Haley is one of my favorite writers of Warhammer novels. He always tell an excellent story and creates such good characters. Astorath is no exception. 

The book initially follows a group of Red Wings, a successor chapter of the blood angels, as they investigate strange occurrences on the planet Dulcis. As events progress It becomes necessary for Astorath, High chaplain of the blood angels, to get involved. I don’t wish to spoil any of the books events but if you know anything about the lore behind the Blood Angels, you kinda know why Astorath gets involved in anything. The novel does reveal a bit more about the “black rage” and its origins, but not anything super eye opening or revolutionary. It does reveal some things about the new Primaris space marines and how the rage effects them though. 

The book is told from multiple points of view and the characters, besides Astorath, are not too fleshed out. Although to his credit, Haley does a great job developing characters in so short a novel, as he always does in his writing. The novel did not heavily focus on combat like some warhammer novels, but that’s ok because the events of the book progress more like a hunt than a battle or war. The combat scenes that it does contain are well done and very descriptive. The reader is able to view each attack and defense easily and with great detail. Haley creates vivid images of combat in this novel. 

If you are a fan of Haley’s work get this one. If you like the Blood Angels chapter of the space marines, you’ll want to get this as well. Overall it’s another very well donde warhammer novel by Haley.

Overall, I enjoyed this offering by Guy Haley. I thought his take on the conflict between Primaris Marines and Firstborn Marines interesting to see play out in their interactions between themselves as far as opinions or tactical doctrine along with the contrast of how differently the Primaris interact with regular human characters. It was also intriguing to see Primaris Marines getting their first dose of dealing with the reality of Sanguinius's bloodline. I enjoyed seeing Astorath being fleshed out more as a literary character as opposed to just being a choice in a codex. My one criticism if I had to have one, is the fate of the two imperial guard in the story. Other than that, I consider it a worthy addition to the Blood Angels and furthers the Warhammer 40,000 mythology.

A typical Guy Haley showstopper. I've read several Guy Haley Warhammer books and they never fail to suck me into the world with such detailed descriptions. Guy is a talented writer and just keeps getting better!

This story is darling, very quick to read and very enjoyable. I liked the characters, they are relatable, they have good chemistry and are real in their emotions. Overall, a story to cherish!.