Scourge the Heretic

I've read other Warhammer 40K before, but nothing by this particular author. However, his writing style in Scourge the Heretic really appealed to me. Inquisitor Grynner contacts Inquisitor Carolus about a psyker mystery in the Calixis sector. Psykers draw their power from the Warp (parallel universe with malevolent entities), which is why they are usually insane. Inquisitor Carolus and his team are trying to determine how the escape of some specific psykers may be related to a people-trafficking operation. The team of agents include Elyra Yivor - a psyker herself who has a personal history with Carolus, Keira Sythree - an Officio Assassinorum operative raised as a Redemptionist, Mordechai Horst - a former arbitrator, and Hybris Vex - a techpriest. Later, they are joined by Danuld Drake and Vos Kyrlock - members of the Imperial Guard, who assist the team after an attack on the Citadel of the Forsaken. Most of the story takes place on the mining world of Sepheris Secundus. Icenholm serves as the agents' center. Vos and Elyra are sent on a mission in the Gorgonid, specifically The Tumble, to go undercover within the smuggling operation. Horst and Vex investigate the Fathomsound Mine, where techpriest Tonis (from the Citadel) was working on a secret heretical project. Drake helps Keira pass as an aristocrat to infiltrate the Conclave of the Enlightened, to find other heretics that Tonis might have been working with. At first, all the pieces of information seem random, and quite unrelated to Grynner's discovery in Calixis. Eventually, as the story progresses, the team begins to realize the situation is more deviant than they imagined. As they continue their investigation, Inquisitor Carolus withdraws from the team, and the epilogue adds a twist to that withdrawal. I read both Warhammer and Warhammer40K, and I've always had a slight preference for the Warhammer fantasies...BUT Sandy Mitchell aka Alex Stewart dug deeper into the personalities and thoughts of the characters than I've seen in other WH40K novels. Each character was so distinct from the others that it provided an extra dimension to the mystery with the psykers. The detailed attention to the dynamics of the team made the story much more entertaining. For instance, we learn that Kyrlock has personal ties to Sepheris Secundus that go further into his past than his time with the Guard. It is also hinted that Elyra and Carolus may not be the only ones with an interest in another team member. The focus was more on people and plot than laspistols and other Imperial technology, which I liked...I can only take so many descriptions of the same weapons used in one 40K story after another. I'm hoping the sequel Innocence Proves Nothing will give more story time to Kyrlock's and Elyra's mission, but Keira's ultimate discovery was nothing less than thrilling. Looking forward to more of this series...

After reading this book I realize that potential buyers and consumers of this product might be "deceived". It is about the Inquisition, but not specifically about Inquisitots (like the great Eisenhorn's books). This series is to go side by side with the Dark Heresy Roleplaying Game, and hence all the structure of the book with several main characters and a powerful Patron; Scourge the Heretic is about the Inquisitors Angelae, the operatives that do the dirty work, investigating dangerous persons, associations, places... The author makes a fine job describing the diverse points of view through all the main characters: for example the way the Redemptionist Keira faces her feelings matching them with the worldview transmited by her cults fanatic teachings; the clear, logical way of reasoning of the Tech Priest Vex, etc. This is just the beginning of a greater plot, that is quite clear. I do agree with the review that the author invested too much in the Character Carolus, when he isn't the focus at all. But this novel has interesting characters (somewhat base...but you wanted an Imperial Guardsman to speak like Shakespeare? Or a former arbitrator in the Dark Warhammer Mythos to worry about the age of a potential mate? This is Warhammer...Dark and Gothic, with very few moral qualms), a metaplot that involves Xenos Artifacts, Psyker smuggling, secret societies, archeotech items. Definitively, it promises much. The downside: too few secondary characters, obvious storyline, Keira is great looking...ok...but enough is enough (I know that the beautifull bodied female assassin in a catsuit is a trademark from the Collegia Assassinorum; but don't exagerate). A good Sci-fi/Horror/mistery novel, specially for Dark Heresy fans.

This is a good novel that is far superior to many of the Warhammer 40,000 novels which often feature two-dimensional space marines talking like refugees from a really bad old Knights of the Round Table movie. Its not as good as Abnett's Ravenor or Eisenhorn inquisition novels, but enjoyable unless you insist on ultra-marines slaughtering each other with wild and often boring abandon.

First off. I don't play Warhammer games nor do I ever intend to but I do like dark, military style SF. I don't read Warhammer 40,000 because I want Hemingway or even Lord of the Rings but the book's not as bad as the first 2 reveiwers said. The story is part of the company's attempt to introduce their new Dark Heresy RPG based mostly on the success of Dan Abnett's Inquisitor series, Eisenhorn and Ravenor. Ok, so Sandy Mitchell is no Dan Abnett. and yes, the dialogue doesn't have the snappy comebacks and better paced humor of his Ciaphas Cain series but it's not a bad story line. It suffers from the usual flaws when intoducing a series. Lots of description and plot building, not the most creative dialogue. It still has enough action to be entertaining. I enjoyed it and it's a WHOLE lot better than most of the WH40k series out there. The story follows an Inquisitor's warband as they hunt down the Shadowy organized crime network sumggling rogue psykers for unknown and dark purposes. IF you have no idea what an Inquisitor and his warband are, think Professor X leading the X-men in a dark SF realm where to disagree with the Empire means painful death as a heretic but the definition of heretic is often defined by the person with their finger on the trigger..... Enjoy.