Review: "Ravenor" by Dan Abnett

Title: Ravenor
Author: Dan Abnett 
Genre:  Science Fiction
Publication Date: 2004
Publisher:  Games Workshop
Pages:  416

Rating:  4 out of 5

Amazon Book Blurb: 
  

When his body is hideously damaged in an enemy attack, it looks as though Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor's promising career would be abruptly brought short. Now, encased in a life support sytem that keeps him alive but forever cuts him off from the physical world, Ravenor utilises his formidable mental powers to continue his investigations and thwart the machinations of Chaos. Along with his retinue of warriors and assassins, Gideon Ravenor fights to protect an Imperium he can no longer see, hear or feel.

Review:  Ravenor takes place in the Warhammer 40k universe which is easily one of the greatest examples of lore-creation in the greater Sci-Fi and Fantasy genres.  And in this universe, Dan Abnett is king.  Or God-Emperor if you prefer.

Speaking of heresy, there's something about the all-powerful inquisition and its agents of the throne that draws readers in.  Answering only to the Emperor, who isn't saying much from his golden throne, the only check to their power is their fellow inquisitors.  That isn't to say that agents of the inquisition go around throwing their limitless power in everyone's faces.  More often they work in secret as to prevent the vile elements they hunt from going to ground.  But the mix of clandestine work they perform as well as the occasional demonstration of absolute authority satisfies a craving I had that I wasn't aware existed.  Dan Abnett is particularly adept at weaving these two approaches into a compelling narrative.

If you were to check my kindle's dictionary you'd find that almost all of the words I've looked up while reading were from Dan Abnett's books.  His vocabulary is impressive and refreshing for logophiles:  Caromed, funicular, balmacaan.  These are just a few interesting words I picked up to help me sound pretentious when I'm chatting with my three year old.

Anyone familiar with the Warhammer 40k universe is also familiar with its often gruesome nature.  While not as constant or quite as visceral as the more war-oriented novels, Ravenor still has its moments.  Mr. Abnett is a master of description.  He perfectly captures the essence of any given scene and moment in time.

On the other hand, his love for a perfectly set scene can also be a hindrance.  I've found myself sifting through several pages that describe the setting in an incredibly detailed and time-consuming manner that left lulls in an otherwise engaging plot.  However, I've noticed that this is a matter of preference among readers.  I know many get upset by Orson Scott Card's lack of scenery description.  He prefers to leave as much as possible to his reader's imagination.  I know many readers prefer Mr. Card's briefly descriptive style.  I think, however, that most of us fall somewhere in the middle of the two extremes.  So be aware that Mr. Abnett tends to fall on the very descriptive end of the spectrum.

Those who've read Mr. Abnett's Eisenhorn series are aware that those novels were exclusively first-person narrative which, as Mr. Abnett himself has said, can be hard on a story as it strongly limits what an author can present to the reader.  He works around this problem while keeping a little Eisenhorn flavor in Ravenor by presenting every character's viewpoint as third-person with the exception of Ravenor himself who is presented in the first-person.  It sounds a little awkward but I thought it worked well.

The biggest hindrance to Ravenor is that the character for whom the book is named, Ravenor, is never actually 'seen' by the reader.  Having been horribly wounded by a previous terrorist attack, he resides inside an armored 'chair'.  We hear his thoughts and his monotone voice when he uses his 'chair's' speakers but this leaves very little humanity in the character with which the reader can cling to.  As a result, Mr. Abnett spends a lot of time writing from the perspective of members of Ravenor's coterie.  Having said that, it didn't really bother me but I strongly suspect it will bother others.

Summing up, I enjoyed the book immensely and I guarantee that any fan of dark sci-fi will also be satisfied.

Do you have questions?  Are you an ardent WH40K fan who noticed a heretical mistake in my review?  Let me know in the comments below and may the God-Emperor take mercy on me.