Angels of Caliban: 38 (The Horus Heresy)

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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.

Plot-wise, with the exception of an interesting glimpse back to the Great Crusade this remains focused on the two narratives – the Lion’s hunt for Curze and how that brings him into conflict with his other brothers, and the power struggle on distant Caliban. Then there’s a brief bit in PHAROS where he’s nearly assassinated and in ANGELS OF CALIBAN he’s too preoccupied with his visions of the future to do much more than intervene when Lion and Roboute come to a an impasse. Without offering any spoilers, this is clearly a junction novel which kicks various characters off onto new, or more solid paths; in Luther’s case it’s a question of plans coming to fruition, while the Lion’s arrogance and secret-keeping are increasingly challenged, as is the ongoing success – or otherwise – of Imperium Secundus. 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.A planetoid of roiling Warp madness and infernal Daemonic industry, Wyrmwood was heavily garrisoned by the Cult of the Arkifane and Vashtorr's other allies.

The encounter between Lion and Curze is exhilarating in a way that the majority of the primarch duels have so far failed to grip me.

Many things are implied, few are outright stated, and a lot of them are pulled directly into question again. Around the planet, the warp shifted as the dark powers realised they had failed again and a warp storm spewed forth around the planet. With the Dark Angels Legion spread across a hundred systems, Primarch Lion El'Jonson stands as Lord Protector of Ultramar -- though his true motives are known to few indeed, and old rivalries on the homeworld threaten to tear the Legion in half. There are so many great titles in the Horus Heresy so far so it feels disingenuous to say that ANGELS OF CALIBAN is “one of the best” so instead I’ll say that I expect it to live on for a long time in my memory in much the same way as ANGELS OF DARKNESS. I have charted this tale across the Time of Legends series through to the Warhammer: End Times, at its centre the story of Aenarion’s benighted son Malekith.

Once more we see the good intentions of the Calibanites, while also seeing the tragedy their actions summon to their world. But then, he is also superbly intriguing and has a lot of knowledge to reveal - if you dare trust any of his words. Because keep in mind, the First Legion was just that at the beginning of the Great Crusade, the First Legion, and Merir Astelan was the a warrior of the First Legion during that time, when the Emperor himself directly commanded them in war, both at the end of the Unification Wars and during the Crusade itself. A lot of this may not seem that odd for Space Marines, but it’s juxtaposed against Guilliman and the Ultramarines, who have a very different view of the role of Space Marines.His works include the hugely popular Angels of Darkness, the Last Chancers series and the ongoing epic tale of The Sundering. This is definitely my favorite Heresy novel/story from Gav Thorpe and probably up there near the top of my favorite Heresy stories all together. He was not sure that he belonged wholly to either, and it had been so much easier to concertrate on conquest after conquest, leaving the domestic concerns to others far more capable. Sanguinius frustrates me a bit in this as he just takes an apathetic stance on the whole issue and lets his brother’s fight it out instead of stepping in with his power as Emperor. The interactions between Luther and the Dark Angels on Caliban also propel the novel along with the velocity of a Thunderhawk gunship.