Welcome the **72nd Book Review** of this Vlog! Today I’m reviewing the **Limited** **Edition**\-novella ***Ravenlord***, and the shorts ***Shadowmasters*** and ***The Value of Fear***, all written by **Gav Thorpe**. We can begin with the frontcover of ***Ravenlord***, on it we see the **Primarch** **Corax** of the **Raven Guard** as they storm into a enemy **stronghold**. He has his typical jet-pack wielding a **combo-bolter**. In the background we see his **Raven Guard** giving support fire against **Emperor's Children** and **Sons of Horus** I believe and I'm uncertain if it one of the mutated Raptors from ***Deliverance Lost*** or any **Warp-spawn**. I think it's a powerful image that gets me interested in the story and the **Legion**. It's one of the greatest pictures of **Corax** most of all. I will give this 9 out of 10 Forks.

Let's check out the story: The **Horus Heresy** continues, **Corax** and the remnants of his once mighty Legion now wage an entirely different kind of war – liberating worlds oppressed by **traitor forces**, they gather more and more followers, disrupting the Warmaster's influence wherever they can. But after an unexpected reunion with a fellow survivor of Isstvan V, the **Raven Guard** learn of the prison colony of **Carandiru** and realise that they must face the ghosts of their past on **Deliverance** if they are to prevail.

So after the events in ***Deliverance Lost***, ***The Devine Word*** and ***Corax: Soulforge***, the Primarch and the Raven Guard Legion continues their guerilla warfare, striking back at the enemy one step at the time. Just like in ***The Unremembered Empire***, he manages to send out a **signal** for any loyalists who wants to join him on this endeavor. He is reunited with his former **bodyguard**, the Mor Deythan, or the **Shadow Wardens**. They are also joined by a small force of **Annovuldi** of the Iron Warriors, **Kasati Nuon** of the Night Lords and **Kasdar** of the Iron Hands. So this would bring a unique **opportunity** to show the difference between **different Legions** as they fight an common **enemy**, particularly those who remained loyalist after **Isstvan**.

**Unfortunately** I feel that these characters don't get enough to be developed and are more or less just there like the straggling **survivors** in ***The Unremembered Empire***. This story also makes a big mistake I believe, and that is to include a **traitor-arc**. Thorpe opens up the **novella** in medias res by having a **mysterious traitor** of the **Raven Guard** **attacking** one of the lesser known **commanders**. If you remember my review about the Raven Guard in ***Deliverance Lost***, you might recall that I said that if you are to have a **traitor** in your midst, you have to have built up all **characters**, preferly over more than one **book**, so we can connect with them and when the reveal comes, it truly strikes at our **hearts**.

**Thorpe** had only named a few **characters** that appeared in the **novel**, and added a few new **characters**. Instead it becomes painfully obvious "Yeah these are the bad guys." The problem in this **novella** is that we are added with a bunch of new **characters**, we can't tell them apart that easily, so it's hard to **connect** and relate to this **traitor**. Thorpe tries this "Yes there is a **traitor**, now you have to guess who it is." The **traitor** shows up for five minutes at the end and the reader is like "Whooo? Who is this?"

They are greeted by Gerith Arendi of the **Shadow Wardens**, who tells them of a **prison-world** by the name of **Carandiru**. He tells them about how he **survived** and how he found his way to them, **Corax** then says that he was forced to not go back to **Isstvan** as they had more important tasks of stopping **Horus**. This is where the **groundwork** and seeds for the **traitor-arc** is sown. **Corax** then tells him that they need to do a **psychic** evaluation to **confirm** his identity, so a **librarian** of the Legion is to search his mind. He does so **involuntarily**, but agrees to let it be done. The **librarian** says that he can be trusted but he harbours a **secret**.

They do address the **Alpha Legion**\-infiltration and the losses they suffered, and it's a little touched upon Corax sadness, but I still feel it is not nearly as emotional as **Thorpe** managed in ***Ravens Flight***. They anyway attack this **prison-world** which is guarded by a mixed force of **Emperor's Children**, Word Bearers and **Sons of Horus**.

**Napenna** tries to warn the others that he **thinks** the Primarch is walking into a trap as the **commandant** of the prison is a former **Raven Guard**. **Corax** in the midst of the battle cries out the name **Nathian** and we have the revelation of the **traitor**. And you might be wondering... who? Now we return back to the main **problem** which started in ***Deliverance Lost***. Gav **Thorpe** wrote a novel which circulated **around** distrust as the reader wouldn't know who was the **traitor**. But if you clearly looked at the **names** in the beginning and saw a name which were new, you could bet that was the **traitor**. But if there were some **elevated stories** were we as readers would have **connected** more to the characters before the revelation of traitors, we would have an emotional connection to their **betrayal**. Graham McNeill uses this trick in his novella ***The Seventh Serpent***, which could \[also\] be **spotted** a mile away, but it was still better handled.

Corax obviously shares an emotional bond to this traitor, but me as a reader do not. All I know is ***WHAT*** he is. I do not know ***WHO*** he is. Instead he comes across as a two-dimensional **moustache-twirling** Saturday morning **cartoon-villain** rather than a proper character with deep **motivations**. So it's revealed that **Nathian** was trapped under a pile of dead bodies and because he was left behind, he swore to carry out vengeance on **Corax** who barely escaped he himself. Imagined that the **character** would have been introduced in ***Deliverance Lost*** where his "**death**" would be mourned by **Corax**. And when he returns he is angry.

**Corax** becomes trapped as **Nathian** presents to him evolved Space Marines that **Fabius Bile** calls the New Men. But the other Raven Guard come and overpower the **traitors**. It becomes embarrassing when **Nathian** is reduced to a drunk. The dialogue is **cringy** as fraaakk. When a squad of deformed **Raptors** enter the room he tries to play the **superior** sitting high on the **moral pedestal**. After that **Nathian** shots himself in the head, Arendi talks with **Corax** where he is questioned about his **escape**. He there blurts out that they sacrificed members of the **Salamanders** and Iron Hands to escape. It bundles down that **Corax** begins to have a hard time in **believing** in the others.

So after ***Deliverance Lost***, there were rumors there would be a **trilogy** of **Raven Guard** Limited Edition-**novellas**, and I was so sick and tired of hearing this. Why not just write a proper darn **sequel** rather than splitting it up just to make **extra money** of people who doesn't know better? Surely ***Corax: Soulforge*** could have been skipped all **together**, but take this story, expand it to see how **Corax** learns from the other **Legions** that fight with them, use their **abilities** at what they do best as they learn from him instead of sidelining them from the story. The other **side-characters** from the other **Legions** are barely used in the story.

As far as you can get with **Gav Thorpe**, it's not the worst he has **written** but also far from the best. It was much better than ***Corax: Soulforge*** and on the same level as ***Deliverance Lost***. I gave ***Deliverance Lost*** 5 Forks, and ***Soulforge*** I gave 4 Forks. So I think it is fitting that I will give this one 5 Forks as well just because **Thorpe** is at least trying.

The next short story I'm **going** to review is ***Shadowmasters***, which is a short that **came** along the Limited Edition-novella ***Corax: Soulforge***. I forgot to review it then so I am doing it now. The story is as follows: The **Mor Deythan** stand apart from their brothers of the **Raven Guard Legion** – indeed, there are many who would claim that they do not even exist. **Blessed** with the same powers of **stealth** and **subterfuge** as their primarch Corax, the self-styled **Shadowmasters** may slip through any battlefield, unseen and unheard, until they are ready to strike. Now, as the Legion mounts its attack on the forge-temples of **Atla**s, Brother-Sergeant **Chamell** leads his warriors on a vital, clandestine mission to strike at the enemy’s heart…

It's a very short story which establishes the **Shadowmasters** which do appear in **Ravenlord**, but there isn't much more to it. A bit too short to get a bigger picture of it all, but it got me hyped just for them so just for that reason I recommend it. I will give it 4 out of 10 Forks.

The last short which I will review is called ***The Value of Fear***. Lets see what the story is all about: The **Raven Guard** under Corax continue to gather all leaderless loyalists to their banner, determined to take the fight to **Horus** and his heretics. In the industrial nightmare of the underhive, the **XIXth Legion** receive a lesson in terror tactics from the most unlikely of allies – the **Night Lords**...

After the joint operation in ***Ravenlord***, we follow the combined forces of Raven Guard and Night Lords. They have went to the planet of **Phelderus** to liberate it from human **Alpha Legion rebels**. The two characters we follow is the **Raven Guard Ashel** and the loyalist **Night Lord Kasati Nuon**, who makes a return from ***Ravenlord***. As they scare off a human, they get into a **discussion** of which tacticts are the better. **Nuon** says fright is better than stealth as the **fright** will spread to other humans in the facility. He is certain that the **scared human** will lead them to the **Alpha Legionaries**. They follow the human to a door, where they are fired upon. Right in the moment when they are to fire back, **Corax** appears and thanks them for the **diversion**.

So this is what I would have wanted more from ***Ravenlord***, joint operation between different **Legions** where different **ideologies** clashes and are explored. But this one is a bit too short to even explore that **unfortunately**. We are barely introduced to the **characters** before it's over. The problem with **Gav Thorpe** is that he assumes that just because they are of a certain **Legion** and has been mentioned before, he doesn't have to dwell into them as **characters**. **Graham McNeill** succeeded better with this in the short story ***Kryptos***. I will give this short 4 out of 10 Forks.

Link to my original reivew up on Patreon: [https://www.patreon.com/posts/book-review-nr-153028497?utm\_medium=clipboard\_copy&utm\_source=copyLink&utm\_campaign=postshare\_creator&utm\_content=join\_link](https://www.patreon.com/posts/book-review-nr-153028497?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link)

Book Review Nr. 72: "Horus Heresy — Raven Lord; Shadowmasters; & The Value of Fear." (Raven Guard)