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Lords Of Blood
A Blood Angels Omnibus
Discover the secrets of the Black Rage in this definitive collection of Blood Angels stories by lauded Black Library author Guy Haley.
READ IT BECAUSE
The Blood Angels are noble warrior heroes who descend into battle on wings of flame. They have loyally served the God-Emperor for 10,000 years, and have carved out a legacy of victories that stretches across the galaxy.
THE STORY
Baal is besieged. The tendrils of Hive Fleet Leviathan have reached the home system for the Sons of Sanguinius, and Commander Dante, calling upon the Ninth Legion's successor Chapters, is the only thing stopping the Great Devourer from consuming the Blood Angels’ home world. But in order to overcome the insidious xenos, Dante and his Blood Angels must also face an enemy within – The Flaw, a curse in their veins that they must counter if they are to reach their former glory.
Can Dante defend Imperium Nihilus from enemies far greater than the Tyranid swarms that once threatened their home world? Or are the sons of Sanguinius doomed to succumb to the darkness in their blood?
Three
- Dante
- The Devastation of Baal
- Darkness in The Blood
Two short
- Angel of Mercy
- Redeemer
Written by Guy Haley.
Discover the secrets of the Black Rage in this definitive collection of Blood Angels stories by lauded Black Library author Guy Haley.
READ IT BECAUSE
The Blood Angels are noble warrior heroes who descend into battle on wings of flame. They have loyally served the God-Emperor for 10,000 years, and have carved out a legacy of victories that stretches across the galaxy.
THE STORY
Baal is besieged. The tendrils of Hive Fleet Leviathan have reached the home system for the Sons of Sanguinius, and Commander Dante, calling upon the Ninth Legion's successor Chapters, is the only thing stopping the Great Devourer from consuming the Blood Angels’ home world. But in order to overcome the insidious xenos, Dante and his Blood Angels must also face an enemy within – The Flaw, a curse in their veins that they must counter if they are to reach their former glory.
Can Dante defend Imperium Nihilus from enemies far greater than the Tyranid swarms that once threatened their home world? Or are the sons of Sanguinius doomed to succumb to the darkness in their blood?
Three
- Dante
- The Devastation of Baal
- Darkness in The Blood
Two short
- Angel of Mercy
- Redeemer
Written by Guy Haley.
1327 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 1, 2023
About the author
Guy Haley
290 books763 followersGuy Haley is the author of over 50 novels and novellas. His original fiction includes Crash, Champion of Mars, and the Richards and Klein, Dreaming Cities, and the Gates of the World series (as K M McKinley). However, he is best known as a prolific contributor to Games Workshop's Black Library imprint.
When not writing, he'll be out doing something dangerous in the wild, learning languages or gaming.
When not writing, he'll be out doing something dangerous in the wild, learning languages or gaming.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 8 reviews
April 23, 2024
Within this omnibus are Four Novels and one Short Story. I'm impressed that they were able to condense this much into a little over 800 pages. Each word is packed, and I fear just how many pages each of these chapters would have taken up if they were not so compacted. The first three books of the collection cover the Dante series. They go over Dante's past along with going over the current story at the time. The tyranids advance towards Baal and a massive battle takes place nearly destroying the Blood Angels and their successors. Guilliman arrives along with the primaris marines. Following the battlee Dante takes over and we see the new space marines facing against the curse of the Blood Angels. Dante is by far the best book with each of the other books within the trilogy being great as well. The following expands on what was built from the trilogy.
Book 1, Dante: So far in the books I have been reading the Space Marines that were focused on were the Ultramarines. So for my first Space marine chapter beside the Ultramarines, this omnibus starts strong with Dante. The book goes back and forth between Dante’s past and the current preparation for hive fleet leviathan. During this story the Blood Angels are slowly explained. The flaw with their gene and how they combat it. Also learning how the Blood Angels recruit is really interesting. Dante’s backstory is probably the best part and the focus of the novel. However the book does a good job setting up the Battle at Baal. A great start for the Omnibus and Dante is easily now one of my favorite characters in Warhammer. His moments with his brothers in the past then compared to his moments of isolation in the present. The book does a good job showing how alone he is. His moment with his servant towards the end where he finally drinks blood is tragic but hopefully it gives him the strength he needs for the fight ahead. Also the mention of what is going on at Cadia during this book is even more tragic after already knowing what will happen.
Book 2, The Devastation of Baal: The followup to Dante and the second book of the collection. I will say at first I was not that big fan of the book, however it quickly improved as the story moved forward. Within the book we follow the Tryanids final approach and the battle for Baal and its moons. The book does a great job showing the destruction caused by the war and the losses the Blood Angels chapters take. Dante is of course the star of the book in my opinion. During the book we see him make hard decisions from sending away relics, the damage done to the ancient fortress and the mast drafting of Baal’s people. We follow several points of view characters throughout the book with several of them dying. Seth was a joy, and he showed a very different view then Dante. We also have a demon arriving along one of the moons before facing down a lone space marine chapter master. The Knights of Blood may be terrible people; however they die free from the curse of the blood angels. This book is made even better after reading Dante with Dante seeing faces and memories from his past. There is a moment after the battle he is being taken to Lord Gulliman and for a moment his mind starts playing tricks on him. For a moment he confuses one of his soldiers with his human father. Dante is old, far older than a space marine maybe should be. He has suffered and seen the deaths of many with his own eyes. Despite his longing for rest, he continues to fight on. It is his duty, and he will not falter.
Book 3, Darkness in the Blood: The final book of the Dante Trilogy and a great book. Similar to the first book within this one the story is split into two sections. The first is pushing forward the main story of Warhammer 40K while the other is delving into Dante’s backstory. Dante becomes Chapter master, though I’m annoyed we don’t learn what happens to Lorenz. He loses a hand, however it mentions he lives. We do know he does die at some point, but we don’t find out how. In the second part of the story Mephiston becomes overwhelmed by his growing power and it must be decided if he lives or not. He becomes Primaris and regains control of his power. For the time being he is allowed to live, however unaware to the others he now contains the darkness of the Blood Angels within him. The story of the admiral is sad and I feel bad for his second in command.
Book 4, Astorath Angel of Mercy: Astorath introduction is the highlight with him being a minor figure towards the end of the Darkness in the Blood. The book focus on a small bit of the Imperium near the great rift and the book focuses on the effect the rift is having. The Primaris falling to the black rage is the main focus of the book. Most of the book is spent finding them and bring mercy to them. The book does somewhat go into how the Blood Angels are kind of basterds and will do horrible things to protect their secrets.
Short Stroy, Redeemer: The final bit of the omnibus and it is okay. It very similar to the last novel and feels just like a short version of it. The short story at least goes back over Astorath and his role within the chapter. I see the short story more as a bonus rather than a reason why you would get the omnibus.
Book 1, Dante: So far in the books I have been reading the Space Marines that were focused on were the Ultramarines. So for my first Space marine chapter beside the Ultramarines, this omnibus starts strong with Dante. The book goes back and forth between Dante’s past and the current preparation for hive fleet leviathan. During this story the Blood Angels are slowly explained. The flaw with their gene and how they combat it. Also learning how the Blood Angels recruit is really interesting. Dante’s backstory is probably the best part and the focus of the novel. However the book does a good job setting up the Battle at Baal. A great start for the Omnibus and Dante is easily now one of my favorite characters in Warhammer. His moments with his brothers in the past then compared to his moments of isolation in the present. The book does a good job showing how alone he is. His moment with his servant towards the end where he finally drinks blood is tragic but hopefully it gives him the strength he needs for the fight ahead. Also the mention of what is going on at Cadia during this book is even more tragic after already knowing what will happen.
Book 2, The Devastation of Baal: The followup to Dante and the second book of the collection. I will say at first I was not that big fan of the book, however it quickly improved as the story moved forward. Within the book we follow the Tryanids final approach and the battle for Baal and its moons. The book does a great job showing the destruction caused by the war and the losses the Blood Angels chapters take. Dante is of course the star of the book in my opinion. During the book we see him make hard decisions from sending away relics, the damage done to the ancient fortress and the mast drafting of Baal’s people. We follow several points of view characters throughout the book with several of them dying. Seth was a joy, and he showed a very different view then Dante. We also have a demon arriving along one of the moons before facing down a lone space marine chapter master. The Knights of Blood may be terrible people; however they die free from the curse of the blood angels. This book is made even better after reading Dante with Dante seeing faces and memories from his past. There is a moment after the battle he is being taken to Lord Gulliman and for a moment his mind starts playing tricks on him. For a moment he confuses one of his soldiers with his human father. Dante is old, far older than a space marine maybe should be. He has suffered and seen the deaths of many with his own eyes. Despite his longing for rest, he continues to fight on. It is his duty, and he will not falter.
Book 3, Darkness in the Blood: The final book of the Dante Trilogy and a great book. Similar to the first book within this one the story is split into two sections. The first is pushing forward the main story of Warhammer 40K while the other is delving into Dante’s backstory. Dante becomes Chapter master, though I’m annoyed we don’t learn what happens to Lorenz. He loses a hand, however it mentions he lives. We do know he does die at some point, but we don’t find out how. In the second part of the story Mephiston becomes overwhelmed by his growing power and it must be decided if he lives or not. He becomes Primaris and regains control of his power. For the time being he is allowed to live, however unaware to the others he now contains the darkness of the Blood Angels within him. The story of the admiral is sad and I feel bad for his second in command.
Book 4, Astorath Angel of Mercy: Astorath introduction is the highlight with him being a minor figure towards the end of the Darkness in the Blood. The book focus on a small bit of the Imperium near the great rift and the book focuses on the effect the rift is having. The Primaris falling to the black rage is the main focus of the book. Most of the book is spent finding them and bring mercy to them. The book does somewhat go into how the Blood Angels are kind of basterds and will do horrible things to protect their secrets.
Short Stroy, Redeemer: The final bit of the omnibus and it is okay. It very similar to the last novel and feels just like a short version of it. The short story at least goes back over Astorath and his role within the chapter. I see the short story more as a bonus rather than a reason why you would get the omnibus.
July 15, 2026
Ah yes, Guy Haley, the guy who made me laugh and cry in Death of Integrity, with the clueless Novamarines and Captain Caedis who...iykyk.
If there's ever a critique of Haley it's that he does have a penchant for interrupting action and tension with pages and pages of infodumps of lore. Like three pages to describe Mephiston's bedroom. I mean I'm HERE for it but in the early stages it's hard to build flow when you're stutter stopping to learn about the history of the Arx Murus.
The strength is also in his great characters: Mephiston, Dante, Astorath, Gabriel Seth, Corbulo, all the biggies are here (also Antros gtfo nerd) and it's always great to have the legends of the Blood Angels interact.
Haley has a great love of a noble last stand and Devastation of Baal is a set piece for a number of those and they all worked. I even knew certain people would not die (spoilered myself shut up) and STILL. STILL, was grabbing the kleenex and my cat.
It's clear he loves Blood Angels and his characters especially and even when he's writing some short term characters (ones you know are going to die and he's setting them up from minute one for it) they're lightly sketched but they work.
If there's ever a critique of Haley it's that he does have a penchant for interrupting action and tension with pages and pages of infodumps of lore. Like three pages to describe Mephiston's bedroom. I mean I'm HERE for it but in the early stages it's hard to build flow when you're stutter stopping to learn about the history of the Arx Murus.
The strength is also in his great characters: Mephiston, Dante, Astorath, Gabriel Seth, Corbulo, all the biggies are here (also Antros gtfo nerd) and it's always great to have the legends of the Blood Angels interact.
Haley has a great love of a noble last stand and Devastation of Baal is a set piece for a number of those and they all worked. I even knew certain people would not die (spoilered myself shut up) and STILL. STILL, was grabbing the kleenex and my cat.
It's clear he loves Blood Angels and his characters especially and even when he's writing some short term characters (ones you know are going to die and he's setting them up from minute one for it) they're lightly sketched but they work.
January 24, 2026
A very good omnibus, all things considered.
"Dante" is the best of its offerings, which makes it slightly unfortunate that it's the first! Still, all of the stories are upheld by Haley's beautifully descriptive writing and skill in making characters feel so alive.
The pacing in "The Devastation of Baal" is a little iffy, but overall, the stories were able to keep me interested throughout the 800ish pages of the whole book.
Surprisingly, I think I've ended up feeling more fond of Astorath than I am of Dante. Probably because Astorath has his kindness (and humour) buried under an otherwise grim demeanour, and I am a real sucker for that kind of character. Dante is a wonderful character to follow throughout the first three books, though!
"Dante" is the best of its offerings, which makes it slightly unfortunate that it's the first! Still, all of the stories are upheld by Haley's beautifully descriptive writing and skill in making characters feel so alive.
The pacing in "The Devastation of Baal" is a little iffy, but overall, the stories were able to keep me interested throughout the 800ish pages of the whole book.
Surprisingly, I think I've ended up feeling more fond of Astorath than I am of Dante. Probably because Astorath has his kindness (and humour) buried under an otherwise grim demeanour, and I am a real sucker for that kind of character. Dante is a wonderful character to follow throughout the first three books, though!
June 16, 2025
Every novel in this omnibus was great. My favorites being "Dante" & "Devastation of Baal". That being said every one of them was captivating and moving in their own way. I am happy I bought this omnibus because the author does an amazing job of capturing the glorious sons of Sanguinus and the struggles they face. They are now favorite brotherhood of Angels. May the emperor guide you to reading what I have!
March 15, 2025
I liked this book cause I like Dante, no other reason. Won't recommend this book for an intro to 40k. Still a good read
May 3, 2025
chef's kiss. The Blood Angels are so noble and so tortured. And they seek beauty in all things in spite of it all. Great stories
July 3, 2025
A great insight into the blood angels. Lots of hype moments and interesting moments. Wish the font was bigger
Displaying 1 - 7 of 8 reviews