Angels of Caliban: 38 (The Horus Heresy)

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I would strongly recommend that you read Descent of Angels, Fallen Angels, the novella The Lion, The Unremembered Empire, and Pharos, at a minimum. All the same though, there is a payoff for it in the end, and soon we are back on Macragge as the Lion learns just how much of a fool he’s been made by Curze. Whilst the reasons for Luther's secession from the Imperium and his motives are made quite clear, it did appear that I had missed quite a lot of events, many characters had experienced things that I don't think I have yet read. Don’t get me wrong, ANGELS OF DARKNESS stills packs the heavy hitting action the war-game is known for, but it also delves deeply into the history of one of 40k’s most mysterious factions.

Everyone feels distinct, even some of the secondary characters like Holguin of the Deathwing and Farith of the Dreadwing, which we also get to see in action here for the first time. Still, it’s aggravating that they have a traitor primarch in their grasp and fail to kill him but Thorpe manages to make the pill far less bitter and bring Imperium Secundus to a satisfying conclusion. In these opening salvos, Gav introduces entirely new formations of the Dark Angels that I’ve never come across before, four formations other than the “known” Deathwing and the Ravenwing. I assumed, from the cover, that this title was about the Lion hunting down Konrad Curze in the Ultramar system.

There are several tales-within-tales in my Dark Angels stories, some of which have overlapping chronologies or reveal secrets or events from earlier novels.

He also has no qualms about manipulating others, including his brothers, and using half truths and lies to achieve what he want. They are all grappling with this new reality, not to mention their own roles in the Imperium or rebellion. Horus’s appreciation for the efforts of even the least consequential mortal auxiliaries is a firm reminder of why people are so willing and eager to follow his lead.Meanwhile back on Caliban, the Dark Angels tasked with garrisoning the homeworld, led by Luther, Astelan and Zahariel, are a mess of conflicting loyalties, ambitions and mysteries. I know the events on Caliban are important to the story, they just aren’t nearly as interesting to me as what else is happening in the Heresy. Through voted-lieutenant Farith Redloss we learn about the previously unknown Dreadwing of the Dark Angels and readers are treated to watching the relentless way they do battle.

As mentioned earlier Lion El’Jonson really can be a bully and while I can’t agree with his methods I find it easy to appreciate him as a character. Together, the legionaries approached Horus's throne, and Typhone told Luther that Litus of the Mournival was working with him. The following information is not to be regarded as officially sanctioned and/ or is not written from an in-universe point of view.

And it brought back some great Luna Wolves characters like Tarik Torgaddon and Garviel Loken, whom I’ve missed enormously since they died during the betrayal at Istvaan III. Ten millennia later, Vashtorr the Arkifane corrupted the ruins of Caliban with his techno-sorcery, transforming it into a mobile planetoid dubbed Wyrmwood. ANGELS OF CALIBAN takes place 10,000 years before ANGELS OF DARKNESS, during the Horus Heresy, and fills in more of the details of the I legion’s shameful past. And, for those of us who know more about 40k lore, the tragedy is that Curze is mostly right… For the main, each recent book has done a good job of rounding out the Primarchs — especially since the rebellion was revealed and picked up.

It provided him with ways to explore the Legion's nature, and the Lion's unrelenting hunt, which stood in stark contrast to Guilliman's diplomacy, which obviously led to the two brethren butting heads. As the book ended, I still found myself feeling sympathy for the Lion's adoptive father-brother, rather than see him as the arch traitor he is considered in the 41st Millennium. But when word comes of the Night Lords' attack on Sotha, the Lion's brutal actions bring Imperium Secundus once again to the brink of civil war. DarkChaplain is a big nerd who spends too much time reading and thinking about books, organizing them on his ever-growing shelves, and yet increases his backlog by the month.

However, as we already know from events that transpire in Guy Haley’s Pharos, the Night Haunter is not abroad in Ultramar, trying to evade capture by the Lion, but on Macragge itself, and the Lion is out on a wild goose chase that grows more frustrating with every day that passes. Maybe then he wouldn’t have been so welcoming to Typhon when his Death Guard blundered into the Caliban system. Once more we see the good intentions of the Calibanites, while also seeing the tragedy their actions summon to their world. I've got a few short story reviews I might manage to type up in the coming days ( Exocytosis and The Last Son of Prospero), but no promises right now. This was a super solid story that evoked more emotions and opinions from me then any other Horus Heresy story has yet.