Sigismund's will was Dorn's, and through his primarch, the Emperor's. Dorn had trusted him, and Sigismund had squandered that trust on pride and superstition, not unlike those who now rebelled against the Emperor. Shamed, Sigismund offered his blade to his gene-father to take his life, but the primarch refused. He would retain Sigismund as first captain, but none would ever know of what he had done. Dorn would not allow Sigismund's fear and pride to sow doubt in their ranks. His shame would be his to bear alone. Dorn then disowned Sigismund as one of his sons, for no matter what his future held, Sigismund would never again be one of his own. The Anamnesis doesn't like being called by her birth name, Itzara, as she claims that she is now both much more and much less than Sekhandur's sister. After only a few hours' worth of fighting both Mondus Occulum and Mondus Gamma were burning, and vast swathes of machinery and manufactorum capacity had been destroyed. The loss of such irreplaceable technology and knowledge would be felt by the Imperium for millennia to come. Like comets launching from the surface of Mars, the Imperial transports fled into the heavens. Astartes and Imperial Army vessels jostled in the sky in their haste to depart the crimson world. But the mission was successful and the Loyalist Astartes had secured a large number of the new marks of Power Armour in preparation for the oncoming campaign against Terra by the Traitor Legions of Horus.

Equalled by the Eternal Crusader, now revealed to be the Imperial Fists Gloriana class Battleship and counterpart to the Vengeful Spirit.And in all honesty, the way they fight for survival and ultimately reach their incredible strategic goals, finding purpose after losing everything up to and including their identity, is also working much to the credit and impact of this novel.

We began in ignorance, fighting a war that we did not understand against weapons we had never dreamt existed. We were unready, we were vulnerable; we were weak. But in those first moments our enemies gave us strength. The strength to live, to rise from the bloody fields, to march on but not to fall: all this is ours now, and was not before."We will spend our lives fighting to secure this Imperium, and then I fear we will spend the rest of our days fighting to keep it intact... In the far future, there will be only war." Do you love everything Warhammer? Do you devour any bits of lore available? Do you care about the world and its characters? If not, then you won't like this. This book is for people who eat and breathe Warhammer 40k. Telemachon strives for more than just raiding and the Emperor's Children's rampant indulgence, but hides it beneath a literal and figurative mask of contempt. Abaddon: "The Imperium is ours. We fought for it. We built it with blood and sweat and wrath. We forged it with the worlds we took. The empire is built upon foundations of our brothers' bones...We didn't rebel out of petty spite, Sigismund. We rebelled because our Lord and master played us false. We were useful tools to bring the galaxy to heel, but He would have cleansed us from the Imperium the way He purged the Thunder Legion before us, wiping us all from history like excrement from His golden boots." I will largely agree with the previous reviewer: this book is a good one. It is also very original in many respects. The problem I had when finishing it was to assess how good it was. It took me a few days to make up my mind, compare it with the Night Lords’ trilogy (the author’s best in my opinion) and decide whether it was “as good as” and whether it deserved five stars. I believe it is and it certainly does, and I will attempt to explain how I reached this conclusion in the rest of this review.

Museum of the Strange and Unusual: Abaddon's collection in the Hall of Titans aboard the Vengeful Spirit looks like this. He even gives Khayon and the others a tour around it. While the Talon of Horus and Abaddon's own terminator armour hold the places of honour, he's also got the skeleton of a whale-sized serpent that tried to kill him (apparently its jaws are big enough to swallow a Land Raider tank whole), Guardian Spears left by Adeptus Custodes who died aboard the Vengeful Spirit when the Emperor boarded it to confront Horus, and the remains of an aborted experiment trying to synthesize Warp energy. Khayon later calls it a "monument to madness". Dead All Along: Nefertari has been dead since a battle with Zarakynel, a Keeper of Secrets, and Khayon has been sustaining her existence with his psychic powers. Khayon believes if she learns about this she would die for real. Framing Story: Khayon is telling the story to an Inquisitorial transcription servitor and later to Inquisitors themselves. Imperial Armour: The Horus Heresy Book 1: Betrayal (Forge World Series) by Alan Bligh pp. 230, 246-247

Tropes featured

Covers Always Lie: On the cover of Talon of Horus Abaddon is portrayed in his signature topknot and with his cursed blade, Drach'nyen. In the book, he keeps his hair loose (Khayon notes it as one of the signs that he's changed), and is still centuries from acquiring the sword. Aaron Dembski Bowden lampshaded this himself, noting that because 40k Abbadon was one of the most distinctive characters of the entire setting, it would have to include him on it. Character Development: It has been explained by BL authors that the named characters often are portrayed different, Depending on the Writer being in full effect. Abaddon however clearly is different from the Horus Heresy series, this due to his voyages through the Warp since Horus defeat. Fate Worse than Death: Being handed over to Nefertari is considered to be this, presumably because as a Dark Eldar, she can and will make your death as slow and drawn out as possible.

Though Dorn acceded to his first captain's request to stay by his side, Sigismund had kept the real reason to himself, sensing that the primarch would not understand. Sigismund barely understood it himself, but he had made his decision. That deception had weighed on Sigismund like penitent chains ever since. Later on, before leaving for Mars, Sigismund felt that he must reveal to his gene-father his true reasons for returning to Terra and why he couldn't take command of the Retribution Fleet. He shared with Dorn the truths revealed to him by the Remembrancer Euphrati Keeler. Enraged by his son's revelations, the primarch rebuked Sigismund. They were made to serve, he explained to the first captain, every primarch and every son of a primarch existed to serve the Imperium. Their existence had no other meaning. Their choices were not their own, their fate was not theirs to choose. Demonic Possession: After escaping the III Legion ambush, Kibre's surviving warband have become daemonhosts. Khayon later uses an incomplete version of this as one of his many, many ways of bringing down fortresses singlehanded. Born on Terra and raised to the Legiones Astartes as the Great Crusade was at its height, he ascended in rank and renown thanks to a simple fact: he was a warrior of unparalleled lethality and ability. Beneath the primarchs there has perhaps never been a more skilled warrior in combat. Patricide: Abaddon kills the clone of Horus, who still has memories of the original, in the finale.Meaningful Name: Nefertari means "Beautiful companion" in Tizcan Prosperine. Khayon says that she called herself like that without his imput, but wonders what she meant by it. Khayon is actually a little relieved that Abaddon doesn't know her true name, as it means he isn't omniscient. Telemachon eventually serves as Abaddon's, going from warband to warband giving Abaddon's offer of alliance and threat of reprisal.