Echoes of Eternity

The Siege of Terra #7

by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Book 7 in the global best-selling series from Black Library, The Horus Siege of Terra.

The walls have fallen. The defenders’ unity is broken. The Inner Palace lies in ruins. The Warmaster’s horde advances through the fire and ash of Terra’s dying breaths, forcing the loyalists back to the Delphic Battlement, the very walls of the Sanctum Imperialis. Angron, Herald of Horus, has achieved immortality through annihilation – now he leads the armies of the damned in a wrathful tide, destroying all before them as the warp begins its poisonous corruption of Terra. For the Emperor’s beleaguered forces, the end has come. The Khan lies on the edge of death. Rogal Dorn is encircled, fighting his own war at Bhab Bastion. Guilliman will not reach Terra in time. Without his brothers, Sanguinius – the Angel of the Ninth Legion – waits on the final battlements, hoping to rally a desperate band of defenders and refugees for one last stand.

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy, Space Opera

448 pages, Paperback

First published September 3, 2022

Reviews

[Tim Van Lipzig · Rating 5 out of 5]

At this point, the Siege of Terra-series and the author behind its seventh installment need no introduction. So let me get straight to the point: I loved Echoes of Eternity. 

The phrase “this piece of art took me on a rollercoaster” is definitely a cliché at this point. But what do we mean by saying it? What a rollercoaster essentially is all about is movement, about being strapped into a seat and being moved along the path laid out by its architect. It’s supposed to excite, to surprise, to fright; a good rollercoaster makes you feel all this at precise points according to its design. A good rollercoaster also leaves room for moments of calm and respite, for the eventual returns to speed and spins to amaze even more. 

With a work of art like a book, the range of emotions for the ride broadens indefinitely, but a rollercoaster of a book is still all about movement, and Echoes of Eternity was one of the rare books that managed to pull this magic trick off: an orchestra of emotion that used every chapter to pull at my heartstrings, to drag me through the darkest mud or occasionally lift me into amazing heights. There wasn't a single chapter that left me cold or where I felt like it was just going through the motions.

When I think about the book, especially in comparison to its six precursors, what strikes me is its strong focus and concentration: the Siege books often struggle with all the balls they have to juggle at the same time, often binding a strong core story together with various sub-plots, side-quests and under-currents which all have to progress simultaneously towards the finale of the series, sometimes to the detriment of the actual book you’re holding in your hand. Contrary to this, Echoes has the luxury of being able to focus on exactly the story and the moments that it wants to tell. The only outlier is a subplot about the further goings-on in the Imperial Dungeon, but even that is consistent in its themes and has enough emotional heft to enhance the thrust of the story instead of delineating from it. 

Overall though, the book is remarkable in its clarity of theme and structure. It’s the inverse of what the characters in the book experience: where dust and chaos limit decisions to what’s right in front of them, reduce the tactics of the defenders to desperate struggles for an hour of prolonged life and limit the strategies of the besiegers to a tidal movement in the direction of the Palace and the next-greatest battle. 

Like its immediate predecessor Warhawk, Echoes is primarily focused on two specific Legions: the World Eaters and the Blood Angels. While the book definitely works as part of the Siege-mini-series, it gets a lot of mileage out of ADB’s previous work on the World Eaters, namely his brilliant Horus Heresy novel Betrayer. Many moments from Echoes feed off the energy of ‘Betrayer’, mostly by continuing the laid-out movements originating during the Heresy to their ugly conclusion or contrasting the broken nobility and tragic vitality of Betrayer’s World Eaters (and associated moments and quotes) with the frenzied, hollowed out, helplessly mad shells that they are by the terminus of the Siege. Representing the XIIth Legion in this novel are Apothecary-turned-Berserker Kargos Bloodspitter as well as Lotara Sarrin, captain of the Legion’s flagship, and of course the tortured might of Angron himself. Lotara’s passages are especially harrowing and sobering, as the proud, fierce woman who used to put Astartes into their place by sheer force of presence has been reduced to a shadow of herself, haunting the mutating ruins of her once-majestic vessel.

Dissolution is one of the main themes of the novel: the army of rebels has turned into an animalistic horde, the strategic ploys and tactical movements are forgotten in favor of hacking the few remaining survivors apart and smashing the ruins of the Palace to rubble, as whatever flawed righteousness motivated the traitors to turn against the Emperor is lost to the helplessness of true madness and the laughter of thirsting gods.

 On the side of the defenders, ADB is finally able to write about one of his favorite Legions and their primarch: the Blood Angels and Sanguinius. He combines two contrasting PoV Blood Angels, Zephon and Nassir Amit, with various other survivors, among them some new characters and a few that he has written about in the past, like Martian genius Arkhan Land. ADBs enthusiasm of the Blood Angels is definitely palpable here, and he seems to have great fun diving into the facets of their character and even digging into the shadowy corners of their bloodsoaked past before they were united with their primarch. I found Amit to be a surprisingly interesting character, compelling because of rather than in spite of his monstrousness, and Zephon works well as a gloomy, brooding counterweight. 

The star of the show is definitely the Great Angel though, despite ADB being deliberately careful with the application of Sanguinius’ actual “screentime”. Fully half of the novel goes by without him showing up, and even afterwards ADB restrains himself to use the Angel only sparingly in chosen scenes, seldom from his own PoV and mostly through the eyes of worshippers, allies and enemies. Sanguinius has always been set up for tragedy; even most readers only passingly familiar with the lore of 40k and the Space Marines of the Angel’s lineage are aware of the cruel fate that awaits him at the conclusion of the Heresy on board the Vengeful Spirit. One task of the Horus Heresy was setting up this eventual tragedy so Sanguinius' sacrifice would have an appropriately emotional impact. To be honest, for me the Heresy series so far had not always done the best job with his; despite strong exceptions, I often had the sense of just being *told* why Sanguinius was “beloved by all” - I didn’t really feel it. This got better with the latter novels of the series, but if Echoes excelled at one thing, it was *showing* a Sanguinius that I deeply care about. 

Make no mistake, Echoes is a bleak, dark book: it often veers straight into the genre of Horror - more so than the other Siege books - with it’s presentation of the horrors of war, the body/mind horror for the involuntary changing and mutating followers of Chaos as well as the grinding desperation of the defenders with their backs to the literal last wall. But ADB knows that, for a marathon, you need a water bottle here and there to reach the end, so he smartly weaves - like the aforementioned talented rollercoaster architect -  tiny moments of respite, moments of inspiring defiance, fist-bumping badassery, shared exhaustion and, most moving of all, empathetic gentleness. These are provided in different contexts and from different characters, but Sanguinius is the one character that gets scenes for all of these. By presenting Sanguinius in all of these different aspects, ADB manages to show me a Sanguinius that I fall in love with instead of just telling me why I am supposed to like him.

The story of the novel is anchored on a famous event, or rather a famous legend, from the annals of the Siege of Terra lore: that close to the very end of the Siege, the Great Angel of the Emperor held the Eternity Gate all by himself against the hordes of the enemy and dueled the Great Daemon of the Blood God in the skies above it. ADBs duty with Echoes is now to present the “true story” which the legend is based upon. The Siege contracted unto a single point, the defenders backed into the final corner and the wave of the Warmaster’s horde crashing upon them. I will of course not spoil what exactly transpires on the way towards and during the conclusion of the novel, but let me just tell you that the final parts of the book are - as the kids say - metal as fuck.

So, what more is there to say? Echoes of Eternity is everything I hoped for from the Siege and, in my opinion, delivers in the final lap of the series one of the best novels of the whole Horus Heresy. Chapeau, Mr. Dembski-Bowden!

[Liam Loftus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Utterly glorious

[Harrison Moore · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know who this book is for, which could be said for the siege of terra series in its entirety.

The initial appeal of the horus heresy was that it was a more nuanced, morally ambiguous setting that depicted its major characters (from all factions) as tragic protagonists with flaws and believable motivations and progressions- that is to say, it better represented the fundamental, unique 'grimdark' nature of the warhammer setting than most of the current 40k lore.

This book felt like the opposite of that fundamental appeal. There is no tragedy at all in the book. As a matter of fact it goes out of its way to try and seemingly retcon some of the defining tragic characters and moments of the series in the name of flattening out (formerly) more three dimensional characters in an effort to.. make the story less nuanced and the characters more black and white? It seems antithetical to the core appeal of the heresy.

A few notes:

- the author/BL elected to use the second to last book of the siege (following a previous 60 book series) with half a dozen critical storylines and countless characters in flux, to write a book essentially dedicated to only two of the ~25 factions, and uses far too much of its almost 600 pages on flashbacks and origin stories that are functionally irrelevant to the main story beats of the series.

- There are bizarre incongruous stretches where the author, with unambiguous rhetoric, uses narration to demand the reader reinterpret previously established events or characterizations of key characters from prior books or authors. This isn't inherently bad in theory, but is executed so poorly it comes across as polarizing and jarring; more retcon than re-contextualization.

- There is no compelling exploration of right and wrong, relative morality or philosophical introspection by characters at seemingly any point in this book. Character's are portrayed as functionally objectively evil or overtly righteously good, which is ironic for a series that prides itself on 'grimdark' moral ambiguity.

- This book, like the entire series, continues the trend of telling the reader one thing, while unabashedly and definitively showing the opposite. For a story and series that is extremely character focused the cognitive dissonance of constantly being told how bad everything is for a faction when basically no one of import has suffered any meaningful consequence is tiring.

This is a frustrating entry, and seems especially surprising considering ADB's previous novels were some of the better entries in generally milquetoast and unimpressive series that more often then not misses its core appeal; that it isn't a generic high fantasy superhero space story.

I don't think this book, or series, missed the mark; I think my expectations were not in line with black library's approach to the IP.

If you are looking for a straightforward and simple warhammer story of heroes and villains clashing, this certainly fits the bill and is likely the best of the series to date.

[Xavier Virsu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing

One of the best of the siege of terra series. You get insight into what it's like to be a demon prince. You get some insight on Magnus and his relationship with his patron. The 9th primarch kicks some butt. The build up to the final book.

[Normkompatibel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best Siege of Terra book yet, top 5 40K book. Trust me.

[DarkChaplain · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alright. I'll be the odd one out and say it right up: I did not enjoy Echoes of Eternity much. Even though I wish I had been able to.

To me, this book feels strange, especially when looked at in the context of the Siege of Terra series. It feels disconnected - deliberately so, going by the author's afterword. It's at the same time very limited in scope while also featuring more than enough strings that I do not think really mattered all that much in the immediate context of the penultimate Siege novel.

Often I found myself thinking this should have been a Sanguinius Primarchs short novel instead or this chapter would've been great in that Siege-anthology we strangely never got, but not here. There are large parts of the book that are spent just showcasing the bleak state of Terra - which is great! In terms of his craft, ADB certainly scored many hits here. He nailed atmosphere and desperation, the end of an era of enlightenment.
But while reading those sections, I kept coming back to the thoughts "everything's f'd, I get it already" and "please begin the story now". In many ways, Echoes came across as a highly detailed illustration of the setting, rather than as a living narrative that gripped me.

And then I hit the flashback section of the book. For all the things these sections bring to the table about the Revenant Legion, Blood Angels, Sanguinius, I could not help myself but think that these parts aren't immediately relevant to the Siege. That they should've been told much earlier, but that they broke up a novel that already seemed a rather demotivating slog to me. I honestly lost count of just how many other novels I binged while struggling to keep going with this one.

In terms of bleakness, Echoes... well, echoes a few things I thought about Master of Mankind a few years ago. But unlike MoM, it did not rope me in through revelations, through twists or even mystery. It hammered me, the reader, just as much as the defenders of the Eternity Wall. Which, I believe, was the point. A point achieved rather well.
...but I find myself realizing that it's not enough to excite me in the long run.

Not only am I rather tired of the constant press of action setpieces, which a Siege situation like this tends to turn into, but for my taste, the novel lacked factors to balance out the bleakness even just a little bit. Funnily enough, for all my criticisms of that particular plotline and cast, I missed the Perpetuals. I never thought I'd say that, but they provided a throughline that, being wholly absent here, left me stuck in vignettes, setpieces and despair, without a real journey, an adventure, to follow along with. The cast remains largely static, set in place early and then remaining there through wave after wave of assaults.

The closest to a moving plotline would be Kargos and Vulkan. The latter however leaves for and stays in the same environment, no matter how weird it may be, for the entirety of the book. He's headed for a showdown that lasts multiple chapters, and it's probably the part that I enjoyed most in a sense - because it had actual lengthy dialogue sections of opposing characters simply interacting and arguing about the nature of the war and universe.

Kargos, meanwhile, is on the trip to the Eternity Gate.... but if you've read the book, you realize that he's simply spiralling into his own doom. Heck, there's a fake-out death just in time for the flashback section. Not knowing it is a fakeout, those flashback chapters of Amit and Kargos feel extremely out of sync with the narrative - because we see a bond which is already apparently broken by death. Just that at the end of it all, it turns out that the bloke isn't dead, but more warped than ever. I felt decidedly unimpressed by that development.

Even fan-favorite Blood Angel Zephon (who seemingly replaced Azkaellon's function at Sanguinius' side, huh? Where the frak are the Sanguinary Guard?) felt largely uninteresting to me. His interactions with Arkhan Land felt grating at times, rather than endearing; and while Arkhan did go through some significant personal changes in mindset - a highlight for sure - he remained just as static in his role within the unfolding events as most everybody else.

At the end of the day, I didn't need the countless individual fates described here in some chapters. I'd have loved those sections decoupled into a short story companion piece, but here they bogged things down even further. The Conqueror/Lotara Sarrin sections, too, were at their most useful as a vehicle to provide scope, but on their own, again, better a short story. I'd even argue you could almost entirely cut&paste them into a separate book and it'd work just as well.
For all the complaints Gav Thorpe's The First Wall received for its three-plotline structure, where folks would find one of them superfluous, I feel like a lot of pieces of Echoes of Eternity would be subject to similar criticisms.

Frankly, I like a lot of things ADB did with Sanguinius as a character. Especially during the climax, he's got some great depictions, some highly inspiring moments.
But overall, I don't think I had a good time with the book, at least not the way I am used to with most of ADB's books. It's a technical marvel in how it depicts the grinder, but the nails failed to bite into my brain.

And in the context of the Siege, I'm not sure this is the novel that the series needed at this penultimate position. It's too intimate for that. Too closed off from other cast members, events elsewhere, and simply refused to comment on other plotlines. I understand that this is, in some ways, the point ADB was going for... but it's a bummer as part 7 of an 8(9) part series.

And for all of the things missing from The Siege of Terra #7: Echoes of Eternity, it is probably the novel in the series that I could go in and cut the most paragraphs, pages, chapters from. As a piece of literary art it is stunning. As a story it barely resonated with me on an emotional level.

[Periklis · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is a very special pleasure finishing an ADB book. He invests an interest to his characters and commits to the tone and theme of each book, in such an emotional degree. Here's to hoping that it won't be long until his next book...

[Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, what a book.

The turbulence of this book really hammers home the fact that the siege is almost over.

I really enjoyed this book. It handles the tragedy of those who have fallen from grace as traitors so well, where they are monsters you can sympathise with. The moments that they have clarity over what they have become.
The heroes, so downtrodden and stalwart. Failing to give in after taking loss after loss after loss, always aware they are playing for time.

I do feel this is the first book where we see the transition from “traitor” to “chaos/ evil” more clearly than before. I understand why, but I do feel they don’t need to be so overt demonstrating what monsters they are.

I really enjoyed the book and it certainly lives up to the standard of the series thus far. However it still falls short of the heights that were Warhawk and Saturnine.

[Hanz Löwe · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the end is nigh, how would a mortal feel? How would a transhuman feel?

This book offers the best plausible dissection of human and transhuman psychologies I have read in BL books so far, Dan Abnett has a lot to live up to if he is writing the final book!

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The past is on one side of that sound. Fate is on the other.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a book. Easily tied with Saturnine as the best in the Siege of Terra series, and probably the entire heresy. ADB combines elements of horror, thriller, and action adventure in this masterwork. He gives life to key characters at the same time as keeping the plot surging forwards. Other Siege books have been bleak in their outlook, but this one felt different. ADB manages to capture the scaleand epicness of events, while at the same time building out great individual storylines to really make you care as a reader.

[Daniel Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply Stellar

A fantastically written and paced book where every character adds something to the story being told. The tension builds in spite of already being sky high at the very start, until an emotional and exciting end that makes you desperate for more. The portrayal and backstory of the Blood Angels and their Primarch is believable and adds so much to this book and the others.

I can't wait until the next one because it's the endgame now.

[LEGO Yoda · Rating 5 out of 5]

So now we’re finally near the end of the Horus Heresy, and this book definitely feels like that. Every chapter feels frantic and epic in that you know everything is about to end very soon and all the POVs offer interesting stories that actually do progress the Siege further which was a problem I sort of had with the earlier books in the series.

[Matt Tyrrell-Byrne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely adored the dark and hazy tone of the writing, the narrowed down character choice was a great decision.

Couple of wow moments but not quite got my heart racing as Saturnine did.

[Rev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Echoes of Eternity is a breathtaking and harrowing installment that thrusts readers deeper into the chaos of the Imperial Palace's final hours. Here, Aaron Dembski-Bowden delivers a novel that not only cements Sanguinius as one of the most compelling characters of the whole series but also captures the Blood Angels' tragic nobility as they stand on the brink of annihilation. The stakes, both personal and galactic, have never felt higher, making this a standout entry within the entire Horus Heresy saga. From the opening pages, Echoes of Eternity pulses with an atmosphere of desperation and impending doom. The Blood Angels, battered and besieged, fight not just against the armies of Chaos but against the darkness within themselves. Their struggle with the Red Thirst reaches a fever pitch here and Dembski-Bowden masterfully conveys the tension of warriors clinging to their humanity whilst teetering on the edge of monstrous bloodlust. Yet, at the heart of this novel stands Sanguinius. Often depicted as an angelic paragon of virtue, here he is finally revealed in all his complexity, but still remains profoundly human. Dembski-Bowden's portrayal captures the immense burden Sanguinius bears—the knowledge of his doomed fate, the heartbreak of watching his sons succumb to their curse, and the responsibility of holding together a crumbling defense against impossible odds.
His inner conflict is palpable, as he grapples with both the physical toll of the siege and the emotional weight of knowing that his death is the key to humanity's last hope. Far from a passive martyr, Sanguinius emerges as a leader whose defiance against the inevitable is nothing short of awe inspiring. Furthermore this review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning the climactic duel between Sanguinius and Ka'Bandha. Their previous clash had been fierce, but this final battle is elevated to mythic proportions— giving us a showdown not merely of strength but of spirit. Ka'Bandha, the avatar of Khorne's bloodlust, seeks to break Sanguinius both physically and mentally and to drag him and his Legion into eternal damnation. Yet, Sanguinius fights not just for survival, but for the very soul of the Blood Angels and humanity’s survival. Each strike carries the weight of a Primarch's fury and the desperate hope that his sons can transcend their curse for the sake of the imperium, or whatever is left of it.

[Gordon Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Siege of Terra takes another step towards its long-anticipated finale, this time in the expert hands of Aaron Dembski-Bowden who brings together many of the most loved characters from his previous Horus Heresy books. Dembski-Bowden has bestowed the likes of Arkhan Land and Lotara Sarrin with far more depth, personality and (admittedly grim) humour than we typically find in Black Library novels, and also rises to the challenge of handling humble yet charismatic fan-favourite Sanguinius; the demi-gods' demi-god.

The set pieces, including two Sanguinius-focussed duels and an additional Primarch vs Primarch encounter are rip-roaring action spectacles crying out for the attention of bold, ambitious and incredibly well-funded screenwriters, but at the heart of the novel is the relationship between Sanguinius and his sons. The Blood Angels Primarch plays the roles of father, war leader, politician and figurehead, always excelling yet, unlike many of his brothers, always remaining likeable and relatable.

There's plenty more going on too, including a history of the Blood Angels that could easily have been its own novel, and a bonfire of tertiary characters. It's all good (or great) but there's nothing tying much of it together except that it all feels very much in the author's wheelhouse, meaning that the individual stories are somehow more than the sum of their parts. In some ways this is everything you could want from a Dembski-Bowden Siege of Terra novel and more, but it I can't help but feeling that its a Dembski-Bowden novel first, and the lead-up to Dan Abnett's (three-part) grand finale second. Everything is awesome, but is this the right time to be awesome with these specific characters? Maybe I'm nit-picking, but one or two elements just felt a little out of place.

[Horus Lupercal Online · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let me first start off by saying I’m a huge fan of Aaron Dembski-Bowden. I’ve read quite a number of his books, and the Nightlords trilogy especially were some of my favorite 40K novels. That said, having read this book I struggled with the number of stars I wanted to give this. I went back and forth between 3 or 4 stars, and in the end decided to go with the latter. This book went on a different path then the previous ones, instead focussing on a smaller cast. Now…this does pay off in the end, but at then again, there were also a lot of times the book went erm…back in time (pun intended). At certain points that took me a bit out of the main narrative, seeing how we’ve done this trick now quite a few times during the Horus Heresy. The final third half of this book contains some breathtaking moments and more than made up for the, dare I say slow moments of the first halves. All in all this definitely wasn’t a bad book, and even though I did expect more of this one, it certainly satisfied me at the finish line.

[Trevor Bouley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book of the Horus Hersey series in my opinion. It’s a summation of all the values that define the series: tragedy, brotherhood, hope and hopelessness. Defiance in the face of impossible odds, while being damned to fail. It also focuses on the human aspect of the 40K universe which is so often forgot with the space marines, primarchs and daemons running around. I think this is an absolute gem of a sci-fi novel

[Chris Bowley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid, exciting entry in the series but not the greatest and not the greatest work from ADB.

Backstory and focus on just a few characters was very effective. Some outstanding scenes. Many primarch moments.

Some scenes went on unnecessarily long. Plot not furthered a great deal at all. Demon combat not as memorable as in Fear to Tread.

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dembski-Bowden writes chaos so well, and it turns out he also writes loyalists well too. What a fantastic book - perhaps let down a little by the sheer number of storylines, but nonetheless a fantastic, slow retreat into the final act of the siege.

[Alessandra Di Giovanni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Se la saga finisce così senza farci vedere l’ultimo attimo tolgo pure ste tre stelline e mi incateno ai cancelli di chiunque diriga questo circo.

[M.R. Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last third of this book was brilliant

Can’t believe it’s so close to the end of the heresy books !! So so many

This book just leaves you wanting more!!

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was outstanding, Dembski-Bowden knows how to tell an epic story!

[Will Chase · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, what a ride and what an ending...

Even though we all know what happens at the end of the Heresy, the story managed to utterly grip me.

Loved it.

[Troy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 2 different 1v1 primarch fights towards the end of the book were pretty good but I wasn't very entertained by anything else going on in this one.

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book, especially if you like blood angels or world eaters

[Chris Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing listen. Reddit summary to remind me below:


"The War is over" and the loyalists are doomed. Since the events of Mortis where the Ultimate Wall was breached, the traitors have swarmed into the Inner Palace and are rapidly making progress. Since the events of Warhawk, Jaghatai Khan is thought dead by most and despite the retaking of the Lion's Gate Spaceport in the previous novel, it has not turned the tide. Dorn seems to regret Jaghatai's actions as only hastening their destruction.

Horus' armies have lost discipline and organization and instead referred to as "the horde". Though vast it is uncoordinated and simply swarming forward in an unending wave with little guidance. A million separate battles and sieges are being fought across Terra, and soon this descends into the Inner Palace itself. Even the Bhab Bastion falls under siege with Dorn, the solar command staff, Sigismund, and Fafnirr Rann all trapped inside. The siege of Bhab combined with the warp interference jamming the vox sees the loyalists also lose central command & control. Both sides break down into isolated pockets led by whoever can arise to command them. Meanwhile the planet is damaged so heavily by orbital bombardment, radiation, and chaos corruption that it will never recover. It is stated that Terra is not dying, but has in fact already died.

*Above all this is Lotara Sarrin aboard the Conqueror, a shadow of her former self on a ship of madness. Most of the ship is empty and its water reserves have since turned to blood. Dehydrated and starving, she vomits up parts of her own stomach lining along with 3 fingers from who knows what (she has no memory of eating it). She nonetheless tries to maintain order, continuing to go about her duties as an officer and trying to reestablish contact with the World Eaters on the ground. She is joined by a silent ghost of Kharn, sporting the grotesque wounds from his battle with Sigismund in the last book. Sarrin tries to remember why she joined the traitors, it seemed like a no brainer at the time as she was close to Horus and would never betray the legion she served. However now she clearly regrets it, and becomes determined to contact Horus to try and gain some semblance of an idea as to what's going on.

We get introduced to some lesser characters for this book meant to exemplify what's going on. The first is a Legio Audax Princeps Ulienne Grune, who commands the Warhound Titan Hindarah and seems to not be entirely lucid. Her POV goes between the reality of her being a monstrosity fused with her machine and her moderatii and what she had been before, trying to wage a more orderly struggle to breach the Sanctum Imperialis. At one point the traitor titans try to climb the rubble of the Ultimate Wall to reach the inner palace, but it's so steep many fall. Grune resorts to using ursus claws on a Mortis Reaver Titan to reposition herself against a landslide, gaining condemnations of betrayer from the other Titans as the Reaver dies.

There's a female Skitarii Transcata-7Y1, who has joined with a lone Imperial Army soldier. Her radioactive weaponry is slowly killing him but he doesn't care. The two are in fact the last loyalist survivors in the Palatine Bastion as it is overrun, and they seemingly die fighting.

Dominion Zephon, grievously wounded in Saturnine protecting an Imperial Remembrancer from a mortar shell, is restored to life by Arkhan Land in some deep laboratory bunker. Land himself is far away and communicating via hologram, but Zephon is being attended to by his three thralls which are a mother, a father, and their son. Zephon suits back up and immediately leads an escape from the laboratory, which is also succumbing to Nurglite madness and Daemons.

*Kargos Bloodspitter, a Worldeaters Apothecary introduced in some previous ABD HH novels, is now barely sentient and constantly lost in the butcher's nails. He regains some of his senses when he is instructed to harvest the gene-seed from fallen battle-brothers, but notices his machine tools are long since broken. In the end it's unclear if this event even took place, as when he turns back the world eaters alive and dead are all gone. He doesn't seem to care much, and the World Eaters horde is following the fiery "star" of Angron in the sky as it moves towards the Eternity Gate. The group is reorganizing under the leadership of a Word Bearers Chaplain Inzar Taerus, who is probably the most despicable and unlikable character in the book and is yet another expression of ABD's contempt for the Word Bearers. They eventually fall upon a fleeing convoy of refugees and Kargos cuts down civilians and wounded without any care. Amongst those in the convoy is Arkhan Land, who is saved by Nassir Amit, Zephon, and a group of Blood Angels who arrive. Kargos battles Amit and finally recognizes him as his old dueling brother from the gladiatorial arena-pits of The Conqueror. Kargos calls out Amit's name but the Flesh Tearer tells him to eat shit before cutting his throat. Later Amit laments not what he had done, but he doesn't think he actually killed Kargos.

*In the Emperor's throneroom, the Emperor is weakening at an even faster rate and his psychic shield holding back the Daemons is on the verge of collapse. Vulkan, Malcador, and Custodian Tribune Diocletian realize Magnus is in the Webway portal nearby, undertaking a ritual to hammer away at his father. Vulkan is dispatched into the Webway to find Magnus and put a stop to it.

Flashback to early days of the Blood Angels as the "Revenant Legion" from the perspective of Amit. They would initiate a cannibalistic rite of remembrance to fallen battle-brothers, eating their brains to gain their memory and apparently some of their personality. This included the Legion Master Ishidur Ossuros, who was in fact killed and "reborn" in a chosen successor many times. The barbarism of the IXth Legion during this time was infamous, most other Imperials refused to work with them. There is a scene where Nassir Amit wants to cannibalize a wounded enemy soldier but is refused by an Imperial Army medic. Amit crushes in her skull with his fist and says the medic's work is now moot as he gets to chomping. The medic vows to report Amti but he doesn't care.

All this changed with the discovery of Sanguinius. The meeting between The Emperor and Sanguinius is told. Sanguinius foresaw the day his father would arrive, but still is the only Primarch to ask what would happen if he refused the Emperor. The Emperor states he knows Sanguinius won't refuse, for he will want to save many billions more across the stars as he has the people of Baal. Sanguinius agrees to join with the Emperor, provided he give an oath that he will leave the clans of the Pure Blood on Baal in peace. The Emperor agrees and Sanguinius leaves with him.

It then cuts to 3 years later, Sanguinius has still not met his legion but has instead been learning the ways of the Imperium from Horus and the Luna Wolves. During this time has a strong brother-like relationship with Abaddon and Tarik who accompanied him. The trio descend on a world where the bulk of the IXth has mustered, with the intent of having the Luna Wolves guide the Legion to its first "noble" victory with their Primarch. Sanguinius arrives and everyone is nervous, Blood Angels and Primarch and all. Sanguinius begins by asking the names of every warrior assembled before him, something that shocks everyone. Sanguinius then reverses execptations by pleading with the Legion to accept his oath, to not grant him allegiance until he is worthy of them. He doesn't lecture the 9th on its practices but states that they will not be broken anymore, and he will stand with them in glory or die with them in shame depending on what road they chose to take. They will learn together what kind of Legion they will be, and he just hopes he is worthy enough for them. He then states that he wishes for the Luna Wolves to leave, for he believes the 9th is more than capable of conducting the coming campaign on its own. The assembled 9th immediately breaks into hysterical cheering and love for their Primarch.

There's another flashback, this time from Kargos' POV as he and Nassir Amit fight together during the Great Crusade. The two become close enough to be "chain brothers", tied together in the fighting pits of the Conqueror. Kargos gets challenged by another pair of World Eaters to a fight to the death, and it creates quite a bit of hype when Nassir Amit agrees to take part alongside his own chain brother. Sanguinius and Angron are in attendance. In the end the duo emerge victorious, and in the aftermath Sanguinius states he's disappointed in Amit and instructs him to eat the memories of the two World Eaters hes slain. Amit feels great shame over it.

Lotara digs through various traitor comms channels in her desperate tedium, apparently coming across a recording of the loyalist war council itself Primarchs and all. This is truly a bizarre scene, and I was surprised more wasn't made of it. She then finally manages to establish contact with the Vengeful Spirit via hologram. However she is instead met by Argonis, the only face anyone sees of The Warmaster these days. Lotara goes on a long rant to him, which apparently works as a grizzly and emancipated Horus takes over the message. Lotara tries to plead her situation to him, but Horus simply recites a remembrancer poem about Lotara Sarrin (A Rose Watered with Blood) in mocking fashion between her sentences. Frustrated, Lotara doesn't know what to say but Horus simply is amused, remarking that Lotara Sarrin doesn't realize she's not actually Lotara Sarrin. He hangs up before the stunned Lotara can reply.

*Horus himself appears on the traitor comm networks shortly after, the first time in many weeks if not months. He gives a single order: to overrun the Eternity Gate. Traitors from across the Inner Palace abandon their rampages and begin mustering for a dawn assault. Horus then invades the mind of the barely-sentient feral Angron, urging him forward to find and kill Sanguinius. A great stream of Chaos madness erupts across the sky above Terra, and a new order is distributed across the loyalist lines. "Don't look up".

*Along the final barricade before the Eternity Gate (the Delphic Battlement) the loyalist rabble that can be spared muster. With so many other sub-sieges taking place across the Inner Palace, only 70,000 defenders are organized. Many of these are from inside the Sanctum itself, and are desperate refugees or wounded. They include predominately Blood Angels and Imperial Army but there are also Imperial Fists, White Scars, Mechanicum, Legio Ignatum, etc.. Amassing over the horizon is a gigantic horde of traitor Astartes, Army, Mutants, Beastmen, Daemons, Titans, Dark Mechanicum, etc. with Angron circling overhead waiting for the Emperor's shield to give way. It is never stated how large the host it, but it's implied to be many millions. Watching this are Arkhan Land, Tansacta-7Y1, Zephon, and his 3 thralls. Zephon calmly remarks that they are all to die tomorrow. Arkhan bursts into tears, shocked at his current predicament and stating he is too important to die. Zephon tries to comfort him as does Transcata in her own confused way. Zephon then briefly reverts to his old "Bringer of Sorrows" ruthless persona, stating to Arkhan that it is his duty in what is to come to protect his 3 thralls. If Land simply flees, Zephon will hunt him down and beat him to death regardless of outcome.

*As the sun rises over Terra the traitors reveal what they have been doing all night. Stakes and crucifixes with countless loyalist prisoners of all types nailed to them are erected as the Beastmen and Cultist rabble attending them laugh. They are even nailed to traitor vehicles and titans that move forward. A lone traitor Reaver Titan of the Legio Krytos then marches forward, making it to within range of the loyalist guns before outstreching its power claw to revealed the mutilated but still-living remains of Idamas, Captain of the 99th Company. Sanguinius lands on the Battlement and orders Transcata (now equipped with an arquebus) to snipe Idamas out of his misery.

*The Reaver Titan, the Daughter of Torment, then broadcasts a speech. It states that Horus is readying himself to make planetfall and has given an Imperial pardon to the defenders of the Eternity Gate. Those who wish to leave will be spared. However should the eternity gate be sealed shut or should the defenders open fire, they will regard it as an act of war and all will be brutally massacred. Zephon and Amit are worried about the proclamation getting through to the desperate mortal defenders.

*Sanguinius responds by taking to the sky and giving the mother of all inspiring speeches, something akin to Aragorn at the end of Return of the King. He states that anyone is free to go flee into the Eternity Gate, but he will stand and fight and bare the burden. He doesn't want to be here, but knows someone must be brave enough to wage this fight. He then asks the defenders if they will run, to which everyone present enthusiastically screams no. Arkhan Land is even caught up in the speech, and notes that while some loyalists surely tried to flee he didn't observe any doing so. Sanguinius completes his speech by flying off towards the traitor lines and beheading the Reaver Titan that had given Horus' terms. As Sanguinius turns to return to the Delphic Battlement a massive horde of winged Daemons chase him back and the battle begins.

*Within the Webway Vulkan walks for what feels like an eternity. He eventually makes it to The Impossible City (as seen in Master of Mankind) and comes across a tower erected by Magnus. Inside he finds full-blown Daemon Prince Magnus, apparently oblivious and in denial at his own state. It eventually becomes apparent that he's only swinging his hammer at illusions and the real Magnus is behind a barrier enacting a ritual to weaken the Emperor.

The real battle begins as Vulkan is killed over and over in every conceivable way by Magnus (immolation, turning his lungs into amber, beheading him, etc.) but he comes back each time. Through sheer attrition Magnus begins to weaken and Vulkan is gaining ground. Magnus makes a brief intermission with the two above Prospero with Magnus' typical trippy vision of Prospero and its destruction by the wolves as Vulkan lectures him for his arrogance in thinking he had to know about the Webway project as well as his inaction during the burning of prospero. As the battle returns to reality, Magnus is weakened and on the ground as Vulkan is ready to deliver a hammerstrike. The Emperor psychically tells Vulkan to finish Magnus before he can do what he's about to do, but he hesitates for a brief second nonetheless. Magnus has been preparing a special spell this entire time to undo Vulkan at a genetic level in a desperate bid to kill him. As Vulkan disintegrates into a skeleton he swings his hammer and knocks Magnus' head off. Later, Vulkan can be seen regenerating and dragging his hammer back towards the Webway Portal at the Palace.

The battle at the Eternity Gate is absolute bedlam, the Emperor is weakening and Daemons are popping up everywhere even inside the Sanctum. Diocletian leaves the Emperor's side to find a good death, wishing Malcador the same. Hordes of traitors throw themselves at the Delphic Battlement and overwhelm it by sheer numbers. Khornate Titans tackle the walls and vomit up hordes of World Eaters from their mutated mouths like living siege towers. Most of the battle is shown from Arkhan Land's perspective as he desperately tries to survive, 2 of the 3 Thralls he is charged with as dead but he is protecting the younger one and they try to make for the Eternity Gate.

*Kargos returns to challenge Amit again, and their duel ends the same way as the first. As Kargos lay dying the Word Bearers Inzar appears, abandoning his previously friendly mask to mock and scold him for his weakness. For such a minor character Inzar seems to have huge delusions of grandeur and is trying to become the next Erebus. As his brothers abandon him Kargos cries out for a medic then laughs at the irony of it as he dies.

*Ka'Bandha finally emerges, and hes been having a bad time since Fear to Tread. He was banished to the furthest reaches of Khorne's realm without weapons for his failure and ended up in the Formless Wastes scrounging on weak daemons and souls to survive. Khornate parties go out to hunt him, and he goes full Rambo and manages to kill them instead and take their weapons and armor. He returns with their skulls to Khorne's court and demands another chance. Khorne states that he is to reap 500 Blood Angels in the presence of Sanguinius and allows him to re-manifest in the Materium. Ka'Bandha is not concerned about revenge with Sanguinius very much, instead focusing on the Blood Angels. He knocks over the Delphic Battlement's gate kills nearly 500 before the Eternity Gate itself as Sanguinius intervenes desperately. The two engage in a huge battle before Sanguinius breaks his back with the hilt of his sword and sends him spiraling down. Ka'Bandha is then consumed by other Daemons just short of the 500 tally.

With Daemons now erupting everywhere, Diocletian orders the Eternity Gate shut and Sanguinius to join them. He is about to refuse when Legio Audax titans use ursus claws to harpoon one of the doors, forcing it to stay open. Sanguinius is about to cut these chains when Angron himself plunges from the sky and the biggest battle of the book erupts.

Angron and Sanguinius battle. Angron seems to gain some sense of self-identity as the battle goes on. After an exhaustive battle Angron impales Sanguinius on the black sword, ignoring Horus' voice in his head that's warning him about something. Sanguinius then reaches forward and begins to rip the butcher's nails out of Angron's skull. The pain/shock of it is so great that Angron yells for Sanguinius to stop but Sanguinius rips them out and Angron's head explodes.

*With Angron sent back into the warp the World Eaters lose whatever cohesion they had left, experiencing a kind of mass hysteria not dissimilar to the blood angels after sanguinius' death. They turn on everything around them, and the Word Bearer Inzar is ripped apart by a frenzied warrior in the shadow of the Eternity Gates doors. The chaos causes the traitor attack to falter and the remaining loyalists are able to make it back inside the Eternity Gate and seal it shut.

In orbit, Lotara Sarrin reads the reports with panic as suddenly the traitor fleet comes under mass assault. Shiban Khan broadcasts a message stating the white scars have gotten the anti-orbital batteries of the Lion's Gate Spaceport back up and running again and are unleashing hell on the traitors. The Vengeful Spirit has moved into low orbit and dropped its shields during all of this.

Lotara goes back to sit at her throne but realizes what's there is some mutated blob. Kharn's wraith finally speaks, stating the Lotara we've seen is a ghost conjured up by The Conqueror's Machine spirit. It has been reanimating crew it considers important to its basic operations over and over and this isn't even the first time there's been a false Lotara running around. Kharn, himself a reanimated ghost, states it is disappointing when Lotara's realize the truth as they often break down afterwards.

The book ends with a message reaching the Sol System. It's from Guilliman, who states he will be at Terra in 1 week. Lion El'Jonson, Russ, and Corax aren't far behind. Tragically the message is intercepted by traitors and so doesn't reach the loyalists.


Edit: I should note that random Alpha Legionaries are confirmed taking part on the traitor side, found that odd.

[Jonas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, not much to say, literally devoured it within 3 evenings, my favourite one in the series so far.

[Cristo Fernandes · Rating 5 out of 5]

The highlight of the seige so far.

[Kit Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Broke out into a wrestling crowd “FIGHT FOREVER” chant during Angron vs Sanguinius. Like Saturnine before, not just a good Warhammer novel, but a good novel generally and one where the defender’s desperation is truly palpable.