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’The heretic, the alien and the mutant’
’What is it to be an enemy of the Emperor?’
’It is to be damned’
’What is the instrument of the Emperor’s daels of death! ’
’What is it to be a Space Marine?’
’It is to be pure, to be strong, to show no pity, nor mercy, nor remorse!’
’What is it to be pure?’
’To never know fear, to never waver in the fight!’
’What is it to be strong?’
’To fight on when others flee; to stand and die in the knowl­edge that death brings ultimate reward!’
’What is the ultimate reward?’
’To serve the Emperor!’
’Who do we serve?’
’We serve the Eh theels?’
’It is to be the first, the honoured, the sons of the Lion!
’Praise the Lion,’ Boreas said, pressing the stud
AFTERWORD
by Gav Thorpe
’Much anticipated’ an over-used phrase, so I’ll set­tle for simply ’anticipated’ That is to say, since the first printing of this novel went out of stock I’ve had a steady streaain Perhaps not crowds of screaht frenziedly celebrate the reunification of a boy band (or, indeed, another instalment of the life of a boy wizard), but nonetheless there’s been a gentle but persistent insistence that Angels of Darkness should be ain So it is with ais now available, and the friendly pestering can stop - both of me by fans, and of the poor staff at Black Library by me!
I am very proud of this novel, for a number of reasons First and foremost, because of the way there are two tales intertwined Initially, I had conceived of the interrogation of Astelan by Boreas to be presented si the ’present day’ chapters of the book However, as I discussed the novel with Lindsey, hard-working editor of BL, it becaue wouldn’t convey the complex relationship that develops between the two characters I alad that Lindsey made els of Darkness would not be the novel it is, and would not have gathered such quiet respect ast Warhammer 40,000 aficionados Without that portrayal of Boreas in his priress of his story in the other half of the book would be that bit flatter; less personal
It was the changes in Boreas’s attitudes as they are portrayed in that context that give els of Darkness achieves what I had wanted it to from the outset To explain, when I was first approached by Marc Gascoigne to write a novel about Space Marines, I was hesitant Could I cre­ate a story and characters about a group of inhu to readers on an e true to the well-defined and widely established nature of the Space Marines?
The fact that this book exists shows that hesitancy swiftly succue I wanted to create a story that would have the bolters blazing, ugly death feel of a true Warhao­nists to feel e a subject that would not humanise our Space Marine characters - because they are not huother than hot bolter death! The Dark Angels jumped out as an obvious choice, because they are so ns, there were lots of conflicts of interest for me to explore They had a story that I could help to tell a ss ree of authorly sreed that the Dark Angels would be our central characters, I wanted to both follohat had already been described in their background and history, whilst siht they knew on its head This was because I wanted read­ers to wonder if they really did knohat the ’dark secret’ is
Could they really believe what they already knew? Was that dark secret si even deeper, evenby the divided reactions aels, I know that Angels of Darkness has succeeded on that count
Even now, years after the first printing, Astelan’s tes­timony to Boreas crops up in conversations and internet debates about the nature of the Dark Angels and the Fallen Can you believe the word of a traitor? For that matter, is Astelan really a traitor, or the true follower of the Emperor’s vision? Do Boreas’s actions and his eventual doubts, perhaps conversion even, lend credence to Astelan’s arguments? Alternatively, does the fact that Boreas’s own experiences of aban­don syion versus New Legion conflict, or the cat­alytic role played by the shadowy gene-seed thief (who is the eniguessed), but there isn’t space I’ to say one way or the other, because it has always been et to decide and debate these issues for thesrevelation The part els of Darkness is probably:
’What was he waiting for?’ Boreas asked quietly
Astelan looked into Boreas’s eyes, read the curiosity that was now there
’He aiting to see which side won, of course’
It’s been a source of great interest and amusement to see just how much this has been simultaneously reviled and rejoiced The cherished convictions of thousands were shaken by this dubious revelation It fundaendas of the Dark Angels But the thing is; I never planned it at all It just ca that scene I remember it well, because I stopped dead incomically over the keyboard, and read it out aloud to et people talking
So, everything else aside, perhaps that’s the greatest achieveed to shock me!