Cover Art: 9/10
I like the cover art for this book quite a lot as I felt it does a really good job of showing us the ferocity of Horus in battle, and also the relentless attack strategies of the Sons of Horus. This picture may be of the Battle of Dwell before the world was conquered, which is mentioned at the beginning of this book, or it could be from the apocalyptic scale battle between the Grand Army of Molech and Horus' traitor army that takes place in the late portion of the book. Either way its a really intense picture, with a lot of things going on (Theres even what looks like the prow of a statship looming above in the background).
Characters: 10/10
This book is absolutely full of some iconic characters from the Heresy, featuring the newly reformed Mournival with its previously removed members now replaced by Grael Noctua and Falkus Kibre, recommended by Horus Aximand and Abbadon respectively. The book also features 5 Primarchs, with Mortarion and Horus taking most of the focus in this regard, although Fulgrim does also have an appearance, as do Leman Russ and Rogal Dorn, and boy do they do some pretty epic stuff through the course of this book, specifically Mortarion and Horus. There are many others who are also present, but its a bit too many to list as its most of 2 Legions worth of marines.
Shifting focus more from the traitor side of things, there is also a really big reveal here for those who haven't had a chance to listen to any of the Heresy audio books (myself included: i just prefer reading to listening), as the Knights Errant make an appearance, and by doing so, some characters which many readers grew attached to early in the Horus Heresy are revealed to still be around. I speak mainly of course of Garviel Loken, whom I'd assume many of us believed dead. Turns out he was recovered from the ruins of Istvaan III and recruited into the Knights Errant by Malcador the Sigillite. It was really rewarding after so long to have him brought back, along with Iacton Qruze, and Severian, from the Outcast Dead novel. Definitely a bit of an all-star lineup in this book and i really enjoyed reading their different parts of the story and seeing it come together.
There is yet another Perpetual who makes an appearance here also, but its not one of the established ones we have read about so far. Her role is a bit unknown for quite a while in the story, but when it becomes clear, you really get an understanding of just how important these mysterious individuals actually are.
Graham McNeill definitely did a good job balancing all of these characters and making sure they all had their moments and had things to do, and when there is inevitably a few deaths, one does feel pretty gutted that they are gone.
Story: 10/10
The story of Vengeful spirit starts of with Horus on the planet Dwell, the planets loyalist forces having already been swept aside, and a strange collective of important Imperial citizens who have died but been preserved in machinery is discovered still intact after the war. Horus uses his Primarch's psychic gifts to rip information from the collective memories and minds of the dead entombed there, and by doing so, discovers information that will change the galaxy forever. The world of Molech holds a secret of which the very foundation of the Empire of Mankind was built upon; a secret of the Emperor himself. Before Horus leaves for Molech he has a meeting with Mortarion and Fulgrim, at which point it becomes apparent that not all the loyalist forces were so easily destroyed. A kill team of 3 Iron Hands Fire Raptor gunships surround the building on which they are meeting and all but level the entire place, incapacitating Fulgrim and Mortarion, and doing some serious damage to Horus himself, but not quite enough, as Horus proceeds to take all of them out single-handed.
While Horus and his forces are traveling to Molech, the story switches focuses to what is going on on Terra; Russ has managed to limp his wounded fleet back to the Imperial Homeworld after they were badly mauled by the Alpha Legion, and he now wants to personally launch a strike against Horus and his personal flagship: The Vengeful Spirit. The Knights Errant are tasked by the Sigillite to infiltrate the ship and find weak points and targets aboard the vessel, while plotting the best route for Leman Russ to take through it to get to Horus. Its at this point that we finally discover Loken is still alive, as it is he whom the Sigillite tasks with leading this mission as he, being a former Legionary of The Sons of Horus has the most experience and knowledge of the vessel. During this time is when Iacton Qruze is also reintroduced, along with a few others who are now members of the Knights Errant after their actions in previous events, including Sevatar, who initially declines to join the mission, viewing it as a pointless suicide. Also introduced is a stealth ship, the Tarnhelm, which is the way the Knights get about undiscovered, and also their means of getting near the Vengeful Spirit.
The forces tasked with the defense of Molech are no small army. It is apparent that the Emperor sees this world as vital; the planet defended by multiple orbital stations and fleets, Titan Legion forces, Knight Titan households, and millions of Imperial Army soldiers, along with contingents of Loyalist Legion forces (Ultramarines and Blood Angels respectively.) Knowing how potent the orbital batteries can be, Horus utilizes a different strategy to confront the defense fleet, employing the use of Tomb Ships to get close to the batteries and once close enough, launch a boarding action to take over the platforms, turning them on the Imperial ships nearby. The plan works very well, and all but a handful of the hundreds of vessels are utterly destroyed, leaving Molech open to ground invasion.
Once the ground invasion begins, things move at a pretty rapid pace. Horus' ground forces smash through the first lines of resistance before coming to a pivotal battle to decide the fate of Molech once and for all. During this battle, both sides suffer horrific losses, but it finally seems that the Loyalists will win as the heavy guns of Titans begin to take their toll on the Traitor forces. In a stunning turn of evens though, House Devine of the Knight Titans fall to chaos and bring down the vast Emperor class Titan laying waste to the traitors by hitting its reactor chamber with multiple focused hits from their heat cannons. The Titan detonates several minutes later, leaving the Grand Army of Molech in ruins. Molech had fallen to Chaos.
In the mad retreat of the few dwindling survivors of the battle for Molech, one of the mysterious perpetuals tries to close a portal that the Emperor himself used many hundreds of years in the past for some mysterious purpose. Right as she is closing the portal, Horus and his forces arrive stopping her just before she can make the final ward to seal the gate permanently. Horus activates the gate using the blood of the perpetual, and the portal opens, revealing its true nature; it is a gate to the Realms of the Chaos Gods. Horus enters for what seems like only a moment to his men, but returns physically aged, revealing that he know has the power he needs to bring down the Emperor. He has brought the Chaos Realms in line by wages a war across their domains inside the warp, promising to help them gain vengeance on the Emperor for his trickery in the past.
As this happens the Knights Errant have been slinking around on the Warmasters flagship, marking positions for the Space Wolves attack that is to follow. however, they are soon captured and brought before the warmaster, where many are then killed in a fight aboard the bridge, which leaves Iacton Qruze finally dead at the hands of Horus himself, and with Loken floating lifelessly in space after causing a decompression aboard the bridge in a final act of vengeance.
Conclusion
What a book! The story in this one was phenomenal, and the mysteries revealed about the Emperor are pretty monumental. I purposely didn't go into too much detail on the finer points of the battles as those are best left for you to read, but definitely, if you are a fan of the Horus Heresy series, you owe it to yourself to read this story. It is probably the best one since the first 3 stories in my opinion.
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