Ravenor (Ravenor 1)

Rating:
Summary: Yet another Abnett success.
Review: In my opinion, Dan Abnett is far and away the most accomplished author in the current Black Library fold. He has an uncanny ability to whisk his readers away to futuristic, alien settings that are both delightfully wondrous and yet utterly convincing at the same time. A master of character-driven "low fantasy", Abnett never permits these exotic locales to either overwhelm his rich, three dimensional characters or to overshadow the captivating adventures upon which they lead us. Ravenor is yet another Abnett success.

Ravenor picks up some years after the events chronicled in the Eisenhorn trilogy and takes us along as Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor and his retinue investigate the spiraling use of a hallucinogenic drug with possible xenos origins. As the primary protagonist, Inquisitor Ravenor is perhaps even more compelling than his irascible mentor, Eisenhorn. Disembodied and entombed in a forbidding block of seemingly impenetrable ceramite armor, Ravenor is nonetheless eminently human and oftentimes strikingly vulnerable. Perceptive yet fallible, confident yet conflicted, compassionate yet unforgiving, Ravenor is the very best that humanity has to offer in a time of desperate struggle.

If the novel falls somewhat short of the author's best work, same is due in large part to the fact that the antagonists are for the most part not the ruthless, terrifying villains that we have come to expect from an Abnett offering. And while the elusive drug at the center of the story is nothing short of brilliant in terms of its nature and origins, its potential nonetheless remains largely unrealized. These two admittedly minor criticisms lead me to suspect that this book is but the first in a series that will further explore the full extent of the dangers posed by mankind's foolish attempt to harness xenos technology irrevocably corrupted by the pernicious effects of the Warp.

Rating:
Summary: Good but not Great
Review: Ravenor is a good effort by Dan Abnett who is, I would assume, the crowned king of Black Library and Games Workshop fiction. I did not find this one as good as his Eisenhorn series, however, simply because it was too choppy. Shifting point-of-views from character to character occurred too frequently for my tastes... sometimes 2-3 times per page. It was difficult for me to keep things in focus. But I'd say it's still a cut above many other 40k novels.

Rating:
Summary: Another good effort from Abnett
Review: Well, Dan Abnett has once again produced a winner. Ravenor contains the same great characterization as his many other Warhammer 40k novels, as well as a solid amount of carnage.

However, there are a few things I found to detract, unfortunately. The narrative viewpoint switches back and forth from third person to first (Ravenor himself). While not terrible, I think that a complete work in third person would have been acceptable. Also, as a number of the main characters also appeared in the Eisenhorn trilogy, there are allusions to some of their pasts which were detailed in that series but which will be unfamiliar to readers of just this book. There were a number of typos as well, not the usual case for Abnett's works in my experience.

Nevertheless, the story moves fast, with good action and progress. The plot revolves around Ravenor and company attempting to locate the source of a chaos-inspired drug in use on Imperium worlds. It leads them to lawless regions in which they are accosted by aliens, traitors, and renegades. It was clear pretty early on that this was to be the first book in a series, as there were a number of loose ends left unaddressed.

This was still a great book. It was really enjoyable to read again of some of the compatriots of Eisenhorn. There are some fond mentions of him from those who knew him, tying this new series to that one even more than the inclusion of returning characters. This book continues the high-quality that Abnett established in that trilogy, and I look forward eagerly to the next installment. This book was worth the hardcover price!