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Warhammer 40,000
Atlas Infernal
Inquisitor Bronislaw Czevak is a hunted man. Escaping from the Black Library of the eldar, Czevak steals the Atlas Infernal – a living map of the Webway. With this fabled artefact and his supreme intellect, Czevak foils the predations of the Harlequins sent to apprehend him and thwarts his enemies within the Inquisition who want to kill him. Czevak’s deadliest foe, however, is Ahriman – arch-sorcerer of the Thousand Sons. He desires the knowledge within the Black Library, knowledge that can exalt him to godhood, and is willing to destroy the inquisitor to obtain it. A desperate chase that will bend the fabric of reality ensues, where Czevak’s only hope of survival is to outwit the chosen of Tzeentch, Lord of Chaos and Architect of Fate. Failure is unconscionable, the very cost to the Imperium unimaginable.
416 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 28, 2011
18 people are currently reading
345 people want to read
About the author
Rob Sanders
114 books86 followersRob Sanders is the author of twelve novels, as well as numerous anthologised short stories, novellas, audio dramas, computer games and comics. His fiction has won national writing competitions, been featured on the BBC and appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list. His poetry has been short listed in national contests. He lives off the beaten track in the small city of Lincoln, UK.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
December 28, 2020
This was a reread of a novel that I had read in the waning days of my University life, back in 2014 or 13, I do believe. For only the second or third published novel for Mr. Sanders, this one has to stand as his best work.
Atlas Infernal, (named after a long stolen Imperial tome of forbidden knowledge, from the ancient days of the Imperium, made shortly after the Horus Heresy, subsequently stolen by the Space Elves, er, Eldar who then secreted it within their hidden Craftworld: the Black Library) is a story which follows the exploits of one of the more notable Inquisitors of the Holy Ordo's: Bronislaw Czevak.
Sanders writes Czevak with a flair, and humorous wit, that is fantastic. Seeing as how Czevak is over four centuries old (rejuvenate treatments, and exposure to Eldar healing techniques as well as simply being immersed around them, in their web way, offers up the benefit of a reversal of the cellular degeneration process), Czevak, although inhabiting a once again young and athletic body, had the mind of a truly ancient man, and the crotchety, snappish, uncaring and unapologetically smartass-ish personality and temperament of a truly grumpy old man. It genuinely makes for some laugh out loud moments of hilarity.
But his story is not one that is all laughs and smiles.
Czevak is a hunted man.
Hunted by daemons of the Warp who want revenge against him for outsmarting them. Hunted by fellow Inquisitors who despise him for his close, even friendly (it's slightly hinted at a possible romantic past link with Czevak and an Eldar women) working relationship with the xenos Eldar. He is hunted by a troupe of Harlequins who are tasked with bringing him, and the Atlas Infernal, back to the Black Library as a prisoner. And, worst of all, he is hunted by arch sorcerer of the Thousand Sons Chaos Space Marines Legion: Azhek Ahriman.
Sanders is one of the more highly intellectual writers who have worked with Black Library, and his egg-head nature seeps through the page; his lexicon is enormous, and his mastery of the English language is something that is verging upon high literature. However, he knows how to write rocking action scene, and big scale set piece, so don't forget that this isn't literature, but pulp sci-fantasy (and that is absolutely fine, by the way).
I truly adore this novel. I enjoyed it more thoroughly the second time through, and really wish it earned the recognition it deserves from fans of the Warhammer universes, but also the denizens of the Black Library itself.
A great read. Highly recommended.
Atlas Infernal, (named after a long stolen Imperial tome of forbidden knowledge, from the ancient days of the Imperium, made shortly after the Horus Heresy, subsequently stolen by the Space Elves, er, Eldar who then secreted it within their hidden Craftworld: the Black Library) is a story which follows the exploits of one of the more notable Inquisitors of the Holy Ordo's: Bronislaw Czevak.
Sanders writes Czevak with a flair, and humorous wit, that is fantastic. Seeing as how Czevak is over four centuries old (rejuvenate treatments, and exposure to Eldar healing techniques as well as simply being immersed around them, in their web way, offers up the benefit of a reversal of the cellular degeneration process), Czevak, although inhabiting a once again young and athletic body, had the mind of a truly ancient man, and the crotchety, snappish, uncaring and unapologetically smartass-ish personality and temperament of a truly grumpy old man. It genuinely makes for some laugh out loud moments of hilarity.
But his story is not one that is all laughs and smiles.
Czevak is a hunted man.
Hunted by daemons of the Warp who want revenge against him for outsmarting them. Hunted by fellow Inquisitors who despise him for his close, even friendly (it's slightly hinted at a possible romantic past link with Czevak and an Eldar women) working relationship with the xenos Eldar. He is hunted by a troupe of Harlequins who are tasked with bringing him, and the Atlas Infernal, back to the Black Library as a prisoner. And, worst of all, he is hunted by arch sorcerer of the Thousand Sons Chaos Space Marines Legion: Azhek Ahriman.
Sanders is one of the more highly intellectual writers who have worked with Black Library, and his egg-head nature seeps through the page; his lexicon is enormous, and his mastery of the English language is something that is verging upon high literature. However, he knows how to write rocking action scene, and big scale set piece, so don't forget that this isn't literature, but pulp sci-fantasy (and that is absolutely fine, by the way).
I truly adore this novel. I enjoyed it more thoroughly the second time through, and really wish it earned the recognition it deserves from fans of the Warhammer universes, but also the denizens of the Black Library itself.
A great read. Highly recommended.
March 9, 2014
At he end of the day, "Atlas Infernal" is an increasingly frustrating read.
The premise and story are good, with the potential to be excellent. All the makings of an amazing adventure are there: the right setting, the right characters, the right circumstances...
Unfortunately, the writing is where the book fails, feeling often clumsy and contrived. There are even some instances when you can plainly picture the author sifting through a thesaurus whilst looking for fancy sounding word to insert, even when it's use at the time would make no sense.
The premise and story are good, with the potential to be excellent. All the makings of an amazing adventure are there: the right setting, the right characters, the right circumstances...
Unfortunately, the writing is where the book fails, feeling often clumsy and contrived. There are even some instances when you can plainly picture the author sifting through a thesaurus whilst looking for fancy sounding word to insert, even when it's use at the time would make no sense.
July 22, 2021
Rick and Morty in 40k
When halfway trough this book I suddenly realised this is a new adventure of Rick&Morty! Everything fits. The portalgun, the galactic police trailing him. The extreme knowledge and inventfullnes of Rick. All of his other character traits are there as wel. Even his below the surface sadness, loneliness and
Morty is just the same: playing it safe, wanting to go to the authority’s, Gatting mad for ricks irresponsibility etc etc
If you like and know the series, you will see the similarities.
Book is Oke though. Like Abnetts eisenhorn on bad acid.
When halfway trough this book I suddenly realised this is a new adventure of Rick&Morty! Everything fits. The portalgun, the galactic police trailing him. The extreme knowledge and inventfullnes of Rick. All of his other character traits are there as wel. Even his below the surface sadness, loneliness and
Morty is just the same: playing it safe, wanting to go to the authority’s, Gatting mad for ricks irresponsibility etc etc
If you like and know the series, you will see the similarities.
Book is Oke though. Like Abnetts eisenhorn on bad acid.
December 9, 2016
OK, I admit it. My guilty little literary secret is my love for books where blokes with big guns blast aliens into pools of green slime. And there's no better universe for blasting aliens than the Warhammer 40k one: orcs, tyrannids (think Alien but hordes of them), the Tau (sort of like the Borg), necrons (metal zombies), Chaos (basically Michael Moorcock's demons from the Elric era of his writing transplanted into outer space). And, of course, the eldar - basically elves in space but with spiky guns rather than shiny swords. In fact, the only failing of the Warhammer 40k universe is its unrelenting grimness - it's really a world of wonders, only no one seems to have realised it yet!
One of the tropes of the universe that I particularly like is how it riffs on aspects of Tridentine Catholicism to inform the human world - for Imperium think Magisterium. Not least among the parallels is the Inquisition and, since you never expect the Space Inquisition, it has carte blanche to travel anywhere in this future, whereas other parts of the Imperium are more restricted. The Inquisitors even deal with alien species, which is just what Inquisitor Bronislaw Czevak does here: he travels the webways of the eldar (a tube system to the stars, but with fewer delays and no copies of Metro blowing on the line). So if, like me, you find the Warhammer 40k universe a place of wonder rather than just an arena for blasting aliens into alien gore, then this is a particularly good effort from the Black Library. So I've rather contradicted what I said at the beginning: my guilty secret is guns and marvels, and you'll find them here.
One of the tropes of the universe that I particularly like is how it riffs on aspects of Tridentine Catholicism to inform the human world - for Imperium think Magisterium. Not least among the parallels is the Inquisition and, since you never expect the Space Inquisition, it has carte blanche to travel anywhere in this future, whereas other parts of the Imperium are more restricted. The Inquisitors even deal with alien species, which is just what Inquisitor Bronislaw Czevak does here: he travels the webways of the eldar (a tube system to the stars, but with fewer delays and no copies of Metro blowing on the line). So if, like me, you find the Warhammer 40k universe a place of wonder rather than just an arena for blasting aliens into alien gore, then this is a particularly good effort from the Black Library. So I've rather contradicted what I said at the beginning: my guilty secret is guns and marvels, and you'll find them here.
September 15, 2024
Sanders prose is strangely playful for a 40k book, which can writhe and fountain into archipelagos of baroque prose, but with gravitas and a slathering of gloom. Sanders has that, but also a tone of the ridiculous;
"Like a swirling ball of bloodied vomit, the planet hung there, an afront to itself."
Czevak is a slight throwback to a more Rogue-Trader-era influenced inquisitor, with more of a Time Lord vibe than the classic stormcoated investigator. He rarely carries weapons, keeps everything in a very Dr-Who-ish harlequin coat, likes leaping about the place and devouring information and outwits enemies with improvisational schemes. With his handy portable webway gate and the titular guide, he can pop up wherever he likes or wherever Sanders plot requires, allowing him to leap from scene to scene like a dancing hero. I can see him being friends with Obiwan Sherlock Cluseau.
Things move fast. Czevak thinks things through in less than a paragraph, worlds are swapped chapter to chapter, resources gathered from mysterious crypts in one and lost just as quickly in another. Sanders may be making things up as he goes along, writing the whole book in a pointillist manner; putting in things he likes and then just connecting them, re-writing to shove basketfuls of chekovian guns, lamps, secrets and characters in here and there, or likely is doing all of these things. The 'bouncing' plot matches the spirit of the character.
I read this after finishing the latest Ahriman book, book 5, which, [SPOILERS] time-loops everything back to the Second Rubric and cancels it, sending Ahriman off on a search for the Black Library of Chaos! Just like our Classic Ahriman should be; racing around shouting at clowns.
That sent me back to a rarely-spoken of Inquisition book by Rob Sanders partly because I suspect the _next_ Ahriman book may be written as a mirror-text to Atlas Infernal. Ahriman is meant to be the main enemy of Bronislaw Czevak and acts as the looming villain in Atlas Infernal, encountering Czevak in person once, fighting some Harlequins, and generally chasing after him and dicking him around.
So, will Ahriman Book 6 actually include the events of Atlas Infernal from the other perspective? We will have to wait a couple of years to find out.
June 11, 2019
I wanted a violent action novel set in the Warhammer 40K Universe and this gave me most of what I wanted.
There is the requisite action with characters dying horribly, and the inclusion of Eldar (Elves) into the story was a welcome on--I can't seem to find enough books that have them.
The main villains are Chaos characters, which in my outings with this franchise seem to be the go-to villains. Sadly, there was nothing new with these characters.
The protagonists. led by Inquisitor Czevak, are a good bunch. The cast isn't huge, so it was easy to get to know the characters and sweat every blow or wound that they receive.
The plot revolves Czevak's escape from the Eldar's Dark Library with the Atlas Infernal, a map of doorways (think Time Bandits) to travel around in Warp Space. Cool idea, but it's not really touched on until the end.
I haven't read a W40K book in a year, and this fed my need. Will I return for more in this franchise. Sure.
There is the requisite action with characters dying horribly, and the inclusion of Eldar (Elves) into the story was a welcome on--I can't seem to find enough books that have them.
The main villains are Chaos characters, which in my outings with this franchise seem to be the go-to villains. Sadly, there was nothing new with these characters.
The protagonists. led by Inquisitor Czevak, are a good bunch. The cast isn't huge, so it was easy to get to know the characters and sweat every blow or wound that they receive.
The plot revolves Czevak's escape from the Eldar's Dark Library with the Atlas Infernal, a map of doorways (think Time Bandits) to travel around in Warp Space. Cool idea, but it's not really touched on until the end.
I haven't read a W40K book in a year, and this fed my need. Will I return for more in this franchise. Sure.
May 20, 2017
I've recently started to really pursue Inquisition stories. Bronislaw Czevak is a High Inquisitor of the Ordo Xenos in possession of a very overdue book from the Black Library. He is pursued by both Harlequins and Ahzek Ahriman, since they all want to capture him and use him for their own purposes.
The story is not told in a linear fashion, which was confusing, and there's some of the physical harm to female characters that is unfortunately typical of 40k novels. (E.g., Grey Knights murdering Sisters of Battle for the sanctifying property of their blood.) Still, it has the usual group dynamic found with an Inquisitor's entourage, and I find that dynamic to be the best thing about any Inquisitor story. This isn't a new book, but with Carrion Throne out now, I hope to find myself more Inquisitorial tales in the future.
The story is not told in a linear fashion, which was confusing, and there's some of the physical harm to female characters that is unfortunately typical of 40k novels. (E.g., Grey Knights murdering Sisters of Battle for the sanctifying property of their blood.) Still, it has the usual group dynamic found with an Inquisitor's entourage, and I find that dynamic to be the best thing about any Inquisitor story. This isn't a new book, but with Carrion Throne out now, I hope to find myself more Inquisitorial tales in the future.
October 28, 2018
Inquisition. Heresy. Living Saint. Daemon Host. Excommunicated Marine. Rubric Marines. Harlequin. Chaos God. All these and more.
So much fluff in one novel.
The one bit that really got to me tho was the furnace scene. The knowledge that even after the end of the novel that someone is still inside endlessly burning.
So much fluff in one novel.
The one bit that really got to me tho was the furnace scene. The knowledge that even after the end of the novel that someone is still inside endlessly burning.
May 23, 2023
It is above standard 40k fare in its many colorful details and references to bizarre artifacts reminiscent of Jack Vance. But the plot is confusing and the fight sequences that bore me anyway are tedious to the extreme here.
August 30, 2019
A bit mindbending at times, but still a good read.
March 11, 2020
potential good story, needed a better editor. It kept skipping between current timeline and flashbacks. I had to look up the main character on a W40K wiki to understand the story.
April 9, 2023
Gave up halfway through, not very exciting.
February 20, 2025
Quite boring.
October 4, 2016
This book is pure pulp (this is a compliment, one of my highest). Just look at these words.
The Path Incarnadine, a haemovore death cult that single handedly defended the Carfax Hive on the cardinal world of Aspiratyne from the predations of the dark eldar Fell Witch and her World-Scourgers.
Yes, it’s goofy. But they take place in a goofy world. Because, after all, Atlas Infernal is a Warhammer 40,000 novel, a novel that takes place in a grim future where there is only war. Where the forces of the undying God-Emperor fight ceasely against the forces of Ruinous Chaos. Where fearless, and more or less insane, Inquisitors enforce the Imperial theology against monsters such as
Gallkor-Teth the Decimate
Inquisitor Bronislaw Czevak is one such member of the Inquisition. Very old and very fierce in his pursuit of forbidden knowledge that he needs to fight the Chaos Lord Ahzek Ahriman. Forbidden knowledge that brings him perilously close to the edge of heresy and damnation. Forbidden knowledge that leads him to the Eldar (space elves. there are also space orks. like I said, pure pulp.) and their Black Library.
the Palatyne Sceptoclasm
In his quest, he’s aided by Interrogator Raimus Klute, a TechnoMarine, a blind warp-seer with her pet demon (another cute bit of the Warhammer 40K universe is that in order for a spaceship to travel faster than light, it has to go through Hell, quite literally. Warp space is a hell dimension and only a spaceship’s shields keep it from being destroyed by demons every time it goes FTL), and a group of Savlar Chem-Dogs, drugged out gun bunnies from a penal battalion.
the Flesh Mines of Marriar
It’s a quest story, in its bones. Czevak is searching for pieces of the Demon Lord Mammoshad before Ahriman finds them all, puts them together, and raises the demon lord to fight for Chaos. The group, on the spaceship Malescaythe, travel from planet to planet. They visit a hive city that’s fallen to the forces of Chaos and whose inhabitants have become feral cannibals. There’s an extensive shoot out as they’re discovered raiding the treasure vaults of a Space Marine chapter. Remember, this is still a Warhammer novel and so there’s a lot of shooty-shooty.
Umbragg of the Brazen Flesh and the Rage Lords of Taurm
There are several different kinds of Warhammer 40K novels. Most of them involve the very violent adventures of the Space Marines (genetically engineered giant humans with two hearts and really big armor. Only male Space Marines. The roots of Warhammer 40K lie in the 70s and the gender assumptions of that time and of the gaming industry of that time still are a part of this fictional universe.). Other novels are about various units of the Imperial Guards army, humans fighting in the war that never ends on the ground or in space. The ones that I like the most are those that involve the Inquisition. In those, especially the ones written by Dan Abnett about the Inquisitors Eisenhorn and Ravenor, the reader gets a more human view of Imperial civil society, a street level view of how regular people live, rather than huge ultra-violence of the Space Marines or the never ending battlefields and military life of the Guards.
the sinister shapes of a grimoire-diabolicus of True Names, a hexagrammic stamphammer, a stasis-casked astramoebic warp infestation
This is one of my favorite Warhammer novels. I really like the Gaunt’s Ghosts series as well as the Eisenhorn and Ravenor books, but the sheer baroque pulpiness that Rob Saunders has achieved in Atlas Infernal is very appealing. In the vast number of Warhammer novels, this one stands out.
The Seven Star Hegemony, the Vilo Rouge Twist Cleansings and the Decromunda Hive Holocaust
The Path Incarnadine, a haemovore death cult that single handedly defended the Carfax Hive on the cardinal world of Aspiratyne from the predations of the dark eldar Fell Witch and her World-Scourgers.
Yes, it’s goofy. But they take place in a goofy world. Because, after all, Atlas Infernal is a Warhammer 40,000 novel, a novel that takes place in a grim future where there is only war. Where the forces of the undying God-Emperor fight ceasely against the forces of Ruinous Chaos. Where fearless, and more or less insane, Inquisitors enforce the Imperial theology against monsters such as
Gallkor-Teth the Decimate
Inquisitor Bronislaw Czevak is one such member of the Inquisition. Very old and very fierce in his pursuit of forbidden knowledge that he needs to fight the Chaos Lord Ahzek Ahriman. Forbidden knowledge that brings him perilously close to the edge of heresy and damnation. Forbidden knowledge that leads him to the Eldar (space elves. there are also space orks. like I said, pure pulp.) and their Black Library.
the Palatyne Sceptoclasm
In his quest, he’s aided by Interrogator Raimus Klute, a TechnoMarine, a blind warp-seer with her pet demon (another cute bit of the Warhammer 40K universe is that in order for a spaceship to travel faster than light, it has to go through Hell, quite literally. Warp space is a hell dimension and only a spaceship’s shields keep it from being destroyed by demons every time it goes FTL), and a group of Savlar Chem-Dogs, drugged out gun bunnies from a penal battalion.
the Flesh Mines of Marriar
It’s a quest story, in its bones. Czevak is searching for pieces of the Demon Lord Mammoshad before Ahriman finds them all, puts them together, and raises the demon lord to fight for Chaos. The group, on the spaceship Malescaythe, travel from planet to planet. They visit a hive city that’s fallen to the forces of Chaos and whose inhabitants have become feral cannibals. There’s an extensive shoot out as they’re discovered raiding the treasure vaults of a Space Marine chapter. Remember, this is still a Warhammer novel and so there’s a lot of shooty-shooty.
Umbragg of the Brazen Flesh and the Rage Lords of Taurm
There are several different kinds of Warhammer 40K novels. Most of them involve the very violent adventures of the Space Marines (genetically engineered giant humans with two hearts and really big armor. Only male Space Marines. The roots of Warhammer 40K lie in the 70s and the gender assumptions of that time and of the gaming industry of that time still are a part of this fictional universe.). Other novels are about various units of the Imperial Guards army, humans fighting in the war that never ends on the ground or in space. The ones that I like the most are those that involve the Inquisition. In those, especially the ones written by Dan Abnett about the Inquisitors Eisenhorn and Ravenor, the reader gets a more human view of Imperial civil society, a street level view of how regular people live, rather than huge ultra-violence of the Space Marines or the never ending battlefields and military life of the Guards.
the sinister shapes of a grimoire-diabolicus of True Names, a hexagrammic stamphammer, a stasis-casked astramoebic warp infestation
This is one of my favorite Warhammer novels. I really like the Gaunt’s Ghosts series as well as the Eisenhorn and Ravenor books, but the sheer baroque pulpiness that Rob Saunders has achieved in Atlas Infernal is very appealing. In the vast number of Warhammer novels, this one stands out.
The Seven Star Hegemony, the Vilo Rouge Twist Cleansings and the Decromunda Hive Holocaust
February 2, 2017
‘Minions of the Great Enemy will do aught to survive on this corporal plane. Purge this Inquisition fortress of the unholy and abominate in the God-Emperor’s name. Destroy the interlopers. Suffer not the immaterial to exist.’
Filled with radical inquisition shenanigans to the brim. Great exposition, packed with action and some interesting characters. 3.0 stars as even though I liked the book, it had some elements towards the end of the book that I did not enjoy too much. Full breakdown of my thoughts under the spoiler. Nevertheless, I do hope that we get to hear more on Bronislaw Czevak in the future.
Filled with radical inquisition shenanigans to the brim. Great exposition, packed with action and some interesting characters. 3.0 stars as even though I liked the book, it had some elements towards the end of the book that I did not enjoy too much. Full breakdown of my thoughts under the spoiler. Nevertheless, I do hope that we get to hear more on Bronislaw Czevak in the future.
September 12, 2011
Have you ever had a book that you are excited to read because the subject matter is just so cool that the book HAS to be good?
This was one of those books for me.
The inquisitor who saw the inside of the black library and spars with one of the main bad guys in 40K mythos.
Lets start with the blurb....Inquisitor Bronislaw Czevak is a hunted man.
Actually Inquisitor Bronislaw Czevak is a pain in the ass bumbling accident prone idiot.
The book has so many flashbacks, flash forwards and pace changes that it makes Lost or momento look logical.
The kick off chapter throws a lot of characters at you with strange names, not a killer, but it wrapes them up with 40Kised technobabble and arcane references that dropped me right back to the 80's and the original 40K novels. And no that is not a good thing because those novels were a bit Krap.
It even plays with time travel and the hinted at age reversing properties of the webway. The time travel "incident" feels like an author who ran out of idea on how to force a confrontation and threw it in out of desperation. The age reversing we are told is the result of Czevak spending time in the black library. Fair enough except the author almost seems to have forgotten that himself by the time he falshifies that part of the story.
The worst part of all this is it comes so close to being a lot better.
Lots of the incidents are very well written and fun reads. You do eventually come to like the main character or at least the loathing drops to ignorable levels. Some of the technology builds on existing fiction and applies it in an unexpected way. It even ties into some of the other fiction with flashes of brilliance. I particularly like the notion that there were Imperial custodes and servants trapped in the webway after a certain Horus Heresy event. This is used to explain why Chevaz has what amounts to a marauder map for the webway. The problem of why a very resourceful group able to create such a map ended up trapped in the webway instead of popping out of a portal on a loyalist world and helping with the fight against Horus. Seriously. You have a map that allows you to infiltrate space marines into any number of locations and you don't make more or use the one you have to the upmost?
And that level of WTF happens in a number of places and spoils what could have been one of the most entertaining and revealing 40K novels.
This was one of those books for me.
The inquisitor who saw the inside of the black library and spars with one of the main bad guys in 40K mythos.
Lets start with the blurb....Inquisitor Bronislaw Czevak is a hunted man.
Actually Inquisitor Bronislaw Czevak is a pain in the ass bumbling accident prone idiot.
The book has so many flashbacks, flash forwards and pace changes that it makes Lost or momento look logical.
The kick off chapter throws a lot of characters at you with strange names, not a killer, but it wrapes them up with 40Kised technobabble and arcane references that dropped me right back to the 80's and the original 40K novels. And no that is not a good thing because those novels were a bit Krap.
It even plays with time travel and the hinted at age reversing properties of the webway. The time travel "incident" feels like an author who ran out of idea on how to force a confrontation and threw it in out of desperation. The age reversing we are told is the result of Czevak spending time in the black library. Fair enough except the author almost seems to have forgotten that himself by the time he falshifies that part of the story.
The worst part of all this is it comes so close to being a lot better.
Lots of the incidents are very well written and fun reads. You do eventually come to like the main character or at least the loathing drops to ignorable levels. Some of the technology builds on existing fiction and applies it in an unexpected way. It even ties into some of the other fiction with flashes of brilliance. I particularly like the notion that there were Imperial custodes and servants trapped in the webway after a certain Horus Heresy event. This is used to explain why Chevaz has what amounts to a marauder map for the webway. The problem of why a very resourceful group able to create such a map ended up trapped in the webway instead of popping out of a portal on a loyalist world and helping with the fight against Horus. Seriously. You have a map that allows you to infiltrate space marines into any number of locations and you don't make more or use the one you have to the upmost?
And that level of WTF happens in a number of places and spoils what could have been one of the most entertaining and revealing 40K novels.
September 23, 2014
I believe this may be the most bonkers W40k book I've ever read, which is no small feat. It's tough to describe the plot since it zags all over the place, but the basic jist is that there's a grumpy old Inquisitor who's stolen a (creepy) living map of the Eldar Webway, pursued by mean old Ahriman of the Thousand Sons. This is just the launching point to a truly bizarre adventure that takes our heroes through the Eye of Terror. I found this quite enjoyable, and in fact my only gripe is that Sanders does the readers no favors by breaking the story up into non-linear pieces. (The book opens with the hero going to visit the Black Library and then returning, but we don't actually see his escape until it's almost over.) Frankly, it's already a little tricky to follow because of the endless and strange new ideas thrown at the reader, not to mention that the main antagonist can cast illusion spells that let him appear as other characters, and having things happen out of order is a little jarring.
This quibble aside - and a note that this is a really bad place to start if you don't know much about the setting - you really shouldn't pass this one up.
This quibble aside - and a note that this is a really bad place to start if you don't know much about the setting - you really shouldn't pass this one up.
April 19, 2012
I wanted to give it 5 stars, but sadly couldn't. I've been intrigued by the story of Inquisitor Czevak since the first mention of his existence years ago - the only named human to have been to the Black Library of the Eldar, now hunted by Ahriman in a galactic game of cat-and-mouse with some of the most epic stakes possible; how could that not be enticing?
Sadly, though, it felt a little too disjointed to give it a 5-star rating. I understand what the author was trying to do, but it fell a bit flat in the execution. Aside from that, however, it was well done: Interesting characters, a different take on parts of the Eye of Terror, and passing references to the then-ongoing 13th Black Crusade (which is usually spoken of as the central event any time it's brought up, rather than as a tangential occurrence) made for a well-written backdrop. I'd highly recommend it to any serious fan of 40K fiction.
Sadly, though, it felt a little too disjointed to give it a 5-star rating. I understand what the author was trying to do, but it fell a bit flat in the execution. Aside from that, however, it was well done: Interesting characters, a different take on parts of the Eye of Terror, and passing references to the then-ongoing 13th Black Crusade (which is usually spoken of as the central event any time it's brought up, rather than as a tangential occurrence) made for a well-written backdrop. I'd highly recommend it to any serious fan of 40K fiction.
December 29, 2013
A thoroughly enjoyable look at an iconic figure in Warhammer 40K lore. The cat and mouse game between Inquisitor Czevak, Ahriman of the Thousand Sons and Eldar Harlequin makes for a fascinating read. It's also a rare look into life inside the Eye of Terror. Overall I thought it was very well done and highly enjoyable. Not loaded with shooty death kill as many Black Library books are (though that's not a bad thing)it's still got plenty of action. The way the book was written-reflecting the timelessness and warping of time in the Eye and within the webway was brilliantly done. My only complaint was that it took a while to figure out that this was what was going on. Also-the ending made the book feel as though it should be a trilogy. yet, seeing as how it's going on three years since this books publication, that's probably not going to happen. Still it's an excellent read and I hope Mr. Sander's has a long career ahead of him.
August 8, 2011
I really enjoyed this book--that's 2 in a row from recent BL publishing! (A nice change from their previous swing-and-a-misses). The protagonist is both likeable and frustrating, and the travels through the Eye of Terror were wonderfully depicted. The brutality of Ahriman and the chaos realm were no less icy than the haunting footsteps of the Harlequins. There was some description of the Black Library, though I would've liked to seen more (simply because it's so mysterious and been shrouded in the 40k mythos for so long). The intricacy of the plot was also appealing, and the layout of the chapters (in theatrical format) was a nice touch.
Sanders really produced a good work here, and the end didn't feel anti-climatic or rushed as BL works have tended to recently.
Sanders really produced a good work here, and the end didn't feel anti-climatic or rushed as BL works have tended to recently.
November 6, 2013
Initially I was skeptical about reading this book (and I read a lot of Warhammer 40,000 books and am a big fan of the game) but upon completion, I found it to be a surprising treat. It has almost everything you want from a 40K novel- Inquisitors, Space Marines, Daemonhosts, Stormtroopers, IMperial Gaurd, Harlequins, Rogue Traders, Grey Knights, space battles ground battles; its a plethora of 40K themes that actually works toward an interesting and entertaining story. Given that, there were still some things that I thought were too over the top (even for the 40K universe) and convenient deus ex machinas to deal with some of the dilemmas that the heroes faced.
February 9, 2017
100% fanservice, 0% plot.
Inquisitor Czevak and his band of merry Heretics see the sights in the Eye of Terror.
Nothing makes any sense and every chapter ends with resolving the current emergency Deus Ex Machina. Skip!
Inquisitor Czevak and his band of merry Heretics see the sights in the Eye of Terror.
Nothing makes any sense and every chapter ends with resolving the current emergency Deus Ex Machina. Skip!
June 1, 2013
This was actually really well written. I had no idea what to expect when I dived in, and during the first few chapters of the book you have no idea who the protagonist is, but then the pieces fall into place and it's a ton of fun.
The inquisitor himself is a wonderful character, and the struggle of puritans versus radicals in the Imperial Inquisition, though a bit more black and white than in Eisenhorn, is well portrayed.
You find yourself cheering him on at every turn, since this isn't a human that outguns the Eldar, but actually outsmarts them. Put a smile on my face, at least.
The inquisitor himself is a wonderful character, and the struggle of puritans versus radicals in the Imperial Inquisition, though a bit more black and white than in Eisenhorn, is well portrayed.
You find yourself cheering him on at every turn, since this isn't a human that outguns the Eldar, but actually outsmarts them. Put a smile on my face, at least.
August 25, 2013
I'm a big fan of all things Warhammer 40K and especially the Thousand Son's so I thought I'd give this one a try. Overall a better than expected read. I'm used to most Warhammer books being pot boilers but this one had better (deeper) set of characters and a story line that had several unexpected twists and turns. The author's use of switching timelines was extremely entertaining and kept me motivated to keep changes pages. Not as good as the more recent Thousand Sons books (A Thousand Sons, Ahriman: Exile) but a worthy addition to the lore of this cursed Space Marine chapter.
December 1, 2011
I've never wanted a protagonist and everyone associated with them to die so much in anything ever. Didn't finish the book, but I hope it ends with Eisenhorn and Ravenor marching in to kill the shit out of everything and everyone in this book.
September 8, 2014
It is not a bad book, but a very difficulty one to read. I think the author tried to hid some facts from the reader to make the story more intetesting, but in reallity he turned the story to be very confuse. But it is enjoyable anyway.
March 16, 2012
A delightfully fresh romp through the darkness of the far future. Notable for the appearance of Harlequins, the Webway, *the* Black Library and a Gamma Level Psyker. Very good.
November 21, 2012
come on this deserves Eisenhorn/Ravenor/Draco treatment more books please
August 29, 2013
Surprisingly good. I'm giving it 5 stars because I haven't read many novels that features the Eldar
February 17, 2015
Very refreshing in comparison with rest of 40k setting books. Mentions Iluminati (Draco - we won't forget you)!!
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