Review of Angels of Caliban by Gav Thorpe

A Thousand Sons by Graham McNeill and Prospero Burns by Dan Abnett are two early Horus Heresy novels. Conceived as a pair, the novels complement one another by describing the same moments in time from two different points of view. Repeating this concept are Pharos by Guy Haley and the subject of this review, Angels of Caliban (2016).

Where Pharos is set primarily on Sotha, a perimeter planet where only bits and pieces of Ultramarines and other loyalist legions perform guard duty, Angels in Caliban is primarily set in and around Macragge, the heart of Imperium Secundus. As the Night Lords descend on Sotha to attempt to take control of the Pharos beacon, so too do they look toward Macragge—to further Horus' aims by taking out the Ultramarines, Dark Angels, and Blood Angels stationed there. But not all is well in loyalist land. Internal conflict festers quietly in the Dark Angels, while Sanguinius broods over Conrad Kurze's surprise attack in Pharos. Cracks appearing in Imperium Secundus, the time may be ripe for Horus to attack.

One older and one newer, Angels of Caliban brings together two major storylines that had previously worked independently. The older storyline is that begun in Descent of Angels and carried forward in Fallen Angels. The unity and loyalty of the Dark Angels anything but clear, Angels of Caliban brings to a head conflict that has been brewing for some time—and does so with fireworks. The newer storyline is that of the Imperium Secundus. Lion El'Johnson is torn between his brothers in the Imperium and the needs and circumstances of the Dark Angels. And then another factor is thrown into his difficult geometry: the Night Lords and Conrad Kurze. In an effort to avoid dealing with the problems in his own Legion and the Imperium, the Lion goes on a manhunt across the galaxy, razing planets to get to Conrad, but in the process creates more problems than he solves. Simply put, sparks fly in the final third of the novel.

Like Guy Haley, Gav Thorpe writes a straight forward novel with a couple nicely rendered scenes. The Dark Angels destruction of a Night Lords stronghold is handled well, for example. The march, the inevitability, the cold-hearted destruction come across in both mood and description. For as innocuous as it is, it sticks out, as well as a few other, more impacting scenes which are best for the reader to discover. The prose will not knock readers off their feet, but it gets the job done.

I waffled over Pharos and whether it was a critical read in the Horus series. No waffling needed for Angels of Caliban. It is critical. The fate of the Imperium Secundus decided, as well as that of a primarch or two, readers looking to stick to the backbone of the series should consider this a vertebrae. It may not end up being among readers' favorite novels in the series, but it cannot be skipped for plot events.