Pariah

Bequin: Warhammer 40,000, Book 1

By: Dan Abnett

Narrated by: Helen Keeley

Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's Summary

Book one in the Bequin series.

Listen to it because

It's an intriguing and evocative story that shows characters you know and love through new (yet strangely familiar) eyes, forging a stunning mystery that will leave you astonished.

The story

In the city of Queen Mab, nothing is quite as it seems. Pariah, spy and Inquisitorial agent, Alizebeth Bequin is all of these things and yet none of them. An enigma, even to herself, she is caught between Inquisitors Gregor Eisenhorn and Gideon Ravenor, former allies now enemies who are playing a shadow game against a mysterious and deadly foe. Coveted by the archenemy, pursued by the Inquisition, Bequin becomes embroiled in a dark plot of which she knows not her role or purpose. Helped by a disparate group of allies, she must unravel the secrets of her life and past if she is to survive a coming battle in which the line between friends and foes is fatally blurred.

©2021 Games Workshop Limited (P)2021 Games Workshop Limited

Whistle like kettles, wheeeee!

Overall? The book gets logarithmically better in general, and it's a genuine treat for long time fans of the Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogies. Abnett's artful ability to craft the silhouette of a character and lay trails of bread crumbs, all from the point of view of a competent but inexperienced new female pov protagonist, is not only entirely believable but positively delicious by the end of the novel.

Performance? Helen Keeley had me rolling on the floor at some moments, had me stifling exclamations of pure joy and awe at hours of the night when I should've been sleeping, and in between those moments gave a solid performance of the text.

Story? Not a chance in hell I'll spoil any of it, but if you can march through the first half of the book you will be mightily rewarded in the second half. Abnett's ability to chew scenery is second to none, his ability to foreshadow has only deepened over the years, and he remains unrivaled in his ability to weave irl history into Warhammer 40k in the most believable and subtle ways.

Abnett, you sick son of a....

This book.... This book put me through so much grief! Dan Abnett seriously ups his already formidable game on this one. The book is beautifully written but absolutely make sure you are COMPLETELY caught up with all seven previous books. If not then this book will have nowhere near the impact that is intended. His use of first person perspective is perfect, but I have to say he is almost cruel in his approach. Since we the audience knows more than the character it leads to moments of absurd stress, excitement, and insight. There was more than a couple moments where I was literally screaming at the main character or just screaming my rage. I cannot recommend this book enough to fans of the series.

Great performance, listen to first 6 books before!

To get the most out of this one, you should listen to the Eisenhorn Trilogy, the Ravenor Trilogy, and perhaps The Magos.

The voice acting in this one is superb, and the story and writing is gripping.

really good

this was really good I cant wait to listen to tje other 2 there was even a squats reference

Awsome

I throughly enjoyed this book. Dan did a wonderful job. Helen did a great job Narration in my humble opinion.

Refreshing entry into the inquisition series!

I really enjoyed this book. Been a long time fan with Dan's inquisitor series, and following up with what Ravenor and Eisenhorn are up to through Bequin's eyes is a refreshing change.

The story will keep you riveted and the voice performance is exciting.

interesting continuation

bit slow to start but overall it's better than average. name drops galore ... the mystery thickens! 😎

Great all around

Great story with exceptional writing. Very little of the story actually deals with Eisenhorn or Ravenor but nonetheless it is great nonetheless. The narrator does a wonderful job of keeping the dialog interesting. I would strongly recommend reading the previous Eisenhorn/Ravenous novels first for clarity.

slow start

was hard to stay interested in the beginning, but ended well. I purchased the next in the series.

Great!

Very well written, great pacing, and love how it ties in with other books. Highly recommend!

Just like buses... At last Pariah! (& Penitent)

It's been a while coming, but Dan's 'Pariah' gets the Audible treatment - and a suitably mature, clear and concise reading, it receives from Helen too - just as I envisaged Alizebeth Bequin to be.

I originally read 'Pariah' when it first came out, and, I must admit, I was a little underwhelmed after the tour de force trilogies of Eisenhorn and Ravenor.

But, it's a more nuanced grown-up affair, - like my introduction to red wine as a young man, and second time around, it's all the better for it.

What a bonus that in addition to 'Pariah', 'Penitent' is available too.

happy days

Worth a listen

Pariah is quite good, the author obviously put in an enormous amount of effort. He built an entirely new world with its own names, social system, gods and history which is where I struggle. It is difficult to keep the many many characters straight and much of it is ambiguous at best. It’s difficult to follow. As well it would be nice for Beta to be her own rescuer for once, she is tough and capable but still needs to be saved over and over. The narrator is perfect, it was a difficult read with all this strange names and foreign concepts and she did it beautifully.

Simply put its outstanding

Over the short term I have been reading BL books I have heard much said of Eisenstein and Ravenor and having tried and failed to engage with those books I was reluctant to start pariah, I am so glad I did, the story is excellent the narration outstanding and as soon I finished I started straight into pentinent

Absolute class.

What a fantastic listen. I don't recall ever being slapped round the face by revelation after revelation quite so much before.

Even better than Eisenhorn?!

Make sure to have read Eisenhorn recently to get all the twists! Highly recommended 5*

Outstanding

Helen Keeley is up there with Keeble and Longworth. UNREAL. Really really enjoyed the performance.

An excellent follow-up to Eisenhorn and Ravenor

A very well crafted tale. The narrator struggles with male voices but excels as Bequin.

superb!!!

fantastic return to the Eisenhorn & Ravenor series.
very different from the regular 40k fare but has oodles of (fully realised) characters, masses of details about the 'reality' of life in the imperium away from the battlefield.

Dan Abnett is a brilliant writer of sci-fi fiction and has a wonderful sandbox area of the universe to build and play in.

Begining of the End

Awesome start to the final trilogy in the inquisition series! highly recommend! lots of Easter eggs and winks to the fans of the entire series without being off putting to new readers/listeners, highly recommend reading in order however (starting with Eisenhorn, then Ravenor and finally Bequin).

Great woek

Dan is great as usual. loved how bequin knows nothing but the reader gets lots of subtle hint throughout