Corax: Lord of Shadows

Primarchs: The Horus Heresy, Book 10

By: Guy Haley

Narrated by: Jonathan Keeble

Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's summary

A Primarchs novel

When a dread bio-weapon is unleashed in battle, turning allies upon one another, it falls to Corax and his Raven Guard to save the day - if he can balance his thirst for vengeance against the need for swift victory.

Read it because:

We've seen Corax consumed with revenge throughout the Horus Heresy - now is our opportunity to see him before his brush with Chaos, heroically saving a campaign during the Great Crusade.

The story:

During the Great Crusade, it falls to the primarch Corax of the Raven Guard to humble the immense void-cities of the Carinae. Determined to bring these worlds into compliance, he unleashes the might of his Legion and a massive war host of the Imperial Army. But the lords of Carinae are well defended and without remorse. 

At the height of the conflict, at the void-city of Zenith, a dread bio-weapon from an ancient time is unleashed. At once, the Imperial force is brought to its knees, as allies are turned against each other and the Raven Guard left to face almost insurmountable odds. As the campaign teeters on the brink of failure, Corax’s desire for vengeance is severely tested against the need for a swift and certain resolution to the war.

Written by Guy Haley.

©2019 Games Workshop Limited (P)2019 Games Workshop Limited

Bit of a let down

Has a sub plot that detracts from the main mission Corax undertakes, and has little to do with the book. I thought it lacked quite a bit of attention to the protagonist Corax, and only spends one chapter in the entire book with him in action. Even then he only showcases his abilities against nobody guards. I think it speaks volumes that for most of this book you could replace the name Corax with a random Admiral/General name and there would only be a few places in the book that it wouldn't work. For a book that is supposed to be centered on and expand a Primarchs story/character, this was a big disappointment.

Out Of Darkness

Too long has The Raven Guard mired beneath poor writing. Hayley amends; avenges thus. Nevermore.

Weak storyline for the Ravenguards

I thought the story as a whole was weak and nothing truly about their Primarch. I had wished it was more in depth. As I feel he has an interesting story.

Quoth the Primarch

Incredible insight into a complex primarch. His pain, his sense of purpose after his time before the coming of the Emperor laid bare in this story.

Good, not great

Speaking as someone who hasn't read any Raven Guard/Corax material before, I liked this book. It's not spectacular, and if you focused exclusively on the stuff that is about Corvus Corax himself you could probably cut the book down to two and a half hours, but unlike some other books in the Primarch series, that's not necessarily a bad thing.

When the focus is on Corax, it's solid. You get genuine insight into the character, how he thinks, what his strengths and flaws are, and, most interestingly, how he reconciles his anti-tyrant idealogy with serving the undisputedly tyrranical Imperium of Man. Like I said, I haven't read much about Corax or the Raven Guard before, so I did enjoy this.

The rest is... fine. The sub-plot in the latter half regarding a Marine suffering the Sable Brand was interesting, but felt superfluous. The book repeatedly cuts back to a sub-plot going on back on Corax's homeworld regarding the way things have gone since he left, which is also interesting but completely divorced from the other two thirds of the book right up until the very last chapter; while that last chapter definitely makes for some interesting listening, it didn't quite justify the amount of time spent on it through the rest of the book, and could easily have just been its own seperate short story.

All in all, I think this justified the credit. It was entertaining, and helped me get some understanding of a Primarch I've generally overlooked up until now.

Not much about Corax

Felt like a random Raven Guard story, not a whole lot of actual lore about Corax. In comparison to Guy Haley’s book about Dante, truly bring all about Dante and his lore.

great all-around

great to listen to, and I am impressed by the primach and his raven guard. I did not find many stories of Corvus Corax, I would recommend this one

Great

great! Toni the tiger style! I want to hear more about chorus. please and thank you.

Great Book!

Jumps around a bit, but very good story telling, and has a nice build up.

good book & listen. some parts unnecessary tho.

More could have been done to discuss the Moritats and the Sable-brand. The stuff going on with Khiavar was unnecessary.

Good addition to the lore of the Raven Guard

I would definitely recommend this book if your a fan of the Raven Guard, as I feel like it does justice to their legion unlike some of the Horus heresy novels, *cough cough* the corax anthology. I also feel it gives a good insight into the legions troubles and the introspective nature of their primarch, foreshadowing the legions eventual fate. Keeble's performance is as always great as well, helping to Bruce the characters to life However that being said the book didn't grab in the same way some of the HH books have. Overall, a solid book but not best in the HH and primarch series.

Mid tier in the Primarchs series

I most enjoyed the Primarchs books that she'd light on the lives of the primarchs before they met the Emperor, like Lorgar's and Perturabo's books. This book is set during the Great Crusade, but was still enjoyable and reveals new things about the Raven Guard and Corax.
I would rate this mid tier in the series, not a must read unless you really like the Ravem Guard, but still a good listen.

no corax?

it's a good book but to say it has any thing to do with coraxs is a joke, he's a side character who is mainly in the area. the book give 0 insight in to the Primark or any story of what made coraxs who he is or how he endeyup where he is. it's a good 30k book but not a book on a Primark.

Corax - a flawed Primarch

Depicts Corax as he has always been - flawed. I don't understand the people complaining about that. This is Corax at his best & worst.

one of the worst books in the whole universe

this portrays a primach who might as well be a chaos lord. it do not tell anything about him or his background only his carelessness for the humans in thr setting.
I will return this one and drop my idea of a ravenquard army

Keeble is great

As the title suggests Keeble is as usual excellent at narrating these books, far better than some others, I'm looking at you forgettable person who did the nightlords trilogy. The story is pretty standard fare and quite short, reasonably enjoyable but by no means unmissable.

Shows the best and worst of Corax

The premise is just like the equivalent Fulgrim Primarch book, our hero has to conquer a planet and through this lens we get know what makes Corax tick. Mild spoilers, he doesn't come off quite as likeable.

Listen to this if you want to know who Corax is, warts and all.

Good in parts

It could have really done with removing the main subplot and focussing more on the main story. Decent.

its an alright book

I think corax is an epic primarch. though you get plenty of insight in his thoughts, this book doesn't really have a point that makes him shine. that was a bit disappointing .

Justice Boner!

loved the story and the performance of Jonathan Keeble. Captivating and exciting. definitely recommend for raven guard fans