I never really got into the Warhammer game itself — too crunchy — but the setting and world built up around it always fascinated me. The neo-Roman stylings of the Empire and its various hierarchies, the vast scale of space exploration and history, and the cosmic horrors lurking in the warp. <br/><br/>The Horus Heresy books haven’t had a lot of the latter so far, which this book makes up for *in spades*. There’s the introduction of the Eldar, a fallen race that had previously conquered the galaxy, and the gradual corruption of a Space Marine legion and the civilians accompanying them culminating in an absolutely horrifying set piece. <br/><br/>This is a gripping tale that stands on its own outside of the previous books in the series, and moves along at a tight clip. My favourite of the series so far.