Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Closure on the series, April 9, 2007
This review is from: Ravenor Rogue (Warhammer 40,000 Novels) (Hardcover)
Mr. Abnett's creativity is remarkable, from comic books (Wallace and Grommit, Ghostbusters), to medieval fantasy (Warhammer) and science fiction (Warhammer 40k). This third book in the Ravenor series concludes the hunt for a human criminal mastermind that spanned decades in the Warhammer 40k universe. The characters and events depicted partially coincide with Abnett's Eisenhorn trilogy. The planetary map in the book is also very helpful in explaining the universe and locations depicted.
This book opens differently from the prior two he opens from the villain's first person point of view. Throughout the series, the only first person view was of the hero Inquisitor, Ravenor. The one thing that Abnett does extremely well is describing locations and the environment, setting the scene to the reader. Characters also have distinct personalities and traits that make them unique.
Being a hardbound book, the print is larger and makes a good book for collectors and fans of the series. There are only a few action sequences with the majority of the book passing between scenes from both the protagonist (Inquisitor Ravenor) and the antagonist (Molotch, the mastermind) trying to plan and chase each other. The views and actions of the supporting characters makes the book flow from scene to scene and enjoyable to read.
The question from the book (and all his previous writings on Inquisitors fighting evil) is how do we as individuals view what is right and wrong, for not only ourselves, but for society as a whole. Can evil be used to combat evil and can it be controlled? When we see something that is obviously bad, are we able to see the truth or do we ignore the signs? And sometimes, when we see the truth and want to do sometime to stop an wrong, are we able to do what is right?
The scene where Interrogator Thonius, possessed by a daemon for years, kills a random bystander with Ravenor (located next to him) sees nothing with his companion ready to draw her weapon but is unable to stop Thonius exemplifies this theme. For years Thonius was possessed by a demon, but Ravenor was unable or unwilling to make the connection, despite the hints and changes that were occurring. Even when the daemon's energies were released in a battle, Ravenor didn't even consider his lifelong subordinate as a possible source.
At the end of the book, there is closure to the chase. The series was enjoyable and it was a fun book to read. There is also an excerpt on Abnett's upcoming book, Brothers of the Snake, at the end of the book.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A good, solid book!, June 1, 2007
This review is from: Ravenor Rogue (Warhammer 40,000 Novels) (Hardcover)
Dan Abnett is one of my favorite authors, and is definitely one of the best of those who write for game franchises. You can always count on him to deliver a good, solid adventure story, and Ravenor Rogue is no exception. Although I preferred his Eisenhorn series, Ravenor and his team are good fun too. If you like 40k and you love a good read, you could do worse than to pick this one up!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great Abnett story, comment follow, May 31, 2007
This review is from: Ravenor Rogue (Warhammer 40,000 Novels) (Hardcover)
This is a very good addition to the Ravenor series. My comments contain spoilers.
SPOILER WARNING
Abnett resolves the multi-book plot of the search for Molotch, the Slyte daemon thread, and adds a few surprises to boot. My thoughts and comments are as follows -
Molotch - Abnett, more than any author I can name, creates challenging, competent villains who are usually the equals of the protagonist. This is unlike many authors (including BL authors, some of whom just offer comic-book antagonists), and is a strong point of this book and series in general.
Early introduction of the Door allowed it to be used in the climax without too much of a taste of Deus ex Machina, though I got some of that anyway. The Door, on the other hand, would certainly seem to defy much of what is established in W40k (instantaneous travel through space and time). The only thing I have heard of this type of thing involved the emperor's project on Terra before he was not-killed.
Visit to 404, M40 - when the party escapes, how did the sword-woman (forgot the name) get her sword back? That would be kept in an evidence room or an armoury, not in the medical area. For that matter, how did they even escape, Nurse, the Chair and all, and get off the base? It seems like he skipped over writing something that might have been very hard to write believably.
I had been annoyed since the first book about Thonius's issue and the apparent blindness of Ravenor to obvious circumstantial evidence in books 1 and 2 - in fact, I had wondered if Abnett was going to write book 3 with Ravenor having suspected all along, but nope.
This book was kept to what seems to be a BL-standard 300 pages. I wonder how much material Abnett had that didn't make it into this book. The ending reminds me some of the Eisenhorn trilogy ending despite us being given far more detail here about Ravenor's probable fate. Unlike his recent Armour of Contempt, I think he was able to get a good story in 300 pages here. I do with BL would consider raising this cap.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
