Angron: The Red Angel (Warhammer 40,000)

Product Information

My interest dipped a few times, but that might have been my mood more than any fault of what Guymer wrote. They’re more like an overwhelming destructive force, so rather than presenting scenes from his point of view, to ruminate on his wants and ambitions, it’s more about characters experiencing him, and how his presence affects their own lives. He’s been keeping the banner flying through Angron’s absence, even while the other lords spread out around the galaxy doing berzerk things in berzerk ways, and is a true believer in the heights the Legion could reach if it came together again. Because it felt like the true point of this book was to make you understand how the nails feel and operate. I just can’t help but feel there’s a fundamental flaw in the book, in that I just don’t find Angron interesting.

David: Yes, especially Gorgon of Medusa , as that was also more about the Iron Hands around Ferrus Manus than the man himself, and how he affects those he leads. It explores the twisted brotherhood of the World Eaters, it shows how horridly enslaved they are and how desperately they hate Angron - just as much as they're still mad for his attention. Equally consumed by Angron’s mere existence, they at least have different ideology to the rest of the cast. The books, like this one, that live and breathe in a world that acknowledges the other current lore stand head and shoulders above the rest.

There are some great individual scenes and storylines here, but as a whole I think it lacked a cohesiveness across the various plots to really drive the story forward. We have characters who’ve been trying and failing to bring their Legion back together for millennia, and the book zeroes in on their perspective when this incredibly important figurehead re-enters the limelight. In a way, it’s strange that I’m so happy jumping on board at the end of the story rather than climbing on at the beginning with so many others.

David: With Angron, and characters like him, you don’t really look at them from the inside – from their perspective.There are a few nods to Aaron’s The Emperor’s Gift , as some of the events that took place there – and the consequences of Angron’s last banishment – have a big part to play in The Red Angel . I fully admit that I am biased, as Angron and the World Eaters are my favorite primarch and legion respectively. Given that his name is in the title, you would expect him to be more prominent, and while he is central to the story, he is not the focus. Also, for a book whose title claims to be about Angron, there was very little of the primarch in the novel.