Caliban, a dark world of primal forests and monstrous beasts, here mankind struggles to survive. It is the 31st millennium, mankind has long since left its birth rock and stretched out across the stars in a golden age of colonization and scientific progress, but as with all things it could not last. Soon civil war erupted and as brother fought brother whole planets became consumed by fire as the darkness of The Age of Strife settled over mankind. Millennia past by and as the ages went on the people of Caliban devolved into a feudal society, struggling generation after generation to survive the harsh, beast infested, forests of Caliban. Out of the darkness rose The Order, a knightly group of men dedicated to the defense of Caliban's people. The Order was lead by a man named Lion El’Johnson. A warrior, intellect, and man without peer Lion El’Johnson lead The Order on a crusade to rid Caliban of the Great Beasts and it is here, after his training and initiation, which the protagonist, Zahariel, joins with Lion on his quest. As the crusade reaches its conclusion the future of the people of Caliban seems bright but the destruction of the beasts threatens to remove the purpose of the knightly orders. What will become of The Order and of Zahariel? The answer to those questions roars in on wings of fire as the Emperor and his angels descend from the heavens to reclaim his lost son, the super human Lion. Here Lion is shown his true purpose, to help his father reunite the lost fragments of humanity and protect them from the evils that lie within the cosmos. Lion and his Order join with the Emperor and become the Dark Angels Astartes, post human warriors charged with conducting the Great Crusade in the Emperors name, and they soon learn that the cosmos is full of beasts far worse than the beasts of Caliban and that only the light of the Emperor can truly defeat them.Darkness and light, both elements are abundant throughout Descent of Angels. Darkness through out the novel is represented by the forest itself and is brought to life in the form of the Great Beasts who destroy and devour the helpless citizens of Caliban. Light is represented throughout the novel by Zhariel and Lion, both of whom believe that they can overcome the evils of the Beasts and provide a better future for the people of Caliban. The struggle between the two forces of Light and Dark culminates with the destruction of the Beasts and the arrival of the Emperor who shows Lion and Zhariel that the fight against evil is an ongoing struggle and that they are destined to join him in reuniting and protecting humanity across the stars.
