Unearthed

Black Library Advent Calendar 2016 #22

by Rob Sanders

When his inquisitor master is killed by the Alpha Legion, Interrogator Kiefer swears revenge. He marshals a force, a band of Attilian Rough Riders and a cohort of Ogryn Auxilia, and tracks the killers to Grendl's World. Here in the dust of the deserts and the carcass of a derelict freighter, a deadly game of cat and mouse begins, with neither side prepared to back down or accept defeat. With overwhelming force and the element of surprise on his side, Kiefer's confidence grows, but the Alpha Legion are seldom outmanoeuvred easily....

Read it because
Rob Sanders weaves a tale of a grieving and overconfident interrogator who takes on the might of the Alpha Legion. Probably safe to assume it's not going to end brilliantly for him…

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories

24 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 22, 2016

About the author

Rob 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.

Reviews

[Dylan Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Unearthed by Rob Sanders, day 22 in Black Library’s advent calendar, see’s us tagging along with an Inquisitorial Interrogator on a mission for revenge. The world building and character Mr. Sanders was able to develop over the story was absolutely fantastic, especially given its’ length, and the plot itself worked exceptionally well. I was a little disappointed with the ending, as it could have been a fantastic opening to an Alpha Legion series that I would have read the shit out of.
Overall, a great story. Fast paced action, claustrophobic and gritty fights, strong world and character building.

[Michael Dodd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inquisitors and the Alpha Legion are a classic combo, but sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. Sanders builds a vivid picture of the arid, ravaged planet and the claustrophobic interior of a crashed ship, but description alone can’t hide the fact that this all feels a bit too familiar...

Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/20...

[Chris Dennison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another excellent story from Saunders. He always manages to make the Alpha legion seem menacing and this is no exemption.
I hope this is the start of more Inquisition based stories from this author.

[Vincent Knotley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A no-holds-barred romp into the battles between Inquisitors and Alpha Legion which, while often straddling the line between predictability and delight, still shackles the attention from beginning to end.

[Stephan · Rating 1 out of 5]

No.
Just... No.

The over all story is quite interesting. An inquisitor is trying to hunt down the Alpha legion but stumbles into a trap and now have to fight to get out, survive and hopefully stop the chaos marines.
But.
Everyone is acting so bloody stupid it's hard to actually care for anyone. It doesn't matter wheter it's the Inquisitors warband or the Alpha legionaires.
If the inquisitor goes after space marines, why hasn't he got anything more substantial with him? The ogryns are the only troopers who acctually has anything to add to the fighting, besides the odd plasma gun. How did the Alpha legionaires even think they'd be able to acquire the inquisitors ship with so small numbers? If all it takes in order to get to the innermost secrets of the orders is to hijack an inquisitors ship, then I'm at a loss to why no one has succeeded before... And finally WHY does the inquisitor enter a place that's so obviously a trap with troopers clearly not suited for neither the environment or the enemy?

I want my inquisitors to be intelligent and crafty... and the same certainly goes for the Alpha legion!