Ravenor

Ravenor #1

by Dan Abnett

Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor and his team investigate corruption within the Imperium and find the taint runs deeper than they could possibly imagine.

Genres: Science Fiction, 40k, Fiction, Fantasy, Audiobook, Novels, Space Opera

416 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

While Ravenor contains plenty of action, it reads more as a mystery thriller. The titular Ravenor works for the Imperial Inquisition, stamping out heresy; the heresy in question here involves some new Xeno drug, flects. Ravenor, himself basically a brain in a box (long story there!), possesses strong psychic powers, and leads a team of five-- two killers (former bounty hunters), one woman with telekinetic powers and one woman a former acrobat, and finally, a 'brain' who helps with interrogations (and computer work, etc.). The novel starts with the team poking around a regional Capitol world, a grim, dark world to be sure.

I really enjoy how Abnett creates intricate worlds without utilizing infodumps. The first world, grim, serves as a manufacturing hub and you can smell the pollution, feel the acid rain (sirens alert the population when the burning rain starts falling), almost taste the grime coating everything. The team, acting on some tips tries to move up the chain from small dealers to the source of flects, and that takes them on a grimy tour of the world. The rich of course live in grandiose mansions, protected from the acid rain while the poor (the vast majority) live in 'habs' stacked all over, slowly eroding from the elements and pollution. Without going into much more of the plot, Ravenor and company eventually leave the world to go to the source, located in a dire area of space known as the Lucky Worlds, for you need luck to live there for more than a few moments. Populated by 'free traders', outworlders, aliens and riffraff, Abnett does grimdark very well thank you!

I liked the inclusion of the psychic powers possessed by Ravenor. He can 'ware' members of his team, essentially taking over their bodies. He can also telepathically communicate with them, which aids when the teams split up seeking leads. Finally, I also enjoy his robust characters as they unfold along with the story. Good stuff, and the first of a trilogy which I am now primed to finish! 4 grim stars!!

[Ross Falcone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Now before you get angry with my two star review or pass this book up, remember a two star review means I found this book only O.K.

The main reason I found this book only ok is because of our main character Ravenor. Ravenor is a crippled member of the Imperial Inquisition and a powerful psycher. My problem with him is that it is really hard to get behind a character that is basically confined to a floating casket and takes over the minds of others if something physical is required of him. The book mainly focuses on his support staff and their mission to discover who is distributing contraband narcotics in a subsector of the Imperium. I got this book to read about an inquisitor, not his support staff. That was the big turn off for me.

Around page 200 (hardcover edition) I started to get into the story a little bit more but not enough for me to say the book is better than o.k. Additionally, there is a plot twist that was pretty good.

This is a well written book with a decent story but it is nowhere near Dan Abnett's best work. If you are looking for a good story about an Inquisitor check out the Eisenhorn story line instead.

[Chris Berko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very different from every other Warhammer book I’ve ever read. More mystery than action with detective like characters rather than super human killing machines. Abnett does a great job keeping everything flowing and fresh and I totally thought I knew where the story was going into the rug was pulled out from under me and things expanded in a massive way. Great story overall.

[Tal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Has a different charm from the Eisenhorn trilogy. Still great.

[Adam Whitehead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor is one of the finest agents in the Inquisition, the former protege of the infamous (and now missing) Gregor Eisenhorn. Badly wounded in the catastrophe on Thracian Primaris, Ravnor is restricted to a life-support chair but his formidable psi-powers remain undimmed and his allies and agents are among the best in their fields.

Ravenor's latest case leads him and his team to Eustis Majoris, capital world of subsector Angelus, on the trail of 'flects', a new drug that induces a form of psychic ecstasy in the subject. Believing the drug trade is being influenced by Chaos, Ravenor joins forces with the planet's law-enforcement agencies to bring the ruinous trade down but discovers many different competing interests are involved in the case.

The Ravenor Trilogy is a successor work to the earlier Eisenhorn Trilogy, spinning off several supporting characters into a new story (although there are some story connections to the earlier work). It is also a more developed, much deeper tale than the former. Whilst Eisenhorn was three separate stories linked by some continuing subplots and elements, Ravenor is a much bigger, more epic story split into three acts. As a result Abnett has more time to develop the stories, characters and the background setting (in this case the pollution-wrecked hive world of Eustis Majoris), achieving a deeper and more resonant story than in any of his previous works (although the accumulative narrative drive of the twelve Gaunt's Ghosts novels is impressive).

Whilst the action and consequences are large-scale and epic, this is also correspondingly Abnett's most intimate story, with more of the story focusing on Ravnor's team (the psi-warrior Patience Kys, the acrobat-turned-assassin Kara Swole, street-smarts urchin Zael, the cultured data-miner Carl Thonius, and more) and their interrelationships rather than excuses to blow stuff up (although there's enough of that to satisfy most action fans). The supporting cast is also well-defined, with some excellently-portrayed villains and some great secondary roles (Sholto Unwerth and his tendency to quasi-Vancian dialogue in particular).

On the negative side, Ravenor doesn't really stand up as a stand-alone novel with a lot of the story left unresolved at the end (although as the first book in a trilogy this isn't entirely surprising), and arguably the promise of the first half where Abnett's prose is markedly superior to what has come before (as solid as that was) is dissipated in the second where explosions and gun battles become more prevalent.

Overall, however, Ravenor (****½) sees an already-decent author upping his game to new heights and delivering one of his best novels to date. The book is available now in the UK and USA as part of the Ravenor Omnibus.

[Kam · Rating 3 out of 5]

During the last few weeks, I've hit something of a slump in my reading. Usually I can go through books at a fairly fast clip of a book every week or week and a half, but during this latter half of the year I've barely managed to make a book every two weeks. This has a lot to do with the kinds of books I've been reading. For the most part, I've been happy with them, but there is always something about them that trips me up: some flaw in characterization, or some plot point, that makes me want to take a long vacation by reading something else far less likely to make me feel exhausted and exasperated by the time I get to the end of the book. I was staring reading burnout in the face, and in order to remedy that I chose to reread some old favorites before getting back to the books in my ephemeral and constantly shifting To-Read list.

It was only a few days ago, reading burnout remedied, that I finally got around to picking up a new book. I was a bit tired of fantasy, so although I'd made a promise to my friend Chris to get started on Patrick Rothfuss's Kingkiller Chronicles (especially since he'd already read the first two books of Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards series at my insistence), I thought it was high time I paid heed to the call of the distant stars and read some science fiction.

Now, I had a choice here: I could start on Dan Simmons' Ilium duology, which Chris suggested I read because I enjoyed science fiction and Homer's epic poetry. But I wasn't really up to that kind of science fiction. I wanted a world I was already relatively familiar with and wouldn't take too much time sinking into, but I didn't particularly feel like reentering Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga at the moment. That left me with just Dan Abnett and his Ravenor trilogy, so I picked up the first book, titled Ravenor, and settled in.

The Ravenor trilogy is set in the Warhammer 40,000 shared universe. I'm sure most sci-fi readers have at least heard of it, even if they don't engage in it, likely because of the recent furor over Games Workshop (the company that owns Warhammer 40K) claiming to hold the copyright on the term "space marine". The claim is, of course, ridiculous at best, since the term has been around for almost as long as science fiction has been around. Fortunately, the case that started the whole brouhaha has been settled, though the potential for trouble still remains.

The Ravenor books don't get tangled up in any of that mess, and any Space Marines are kept somewhere in hazy memory and half a galaxy or more away. Instead, they, like the Eisenhorn trilogy that precedes them, focus on another prominent faction of the Warhammer 40K universe: the Inquisition, a group tasked with hunting down and silencing anyone that doesn't subscribe to the Empire's religion, which is focused on worshipping the God-Emperor of Terra. There's a lot that can confuse the reader if they're using this series as a jumping-off point into Warhammer 40K, so any further explanation they might need or want (or even not want) can be found in the two Warhammer 40K wikis online; I suggest they be used as necessary, but judiciously, as spoilers abound.

The eponymous character's full name is Gideon Ravenor, who made his first appearance in the second Eisenhorn book Malleus. In that book, Ravenor was burnt almost to death, and though he managed to survive he must now live confined inside a force chair: something like a completely enclosed life-support system that moves around using anti-grav. Under normal circumstances, Ravenor would be forced to retire from his job.

However, that's not the case, because Ravenor is a powerful psyker (psychically-powered person), and his enfeebled body has only strengthened his psyker abilities because he now has to rely on them for pretty much everything. This means that he continues to work as an Inquisitor - which is where the reader finds him at the beginning of Ravenor: on a world called Eustis Majoris, looking into the trade of a substance called flects. However, what seems like a rather routine investigation soon twists into something else, and his search leads him down a path that may prove far more dangerous to him and his crew than he ever expected.

Since I've read the Eisenhorn trilogy, it's inevitable that I compare Ravenor's story to that of his former mentor's, and I have to say, I think I like Gregor Eisenhorn more than Ravenor - at least, in terms of his narrative voice. The Eisenhorn books are narrated by Eisenhorn himself, and though there are occasional slips into third-person limited perspective when another character other than Eisenhorn is narrating that particular part of the story, those parts are few and far between. For the most part, it's Eisenhorn telling the story, and best of all, he has a strong, distinctive narrative voice - something that's very important for me when I'm reading something told in first-person point-of-view. Eisenhorn's narrative style is a mirror of the man himself: serious and determined, but with enough of a sense of humor to find things funny from time to time, and to relate those funny incidents in a manner that can elicit a chuckle or two from the reader.

Ravenor, unfortunately, isn't like that. The parts narrated by Ravenor himself - again in first-person point-of-view, like the Eisenhorn books - are few and far between, and though those are fun enough to read, they get lost in the third-person limited narrations of the other members of his retinue. By the end of the book, I didn't think I was as familiar with Ravenor as I wanted to be. I'd come to know his crew, to be sure, and to know something of the enemies he faced and will face further down the line, but the man himself continues to be something of a mystery. I guess that's acceptable, given that Ravenor's in that force chair all the time and therefore mystery is a part of his general image, but I did find myself disappointed that I didn't learn more about him this first book - which means I'm not as attached to him as I'd like to be.

This is completely unlike the Eisenhorn books, wherein I got to know Eisenhorn through the way he told his story, and not just through the story itself. By the time I got to the middle of Xenos (the first book in the Eisenhorn trilogy), I was invested enough in him that the things he did and the things that happened to him genuinely mattered to me, and I wanted to know what would become of him further down the line. That attachment to Eisenhorn was more than enough to see me through the rest of his trilogy to the very tragic end. This, there also proves that Abnett is more than capable of writing characters in a way that's capable of hooking the reader all the way to the bitter end, which kind of makes me wonder why he didn't do that with Ravenor: a character with enough tragic backstory behind him and adventure (and blood and torture and death and all kinds of fun things) ahead of him that, by rights, he ought to be compulsively readable - but he's not. The members of his crew are all a fascinating lot (especially the girls, Patience Kys and Kara Swole), but Ravenor himself is, sadly, rather bland for my tastes.

Aside from that, though, the rest of the book is actually quite fun - especially since it goes into territory that wasn't covered in the Eisenhorn books. As I mentioned earlier, Ravenor is a powerful psyker, and that power isn't used just for making things levitate and pushing himself around in his force chair: he can fight with them too, and when he does, he's utterly terrifying to behold. It's part of the reason why he doesn't regret the loss of his body much: his psyker powers are more than adequate for him to continue on fighting, whether physically or against other psykers. There are a handful of psyker versus psyker battles in the novel, and those are reminiscent of the battle of Proteus and Menelaus from Greek mythology, or the many djinn versus djinn battles in the Arabian Nights, in the best possible way. They prove that Abnett's capable of writing a good fight wherever he chooses to set it: physical realm or ethereal realm, it doesn't matter, Abnett's got it covered.

As for the plot itself, it's rather slow to start, and feels rather small, especially when compared (again) to the first book of the Eisenhorn trilogy. It's interesting, to be sure, and quite a fun thing to read, but it just feels like it could have been a far larger, grander creature than it is. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but I did rather feel the lack. My friend Steven (who got me into Warhammer 40K in the first place) has reassured me that the Ravenor series is really slow to start, and as someone who's read more than a few series that are slow to start, I can live with that, so I'll let this particular aspect slide as long as the other books in the series can deliver.

Overall, Ravenor isn't the most promising beginning for a new series. Ravenor himself lacks a distinctive voice, which I find invaluable in a story told from the first-person perspective, and though the other characters make up for his relative reticence, the reader gets to the end and still feels as if they don't really know Ravenor. This may or may not have been intentional, but I, for my part, wish that Abnett had given his own main protagonist more airtime, just so the reader can really, truly get attached to him and care about what happens to him further down the line. The other characters can potentially make up for this weakness, but it's certainly not enough: after all, the series is called Ravenor for a reason - it's just that the reason doesn't seem very obvious in this first book.

Despite that hitch, though, everything else is quite fun to read, if one doesn't mind shades of purple prose (which is pretty much de rigueur for any book written in the Warhammer 40K universe, so it shouldn't be held as a mark against the Ravenor series). The plot might seem a bit small at first, though this might only be a problem for those who've read the Eisenhorn trilogy and know what those books are like. Otherwise, it's a pretty fun ride, and promises much for the next book, which will - hopefully - take care of the issues this book has, and prove that this is a series really worth getting into.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great 40k work in the same vein as the Eisenhorn trilogy. Part detective story, part action adventure. As always Abnett does a masterful job, creating a rich, detailed world or character in just a few sentences. This book is properly grimdark, especially the first section in Petropolis, but Abnett blends the action with the intrigue seamlessly to draw you in. I think the character of Ravenor is really good, but by necessity the perspective flits from one character to another, and this can be a bit confusing, as you dont have as much time with the ones you like. Think Eisenhorn but written in the spirit of Gaunts Ghosts. Great book, already started the second one.

[Tanner · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the strangest takes I've come across about RAVENOR is regarding the fact that Ravenor is crippled. Some perceive him as “less engaging” than his predecessor, Eisenhorn, simply because Eisenhorn has more legs (and a whole lot more suave) than Ravenor. Yes, Ravenor is still the same burn victim we know from the Eisenhorn series; confined to an enclosed, life-supporting force chair and using a robotic voxponder to talk. However, Dan Abnett's talent in crafting compelling characters remains the same. Ravenor's reliance on his psyker abilities, a consequence of his disability, distinguishes him from any other lead character in the 40k setting. While Eisenhorn's leadership style often lead to (very) significant losses among his crew, Ravenor forges deeper connections with his team, fostering richer character development throughout this first book.

This dynamic is exemplified with the early introduction of the child “Zael,” who, in my opinion, added some of the most memorable moments to RAVENOR:

“He was twelve now. Or fourteen. He couldn't be sure, but he was certain it was an even number. He ran full time, and took his wages in flects - or money that he used for flects. Either way, it worked. The only recent memory that stood out was the removal of his granna's body by the Magistratum.
'How long has she been dead?' the Magistratum medicae asked him, pulling a gauze mask down from his grimacing mouth.
'My granna's dead?'
'Choked on her own vomit...' the medicae faltered. 'She's decompos-ing. Must have died weeks ago. Didn't you notice?'
Zael shrugged. He'd just scored a flect and wanted to use it. It itched in his pocket. These men and their questions were keeping him from it.
'Everything will be fine, the man said, standing back as his colleagues wheeled a shapeless bodybag out through the kitchen onto the stack landing. He was trying to sound reassuring.
'I know, Zael said.”

[B Rod · Rating 1 out of 5]

I honestly wouldn't be surprised if it turned out someone else had written this book, and they just slapped Abnett's name on it.

Eisenhorn was a little clunky, but it whipped along at lightning pace, lots of twists and turns, and some great characters.

This book was almost the polar opposite. The prose was fine, but it was slow, boring, and wouldn't know a plot twist if it tripped over it.

Terrible.

[Tyler Kershaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

The extended Eisenhorn series is fantastic. I enjoyed every Eisenhorn book and this is no exception. Abnett has built a wonderful and vibrant cast of characters with Harlon Nayl and Ravenor standing out particularly to me. Another amazing Abnett novel can't wait to read the rest of the series.

[Ned Leffingwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dan Abnett is my favorite 40K author and this book did not disappoint. This book drove home the idea that the world of 40K is late stage capitalism pushed to the extreme. This is a good investigative adventure. Recommended for fans of 40K.

[Наташа · Rating 5 out of 5]

О Рейвенор великолепен! Конечно в истории Эйзенхорна были более причудливые миры, а здесь делалась ставка на сражения, что тоже в общем-то не плохо. Книга была проглочена за сутки и я совершенно не могла заставить себя от нее оторваться. Обидно только, что троица плохишей нарисовалась быстро и слишком очевидно. Но, за такие мелочи, как поздороваться с Елизаветой. О, а что это за коробочка на кресле Рейвенора, швырну ка я ее во врага. И у кого-то сегодня будет очень плохой день с креслом. Оживший неприкасаемый и 2 задачи закурить и свернуть шею вражескому псионику. - эта книга получает высший бал.))

[Hemorrhagician · Rating 2 out of 5]

For the first time in my life, I was bored reading a Dan Abnett book. I didn't hate it, but it really didn't stand up to the Eisenhorn series in my eyes. I will say, I really enjoyed the ending. Not to be dissuaded though, I have full faith in Mr. Abnett's ability to enrapture, and I quickly moved on to the second installment of the Ravenor series. Part 2, Ravenor Returned, was a far more entertaining read. I've only just started Ravenor Rogue, but I am enjoying it so far. My point, if you find this one to be a little lackluster, keep going, it's definitely going to get better.

[Fiona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grim, dark and entertaining, I like this a lot, perhaps even more than Eisenhorn. Abnett, at the point of finishing this novel, had still intended for this to be an ongoing adventure like Gaunt's Ghost instead of a trilogy. The end is coming somewhat abrupt, many lose ends are hanging, but the major arc has indeed been concluded.

I think it is in part because of Ravenor's limitations and weaknesses that I'm more inclined to sitting on the edge of my chair while reading this book. I'm genuinely scared for him and other characters of the cast, who I strongly sympathize with and comprehend, even feel their individual situations. Honestly, I'm shocked that, to my count, everybody survives the first novel.

Quotes are not as forthcoming as with other books I've read. There were many tempting scenes, but most of what Abnett creates is expertly woven into his narration, the specific fabric of the tale, at the expense of key phrases not functioning without their imminent context.
Still, a few little snapshots I could make.

Fun, witticism, action and cunning are all there, and a story I find more compact and easier to grasp than other of Abnett's works. One gets used to his juvenile heroes surviving tight spots on sheer luck alone, and I like that, you should not get far in this universe without a decent slice of luck, it wouldn't be "uncaring" to the "laughter of thirsting gods" if prowess and sharpness were enough to guarantee one's continued existence. However, I came across something approximating Deus Ex Machina, but with enough mystery and "unseen theater" in place to make it a wonderful plot twist in the long run - though I might be disappointed here and Abnett really just went a step too far with his insane-amoung-of-luck-gig. And I say that after having had other of his heroes saved by collapsing columns and exploding tanks.

All in all, great book, want more.

[Morroyws · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Эйзензорн", но лучше, сильно лучше даже чем "Еретикус".
Основной сюжет очень неплохо закручен, персонажи серьёзно углублены по сравнению с первой трилогией и теперь выглядят довольно живо, побочные линии хорошо выстроены и ещё лучше вплетены в основную, образы и концепции стали ещё занятнее. Словом отлично.
Из этого мог выйти отличный фильм навроде "Хана Соло" или сериал по типу "Мандалорца", надеюсь однажды выйдет.

[Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5

Not as good as Eisenhorn, but the last half was excellent and has me excited for book 2. The beginning of each chapter was a little too indulgent with useless detail and the first half was a bit of a drag. However, once the second half got rolling it was hard to put down. Abnett really writes action well and it feels good to be back in this setting following an Inquisitor and crew around the 40K universe.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly I find that so called 'trashy sci-fi' consistently treat disability in a more interesting way than 90% of high art.

Another outstanding entry into the Warhammer 40k universe by Dan Abnett and it really helped me get through some absolutely awful days.

Will be reading the rest of the series quickly to continue getting through these horrendous days post losing a loved pet.

[Unai · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,5
Cuando la historia está pensada como una trilogía desde el principio es complicado juzgar un libro que no deja de ser un primer acto de mas de 400 páginas. Aún así y con algunos excesos, sigue siendo un absoluto placer pasearse por los peores lugares del imperium, con las peores gentes y los planes mas abyectos. Ravenor no es Eisenhorn, pero de eso mismo se trata.

[Ihor Kolesnyk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Це ще одна трилогія від Дена Абнетта по всесвіту Warhammer 40k, яку можу перечитувати раз в кілька років. Бойова фантастика, закручений сюжет, хороша вплетеність у контекст. І тут є все хороше від класичної наукової фантастики в обробленому для популярного читача форматі.

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Habe es mit vielen Unterbrechungen gelesen, also das hat eventuell zu meinem Erlebnis beigetragen. War alles in allem ganz okay, halt Warhammer. Irgendwie mochte ich die Eisenhornbücher lieber. Aber trotzdem spannende Geschichte mit einem bunten Mix aus Charakteren.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good WH40K from Dan Abnett. I felt like there was a missed opportunity to do a more detective noir theme set in this universe rather than the usually "I shoot you, you're head go boom". Still a good read.

[Corey Schriver · Rating 4 out of 5]

The flecks man, it's a cover up

[Doug · Rating 4 out of 5]

A brilliant continuation of the Inquisitor series, with some old characters and some new faces. Great writing and a much more developed style from Abnett.

[John R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it. Had been ages since I read the Eisenhorn series so I did have to wiki some of the past references. Looking forward to reading more in the series.

[Michael Dodd · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first book in Dan Abnett’s second Inquisition trilogy, Ravenor is another stone-cold Black Library classic, a smart and hugely enjoyable story in its own right but also a neat continuation of characters familiar to anyone who’s read the Eisenhorn trilogy. Set some time after his reappearance towards the end of Hereticus, it sees Gideon Ravenor – now a full inquisitor in his own right – and his entourage on Eustis Majoris, investigating the illicit trade of a strange narcotic. As they unravel the mystery of what this drug is and where it comes from, the scale of what’s really happening is revealed to be bigger than they could have possibly expected.

While comparisons with the Eisenhorn trilogy are inevitable, and justifiable, it’s worth emphasising that this is unquestionably a great novel in its own right. As you might expect from Abnett it’s packed full of cleverly-observed detail of the way characters interact and the everyday realities of life in the Imperium, but it’s also a grand, sweeping story that steps out from the street-level and races off into the unknown. If you’re already familiar with Abnett’s Inquisition stories then it’s going to feel instantly familiar, but if not it’s going to provide an effective grounding in the sort of ‘domestic 40k’ that he writes so well. As the opening act of a trilogy, it does a great job of introducing characters and plot points that will pay off down the line, and while you could read this and stop there, it’s hard to see many people wanting to.

Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/09/...

[Jonathan Baughman · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is so much better than it has any right to be. Look, I love 40k, especially the older stuff, and there is some bad fiction out there set in that universe, including some by Abnett (not a particular fan of Gaunt's Ghosts). That said, this is a solid read - it's not just a good 40k novel, it's a good standalone novel. And that's a rarity. I was on the fence through the first act on whether to give this five stars, which is something that I try not to do unless a novel truly excels; too many fans/haters out there either give 1 or 5 stars to everything.

The second half of the book kind of lost its focus, which is why I downgraded it to 4, but this is a great book - imaginative, decent characters (a little flat, but that's because there are a lot of primary characters, and it's a novel about stuff happening, not how people felt about it), and next-level world-building.

The cast:
Ravenor himself, trapped in an armored life-support suspension chair. He's blind, mute, and personally immobile due to an accident in the preceding Eisenhorn trilogy, but remains a formidable psyker. He communicates psychically, giving advice, warnings, and occasionally "waring" (taking absolute control) of his agents, primarily from orbit.
Kara Swole - acrobat turned agent
Harlon Nayl - smart muscle, not much to be said. Close with Kara Swole.
Patience Kys - low-level psychic operative
Carl Thonius - the tech guy, and personal coward. Abnett's setting him up to do a fall to Chaos due to using Chaos-tainted drugs to deal with the trauma of having his arm chainsworded off and reattached.
Zeph Mathuin - nearly indistinguishable from Nayl, I think he's there to kill off to give some narrative weight to something later.
Wystan Frauka - the blank, a chainsmoking creep. He's got a limiter, which allows him to turn off his psychic null-field.
Zael - dumb hive kid, the Chaos drugs awakened latent psychic power. Might be a precog. Hilariously refers to Ravenor as The Chair.
Magistratum
Kinsky, potent but unschooled unsanctioned psyker
Madsden, their leader
Ahenobarb, dumb muscle

The plot:
Inquisition agents led by their Inquisitor Ravenor are undercover investigating a new drug called flects. The drug is suspected to be of Chaos-origin, and has a euphoric and addictive high. It takes the form of small glass fragments that show visions to the user. Normally an Inquisitor wouldn't bother with something as small as a drug trade, that might even fall below the notice of the Adeptus Arbites, but the Chaos taint makes it notable.

A note about the world-building on Eustis Majoris, the planet at the beginning - it really nails the squalor of an Imperial world fallen on hard times, and they're not great places to begin with. Acid-rain strong enough to burn flesh, the poorest feasting on insects, large segments of the hive cities are abandoned, an absolute dearth of law and order . . . It's like Blade Runner had a baby with RoboCop, and I'm loving it. Just as an example, while tracking the flects, they come across a woman with a filthy aquarium, with an unknown shape inside moving, and you think it's going to be someone so far gone that they don't realize the filth they're living in. Inside is most of her brother - he was injured in an industrial accident, and is kept alive, but only just, and the minor settlement she got isn't enough to change his nutrient fluid.

The team is each tracking a lead - Swole kills a group of gangers, and is arrested, Nayl finds a user and forces him to take him to his dealer, Kys and Thonius show a bit of the uppercrust society as Kys flirts with a rich ass and gets the name of his dealer by revealing herself as an Agent before he overdoses. This draws the attention of the Magistratum, and Ravenor is chased away by a potent psyker.

The leads point to a gladiatorial arena, the Carnivora, where exotic beasts are fought by gladiators. Nayl and Mathuin sneak in by posing as deliverymen, Swole as an acrobat, and Kys acts as a highborn slumming it with gangers who pay her way in. It, predictably, goes to shit - they capture their next lead, but are discovered and must declare themselves to the Magistratum. This is about where the novel starts to drag, just one too many jumps in the investigation in my opinion.

From there, they begin tracking the ship the October Light and its role in the exotic beast trade, having realized that the flects are coming in that way. The Magistratum agents accompany them, they proceed to find beast moots where the creatures are sold to fill the bellies of the Imperium, but Kinsky uses psychic powers which is detected by the moot boss's pet psyker. This results in the team running for their lives, and the normally behind-the-fray Thonius loses an arm. He'll start using flects to deal with the trauma, with absolutely no future consequences I'm sure.

They proceed up the chain into a lawless region called Lucky Space, and it's quickly revealed to be a trap - the Magistratum agents were trying to make Ravenor disappear in Lucky Space to avoid drawing attention. The actual conspiracy is about the planetary governor dealing in heretical tech, and the flects were only a sideline. They do in fact come from a Chaos-tainted world, and are basically solidified Chaos left behind when a warp storm killed everyone. Most of the team is captured, with Swole catching a ride on the outside of a bulk lifter filled with big game hunters in the service of whoever is the next link in the chain until it docks with a dubious spacesuit, Frauka is killed, Nayl is captured Kys and Zael are loose on the ship, Swole rescues them and they engage in a running battle, Ravenor's psychic limited is removed and he fights Kinksy.

A note about that - this is a pretty cool sequence, with both psykers taking on various guises in the mental landscape, and occasionally breaking into reality. It's a neat way to handle mental combat.

Ravenor is getting the worst of it as his chair was damaged by one of the conspirators, but Frauka gets back up (not dead after all) and kills Kinsky while he's distracted. The team is presumed dead by the conspirators back on Eustis Majoris, and they've worn out their welcome with their ship's captain, and engage the services of a hilarious little dwarf that uses words improperly or just makes them up. Looking forward to a bit of comic relief in the next book.

I know I said it up above, but this investigation is one jump too far. Too many villains, and I think the book focused on the least interesting ones. Still, it's an excellent book, for the world-building and swashbuckling adventure.

[Ruth Letterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was amazing!! Okay, now that out of the way: you might have noticed that many people are torn when writing reviews about this book. I think I know why, and I'll explain. I've also came from the Eisenhorn trilogy and the first time when I started this book I put it down after a 100 pages and didn't pick it up till I read "The Magos". At first Ravenors character was distant next to Eisenhorns, and you also don't really meet him, as the story mostly follows his associates. It takes a lot of time for the story to get started. For me it took reading "The Magos" to realize what is Abnett's superpower. Its the synergy of characters. When I started reading again this first Ravenor book I started it with concentrating on the team, not the main character. And in this regard, boy! This book is like a marvel movie. Packed with action, surprises, heavy punchlines, and thrilling turning points. Ravenor's charm is in his disability. I totally fell in love with all the characters, Abnett does a brilliant job at bringing them close to the reader. He can express characters and places so vividly with just one and two sentences. Can't wait to read the next book.

[Ola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Im writing this as someone who’s not really into Warhammer lore.
The book was enjoyable, I was curious what’s gonna happen and what’s going on with the intrigue. But I couldn’t get invested into the story. Author introduced many characters but only few were vivid, bad guys were REALLY bad and all.
I liked Ravenor’s and Zael’s fragments most, they both ended up being quite cute toward others, and well, it’s not that I don’t like any of them - I personally don’t know what to like them for (except for Nayl, he’s a nice one).
Also, I didn’t like how Ravenor was all-powerful. I get he has some physical limitations (to say the least) but it’s still kind of overkill in my opinion and I was not impressed by the ending. Didn’t like it at all.
Also, I know it’s just the first part and it’ll probably get better in the next ones but I don’t think I’ll pick them up.
It was fun and easy read, though! If the ending was better, I’d give it 4 ✨ since it’s really nice sci-fi action thriller.

[Chompa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This started out slow & was a little hard to get into, but once the characters took on some definition, it picked up.

Currently reading the second in the trilogy & it is much better.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing continuation of a series with a character you would have assumed to be dead.