Deliverance Lost: Ghosts of Terra (The Horus Heresy)

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He ends up disconnected from the actual proceedings and appears to put a lot of pressure on his captains over it. They're rescued thanks to the psychic vision of an Imperial Guard commander who, frankly, brings nothing to this story, and whose every scene could have been cut. Gav is published by Angry Robot books where you can find his epic swords-and-sandals fantasy saga gathered in the omnibus collection entitled Empire of the Blood. As usual this is a Heresy story that balances on a knife edge between hope and tragedy and while you suspect what's going to happen, you are never quite sure.

Corax faces the struggles of rebuilding a legion that was eighty thousand plus strong legionaries, now diminished down to roughly five thousand. In a way Corax beat his brother to this, with the creation of the Raptors, ultimately the Alpha Legion got in the way of that. Leaving the gene-tech where Omegon instructs them the three undercover legionnaires head for a landing pad only to confronted by Commander Agapito, Branne's brother, who figured out there were traitors in the legion. Mit diesem Wissen kann Corax in nur wenigen Wochen und Monaten nun seine Legion wieder aufbauen, wobei die traditionelle Erschaffung eines Space Marines ganzer Jahre bedarf.As the Horns Heresy divides the Imperium, Corax and his few remaining Raven Guard escape the massacre at Isstvan V. Corvus Corax looks to rebuild his legion fast against his brother Horus, who has turned more of their brothers against Corax, his other loyal brothers, and their father, The Emperor of Mankind. They know of the Raven Guard's gift from the Emperor, ahead of time, and wish to steal it for themselves. L'histoire commence assez tragiquement, avec le massacre sur Istvaan V où Corax tente de s'échapper avec son vaisseau, malgré que son vaisseau soit détecté vers la fin de la fuite par Angron. Finally, finally we have a coherent plot from conception to execution, with each step reasonably explained.

On the other hand I found Omegon to be a bit underwhelming and could not help but think he could have been replaced with a high level legionnaire (but I guess that is kinda the point of the Alpha legion so maybe that was intentional).The story begins approximately 3 months after the Drop Site Massacre, with the unexpected rescue of Corax and the remnants of his Legion (at less than 5% strength) from Istvaan V. Tending to their wounds, the bloodied Space Marines endeavour to replenish their numbers and take the fight to the traitor Warmaster. Corus, nicknamed "Corax" which means "saviour", was found on a prison planet where he was adopted by the prisoners and raised not in hatred and fear, but in understanding that his people are being oppressed and he is the only man who can actually do something about it. The novel also features a reappearance of the Cabal (Book 7), and of other well-known characters from previous books in the series.

Little touches, like the Imperial Fists being drawn up in rigid formation while the Ravens stand before them in a loose mob, distinguish the Legion's character from most of the others. Nothing here is as melodramatic as the simple farewell Corax left to his sons, as per the old background material. While the Alpha Legion scenes were great and well-done, throwing the reader off on multiple occassions and seeing their perspective of their host-Legion (and the effect the memory-implantations have on them), it is the Primarch of the Raven Guard that was best characterized.It's a well traveled tale, starting in Istvaan, moving to Terra and finally to the Raven Guard's world of Deliverance. Corax finally gets his will when the Raven Guard assault the Perfect Fortress of the Emperor's Children in the final chapter, following on from scenes within the same chapter that would have made for a pretty good ending to the book already. But not all his remaining warriors are who they appear to be… the mysterious Alpha Legion have infiltrated the survivors and plan to destroy the Raven Guard before they can rebuild and threaten Horus’s plans.