Ferren Areios: Meister der Riten (Warhammer 40,000)

by Rob Young

Ein Warhammer 40.000 Roman

Vor über einem Jahrzehnt verlor das Imperium die Kontrolle über die Khorsari-Weite. Hinter Warpstürmen am Rande des Großen Risses verborgen, wurden ihre Welten von der Death Guard eingenommen und ihre Bewohner von den Dienern des Seuchengottes abgeschlachtet. Doch dies sind die Welten Ultramars und ihre Beschützer lassen nicht lange auf sich warten.

WARUM DU DIESES BUCH LESEN SOLLTEST

Zum ersten Mal begegneten wir Ferren Areios in der Feuerdämmerung-Reihe. Jetzt ist er zum Captain der 6. Kompanie der Ultramarines aifgestiegen und hat sich den Tittel Meister der Riten verdient. Er steht vor seiner bisher größten Herausforderung – sich der Death Guard in einem zermürbenden Krieg zu stellen, in dem es nur wenig Ruhm zu ernten gibt. Die Ehre gebietet, dass er sich dieser Aufgabe stellt, und wer wäre besser dafür geeignet als der Meister der Riten?

DIE GESCHICHTE

Ferren Areios, Captain der Sechsten Kompanie der Ultramarines, wurde entsendet, um die Welten der Khorsari-Weite zurückzuerobern und sie von der Verderbnis der Death Guard zu befreien. Doch als sich die Seuchenmarines verschanzen und die Zahl der Toten wächst, erkennt Ferren die Grenzen seines Ordens. Gefangen im Reich des Seuchengottes kämpft die Flotte nicht nur um die Rückeroberung der Welten, sondern auch um Ferrens Menschlichkeit.

Geschrieben von Rob Young


Übersetzt von Birgit Hausmayer

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction

378 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 5, 2025

Reviews

[Andy Bakker · Rating 4 out of 5]

classic story of a hero defeating his enemys going form weakest to stronger , but with more depth like a spacemarine going tru loss and pain of losing his friend

[Parker Cohen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good read overall. Ferren’s character growth with him dealing with anger and grief was insightful. The rouge trader Calvaros was also entertaining. The parts with the Death Guard were the most under developed and seemed like filler

[Vincent Knotley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed the novel. There are several characters who pop up within it who I would be outright ravenous about reading more of again.

Without spoiling any of the central themes or their threads, there is just one thing about Master of Rites which gnaws at me. And it may have just been my headspace at the time while reading, but it feels as if this could have very easily been a much longer book or two books diving more into the themes and what's happening to the characters within, and it could have been even better for it.

Not to say it felt cut short. Not at all. We go through a journey and come to a satisfying conclusion to the story Master of Rites wants to tell. Of that I will not say otherwise.

But where usually I don't want a book to end because I'm enjoying my time with the cast of characters, I would have delighted in reading more about what happens at certain points in between the opening and closing portions of it. I just can't escape the notion that, like the book's core character in the Dawn of Fire series (and this isn't a spoiler because it's clearly visible on the cover) a limb either got chopped off somewhere and the book was condensed to completion or the phantom of that limb was present in the authors mind but due to time constraints or publication constraints of some sort it couldn't be explored as deeply.

[Jesper Karlsson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Since it seems to be one of the authors first forays in to the franchise, I understand that it wont be perfect.

The book is faithful to the franchise, it doesn't diminish what came before and its serviceable as a history book, for what may drive the narrative in the Khorsari reach.

The first 200 pages of the 270 page book, reads like this.

"Ferren swung his hammer, the heretic human exploded in a myriad of different fluids, then the next new model fired, then Ferren swung at the next mutant, his skull leaking puss and bile. Then the next new model engaged in combat, Ferren was angry, but he was an Ultramarine, and they do not give in to anger"

It felt like I was reading a transcript of a tabletop-game, trying to sell me as many new models as possible. If page upon page of descriptive weapons firing is your thing, this may indeed be a very good book for you. I need likeable or interesting characters, I had to sit myself down and force myself to read every time i picked up the book.

We have the angry spacemarine as maincharacter, and the angrier spacemarine as sidecharacter.
And our main spacemarine was angry until he had the epiphany that being angry almost made him lose, so now he will always be in control of his anger. Which again, felt jarring and undeserved.

I was at least enjoying the last thirty pages or so, when the author dropped this gem:

"~Are you the one who killed my friend?"
"~Ive killed millions one more hardly matters to me"
"~Well i don't know those, but I knew my friend"

And It was the first time the book got a chuckle out of me. Not just because of the delivery, but its like Ferren just forgot, he had previously used exterminatus twice, by all accounts he's worse.

[Christian Hamilton]

Decent book giving us a bit more of Ferren Areios, made famous in “Dawn of Fire” (and now with a miniature of his own!). The action alternates between brutal and revolting, which is fair play when the enemy consists of Plague Marines.

Some great character development (and some not so great ideals shoehorned in), but overall, a pretty decent novel.

Worth a read.