Angels of Caliban

Angels of Caliban by Gav Thorpe is the thirty-eighth installment in the Horus Heresy series. It follows two branches of the Dark Angels Legion, those in the Imperium Secundus as they go to extremes in the hunt for Konrad Curze, and those on Caliban as various factions manoeuvre for power.

Angels of Caliban is the Dark Angels novel I've been waiting for since Fallen Angels, and Gav Thorpe did not disappoint. The basics of the Imperium Secundus are well-established by this point in the series but Gav manages to present a new take on it, foregrounding the tensions between co-rulers Jonson, Guilliman and Sanguinius and writing Angels of Caliban as much like a political drama as a war novel. Caliban, on the other hand, has been out of the series' eye for a while now and Gav returns to it in triumph, weaving together a complex plot of scheme and counter-scheme as secret rebels Luther, Astelan and Zahariel pursue their separate agendas. Both plots are tense and engaging, but I found myself more drawn to the events on Caliban because they were a completely new segment of the story, revealing that there was much more to Caliban's rebellion than simply Luther's fall.

One of Angels of Caliban's biggest selling points was that it reveals hidden secrets about the history and traditions of the Dark Angels, and Gav Thorpe has done something very different in regards to this by exploring the ancient history of the Space Marines. Through Astelan's memories, readers learn that the Dark Angels Legion existed in a different form before any of the other Legions were made, as an army of the very first Space Marines that was divided into specialist battlegroups called 'wings' and commanded by the Emperor himself. These 'Angels of Death' became the First Legion after the other nineteen were created and then the Dark Angels after discovering Lion El'Jonson on Caliban, but the 'wings' system was preserved and continues to exist, marines from different wings scattered across the companies but ready to form into their battlegroup when the command is given. Most prominent in Angels of Caliban are the Dreadwing, who specialise in total war and have access to archaic and devastating weapons. Their methods prove to be the undoing of the Imperium Secundus, when with the Lion's sanction they breach a rule made by Sanguinius and go to extremes in order to hunt down Konrad Curze, who is loose on Macragge. The final battle sequence between the Lion and Curze is epic, and I derived great satisfaction from Jonson beating Curze into submission, but Angels of Caliban makes it clear that in his own way Jonson is just as bad a villain as Curze, and his actions destroy the alliance that held the Imperium Secundus together.

Events are no less drastic on Caliban, where the fist ever visit by loyalist Dark Angels throws the rebel Angels into a frenzy of scheming. The novel provides us with a welcome return to Zahariel, a character we haven't seen for twenty-seven books, who becomes enthralled to the Chaos power buried beneath Caliban and is well on the way to becoming a Chaos sorcerer by the story's end. Just as interesting is the character of Astelan, who sided with Luther's rebellion because he hates the Lion and the changes he has made the Legion but holds no loyalty to Luther and considers himself a loyal warrior of the Emperor, believing that the Dark Angels should return to the old days when they were the Angels of Death. All the scheming comes to fruition with Caliban formally declaring its rebellion, and the revelation of a long-held secret as one of the characters becomes the new Lord Cypher.

Angels of Caliban is a fantastic novel, full of intrigue, drama and revelations. and it has repercussions not just for the Horus Heresy but the entire 40K universe. It is absolutely essential reading.