's better 40k works. Gav tends to do better with Dark Angels than he does with other Space Marine chapters(like the raven guard and the space wolves both of whom he has also written stories for) and the alien factions like the Ynnari Eldar. Also the focus on a Single character in Azrael allows more much easier to follow story as.opposed to most Space Marine stories where your following multiple characters.

Honestly buy it if you're a dark angels fan. It gives a little insight of the inner circle but the writing (as with many space marine novel) is very squared and righteous. Luckily dark angels as their name entail have a little dirty secret which helps make the novel interesting

As a Dark Angel fan and player, I really enjoyed this book giving me insight into my Chapter Master, Azrael, and even Ezekiel. You get a surprising amount of Ezekiel in this book too, so it's also really good for learning about him.

great story about a very interesting chapter.

Outstanding! Incredible character.

Review posted a few minutes ago on the UK site from which I bought this book This is yet another volume on the “Space Marines Legend”, but it is one of the good ones despite a few (minor) issues. One of these is that you somewhat need to know the background of the old First Legion and of the Dark Angels Chapter to fully understand the story, although I suspect that this will often be the case for many readers who are likely to be Warhammer 40000 fans. Another (mild) point is that the relatively short book (some 250 pages all told) is essentially focused on the choice and elevation of Azrael to the rank of Supreme Grand Master. In other words, and while there are some interesting flash-backs to his past before he was chosen for the Dark Angels, there is only one sequence about his past as a Space Marine prior to his nomination to the supreme position. The flipside of these two little points is that the author has deliberately prioritised Azrael’s elevation, the ceremonies surrounding it and the thoughts, doubts and tests that they include. The tests, and the introspection into Azrael’s character that they lead to, are perhaps one of the book’s main strongpoints. An associated quality, and one of the book’s most interesting features, is that they show Azrael’s ambivalence, ambition and ruthlessness and you are left wondering, for instance, whether the demise of his predecessor was entirely unavoidable. Another interesting feature is the description of the Dark Angels’ ever-lasting struggles against a warband of their old Night Lords enemy. Here, some other characters are also noteworthy. One is Ezechiel, the Master Librarian of the Dark Angels. Two others are the Painted Count and a powerful and monstrous Night Lord Psyker that supports. This was a good piece that was worth four stars to me.

This is yet another volume on the “Space Marines Legend”, but it is one of the good ones despite a few (minor) issues (or perhaps even quibbles). One of these is that you somewhat need to know the background of the old First Legion and of the Dark Angels Chapter to fully understand the story, although I suspect that this will often be the case for many readers who are likely to be Warhammer 40000 fans. Another (mild) point is that the relatively short book (some 250 pages all told) is essentially focused on the choice and elevation of Azrael to the rank of Supreme Grand Master. In other words, and while there are some interesting flash-backs to his past before he was chosen for the Dark Angels, there is only one sequence about his past as a Space Marine prior to his nomination to the supreme position. The flipside of these two little points is that the author has deliberately prioritised Azrael’s elevation, the ceremonies surrounding it and the thoughts, doubts and tests that they include. The tests, and the introspection into Azrael’s character that they lead to, are perhaps one of the book’s main strongpoints. An associated quality, and one of the book’s most interesting features, is that they show Azrael’s ambivalence, ambition and ruthlessness and you are left wondering, for instance, whether the demise of his predecessor was entirely unavoidable. Another interesting feature is the description of the Dark Angels’ ever-lasting struggles against a warband of their old Night Lords enemy. Here, some other characters are also noteworthy. One is Ezechiel, the Master Librarian of the Dark Angels. Two others are the Painted Count and a powerful and monstrous Night Lord Psyker that supports. This was a good piece that was worth four stars to me.

Gav Thorpe is the pre-eminent Dark Angels author. I loved his stories about the DA in the times of the Horus Heresy and really enjoyed the Caliban Trilogy set in the current WH40K universe. However, this book wasn't all that I expected Azrael isn't as interesting as Sammael, Belial, Ezequiel, Asmodai or the rest of the Inner Circle. It's good filler/background fluff for any Dark Angels fan but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't passionate about this Chapter/Legion.

Twas verily good

Unput down able wizzed through this book in no time at all kept me engrossed all the way through slightly biased being a Dark Angel devout follower though

Gav Thorpe once again tells a good story however it feels that there is something missing. The book tells the tale of how Azrael ascended to the rank of chapter master and it is perhaps here that the story needs a bit of fleshing out as it seem he is just given the role without having to do anything other than survive the latest battle. It's still worth reading though as Gav Thorpe writes well and does tell a compelling story.