Overlapping slightly with the events of Ahriman: Sorcerer, and following on from several of the other short stories in the series, John French’s Ahriman: Gates of Ruin once more tells a tale of Thousand Sons sorcerer Ctesias. Here the weary daemonologist is looking back from a point far in the future, recalling the part he played in leading Ahriman and his followers out of the Eye of Terror. Ctesias’ knowledge of daemons is put to good use as he seeks the location of the Gates of Ruin, but can a daemon ever really be trusted?
With every new release the Ahriman series becomes increasingly complex, character arcs and plot points twisting in unexpected ways and building up a story that’s epic in scale. Here we get a little more detail of Ctesias and his role, wrapped up in a tale that’s typical of John French’s style, full of warped and twisted pain and darkness as well as tantalising hints of what’s to come and why. There’s a strong sense of hidden strands that will become clear in hindsight once the series ends, but in the meantime leave as many questions as they answer. Another excellent addition to the series.
Gates of Ruin was first released as part of the 2014 Black Library Advent Calendar series. Click here for my other 2014 Advent reviews.
See also: all the other Ahriman-related reviews on Track of Words.
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