Brief Plot Outline (NO spoilers!):
Galaxy in Flames covers the unveiling of Horus' plans to overthrow The Emperor of Mankind. The main battle of the book is the Isstvan III attack, where Horus' Legion, the Sons of Horus, along with his brother's Legions, the World Eaters, Death Guard and the Emperor's Children, purges the Legions of any Astartes that are loyal to The Emperor and not to Horus.

It also gives more focus on Keeler, the new saint, and how she escapes the now dangerous fleet of the Warmaster's ships. She is shown as a calm character, even in the face of certain death, and knows what she needs to do to survive, saying that The Emperor works through her.

Horus is shown as a much, much darker person in this book. His armour, where previously it was brilliant white, is now black, where his consorts, Ezekyle Abaddon and Maloghurst are trusting friends of the entire Legion, they are now feared as vicious enforcers of Horus' words.

More characters are added in this book, namely Nathaniel Garro of the Death Guard, Kharn of the World Eaters (included ten thousand years later, known as Kharn the Betrayer), Typon (renamed Typhus in the current 40,000 timeline) and others.

Review:

Writing: Ben Counter gives a good account on Horus' treatment of his Legion after Davin, and it describes the Isstvan III incident with much more detail then anyone else. It shows Angron (Primarch of the World Eaters) as a man with the shortest temper imaginable, when the virus bombing of Isstvan III fails to kill all of the loyalist Astartes, he and the remainder of his Legion descend to the planet below and kills them all, along with the remainder of the Death Guard and Emperor's Children.

His portrayal of war in this is second only to Dan Abnett, and the way he shows the concerns of the loyalist Astartes is remarkable.

Overall: The book does describe the Isstvan III bombing in more detail than has been previously shown. This is good, because it is one of the main pivotal moments of the Heresy. It is memorable, but some of the 'out of battle' scenes let it down a little.


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