Konrad Curze: The Night Haunter – Guy Haley

The twelfth novel in Black Library’s The Horus Heresy Primarchs series, Konrad Curze: The Night Haunter is Guy Haley’s third contribution and by a comfortable margin his most unconventional one yet. A twitchy, jittery collection of characters and plot threads, it sees Curze – twisted, haunted, damaged – spending the final hours of his life reliving some of the key events which led him inevitably to a moment he’d long foreseen. Crouched in the darkness, talking in his madness to a (literally and figuratively) distant father, his only thoughts are to justify his monstrous actions and find vindication in light of the Emperor’s own cold contempt.

Or at least, that’s one possible interpretation of the book, of the events it describes and of Curze’s intentions and motivations. Anyone hoping for a decisive conclusion as to whether the Night Lords’ Primarch and his actions were justified or otherwise may be disappointed, as that’s not what this book is about. Instead, via a structure which reflects its protagonist’s fragile, fractured mental state, it’s a story which offers fascinating insights into the dark places of Curze’s mind (for those brave enough to venture therein) but doesn’t try to make definitive judgements. The Night Haunter’s early years; his understanding of his role within the Imperium and the Great Crusade; his perspective on the changes taking place within his Legion; the destruction of Nostramo; how he reaches Tsagualsa…all these and more are described, but by the most unreliable of narrators.

The multiple strands and characters make for an interesting stylistic choice, just about bound together by the overarching narrative of Curze in his final moments (long after the Heresy has ended) searching for some kind of validation or vindication. At times it’s a little tricky to find a focused through-note, feeling like lots of little vignettes rather than a single cohesive story, especially considering just how many named Night Lords characters pop up for varying lengths of time. It’s interesting to see all of these characters and how Curze relates to them, each thread exploring a little more of his character and how it shaped his Legion, but the downside is a bit of a lack of focus, at least for parts of the book. What the structure does do very well, however, is reinforce the notion of just how jumbled up, complex and contradictory this character really is.

While this might not be the most comfortable of reads – not least because of the inevitable moments of entirely appropriate but still genuinely unpleasant violence and darkness – it’s undoubtedly worth it for the opportunity to see a little more of Curze’s side of the story. Not to mention the parallels Haley is able to draw between Curze and Corax, whose Primarchs novel he also wrote. It’s not a book which provides straight answers, but instead it offers a sharp, insightful representation of a complex character which actively encourages the reader to draw their own conclusions. Was Curze’s fate inevitable? Could he have turned out differently under other circumstances? Was the Emperor ‘right’ to use him in the way he did…answers of a sort are provided, but it’s for each reader to decide whether – or how much – to sympathise with Curze.

Check out the main Horus Heresy reviews page on Track of Words.

Click here to buy Konrad Curze: The Night Haunter (or here to buy the audiobook).