The Dark City

Vaults of Terra #3

by Chris Wraight

Vaults of Terra Book 3

Separated from Inquisitor Cowl, Interrogator Spinoza hoists her crozius and sets to protecting what’s left of their organisation while continuing her quest for truth. But can she survive the dire straights she finds herself in, as she guards humanity from enemies within and without?

READ IT BECAUSE
Luce Spinoza comes into her own, with the weight of her lord’s fate sitting heavy on her shoulders, while pushing forward with their mission. With enemies closing in on all sides, she must choose a path for herself.

THE STORY
The Throneworld is in turmoil, wracked by the opening of the Great Rift and the failure of the Astronomican. Inquisitor Erasmus Crowl, his mind and body ravaged by what he has seen in the Hollow Mountain, is missing, taking with him the clues to the conspiracy that has come to obsess him. Luce Spinoza, his interrogator, must choose whether to seek him out or defend her diminished realm from the many forces that still seek to destroy it. As enemies circle, Interrogator Spinoza enters a race against time to find the evidence she needs. But with the fate of humanity itself hanging in the balance, she must decide what lengths she is willing to go to in order to uncover the truth.

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Audiobook, Fiction, Adventure, Novels

350 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 23, 2022

About the author

Chris Wraight is a British author of fantasy and science fiction.

His first novel was published in 2008; since then, he has published books set in the Warhammer Fantasy and Stargate:Atlantis universes, and has upcoming titles in the Warhammer 40K setting.

He is based in the south-west of England.

Reviews

[Juliano Dutra · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 57%. HOW!? How can you write 200 pages of generic action, with no interesting dialogue or plot point in sterile, dull sentences? I can't believe it's the 3rd book in a Trilogy, i'm at 57% and can't bother - or have the will - to get to the end...

[Skywatcher Adept · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has a very boring beginning and a very exciting ending.

Dull & duller: Spinoza & Revus. The first twelve chapters of this book centred around them are a slog.
But when finally Inquisitor Crowl shows up the action picks up very fast. Even in his deranged state he is still the star of the whole Vaults series.

We see a jumbled expedition of Custodes, Mechanicum, Inquisition & Imperial Army facing an incredible opportunity of repairing the Golden Throne of Terra. Chris Wraight gives us as great depictions of their struggles, their differing motivations, the sacrifices they have to make and a member of a certain abhorrent Xeno race who is a huge fan of Johann Sebastian Bach.

The ending left me kind of dazed. What a way to end a Trilogy.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant conclusion to one of my favourite trilogies ever out of the Black Library. Wraight manages to capture the same everyday life of the 40k world with mindbending plots of epic scope. His characters and actions sequences are great, and his attention to detail and fluid style keep you fully engrossed. This work especially kept twisting and turning, and for me, having first read the rumours of this plotline online many years ago, seeing it finally realised was great fun

[Matthew Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolutely amazing end to a shatteringly good Warhammer 40,000 trilogy. A wonderfully dark investigative tale expertly woven into the setting-defining events of 2017's "Gathering Storm" game-universe event, this trilogy also reads as a companion to Wraight's "Watchers of the Throne" trilogy, where related events are seen from different perspectives.

An absolute masterwork of Warhammer 40,000 fiction, the strength of the plots revealed does depend rather largely on how versed you are in the psycho-theological setting of Warhammer 40,000 but Wraight does a good job of laying enough of that groundwork to make this trilogy accessible.

I'll forever remember this series as the only one to make me blurt out in real life "Heresy!" in shock at one of the plot point revelations. A rare moment where a work of fiction reached right past my waking reality mind to the part of me that, like all fans of a fictional world, 'lives within' it.

[RatGrrrl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another series down. Thank the throne for audiobooks and Black Library having more than enough to keep my post covid turbo ADHD'd addled brain occupied, as my regular reading is out the window.

I appreciate that I am very much in the minority on this, but I really didn't enjoy this series. I found this book the most enjoyable and there was a bit towards the end that was brilliant and on fh
E whole I was close to giving this a four, but I really didn't like the way Wraight wrote about a little person magos and the language he used seemed really weird and ableist. Otherwise, this is more of the same, but a bit better.

For me, this reads like the apotheosis of a write up of an awesome Dark Heresy or Imperium Maledictum campaign. I would absolutely love to run or play this narrative as an adventure and think everyone involved would have a lot of fun. But that's the thing, I never felt involved or hooked into the story or characters to the point where when Wraight went for an emotional moment I felt nothing because I don't know or care about these characters.

I am well aware that this is likely my smorgasbord of neurodivergences, but I have literally bawled my eyes out ugly crying over what a sweet baby angel Blorbius Scrunklius is and the tragedy and beauty of his difficult relationship with his dad and his really cool friend the captain whose ship kinda fancies her in its own warped way, and there are a few Black Library books that are legitimately my favourite books of all time that I have no hesitation lining up alongside the classics and fancy translated novels I read during breaks in between the singing of the Butcher's Nails, but I just didn't care for this.

I am seem to be very much alone in my feelings on this, as I am in feeling like the first episode of Andor I watched wasn't the same one as everyone else, so your mileage may well vary.

Yes, my scores for these books might be a bit harsh, but I'm marking purely on my subjective enjoyment and I didn't really enjoy these at all, despite loving Wraight and the overarching concepts here.

[Matt TB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another wonderful story by Wraight.
I do wish I’d read the first 2 again before going in- I’d forgot a lot of hollow mountains plot! That said I did manage to piece together what I’d forgotten from snippets here and there.

Really captures the awful nature of the mundane in the grim dark future.

[Andrew A · Rating 4 out of 5]

an excellent finale to the trilogy, solid twists and turns to the mystery, a satisfying conclusion to the problem. some truly wonderful character beats and solid action.

very satisfying wrap up

[Samuel S · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ending to series sucks

Three books, this ending is b*******. In the end the entire narrative has no impact on the overarching 40k world. I thought I could never be as disappointed in a story ending again as I was in game of thrones.

[James Moore · Rating 4 out of 5]

A difficult one to review, a weak start, a good middle and great climax let down by a frustrating final chapter. I know its the grim darkness of the future but having the final chapter be a montage of every single character dying horribly just felt unfair to read, I was at least expecting Spinoza to escape and leave the plot hook of her having to get back to Terra. Instead they all just die and we get an epilogue showing that it was all for naught. Beyond that though some of the best faction depictions I've read, the Dark Eldar felt horrifying and truly alien while the Mechanicus felt like the Mechanicus in top-tier admech books like Titanicus.

[AA_Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I started my 40k journey way back when with the then-newly released Chaos Child by Ian Watson. Starting with the last book of a trilogy was perhaps rash but I was overjoyed to have Warhammer fiction so just dived in.

Why I open my review of The Dark City with reference to the final book in an Inquistion trilogy set partially at least on Terra, featuring giant galaxy-spanning conspiracies, internecine conflict and all the rest should be pretty obvious, as this is also all of the above.

Despite Dan Abnett’s best efforts (two-and-a-half times so far!), Ian Watson has finally been deposed as the author of my favourite trilogy about the Inquisition. The Dark City is a massively rewarding conclusion to an amazing series.

Chris Wraight has always been a fantastic storyteller, but the way in which he has slotted together the plots from the previous two books in this series, the other novels set around the time period and even threads from the Horus Heresy is something else.

[Sara Liverød · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Luce Spinoza's character development. Love Gorgias. Love the story. Love-love it.

[Will Parker · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent read into the 40K series. Some interesting tid bits of lore and what not but overall did not satisfactorily add anything of real value. I get that a single side story (which this series is) can’t break much ground in a very popular and well established universe, but I did expect more considering it included the high lords, terra, inquisitors and the throne itself. Unfortunately, even the characters provided little interest, ranging from unlikeable to inconsistent in their portrayal. Crowl was by far the most interesting character but he had very little time in this 3rd book, which meant a slog of reading about the before-mentioned unlikeable characters. Overall, it’s not a bad series but don’t expect it to be on par with eisenhorn or ravenor or pariah.

Besides the lack of appealing characters my biggest problem with this series was probably the story pacing. To me each book in the vaults of terra followed a fairly similar structure- protagonists all meet, protagonists do a joint op, protagonists then split, (captain of the guard does his own thing without support etc), protagonists individually find a thread that links them back together, etc. it’s all fairly predictable but also most annoyingly the beginning missions never seem to have much effect on the overall trajectory of the story. This book (the 3rd) suffers the most from this.

[Hanz Löwe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great writing, what a ride!
But…
what is this nihilistic ending where everyone died?! It is so unsatisfactory! I wish to lodge a complaint….
edit:
ok, I read the ending one more time, god now I feel twice as bad. It is just so damn unsatisfactory! II am so angry!

[Richard Samuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Conclusion to the story and well written throughout!

[Siôn Hopes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the strongest of the trilogy, and the ending is a little dissatisfying but it's been nice to revisit these characters again. I think my dissatisfaction stems from the fact that Chris Wraight is my favourite black library author. This feels a little like he phoned it in though. Wrote the book because he had to, rather than because he wanted to.

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intensely bittersweet ending to the Vaults of Terra trilogy, which rises to about as high a level as tie-in fiction for a game of tiny toy soldier models could ever be expected to ascend to, or possibly higher.

[Zare · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book! I think this was a conclusion of the Vaults of Terra book series (there is nothing explicitly said about it, I hope there will be more works, at least linked to the story-line to a degree) and I can only say .... what a book. When deluxe edition came out I was late like fifteen minutes and it sold out. I was so upset with this (I know, I know, but I truly wanted to get my hands on this one ASAP :)), in part because I did not know if BlackLibrary will publish a physical book in a foreseeable future (I adore physical books :)) I contacted BL and, thankfully, they reassured me that "normal" release will be made next year (2023). Do I need to say I got this very moment it went out. And then I waited and cherished it as a bottle of good wine to enjoy. I waited for a time to read it (ah that so called real life :)). And finally ....... what a book!

Having read a lot of W40K and Heresy series novels I have to admit I am very happy when I get my hands on stories about secretive Inquisition. Stories about these ..... warlord is only thing that comes to mind although they are much much more than simple paramilitary commanders .... are just awesome. Seeing them battling over things that are seen in the eyes of Imperium administration as a thing so dangerous that it might destabilize the Human Empire - it is beyond awesome, it is so cyberpunk-infused with [small I guess, with the view of other forces around] armies getting into fights, hijacking, and capture operations, weird go-betweens and fixers, mercenaries and various assassin operatives, all to make sure sensitive information [or whatever somebody thinks it is sensitive] does not go out into general public.

Starting directly from the end of previous novel in series (The Hollow Mountain) we see Crowl's base heavily damaged and his troops licking their wounds, trying to figure out what happened and where is Crowl himself. I am not sure why some readers consider first half of the book as boring, for me it was a page turner - Crowl's entourage visiting every cranny and nook on Terra to gather intel on Crowl's whereabouts, during which they become more and more aware that they are followed by other forces intent to stop them. Soon, investigation will take them off Terra and into most unexpected place of all (at least for me). Battles with gangs, Terra itself engulfed in insurgency and firefights all over the place with space blockade in place, shady undercover armies (that turning point in investigation, man it was like something from Shadowline, it was so realistically presented, in such a cinematic manner .... I cannot but keep smile on my face :)) unleashing devastating attacks and pouring destruction from above, Mars forces and Skitarii, introduction of Imperial Palace troops and finally Custodes - trust me, you need to read this.

Ending is bitter sweet. I wont go into details much, but as one path closes, unexpectedly other one opens on Terra itself and, finally, hope is rekindled after centuries of stagnation. Last thoughts of the Inquisition .... control? Director? M? .... are excellent portrayal of Imperium's immortal bureaucracy (that echo with our own, this-worldly bureaucratic machinery :)).

Excellent book, highly, highly recommended to all fans of good SF action, adventure and especially fans of Warhammer 40k. Now I need to finish Regent's Shadow and hope there will be more books with similar (or continuation, fingers crossed :)) content from Chris Wraight and BL.

Cannot recommend it highly enough.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've seen many raving reviews, but for me the Dark City was a weak third act to a great series. The preceding work, The Hollow Mountain, ends on a great cliffhanger - Inquisitor Crowl is missing, having pursued a key lead alone. Fully two thirds of the book involves finding him, and I felt it became a little tedious. None of the investigations come to much and the final resolution involves simply decoding a riddle. This felt much less thrilling than Crowl's infiltration scene in the last book.

The book finally picked up when Crowl is discovered (having done nothing of importance) and the crew finally enter the webway. This final sequence lives up to the expectations that the rest of the book did not.

Alas, I felt a little disappointed by the ending. A "challenge" of 40k novels for me is suspending the disbelief that they're not around as part of a miniatures' wargame.The easiest way to keep them from contradicting the main-line Games Workshop materials is make them not intersect, but this makes it hard to take the idea of a shared universe seriously. I felt the book went to lengths to kill off everyone and prevent any of the actions in the book to actively interact with the events of the quasi-parallel series Watchers on the Throne. Yes, the book ends with the Throne failing in decades to centuries, but in 40k time the resolution of that plotline can be postponed indefinitely. Thus the end feels a bit like a shaggy dog story. Prove me wrong, Wraight! It's too easy to imagine that this story will be yet another story of apparent import that will never be revisited.

And as a post script, I was also disappointed at the conclusion of Revus and Khazad. 40k novels often fall into the trap of a lot of "adolescent" literature where there is a load of violence but affection is taboo. Their relationship had a key moment when it could have been developed further but Wraight didn't take the chance. Of course, the final expression of their maybe-love is a last stand when they both die.

Chris Wraight is still one of my favorite Black Library authors, but for me the high point of this series was the finale of The Hollow Mountain and the dual storylines of Spinoza fighting with the Imperial Fists and Khazad and Crowl finally confronting a mastermind. After that, The Dark City was all downhill.

[Rob Ferguson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A weird, downer ending to a series I otherwise really enjoyed. This series, specifically books 2 and 3, had a lot of scars from where the whole meta-narrative going on in 40k at the time elbows its way into the "crime mystery set on Terra" we originally signed up for. But it's in this book where it goes straight into having characters arrive, having just witnessed something that just happened in the campaign going on at the time declaring "oh man, you shoulda seen it when [redacted]!"

The book did still have parts I enjoyed, like the shifting nature of Spinoza and Crowl's relationship, and hers with the rest of the retinue, and when it seems like the characters are going to sabotage the entire plan out of sheer Imperial xenophobia, until Crowl reappeared and reveals that it WAS a trick the entire time. Although, personally I think they still should have gone ahead with it. The throne IS about to fail, after all.

It's the ending specifically that soured me on the book and knocked off at least one of those two stars. Having all the main characters die or get stranded forever in an infinite torture dimension at the end, with no-one ever knowing what happened to them within the span of a single chapter felt like a statement by the author that "None of this mattered, go read Indomitus Crusade instead." Like, one of the antagonists - who gets away with it, in the end - outright has an epilogue of her going "Wow, there's a whole lot of crazy stuff going to happen soon, better stay tuned!" Did Chris Wraight get bored and want to move on, or did Black Library editorial slash his series from 4 books to 3 and tell him to go write something that "actually matters."

Really disappointed.

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall I enjoyed the The Dark City. But the first half is an absolute slog to get through. I don't necessarily blame the author for that. The problem stems from this being the 3rd Vaults of Terra book and Chris Wraight has another recent series set on Terra that covers roughly the same timeframe and events. Everything in the first half just felt like ground we've covered before.

The story starts with our fractured gang from the previous books trying to pick up the pieces and find the person behind the shenanigans that led them to this point. But it's just a run of the mill investigation. Nothing really interesting happens. Our band of heroes split up and go to one location , shoot a few people, find a few clues and head off to the next destination. It's not all bad, we met an interesting person or two along the way and Chris Wraight is always good at dropping in lore nuggets here and there.

The book picks up quite a bit in the second half. We get new scenery, our cast of characters expands and finally the story gets interesting.

Overall I do recommend The Dark City to anyone who is a fan of the previous Vaults of Terra books. You just have to get through the first 150 pages or so.

[Jackson Steele · Rating 4 out of 5]

The culmination of the series! What the previous two books have been building to most definitely does not disappoint. Crowl is gone now, and this gives Spinoza more space to breathe as a character, helping to address my complaints from the previous book that her character development feels inadequate. That being said, it remains dependent on the (in my opinion) inadequate prior development, so it's imperfect, but a definite improvement. The conspiracy continues to unravel and escalate, and the stakes continue to raise without feeling forced. The mystery here feels the most real out of any of the previous books - having the context of the previous two books helps you better understand what you don't yet know, and makes the mystery all the better for it. You truly feel like you've stumbled onto something big, and the climax vindicates that. The cliffhanger ending also feels appropriate, though it does leave a major Chekov's gun hanging around. This series and Watchers of the Throne give Terra the perspective it deserves, and do an enormous job fleshing out fascinating political intrigue following the return of Guilliman.

[Ben Amos · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic, thrilling and lovably grimdark conclusion to the Vaults of Terra trilogy, The Dark City is a great finish to an already great set of novels. Following up on the foundation built in the first two books, with Crowl missing and the world in turmoil, there is already a lot of driving force to see the plot threads to their end, and though the book does drag a bit in the first half, the second half more than enough makes up for it, regaining the momentum needed for its bombastic ending, as well as answering many mysteries that had been built up in the previous two entries in (mostly) satisfying ways. As far as endings go, it is as near as good as you can hope for. Well worth checking out if you have already read the first two entries if only to get the closure for the many questions asked in the novels that came before.

4.5/5, an awesome read.

[Wesley Fleure · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was really unimpressed by first volume but these books got better and better and I really came to like and care about the characters who were subtly but well developed over the series. I feel like that was Wraights focus here, the characters, but the plot and wider connection to bigger events in the imperium slowly began to encroach and develop and was not disappointing or predictable when finally revealed at the end, I throughly enjoyed the ending which had some rather poignant moments. As always the actual writing is top notch, I think Wraight might be the best pure writer in the black library although I probably enjoy ADB story and characters more.

[Jacob Bennike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good BL book, that has a nice mix of interesting characters and a good story that could’ve worked on its own without the “Warhammer” name, but manages to fit into “Warhammer” just fine.

I didn’t read the first two novels. I didn’t realize this was a third of a trilogy until I was a good deal into it, and it can be read on its own. In the grander scheme of things it can frankly be skipped, but you shouldn’t, it’s a good book!

If you like the Mechanicum, the custodians, the inquisition, the everyday imperial soldier or the dark Eldar then you will want to read it for sure.

[Kyle Kozlowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book, filled with what one would expect of the series. The Imperium is in chaos, and Interrogator Spinozza is left to hunt down her former master. Seeing her slowly come to the same ideals as Crowl, her master. The pacing can be quick, but it needs to cover much so it works, the only real complaint I have is that it ends on a massive cliffhanger. A bit annoying for the last book in a series but so be it. If you like the series this book will let you experience what you loved about them from the start.

[David Terricciano · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're well versed in the 40k/30k universe you don't really learn anything here. The mystery really wasn't that compelling. Spinoza and the rest of the characters are all pretty dry save for Kroll. Discussion with haemonculus was probably the best part. I didn't hate the ending as much as everyone else. Doesn't Gorgias have the data and is on another planet?

[Alberto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Para quien quiere conocer un poco más del Trono y la corrupción dentro de los altos rangos de Terra esta es una novela fundamental. Excelente forma de narrar y los últimos capítulos no me dejaron soltar el libro ni por un momento. Muy emocionante, muy recomendado. Sin embargo, no es una obra maestra ni una pieza central de lectura en el universo Warhammer.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did like this book, but I feel like Wraight wanted to do more than he was allowed to here. The sratus quo of 40k can never change, after all. Some fun moments of grimdark entertainment throughout, though a bit if a rushed ending. I feel like this tying in with the great rift was a waste - it added lots of guff that ultimately didn't impact the plot much. Overall good, but not as good as hoped.

[Ronan Johnson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good ending to a very good series - the tone and the way the nauseating reality of what's really going on is revealed is spot on. The first half of the book, though, is pretty boring, retreading the second book when much more time could have been spent with the inhabitants of the titular Dark City. Very happy Gorgias survived, though.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite often, I feel like Chris Wraight has written books specifically to cater to my tastes and interests, and yet also manages to surprise me, constantly, left and right. Can't overstate how good this series is, or how well it dovetails (and, contradictory, *doesn't* easily dovertail!) with the parallel duology, Watchers of the Throne.

This Wraight character can spin a good yarn.