I am only about 3/4 of the way through, but holy frikkin wow!! There are so many indirect references to so many things:






**********************SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS****************************************** *****
This on page 248: "The rumor had persisted, fueled by past atrocities, that only a Primarch could kill a Primarch."
So maybe 2 and 11 killed each other?????

On page 117: Bjorn is locked in to a cramped one-Astartes boarding torpedo, and thinks to himself: "This is how dreadnoughts must feel, the poor *******s". We all know what happens to Bjorn (and at this point in the story he has already lost his hand), but still, the foreshadowing is a nice nod.

Page 73: Malcador, admonishing Dorn!:"You brothers - such a nest of rivalries. I warned him [yes, a lowercase 'H' when referencing he Emperor] to make you sisters, that it would make things more civilized. He thought I was joking. I wasn't." <--All the fans out there almost had there female Space Marines, had Malcador had his way! I know from past fluff that Malcador is second only to the Emperor in psychic might, but was still blown away by his familiar tone with Dorn, and his casual reference of the Emp. Has there been a back story on Malcador? And whatever happened to him (I assume he died, being a mortal, but having that level of psychic I thought perhaps he became a Perpetual, or something).

Finally, the Khan and his legion: the seem very carefree and nonchalant, not making an impression on anyone (The Khan's officers constantly elude to how the other legions have simply forgotten about them, and that is there source of angst). But, apparently the Khan immediately ignored the outcome of the Council of Nikaea, and yet no punishment was visited upon him for it. However, Jaghatai did not try to psychically break in to the Throne Room either, so I wonder, had Magnus left well enough alone, if the Emp would have just let the legions ignore the Council's edict? Did we ever actually hear the Emperor's voice during the Council? It just seems like it could have been a fatherly formality for the Emp to tell his sons "stop looking at my girly magazines" *wink* and that would have been it, had Magnus not persisted.

This book truly portrays the utter chaos of the rebellion, with the only side knowing what's transpiring being the Word Bearers (heck, I don't Horus fully knew the extent of what Erebus and friends had planned out).

Please comment, I would like to see other points of view!