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The Horus Heresy: Primarchs #10
Corax: Lord of Shadows
A Primarchs novel
When a dread bio-weapon is unleashed in battle, turning allies upon one another, it falls to Corax and his Raven Guard to save the day – if he can balance his thirst for vengeance against the need for swift victory.
READ IT BECAUSE
We've seen Corax consumed with revenge throughout the Horus Heresy – now is our opportunity to see him before his brush with Chaos, heroically saving a campaign during the Great Crusade.
THE STORY
During the Great Crusade, it falls to the primarch Corax of the Raven Guard to humble the immense void-cities of the Carinae. Determined to bring these worlds into compliance, he unleashes the might of his Legion and a massive war host of the Imperial Army. But the lords of Carinae are well defended and without remorse.
At the height of the conflict, at the void-city of Zenith, a dread bio-weapon from an ancient time is unleashed. At once, the Imperial force is brought to its knees, as allies are turned against each other and the Raven Guard left to face almost insurmountable odds. As the campaign teeters on the brink of failure, Corax’s desire for vengeance is severely tested against the need for a swift and certain resolution to the war.
When a dread bio-weapon is unleashed in battle, turning allies upon one another, it falls to Corax and his Raven Guard to save the day – if he can balance his thirst for vengeance against the need for swift victory.
READ IT BECAUSE
We've seen Corax consumed with revenge throughout the Horus Heresy – now is our opportunity to see him before his brush with Chaos, heroically saving a campaign during the Great Crusade.
THE STORY
During the Great Crusade, it falls to the primarch Corax of the Raven Guard to humble the immense void-cities of the Carinae. Determined to bring these worlds into compliance, he unleashes the might of his Legion and a massive war host of the Imperial Army. But the lords of Carinae are well defended and without remorse.
At the height of the conflict, at the void-city of Zenith, a dread bio-weapon from an ancient time is unleashed. At once, the Imperial force is brought to its knees, as allies are turned against each other and the Raven Guard left to face almost insurmountable odds. As the campaign teeters on the brink of failure, Corax’s desire for vengeance is severely tested against the need for a swift and certain resolution to the war.
218 pages, Hardcover
First published November 14, 2018
72 people are currently reading
870 people want to read
About the author
Guy Haley
288 books718 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 - 30 of 45 reviews
June 19, 2021
‘I see. What is the nature of the insult?’
‘They are many. But there has been an escalation in tone. Most recent and egregious is their return of Imperial iterators minus their tongues and hands. The Emperor requires the Carinaeans to be punished. It falls to me. I am closer to hand than the Night Lords, who the expeditionary commander originally requested.’ Corax showed a quick, humourless curve of the lips, more snarl than smile. ‘The expedition leader, Fenc, wanted to terrify the Carinaeans into submission. It might have worked, and I think the Emperor wishes me to perform the same role. But I will not play impersonator to our brother. I have worked hard to distance my Legion from its past practices of terror. The compliance will be won cleanly.’
When the Great Crusade reaches the thousand void moons city-states of the Carinae Sodality, and they politely decline compliance sending back Imperial iterators minus their tongues and hands to the Twenty-Seventh Expeditionary Fleet, expedition leader Fenc asks for Night Lords for a swift and brutal retribution.
‘Your defiance will be noted in the history books,’ said Corax. He sat back into his throne and stared at the leaders of the Thousand Moons. ‘We shall meet again only once. My face shall be the last you see.’ He gestured regally. ‘End transmission,’ he said to his deck crew. ‘Hail Admiral So-Lung Fenc. We must meet with him to formulate strategy. This compliance has taken long enough already.’
Being the XIX Legion closer to hand, is to Corvus Corax and his Raven Guard to punish the Carinaeans and distance from their past practices of terror, so similar to the ones practiced by the VIII Legion, finding their own identity at last.
‘A commander should always speak his mind,’ said Corax. ‘But you are right, I am aware of these factors. This system will not fall to a grand assault.’
Fenc looked at his plate of food.
‘I am also aware that you called for the aid of my brother, Curze. Terror would serve here, but it is costly. His methods have their place, but I shall show you a different way.’
The Children of Deliverance sub-plot was far from necessary in my opinion, and I'm expecting much more insights and lore about primarchs' past from these series, but I liked a lot this book, since Corvus' family bonding with Guilliman in the opening chapters, to the Lords of Shadow's desire to distance himself from his brother Curze together with bad strategic planning risking to undermine the entire military campaign.
‘Do not mistake his affection for common men as a weakness. He can be ruthless enough when he needs to be, as my colleagues discovered.’ Soukhounou glanced at his gene-father. ‘I’d advise you not to press him on his choice of methodology, and I would not voice whatever plan you were going to put to Primarch Curze. He’ll take these moons, you can be assured of that. Let him do it his way.’
Fenc nodded.
Maybe more a three-three and an half read, but I have a real soft spot for sci-fi horror tales so, when the tyrant Agarth released an anima-phage viral agent into the air systems of Zenith-312 turning the mortal soldiers of the Imperial Army together with thousands upon thousands of citizens into raging and ravenous flesh eating beasts, this one really took off for good keeping me nailed reading at night with his strong George Romero/Dead Space vibes.
He saw only the Emperor’s Truth. Fenc had a sense Corax found it hard to engage sympathetically with enemies who thought differently. He did not understand that truth is subjective, not an absolute. It was the primarch’s weakness. There was no way that the rest of the Thousand Moons would surrender, whatever happened to Zenith-312.
And I loved how Corax contradictions nearly mirrored his Father's ones here: a (super)man of freedom and peace, sacrificing his personal feelings and the betterment of his people lives, for the common good, submitting himself to the greatest tyrant ever existed, an (Emperor forgive me for this heresy, please) hypocritical ruler promulgating His Imperial Truth from one side of His mouth, blessing the Omnissiah superstitions of the Mechanicum from the other at the same time.
‘Praefector?’ asked Milontius.
‘The damned are coming,’ Caius said. He flipped the rifle onto its side. The charge indicator was a solid green. He marched to the end of the lines of men covering the door. ‘Do not shoot the civilians. I repeat, let them be. The victims of the anima-phage are in pursuit. Kill them all.’
‘How do we tell the difference, sir?’ asked Milontius.
‘You’ll see,’ said Caius.
A very entertaining read and four well deserved full stars for me.
July 15, 2021
6,5/10
Lectura ideal para desconectar un poco y poder afrontar otras novelas mucho más complejas y ambiciosas que tengo pendientes.
Ni de lejos esta saga de primarcas alcanza el nivel de algunas de las novelas de la herejía, pero Corax es uno de mis primarcas favoritos y además me muestran una cara de él diferente, por lo que dentro de sus limitaciones, que son muchas, ha cumplido de sobra con el objetivo de entretenerme.
Recomendable solo para aquellos que estén enganchados a la Herejía de Horus y busquen una lectura rápida, son pocas páginas, y que no requiera de mucho esfuerzo.
Lectura ideal para desconectar un poco y poder afrontar otras novelas mucho más complejas y ambiciosas que tengo pendientes.
Ni de lejos esta saga de primarcas alcanza el nivel de algunas de las novelas de la herejía, pero Corax es uno de mis primarcas favoritos y además me muestran una cara de él diferente, por lo que dentro de sus limitaciones, que son muchas, ha cumplido de sobra con el objetivo de entretenerme.
Recomendable solo para aquellos que estén enganchados a la Herejía de Horus y busquen una lectura rápida, son pocas páginas, y que no requiera de mucho esfuerzo.
May 27, 2019
Unfortunately this book never met my expectations. This is a lesson for me, never let those rise too high. After all the amazing things Guy managed to do with Perturabo in his Primarch novel, I was expecting Corax to finally get an interesting and compelling extra chunk of lore, I wanted his personality and background to finally be explored like never before. Whelp, didn't happen. Sad to say, this is a pretty typical Raven Guard story, just in a slightly different setting. On a personal note, the infamous "similarities" to Konrad Curze simply rubbed me the wrong way, from the "midnight black" (it's NOT a thing!) armor to unnecessary implementation of copy-paste terror tactics.
"Let them know I am coming!", says Corax.
"Stop copying your brother!", says... me.
Someone, I beg you, give Corvus a personality of his own. Give him a trait that will make him truly stand out. He really needs one.
The home planet parts were just as blend, finished with a few badly explained statements from the Primarch himself. Corvus Corax lacks charisma.
In the Primarchs series I put this one on the same level as Guilliman's. Nothing of major importance or interest, not horrible or anything, but also not a must read in any way.
"Let them know I am coming!", says Corax.
"Stop copying your brother!", says... me.
Someone, I beg you, give Corvus a personality of his own. Give him a trait that will make him truly stand out. He really needs one.
The home planet parts were just as blend, finished with a few badly explained statements from the Primarch himself. Corvus Corax lacks charisma.
In the Primarchs series I put this one on the same level as Guilliman's. Nothing of major importance or interest, not horrible or anything, but also not a must read in any way.
June 28, 2019
A lot of no-holds barred action and some considerations on the future of the 40K Space Marine Chapter. However I felt I learnt little about the Primarch Corax or his homeworld, or the greater lives of the Raven Guard Space Marines outside of hotter-than-hell battle. There existed so much rich material to write about, and this was just skimmed over lightly and completely wasted.
February 12, 2019
For Guy Haley’s second novel in the Horus Heresy Primarchs series, he’s tackled the conflict at the heart of the Raven Guard primarch in Corax: Lord of Shadows. The 27th Expedition has stalled attempting to bring the Carinae Sodality – a civilisation spanning a thousand artificial moons – to compliance. While the Expedition’s commander requested assistance from the Night Lords, Corax answers instead and is determined to succeed without resorting to Curze’s tactics. The Sodality’s stubborn resistance forces Corax into escalating levels of violence, while back on Kiavahr conflict is brewing as resentment towards the Guilders spills over into bloodshed.
Haley nails the appropriate Horus Heresy feel and tone with a great balance of action (some typically stealthy, but definitely not all) and reflective, quieter moments, with Corax’s conversations with Guilliman a particular highlight – on the face of it these two primarchs are wildly different, but they prove to have more in common than you might imagine. Overall it’s a slightly different style of character study to the rest of the series so far, but proves effective in showing the relatable, human (despite his posthuman nature) conflict within a primarch who desperately wants to be more than just a warlord.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2019/02/...
Haley nails the appropriate Horus Heresy feel and tone with a great balance of action (some typically stealthy, but definitely not all) and reflective, quieter moments, with Corax’s conversations with Guilliman a particular highlight – on the face of it these two primarchs are wildly different, but they prove to have more in common than you might imagine. Overall it’s a slightly different style of character study to the rest of the series so far, but proves effective in showing the relatable, human (despite his posthuman nature) conflict within a primarch who desperately wants to be more than just a warlord.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2019/02/...
February 6, 2020
A primarchs novel like one should be. Corax character, and his flaws, were presented thoroughly. However, I wished to see more of the enemy. More of the way Corax fought his foes. And the subplot with the assassin was utterly unnecessary.
October 23, 2024
Didn't really learn much extra about corax and the story wasn't too good. Was just ok. Corax is my second favorite loyalist primarch so I probably wanted a bit more of a back story with some personality.
February 12, 2019
Why was the name of Corax’s flagship changed from “Shadow of the Emperor” to “Saviour in Shadow”?
April 13, 2020
Corvus Corax Primarch of the XIX legion turns his attention to the Carinae Sodality. This confederation of a thousand artificial city-states refuses compliance and while the Twenty-Seventh Expeditionary Fleet originally asked for supporting elements from the Night Lord the Emperor personally sends the Raven Guard instead. Trying his best to minimise human cost Corax is appalled when the leader of one of the void-habitats unleashes an viral agent on his own populous. The Lord of Shadows' desire for justice and vengeance tears at him and this could undermine the entire operation.
There is a lot to like in this book. Like some brotherly interaction in a brief respite from the great crusade. Contrasted with seeing Corax struggle within his resemblance to Konrad Curze. Since both hunt from the shadows and deal with justice and vengeance. . Furthermore the Sable Brand, the Raven Guard's genetic flaw, is further explored. Lastly, seeing the Therion Cohort with Caius Valerius and his manservant from Gav Thorpe's Deliverance Lost and Raven's Flight is always a treat.
There is a lot to like in this book. Like some brotherly interaction in a brief respite from the great crusade. Contrasted with seeing Corax struggle within his resemblance to Konrad Curze. Since both hunt from the shadows and deal with justice and vengeance. . Furthermore the Sable Brand, the Raven Guard's genetic flaw, is further explored. Lastly, seeing the Therion Cohort with Caius Valerius and his manservant from Gav Thorpe's Deliverance Lost and Raven's Flight is always a treat.
May 7, 2021
One of the better Primarchs series of books (that's not saying much though really) this one is pretty coherent and does a really good job of bringing the reader into the character and drive of Corvus Corax. Like many of this series though, it feels a bit irrelevant. I'd much rather of read about the liberation of Deliverance than this, but that caveat aside the pace is good and the set pieces are excellent. Not a bad read, but forgettable.
February 21, 2019
Deliverance hath come.
I finally had time away from studies to read through this book in its entirety. I am honored by what Guy Haley has done with Corax. Absolutely incredible and compelling in its overall scope and that of an insight into the Raven Guard. As a fan of the shattered legions, I can only give this book praise for everything it does right. I, having known little of the Raven Guard, am enthralled in them as a hobbyist and one who spends most of his time reading archaic philosophical texts. This book has it all and I truly hope to be able to read more from the Raven Guard, in particular, 40K and see where they have gone off to.
I finally had time away from studies to read through this book in its entirety. I am honored by what Guy Haley has done with Corax. Absolutely incredible and compelling in its overall scope and that of an insight into the Raven Guard. As a fan of the shattered legions, I can only give this book praise for everything it does right. I, having known little of the Raven Guard, am enthralled in them as a hobbyist and one who spends most of his time reading archaic philosophical texts. This book has it all and I truly hope to be able to read more from the Raven Guard, in particular, 40K and see where they have gone off to.
January 8, 2020
This, like the Guilliman Primarch novel did not do too much to further my understanding of this primarch. I unfortunately hoped very much for just that understanding. The Gorgon, The Khan, The Drake and the Raven have been sooooo enigmatic for my entire history with this universe that I was really hopeful that these new primarch centric novels for each would really crack open them as individuals with personality. Corax's novel does this the least. It did not have to be in this series to be a part of it. It could have been a 30k Raven Guard novel. Read it, because it is a must read for that Legion, but not for any special Legion or Primarch insights.
July 15, 2020
Well, well, well... this novel opened my eyes to the other Legion who dress all in black. We all knew the similar abilities that Corvus and Konrad had, but it's nice to read how Corvus uses his abilities ALONG WITH his elite unit that also have the same psychic-stealth skill.
What also surprised me was that the RG are not all goody-two-shoes. That was an eye-opener.
I prefer Konrad Curze's book more, but this is still an enjoyable read that makes me want to paint up a squad of the awesome Moritat.
What also surprised me was that the RG are not all goody-two-shoes. That was an eye-opener.
I prefer Konrad Curze's book more, but this is still an enjoyable read that makes me want to paint up a squad of the awesome Moritat.
October 3, 2019
Worst of the Primarch books to date. The two storylines in the novella just didn't work. Neither story ended up fully developed. Corax acted totally out of character from what's been written before with little justification over why he acted the way he did. I feel sad giving a Primarch story less than three stars but I honestly didn't like it. It just went nowhere and I was bored on the journey.
March 2, 2019
A really interesting look at a legion who, in my opinion don't get a lot of lore background. We get to see the origins of the Mor Deythan, the Moritats as well as the Sable Brand curse (Black Rage lite)
As a RG legion player i approve of this book immensely !
As a RG legion player i approve of this book immensely !
April 22, 2021
I wonder if I enjoyed this more because it was Guy Haley and not Gav Thorpe writing it? That isn't too imply that I find Gavs' work with the Raven Guard boring, only that I really enjoyed Deliverance Lost and a lot of the general Corax material I just don't find as entertaining.
April 30, 2024
CW: Mutilation, Suicidal Ideation
April 2024 Read using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order Omnibus XVII Shadow of the Warmaster III Jaws of Defeat (https://www.heresyomnibus.com/omnibus...) as part of my Oath of Moment to complete the Horus Heresy series and extras.
I am reminded of something Zachary Ruane of Aunty Donna once said about the Zack Snyder DC films in comparison to the Marvel ones. It was something along the lines of it being better to take a swing at doing something interesting and maybe failing than it is to employ the same formula you know is going to be decently received by the largest audience.
I appreciate that Haley stepped up to the plate and I have to respect the swing, but I found this to bit a bit of a mess containing the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Long before there was any hint of a weregild to be paid and the tragedy of Isstvan, Corvus Corax and his Raven Guard are on a mission to bring another collection of worlds to the Imperial bossum, whether they like it or not. Entreaties have been rebuffed, Iterators have been mutilated, and the great saviour of Deliverance is pissed. Compliance will happen one way or another. At the same time, back on Kiavahr things aren't as Compliant as one might expect for the XIX Legion's home (Kiavahr being the planet which the moon known as Deliverance, the actual 'homeworld' of the Raven Guard satellites) with tensions against the continued rule of the Tech Guilds, albeit without explicit slaves and answering to the Imperium, and the lack of substantive freedom the Lycaeus Uprising was purported to bring all Kiavahrians.
After thoroughly enjoying his Curze Primarchs novel, while many hated it, and feeling a truly powerful ambivalence that was was more suffocated by the positives than underwhelmed by the negatives for his Horus Heresy Novel, Wolfsbane, which many loved, I was really unsure how I felt about Haley as a Black Library author. Finishing this, I am starting to think that I'm not fan, but he definitely takes some swings in trying things and exploring aspects less focused on, which I genuinely respect and appreciate.
I think the biggest problem is that there is too much going on here for the relatively slim novel format the Primarchs series has gone for. There are too many things the story is trying to look at and say and explore that it becomes a very bizarrely weighted morass. There's the refusal of the 'peaceful Compliance', which itself is broken up into into the Corax (Assumes he) Knows Best thread and the Sable Brand thread, as well as the Zombie Horde thread. Plus, there's the people and cultures refusing Compliance, the nature and makeup of the Raven Guard, how they interact with Imperials and non-Imperials, and the personal history and issues of the Primarch. There also the Terrorist thread and the complicated morality and machinations of Imperial, Mechanicum, and Tech Guild mechanics, as well as those of the resistance and the feelings of the Kiavahrian populace.
This would be a lot for a full sized Horus Heresy novel to deal with, let alone a slimmed down Primarchs one. Honestly, this might have been served better as miniseries of its own, taking advantage of the space and potential depth of each perspective, possibly doing something interesting with the parallel storytelling of something like Gav Thorpe's wonderful (at least in my memory, it's been many years) The Path of the Eldar series, which has each of the three books covering the same period of time with the narratives and perspectives occasionally and ultimately colliding as three Aeldari friends become separated by the vastly different paths their lives take. Unfortunately, I still don't know if I would want to read that as I don't know if I trust even my favourite Black Library authors to successfully grapple with the topics that Haley is worrying at here.
I have had a tumultuous relationship with Gav Thorpe and his Raven Guard narrative, though I have to say I am ultimately in awe of what he achieved and feel that taking the whole narrative into account with Weregild as its end, I feel like I understand where and why he was coming from certain things around Corax and politics that I initially took umbrage with. I once said Corax was a lib and I was wrong. I think Corax and the Raven Guard are the apotheosis of extremist self-assurance in belief and guerilla and stealth tactics, without any kind of real reason of ideology because that's not their purpose. They are simply that specific mindset and abilities as a tool created and employed by the Emperor, just as another facet of stealth and espionage, along with sacrificing everything including individuality for the objective, being the purpose of the Alpha Legion. This explains the cognitive dissonance of Corax being raised by dissidents against authority and all about freedom, but instantly ceding power to the Imperium and becoming a militant general for the (Emperor of) Man. Of course Corax isn't a lib, to mix metaphors, he's the capo of his ubermench for his fascist daddy; a literal monster crafted of the the aberrant synthesis of genetic tinkering and welched deals with infernal powers. He is cast opposite Curze for many reasons, but one interesting point of divergence is that Corax believes he and the other Primarchs have their own free will, while the Night Haunter knows they are all bound by fate and the parts the Emperor ways wanted them to play.
Anyways, all of that comes from reading all of Thorpe's Raven Guard work, rather than this. This does show Corax's assumed infallibility proven to be wrong, especially with those around him, both regular and transhumans seeing how wrong he is. There are flashes of the monster that lurks within him and the way he equivocates and handwaves opposition to the Imperium and his own cognitive dissonance when pointed out to him, which are actually quite interesting. But, like so many of the Primarchs books, there is little to nothing new to be gained or seen of the Raven Lord. We know he is fallible and that he has the fanatic's inability to see or engage with their own fanatacism. We absolutely know that he is a merciless bastard willing to sacrifice anything and everything in service of what he believes is the greater good. So...
What do we get that we haven't had from the Horus Heresy?
As far as I can recall, beyond the seemingly sudden switch from part-spawn Raptor to Sable Branded, but apropos and thematic so I gave it a pass, Sergeant Neph, at the end of Weregild, the Sable Brand doesn't come up in the Heresy, which made me think it was a 40K thing. Maybe, Nathian in Raven Lord is described similarly to being suffering the Sable Brand in Raven Lord, and the fact that some, even more than the original Lycaeun recruits born and raised in the dark, are especially pale and some are particularly morose, like the Primarch, but nothing explicit, I think. Regardless, I think it was really interesting to have a Sable Brand storyline and to take a look at the Moritat, a group I had previously only encountered as a type of unit in the Horus Heresy tabletop wargame.
Both Moritat and the Sable Brand seem to come from a similar root with Ash or Sable Blindness being a condition suffered by some of the Lycaeuns as a result of being raised in darkness. This combining with the genetic 'flaw' in Corax's bloodline that conveys the propensity for a palid complexion, entirely black eyes, and a morbid melancholy with the potential to either flare into a bloodthirsty abandon akin to their cousins in the Blood Angels, or a suicidal depression. This condition being known as the Sable Brand; the brand of the Primarchs darkness [because Corax is Bane and Curze is Scarecrow]. The Sable Branded served in the Moritat who were akin to the Primarch's bodyguard, but only in the sense that they were in the tip of the talon with the Primarch, as much to make their survival extremely unlikely, with just under 50% casualties in operations being acceptable, unlike any other unit, as it wss a way he could keep an eye on them. The Moritat are complicated further by the Sable Blinded benefiting from serving together and venting their corrupted feelings and possibly essence, which is good, but them and others vaguely referenced as "recidivists", and likely those of the Uprising who ascended, and anyone else, Corax felt unable to trust, being put in what was effectively a Suicide Squad is...less good.
The Moritat become even more confusing with Guilliman thinking they were effective and incorporating a similar force into the Ultramarines, and an interesting thematic and arming symmetry is that this unforgiven, penitent unit were often armed with two pistols, which reminds me of a certain someone...
The magical mythical elements Haley incorporates around the Sable Brand, an unkindness of ravens erupting from wounds instead of blood and a Mor Deythan whose identity and existence is questionable, and the way these things being hallucinations or something more, are a couple of brief, but genuinely cool moments.
So that's some of kind of the good, despite so much of that coming from anywhere, but this book, but it did bring up the Sable Brand, so there's that. The more complicated good, in bringing up the Tech Guilds and local resistance, and the unkindness of Compliance, with the bad of what from my perspective is the trap one always has to be aware of when dealing with grimdark as a mode for storytelling--yes, everything is bad, but that doesn't mean everything is equally bad, so, unless certain elements aren't handled with enough care, there's a real risk of both sidesing oppression and employing questionable imagery and framing.
I think Haley fully leaps into this trap.
I don't like to attribute malice to things that can be explained by ignorance, so I'm not saying any of this is conscious, but I think this book gets into some...yikes.
This review has already gone on for way too long, so I'll try and be brief.
The portrayal of the representatives and cultures resisting compliance, exacerbated by accent work choices in the audiobook, especially when combined with the imagery of the Iterators having their limbs and tongues mutilated could be said to evoke, if not explicitly allude to real world corollaries. If this is said to be unfair and reaching, the framing of Compliance as colonial effort and the Iterators as missionaries, I argue makes it hard to ignore. The fact that these people are, through means I don't wish to spoil, become a murderous morass of essentially rage zombies with the collective dehumanising language and imagery along with their very real dehumanisation, only adds to the unfortunateness of everything here. The means does complicate things a little further, and the Imperium making bad strategic decisions, to say nothing of their contempable ethical and moral directives, and not being shown in the best light does nothing to escape the direct comparison of the colonised and coloniser both being presented as bad and inhumane.
With a situation so out of control, conveniently the Imperium are the only ones with the might and means to address the situation, one that was horrific and inexcusable, but would not of occurred without the Imperium's colonising and warmongering. The end of this aspect is brief and not particularly reflective. It certainly isn't given any consideration for the comparisons that can be drawn. In the Dark Millennia the 'bad guys' always win because everyone is bad and everything sucks, but an appropriate reflection on how and why they suck is needed to not be hollow and problematic.
I seem to have failed to be brief.
As for the Terrorist thread, the genuine issues of the Kiavahrian people are gestured to, but Haley and the narrative, seem as interested in actually considering them as Corax. The rebels are shockingly few, seemingly little more than a mastermind idealist and a fanatic willing to kill innocent people to make a point. I can't get into all of this too much, but terrorist is just a word for people fighting the controlling hegemony. The Rebel Alliance and any unsanctioned superhero are terrorists with V for Vendetta being a prime example. I don't have the energy to get on my anarcho-socialist high horse after all of this, so I'll just say that having real, tangible, meaningful issues that don't even need to have real world allegory because they just are things happening all over the world right now and since forever, and handling them like the MCU whose 'villains' so often have totally understandable and justifiable wants and needs, but resort to unacceptable methods is shitty. You can't accuse people for complaining about thing and bringing politics into something you claim isn't political when it explicitly beings up politics, but fumbles them completely.
Ultimately, I was wrong with saying Corax was a lib. It's Games Workshop and Black Library thar are, at best, libs, because they are major companies at the end of the day. There's a reason we can have fantastic shows like Fallout that very explicitly show how capitalism, monopoly, authority, and hierarchy are bad things on Amazon. It's all fine if it's entertainment and you don't think about it too much.
Goodness gracious! How did we get here. I was just reviewing a not very good Primarchs book and then all of this happened.
I will say this. He at least took a swing.
Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 36 Horus Heresy novels (including 1 repeat and 3 anthologies), 22 novellas (including 2 repeats), 112 short stories/ audio dramas (including 6 repeats), as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, All 17 Primarchs novels, 4 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, 2 Characters novels, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels and 1 short story...this run, as well as writing 1 short story myself (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t...). I can't say enough good about the way the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project suggestions. I'm loving it! Especially after originally reading to the releases and being so frustrated at having to wait so long for a narrative to continue.
April 2024 Read using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project Reading Order Omnibus XVII Shadow of the Warmaster III Jaws of Defeat (https://www.heresyomnibus.com/omnibus...) as part of my Oath of Moment to complete the Horus Heresy series and extras.
I am reminded of something Zachary Ruane of Aunty Donna once said about the Zack Snyder DC films in comparison to the Marvel ones. It was something along the lines of it being better to take a swing at doing something interesting and maybe failing than it is to employ the same formula you know is going to be decently received by the largest audience.
I appreciate that Haley stepped up to the plate and I have to respect the swing, but I found this to bit a bit of a mess containing the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Long before there was any hint of a weregild to be paid and the tragedy of Isstvan, Corvus Corax and his Raven Guard are on a mission to bring another collection of worlds to the Imperial bossum, whether they like it or not. Entreaties have been rebuffed, Iterators have been mutilated, and the great saviour of Deliverance is pissed. Compliance will happen one way or another. At the same time, back on Kiavahr things aren't as Compliant as one might expect for the XIX Legion's home (Kiavahr being the planet which the moon known as Deliverance, the actual 'homeworld' of the Raven Guard satellites) with tensions against the continued rule of the Tech Guilds, albeit without explicit slaves and answering to the Imperium, and the lack of substantive freedom the Lycaeus Uprising was purported to bring all Kiavahrians.
After thoroughly enjoying his Curze Primarchs novel, while many hated it, and feeling a truly powerful ambivalence that was was more suffocated by the positives than underwhelmed by the negatives for his Horus Heresy Novel, Wolfsbane, which many loved, I was really unsure how I felt about Haley as a Black Library author. Finishing this, I am starting to think that I'm not fan, but he definitely takes some swings in trying things and exploring aspects less focused on, which I genuinely respect and appreciate.
I think the biggest problem is that there is too much going on here for the relatively slim novel format the Primarchs series has gone for. There are too many things the story is trying to look at and say and explore that it becomes a very bizarrely weighted morass. There's the refusal of the 'peaceful Compliance', which itself is broken up into into the Corax (Assumes he) Knows Best thread and the Sable Brand thread, as well as the Zombie Horde thread. Plus, there's the people and cultures refusing Compliance, the nature and makeup of the Raven Guard, how they interact with Imperials and non-Imperials, and the personal history and issues of the Primarch. There also the Terrorist thread and the complicated morality and machinations of Imperial, Mechanicum, and Tech Guild mechanics, as well as those of the resistance and the feelings of the Kiavahrian populace.
This would be a lot for a full sized Horus Heresy novel to deal with, let alone a slimmed down Primarchs one. Honestly, this might have been served better as miniseries of its own, taking advantage of the space and potential depth of each perspective, possibly doing something interesting with the parallel storytelling of something like Gav Thorpe's wonderful (at least in my memory, it's been many years) The Path of the Eldar series, which has each of the three books covering the same period of time with the narratives and perspectives occasionally and ultimately colliding as three Aeldari friends become separated by the vastly different paths their lives take. Unfortunately, I still don't know if I would want to read that as I don't know if I trust even my favourite Black Library authors to successfully grapple with the topics that Haley is worrying at here.
I have had a tumultuous relationship with Gav Thorpe and his Raven Guard narrative, though I have to say I am ultimately in awe of what he achieved and feel that taking the whole narrative into account with Weregild as its end, I feel like I understand where and why he was coming from certain things around Corax and politics that I initially took umbrage with. I once said Corax was a lib and I was wrong. I think Corax and the Raven Guard are the apotheosis of extremist self-assurance in belief and guerilla and stealth tactics, without any kind of real reason of ideology because that's not their purpose. They are simply that specific mindset and abilities as a tool created and employed by the Emperor, just as another facet of stealth and espionage, along with sacrificing everything including individuality for the objective, being the purpose of the Alpha Legion. This explains the cognitive dissonance of Corax being raised by dissidents against authority and all about freedom, but instantly ceding power to the Imperium and becoming a militant general for the (Emperor of) Man. Of course Corax isn't a lib, to mix metaphors, he's the capo of his ubermench for his fascist daddy; a literal monster crafted of the the aberrant synthesis of genetic tinkering and welched deals with infernal powers. He is cast opposite Curze for many reasons, but one interesting point of divergence is that Corax believes he and the other Primarchs have their own free will, while the Night Haunter knows they are all bound by fate and the parts the Emperor ways wanted them to play.
Anyways, all of that comes from reading all of Thorpe's Raven Guard work, rather than this. This does show Corax's assumed infallibility proven to be wrong, especially with those around him, both regular and transhumans seeing how wrong he is. There are flashes of the monster that lurks within him and the way he equivocates and handwaves opposition to the Imperium and his own cognitive dissonance when pointed out to him, which are actually quite interesting. But, like so many of the Primarchs books, there is little to nothing new to be gained or seen of the Raven Lord. We know he is fallible and that he has the fanatic's inability to see or engage with their own fanatacism. We absolutely know that he is a merciless bastard willing to sacrifice anything and everything in service of what he believes is the greater good. So...
What do we get that we haven't had from the Horus Heresy?
As far as I can recall, beyond the seemingly sudden switch from part-spawn Raptor to Sable Branded, but apropos and thematic so I gave it a pass, Sergeant Neph, at the end of Weregild, the Sable Brand doesn't come up in the Heresy, which made me think it was a 40K thing. Maybe, Nathian in Raven Lord is described similarly to being suffering the Sable Brand in Raven Lord, and the fact that some, even more than the original Lycaeun recruits born and raised in the dark, are especially pale and some are particularly morose, like the Primarch, but nothing explicit, I think. Regardless, I think it was really interesting to have a Sable Brand storyline and to take a look at the Moritat, a group I had previously only encountered as a type of unit in the Horus Heresy tabletop wargame.
Both Moritat and the Sable Brand seem to come from a similar root with Ash or Sable Blindness being a condition suffered by some of the Lycaeuns as a result of being raised in darkness. This combining with the genetic 'flaw' in Corax's bloodline that conveys the propensity for a palid complexion, entirely black eyes, and a morbid melancholy with the potential to either flare into a bloodthirsty abandon akin to their cousins in the Blood Angels, or a suicidal depression. This condition being known as the Sable Brand; the brand of the Primarchs darkness [because Corax is Bane and Curze is Scarecrow]. The Sable Branded served in the Moritat who were akin to the Primarch's bodyguard, but only in the sense that they were in the tip of the talon with the Primarch, as much to make their survival extremely unlikely, with just under 50% casualties in operations being acceptable, unlike any other unit, as it wss a way he could keep an eye on them. The Moritat are complicated further by the Sable Blinded benefiting from serving together and venting their corrupted feelings and possibly essence, which is good, but them and others vaguely referenced as "recidivists", and likely those of the Uprising who ascended, and anyone else, Corax felt unable to trust, being put in what was effectively a Suicide Squad is...less good.
The Moritat become even more confusing with Guilliman thinking they were effective and incorporating a similar force into the Ultramarines, and an interesting thematic and arming symmetry is that this unforgiven, penitent unit were often armed with two pistols, which reminds me of a certain someone...
The magical mythical elements Haley incorporates around the Sable Brand, an unkindness of ravens erupting from wounds instead of blood and a Mor Deythan whose identity and existence is questionable, and the way these things being hallucinations or something more, are a couple of brief, but genuinely cool moments.
So that's some of kind of the good, despite so much of that coming from anywhere, but this book, but it did bring up the Sable Brand, so there's that. The more complicated good, in bringing up the Tech Guilds and local resistance, and the unkindness of Compliance, with the bad of what from my perspective is the trap one always has to be aware of when dealing with grimdark as a mode for storytelling--yes, everything is bad, but that doesn't mean everything is equally bad, so, unless certain elements aren't handled with enough care, there's a real risk of both sidesing oppression and employing questionable imagery and framing.
I think Haley fully leaps into this trap.
I don't like to attribute malice to things that can be explained by ignorance, so I'm not saying any of this is conscious, but I think this book gets into some...yikes.
This review has already gone on for way too long, so I'll try and be brief.
The portrayal of the representatives and cultures resisting compliance, exacerbated by accent work choices in the audiobook, especially when combined with the imagery of the Iterators having their limbs and tongues mutilated could be said to evoke, if not explicitly allude to real world corollaries. If this is said to be unfair and reaching, the framing of Compliance as colonial effort and the Iterators as missionaries, I argue makes it hard to ignore. The fact that these people are, through means I don't wish to spoil, become a murderous morass of essentially rage zombies with the collective dehumanising language and imagery along with their very real dehumanisation, only adds to the unfortunateness of everything here. The means does complicate things a little further, and the Imperium making bad strategic decisions, to say nothing of their contempable ethical and moral directives, and not being shown in the best light does nothing to escape the direct comparison of the colonised and coloniser both being presented as bad and inhumane.
With a situation so out of control, conveniently the Imperium are the only ones with the might and means to address the situation, one that was horrific and inexcusable, but would not of occurred without the Imperium's colonising and warmongering. The end of this aspect is brief and not particularly reflective. It certainly isn't given any consideration for the comparisons that can be drawn. In the Dark Millennia the 'bad guys' always win because everyone is bad and everything sucks, but an appropriate reflection on how and why they suck is needed to not be hollow and problematic.
I seem to have failed to be brief.
As for the Terrorist thread, the genuine issues of the Kiavahrian people are gestured to, but Haley and the narrative, seem as interested in actually considering them as Corax. The rebels are shockingly few, seemingly little more than a mastermind idealist and a fanatic willing to kill innocent people to make a point. I can't get into all of this too much, but terrorist is just a word for people fighting the controlling hegemony. The Rebel Alliance and any unsanctioned superhero are terrorists with V for Vendetta being a prime example. I don't have the energy to get on my anarcho-socialist high horse after all of this, so I'll just say that having real, tangible, meaningful issues that don't even need to have real world allegory because they just are things happening all over the world right now and since forever, and handling them like the MCU whose 'villains' so often have totally understandable and justifiable wants and needs, but resort to unacceptable methods is shitty. You can't accuse people for complaining about thing and bringing politics into something you claim isn't political when it explicitly beings up politics, but fumbles them completely.
Ultimately, I was wrong with saying Corax was a lib. It's Games Workshop and Black Library thar are, at best, libs, because they are major companies at the end of the day. There's a reason we can have fantastic shows like Fallout that very explicitly show how capitalism, monopoly, authority, and hierarchy are bad things on Amazon. It's all fine if it's entertainment and you don't think about it too much.
Goodness gracious! How did we get here. I was just reviewing a not very good Primarchs book and then all of this happened.
I will say this. He at least took a swing.
Through using the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project (www.heresyomnibus.com) and my own choices, I have currently read 36 Horus Heresy novels (including 1 repeat and 3 anthologies), 22 novellas (including 2 repeats), 112 short stories/ audio dramas (including 6 repeats), as well as the Macragge's Honour graphic novel, All 17 Primarchs novels, 4 Primarchs short stories/ audio dramas, 2 Characters novels, and 2 Warhammer 40K further reading novels and 1 short story...this run, as well as writing 1 short story myself (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t...). I can't say enough good about the way the Horus Heresy Omnibus Project suggestions. I'm loving it! Especially after originally reading to the releases and being so frustrated at having to wait so long for a narrative to continue.
May 2, 2021
Hola Amigos! Как всегда пройдемся по пунктам:
О чем: Корвус Коракс - один из примархов, предводитель легиона Гвардии Воронов получает приказ помочь Имперским войскам в подчинении очередной из бесчисленного множества звездных систем в ходе великого Крестового Похода.
Конкретно повесть рассказывает обо всем понемногу: и о самом Кораксе, и о том как работает Гвардия Ворона, какими принципами руководствуются примарх и его войны, и даже совсем немного о "фирменном" недуге легиона.
Так же в наборе присутствует небольшой, но мощный и неожиданный эпизод мясорубки с участием простых гвардейцев. И параллельно следующая всем событиям линия о деятельности группы экстремистов в родных мирах примарха.
Персонажи: В числе персонажей, помимо Коракса, присутствуют космодесантники его легиона, имперские офицеры, экстремисты с Киавара и даже забавная парочка типичного копа и "следователя" Механикус.
Но, как водится в подобных повестях какого-либо раскрытия хоть кого-то из персонажей ждать не стоит.
Повествование:
Книга читается очень легко и плавно. Это первая прочтенная мной книга Гая Хейли и выводы делать рано, но
повествование умудряется одновременно быть динамичным, прописывать окружение и ловко выстраивать атмосферу, при этом не запинаясь и не теряя темп.
Вполне вероятно, что во многом это и заслуга переводчика, претензий к которому просто нет.
Боевые сцены на достойном уровне.
Юмора нет совсем.
Мнение: Я был недоволен серией "Space Marine Battles" и так же становлюсь недоволен серий "Примархи". Недоволен в том плане, что потенциально отличные произведения подгоняются под формат и объем данных серий, не раскрывая весь свой потенциал.
Отличным мог быть и Коракс. Но вышел просто хорошим.
Эта повесть поможет понять как и за что сражается примарх Воронов, "одним глазом" взглянуть на операции его подчиненных и узнать самую малость о "Черной Метке".
К тому же в повести поднимается типичная для времен до Ереси тема главенства идеи выживания человечества перед спешной постройкой справедливого государственного строя, время которой должно настать лишь после окончательной победы Крестового похода.
Позже на эту тему вышла повесть "Вальдор. Рождением Империума", впрочем менее удачная в художественном плане, чем Коракс.
Оценка 8/10 (хорошая повесть для любителей сеттинга и уместное дополнение к последующим событиям Ереси Хоруса).
Рейтинг "goodreads" - 3.76/5
Моя группа Вконтакте - https://vk.com/ashborndetv
О чем: Корвус Коракс - один из примархов, предводитель легиона Гвардии Воронов получает приказ помочь Имперским войскам в подчинении очередной из бесчисленного множества звездных систем в ходе великого Крестового Похода.
Конкретно повесть рассказывает обо всем понемногу: и о самом Кораксе, и о том как работает Гвардия Ворона, какими принципами руководствуются примарх и его войны, и даже совсем немного о "фирменном" недуге легиона.
Так же в наборе присутствует небольшой, но мощный и неожиданный эпизод мясорубки с участием простых гвардейцев. И параллельно следующая всем событиям линия о деятельности группы экстремистов в родных мирах примарха.
Персонажи: В числе персонажей, помимо Коракса, присутствуют космодесантники его легиона, имперские офицеры, экстремисты с Киавара и даже забавная парочка типичного копа и "следователя" Механикус.
Но, как водится в подобных повестях какого-либо раскрытия хоть кого-то из персонажей ждать не стоит.
Повествование:
Книга читается очень легко и плавно. Это первая прочтенная мной книга Гая Хейли и выводы делать рано, но
повествование умудряется одновременно быть динамичным, прописывать окружение и ловко выстраивать атмосферу, при этом не запинаясь и не теряя темп.
Вполне вероятно, что во многом это и заслуга переводчика, претензий к которому просто нет.
Боевые сцены на достойном уровне.
Юмора нет совсем.
Мнение: Я был недоволен серией "Space Marine Battles" и так же становлюсь недоволен серий "Примархи". Недоволен в том плане, что потенциально отличные произведения подгоняются под формат и объем данных серий, не раскрывая весь свой потенциал.
Отличным мог быть и Коракс. Но вышел просто хорошим.
Эта повесть поможет понять как и за что сражается примарх Воронов, "одним глазом" взглянуть на операции его подчиненных и узнать самую малость о "Черной Метке".
К тому же в повести поднимается типичная для времен до Ереси тема главенства идеи выживания человечества перед спешной постройкой справедливого государственного строя, время которой должно настать лишь после окончательной победы Крестового похода.
Позже на эту тему вышла повесть "Вальдор. Рождением Империума", впрочем менее удачная в художественном плане, чем Коракс.
Оценка 8/10 (хорошая повесть для любителей сеттинга и уместное дополнение к последующим событиям Ереси Хоруса).
Рейтинг "goodreads" - 3.76/5
Моя группа Вконтакте - https://vk.com/ashborndetv
July 17, 2021
Corax is one of the good guys. He buys into the vision of Emperor of Mankind, or at least Corax's interpretation of it.
'We shall use your facilties,' said Corax, for your cities will be part of the Imperium of Mankind.'
He also cares for the average human:
Corax glanced up, suddenly aware of the man's pain.
...or at least what Corax's interpretation of caring is. Corax has empathy of a sort but, being a Primarch, he expects that he knows best how humans feel, how they should react, and how they should be punished.
Haley is having some fun. Because in this reality, Corax is wrong. Alot. He's cleverish, winning the first three wargames against Guilliman (before losing the next seventeen), but latsr Corax's human subordinate doesn't hesitate to tell Corax how to fight an actual war.
Of course Corax will do things his way. Corax uses intimidation. It does not work. Corax uses stealth. It does not work. Corax uses shock warfare. It really really does not work. When he passes judgement on the recalcitrant:
"As the temperature rises within your refuge, and your flesh roasts upon your bones, you shall see why this had to be done."
...his enemies react by closing ranks and fighting grimly to the end.
Corax isn't a nimcompoop or an obvious incompetent like Konrad or Angron. He has aggressive sweeping plans and executes them. He reacts decisively to setbacks. The problem instead is that his interpretation of the Imperium's vision and human feelings isn't quite right.
He did not understand truth is subjective, not an absolute.
Hubris meeting nemesis is a common theme amongst the Primarchs, but the literary execution can be variable. This one keeps it simple and focused, tells you what's happening and why and, most importantly, suggests that the suffering of others due to Corax's actions doesn't actually register with him.
A man who wants to be good, but just doesn't quite get what being good is.
'We shall use your facilties,' said Corax, for your cities will be part of the Imperium of Mankind.'
He also cares for the average human:
Corax glanced up, suddenly aware of the man's pain.
...or at least what Corax's interpretation of caring is. Corax has empathy of a sort but, being a Primarch, he expects that he knows best how humans feel, how they should react, and how they should be punished.
Haley is having some fun. Because in this reality, Corax is wrong. Alot. He's cleverish, winning the first three wargames against Guilliman (before losing the next seventeen), but latsr Corax's human subordinate doesn't hesitate to tell Corax how to fight an actual war.
Of course Corax will do things his way. Corax uses intimidation. It does not work. Corax uses stealth. It does not work. Corax uses shock warfare. It really really does not work. When he passes judgement on the recalcitrant:
"As the temperature rises within your refuge, and your flesh roasts upon your bones, you shall see why this had to be done."
...his enemies react by closing ranks and fighting grimly to the end.
Corax isn't a nimcompoop or an obvious incompetent like Konrad or Angron. He has aggressive sweeping plans and executes them. He reacts decisively to setbacks. The problem instead is that his interpretation of the Imperium's vision and human feelings isn't quite right.
He did not understand truth is subjective, not an absolute.
Hubris meeting nemesis is a common theme amongst the Primarchs, but the literary execution can be variable. This one keeps it simple and focused, tells you what's happening and why and, most importantly, suggests that the suffering of others due to Corax's actions doesn't actually register with him.
A man who wants to be good, but just doesn't quite get what being good is.
July 12, 2025
'Justice takes a long time to build, but it will come'.
'You're wrong. Justice cannot be compromised. You can't live by half principles, Corax. What is true in one place is true in all places, at all times. It cannot be one way here and another there. You are vengeful when it suits you, yet you let out tormentors live'.
There were points throughout the book that left me wanting more, where I felt like the story could have more depth, but by the end I think I was satisfied with yhe direction of the story.
What I find interesting is that the flaws of Corax relate to the flaws of the Emperor. He speaks of lofty philosophy of freedom and human dignity, but through half-measures and compromises freedom is eroded and the oppressive nature of the Imperium becomes cemented.
'You're wrong. Justice cannot be compromised. You can't live by half principles, Corax. What is true in one place is true in all places, at all times. It cannot be one way here and another there. You are vengeful when it suits you, yet you let out tormentors live'.
There were points throughout the book that left me wanting more, where I felt like the story could have more depth, but by the end I think I was satisfied with yhe direction of the story.
What I find interesting is that the flaws of Corax relate to the flaws of the Emperor. He speaks of lofty philosophy of freedom and human dignity, but through half-measures and compromises freedom is eroded and the oppressive nature of the Imperium becomes cemented.
December 24, 2025
maturing is realizing guy haley is the unsung hero of the black library.
i actually really enjoyed this. which is funny because it’s not like it dove to into corvus’ character in extreme depth.. everything discussed/shown in this book were traits of corvus’ i already knew, and highly appreciated. i think corvus is just one of those characters i love reading about and guy haley is a excellent author.
now on a side note… i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, but vulkan gets the love from the fans that corvus rightfully deserves!!! corvus’ views on humanity, is what the salamander fans think only vulkan provides and it’s such a shame!
i can’t WAIT for the bandwagon to finally arrive at the corvus station, and i’ll be sitting there asking them “what took so long?”.
i actually really enjoyed this. which is funny because it’s not like it dove to into corvus’ character in extreme depth.. everything discussed/shown in this book were traits of corvus’ i already knew, and highly appreciated. i think corvus is just one of those characters i love reading about and guy haley is a excellent author.
now on a side note… i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again, but vulkan gets the love from the fans that corvus rightfully deserves!!! corvus’ views on humanity, is what the salamander fans think only vulkan provides and it’s such a shame!
i can’t WAIT for the bandwagon to finally arrive at the corvus station, and i’ll be sitting there asking them “what took so long?”.
June 26, 2024
Another hit from Guy Haley that does a great job exploring the admirable and ugly sides of Corax who is in many ways the most human of all the Primarchs.
The book makes a point that I've always been conflicted with in regards to the character, how does one whose life was built on defying tyranny, bow to the greatest tyrant in the history of the species. The answer is quite simple....he lies to himself about the greater good and pushes the true reorganizing of society to a future he is well aware will never come.
The book makes a point that I've always been conflicted with in regards to the character, how does one whose life was built on defying tyranny, bow to the greatest tyrant in the history of the species. The answer is quite simple....he lies to himself about the greater good and pushes the true reorganizing of society to a future he is well aware will never come.
June 29, 2025
Alright - though Corvus still lacks any real personality. There's a lot to be said for how the Raven Guard themselves are actually portrayed - divided between the brutality of what will become the Carcharodons and the precision and restraint of what will become the Raptors - bur these competing halves that the book keeps telling us are part of Corvus' personality are never truly shown. That said, the plot is fun and very Dead Space.
October 3, 2025
Not great. Games workshop does the raven guard no favors. Characters are ok. Entire human arch has nothing to do with story. The whole appeal of the raven guard is the stealth and the covert skills and the antagonist renders it null and void the second we see some actual combat. Book makes primarch look like a bumbling naive fool. Almost nothing about his actual background on deliverance and left more questions about events I didn’t care about than answers.
October 10, 2024
Deliverence Lost serves much better if you are interested in him and the legion. Here we get to see his flaw, only one... that pretty much is "common knowledge" now within the Heresy and 40k (Lorgar, I am coming for you). The best parts are the directly complience related stuff. The Anima-***** is one of the best part and should have been the center of this book IMO
February 23, 2025
These prinarch books are largely trash tbh.
This one basically introduced a rip-off Black Rage to the Raven Guard - never to be heard about again. It was stupid, unnecessary and unoriginal.
Corax is the usual primarch: supposed to be an awesome god, but doesn't really seem much sharper than a butter knife.
This one basically introduced a rip-off Black Rage to the Raven Guard - never to be heard about again. It was stupid, unnecessary and unoriginal.
Corax is the usual primarch: supposed to be an awesome god, but doesn't really seem much sharper than a butter knife.
September 11, 2022
The previous books in this series have usually tried to show how the Primarchs became who they are in the HH series, but this book just feels unnecessary. It didn't add anything, except to show that Corax isn't a good commander.
July 1, 2024
Corax comes off very whiney and emotional in this. His heart is in the right place, but he campaigns according to his own morality instead of in the interests of humanity and his men. The story and writing were very good, but this made Corax waaaaay less cool. Especially compared to Curze.
January 17, 2025
Very easy read. Give me a new respect for Corvus after not knowing much about the character. I highly recommend this book for 40K fans. I loved getting some background and peeks into the ravenguard. Also seeing how Corvus thinks and moves through the world pre heresy is very cool.
March 20, 2025
One of the most enjoyable Primarch books
I found it exceptionally well written in every aspect and I find Corax to be a truly compelling Primarch.
I really hope they bring him back in to M42 soon!
I found it exceptionally well written in every aspect and I find Corax to be a truly compelling Primarch.
I really hope they bring him back in to M42 soon!
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