Ravenor: The Omnibus

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I never disliked Ravenor, but always had a hard time getting into his stories after Eisenhorn. Revisiting this Omnibus, I remember the first book the most, small parts of the second, and almost none of the third. I'm not actually sure I ever finished this omnibus originally. I'm very glad I finally did. Overall, I think the Ravenor trilogy has a few rough points, particularly in the beginning, but really comes together brilliantly in the end. Ravenor - After successfully executing the heretic Zygmunt Molotch, Ravenor and his team head for Eustis Majoris to investigate narcotics. Kids, don't do drugs! Thank Xenu I read this in omnibus form, because the ending is no ending at all. If I didn't have easy access to the sequels, the sudden stop would make me throw the book out the window.

Eisenhorn was spectacular. Ravenor is better. This sprawling omnibus tells a suitably epic story, across not only the primary setting of the Scarus Sector), but across the galaxy spanning Imperium of Man and, in a rare move for 40k fiction, time itself. The characters are all fleshed out and distinct, with the most notable being the titular Inquisitor himself, Gideon Ravenor, a massively powerful psychic and intellectual who is physically confined to a mobile life support system (think Davros meets Charles Xavier). Abnett also brings life to a particularly nasty, but not simply evil, collection of villains.Ravenor Returned: 4 stars. I like this one as a whole way more than the first. You're well acquainted with the characters this time and their mission feels more cohesive as a whole. My main issue with the story largely have to do with Carl's story. So much of it feels painfully obvious to literally everyone but people who spend every single day of their lives with him and should notice. Given some details in the third book, I wonder if this is on purpose, but at the time it feels a bit forced given how detail oriented all of the characters are meant to be in this universe. If you have any interest in the Warhammer 40k universe, you owe it to yourself to read this book. It is a very fun read. Of course, literature it is not, but someone looking for a good story can't go wrong. That said, Abnett’s plotting and writing become tighter with every book: the Ravenor novels outshine the Eisenhorn ones, and each Ravenor novel improves over the last one. His weakness remains characterisation: there’s just too many expendables (and on the baddies’ side, expended) with little more than a name, vest, and weapon attached, no real conflict or character development among hired guns and a superhuman hard boiled detective. The last two novels in this collection are by far the best in Abnett’s Inquisitor trilogy or trilogies so far. Two characters (Carl Thonius and Patience Kys) have actual arcs and conflicts. Everyone has secrets. There are strong interesting locations. Sholto Unwerth is a comic relief that works AND one you end up actually caring about. And the novel directly works with the series’ main concept, Ravenor’s physical vulnerability, but stops short of making something significant of it, i.e. a palpable change in Ravenor’s character after going through the Hero’s Journey underworld of facing the world as a literal naked lump of flesh. (Ravenor’s main arc is the same as Eisenhorn’s and by now familiar and expectable, and with far less surrounding introspection and doubts by Ravenor to give it the same significance: a faithful Inquisitor’s slow descent into “radicalism” = the ends justify the means, using the enemy’s tools (or even the enemy) to fend off a greater evil.) Fans will recognize a couple of characters from Eisenhorn's retinue, Kara Swole (the acrobat) and Harlon Nayl (the bounty hunter) and Cynia Preest (captain of the Hinterlight). The rest of the team is new:

This sprawling collection is probably best read in one full sweep, as the stories are interconnected and the dramatic tension builds through the earlier novels. Even though the three main Ravenor books are separated by short stories, it's not jarring to have those pauses. Especially not when the former introduces some important plot points. Wystan Frauka, one of Alizabeth Bequin's untouchables who survived the purge on that horrible night. Patrik Belknap, a retired Imperial Guard medic will who will assist anyone, anywhere, regardless of their ability to pay.Setting A substantial portion of this book takes place on a non-Earth planetary body: - humans in a futuristic society Nonetheless, I think that at times the intricate and for the most part enjoyable plot denied us a chance to get to know these characters better. With the exceptions of Kara Swole and Ravenor himself, most of his team didn't grow nor change throughout the series. Not to say they weren't interesting, but even something like falling in love (with a ridiculously stereotyped and yet still awesome warrior-woman in one case) or nearly losing everyone you cared about did not affect the tough and grim band. Ravenor is better than Eisenhorn. Yeah yeah, taste is subjective, everyone remembers Eisenhorn over a guy literally floating in a barrel. I enjoyed the attention to detail in how things functioned, from the grandiosely grotesque societies of 41st millenium from richest to poorest, to the governments running their lives, and to the powers that try to control those governments. The dialogue and pacing were sharp and very rarely did I skim even when I knew what was coming. One of the things I like best about the 40k universe is that it's so very different from most science fiction settings. Humanity is not a noble race defending itself from enemies, rather it is just as 'evil' and flawed and willing to do anything to survive as any other. So the reader must apply their own sense of right and wrong, their own moral compass. Much of the 40K world is grey, but there's shades of silver here and there. Ravenor's team of operatives, as well as many people they come across, represent those slivers even if they're also servants of an Inquisition that would unhesitatingly annihilate billions if it was that or total destruction of humanity. And those are the sorts of odds they play with. There is never a saviour or a Great Noble Captain to come to the rescue, people do the best they can in their limited capacities.