Part two of John French’s The Tale of Ctesias arc and available exclusively within the Ahriman: Exodus anthology, Fortune’s Fool sees Thousand Sons daemonologist Ctesias documenting the second task he was given upon joining Ahriman’s cabal. When a potential ally arrives bearing the key to finding a safe route out of the Eye of Terror, Ahriman sends Ctesias to greet and negotiate with his former Thousand Sons brother, Ichneumon. Matching his strength and his wits against the newcomer, Ctesias finds himself caught in a typically intricate plan of Ahriman’s, but to what end?
After The Dead Oracle’s introduction to Ctesias, here we see yet more of why Ahriman wanted him in his service, not for his martial skills but for his more esoteric abilities. Ctesias knows his limitations as a warrior, but understands his value to Ahriman in terms of not just his abilities but his near-complete absence of humanity. It’s a typically smart and well-plotted story, full of vividly drawn detail, and while there’s a bit of psychic action thrown in the main attraction is the sharp interplay between Ctesias and Ichneumon. It’s great fun, cleverly filling in what might otherwise be a gap in the series’ plot line while developing Ctesias even further and simply being an entertaining story in its own right.
See also: all the other Ahriman-related reviews on Track of Words.
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