Review of Pharos by Guy Haley

In Act II of the Horus Heresy, a couple strong symbols emerge. One is most certainly Vulkan's immortality; his body can be killed time and time again, but he keeps coming back to life in one form or another. Another clear symbol is Pharos, the beacon of light shining in the Ruinstorm that the loyalists use to withstand Horus' attack. Guy Haley's book of the same name (2015) takes the Heresy to the beacon's location to see which direction the needle of power swings in the aftermath.

Pharos is a novel firmly in the Imperium Secundus phase of stories. With Guillaume and El'Johnson holding down the loyalists' fort in Macragge (see Angels of Caliban), bits and pieces of Ultramarines and a scattering of other legions hold the perimeter, including the alien beacon on Mount Pharos. Watching in the shadows, waiting their moment for a surprise attack, are the Night Lords. Pharos' light leading Konrad Kurze's men to the fight, the secrets of the one thing mysteriously keeping the Loyalists connected are finally revealed.

As stated, the beacon on Pharos has been a symbol of light and hope to the loyalists. Guiding ships through the ruinstorm and allowing for instantaneous communication, it has been invaluable to the Imperium Secundus beating off the Night Lords, Death Guard, and other traitor legions. It's also an unexplained artifact. Even the Ultramarines have little idea how or why it works, only that it works. In a clear Major Event in the Heresy timeline, the Night Lords and Ultramarines duke it out for ownership of the Pharos object, and in the process reveal its secrets.

I struggle to decide whether Pharos is a critical novel in the Heresy timeline. For readers hopping and skipping their way through the series, is this one umissable? I come down on 'maybe'. For people reading the Imperium Secundus books, or who enjoy Ultramarines or Night Lords, don't skip this. They are the focus. For people who are not interested in these aspects, the reason to read then boils down to: are the events which occur critical to the overarching storyline? I think the general answer is yes. But deeper still, are the events large enough to warrant a full novel? Could it be summed in a paragraph elsewhere? Paragraph, no. Novella, yes...

In the end, Pharos is a solid but unexceptional Horus Heresy novel. There are a handful of well written scenes, but the whole is straight-forward, workaday Heresy material. As with many Heresy novels, Haley concludes things with a big bang that has repercussions going forward. But is it a critical read in the series? That will be up to the reader to decide, which means better safe than sorry.