Black Library’s 2016 Summer of Reading campaign hits day six with a blast from the past with The Purity of Ignorance by John French, featuring Inquisitor Covenant from 2001’s Inquisitor game. Leading his warband in an airborne insertion, Covenant is joined by Lieutenant Ianthe of the Agathian Sky Sharks, seconded to Inquisitorial duty. Discussing her military record with Preacher Josef, one of Covenant’s companions, life with the Inquisition appears somewhat irregular. Meanwhile Spire Mistress Nereid lounges in her throne room, surrounded by the trappings of luxury…
French doesn’t seem to do simple stories; at a glance this appears fairly straightforward, but beneath the surface there’s a more profound message than just good versus evil – to say more would spoil things. It’s an elegant introduction to Covenant, his methods and his warband – his first inclusion in a Black Library story, but a nostalgic look back for those of us who remember Inquisitor. Covenant himself doesn’t get a lot of the spotlight, the focus more on Ianthe and Nereid, but straight away it’s clear that he’s a different type of Inquisitor from, say, Eisenhorn. Subtitled ‘A story of the Horusian Wars’ the implication is that this will lead into a wider series, which is AN EXCELLENT THING.
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