Starting a new trilogy of books about the Dark Angels Space Marine chapter, Ravenwing tells the story of an astartes who just joined the Ravenwing company and is becoming initiated in the inner circles and secrets of the chapter.
The famous Sammael, company master, is present through the book, and the story, which I don't want to spoil, beings with the investigation of a distress signal in one of the planets that the Dark Angels use to recruit future marines. Things of course will go wrong, and secrets will be sometimes told sometimes kept hidden between battle brothers.
Having my SM marine composed of Dark Angels was a clear target for reading this summer. While the book pacing is sometimes a bit slow and you're left with the desire of more, how the chapter's secretive inner circles, rites and how the Ravenwing behaves is nicely depicted and will provide with "food" for those of us that like to know more about the sons of the Lion.
The way the author has made the Ravenwing bikes more present that you would initially imagine in a miriad of situations and scenarios is quite clever, not abused nor underused. Also how other normal chapters would feel of the Dark Angels sometimes strange actions in the battlefield (done to try to hunt the Fallen) gets interestingly depicted.
Although the book is chronologically set after another book I'll review soon, The Purging of Kadillus, can be read on its own.