Dan Abnett’s twelfth Gaunt’s Ghosts novel, Blood Pact kicks off the fourth arc in the series, known as The Victory. Set two years after their last mission on Jago, the Ghosts have spent the last year stationed on Balhaut, the site of the Sabbat Crusade’s greatest victory. While the regiment grows increasingly bored and complacent, Gaunt worries that he’s been sidelined for good. When a high-ranking enemy prisoner insists on speaking only to Gaunt, however, he’s dragged back into intrigue and danger in a way he couldn’t have expected, on a world freighted with memories.
Compared to most of the Gaunt’s Ghosts books, Blood Pact is a remarkably small-scale story, taking place over a short space of time and focusing heavily on Gaunt himself rather than the whole regiment. Plenty of the familiar faces are present and correct, but it’s Gaunt who’s front and centre – this isn’t an all-out war story, but rather a more personal, hide-and-seek style of story as the forces of the archenemy track Gaunt through the streets of Balhaut. It’s unusual, but it works, allowing Abnett to explore the effects on Gaunt’s character of being back on Balhaut, and finding himself away from the front line for so long. He’s been deeply affected by the events of the last few years, and is drawn into making decisions that he wouldn’t have made in the past, forced to question who he trusts and why.
Even with the more low-key nature of the ensemble cast, that sense of soap opera-esque character drama is still present, just a little more in the background than usual once past the opening few chapters. It’s interesting to see the Ghosts so far from their normal environment, coping with their enforced lay-off in various different, and often typically dangerous, ways. When the action kicks in it takes place away from a traditional battlefield but paced just as sharply as you’d expect, ramping up from the calm scenes of regimental day-to day and rattling along at a rapid pace. A pacy, tightly focused and personal story like this needs strong antagonists, and Abnett provides that with both the enemy prisoner and the crack team of surprisingly non-crazed Blood Pact warriors ranged against Gaunt and the few souls he knows he can trust.
All the usual series hallmarks are visible here, not least Abnett’s knack for compelling storytelling – it may take place away from the battlefield, but it’s no less well-plotted for that. After a calm, intriguing opening it quickly turns into a breathless, gripping story that keeps you turning the page, desperate to find out what happens. Step back from that and it’s clear that, while it makes a great story on its own, this is setting things up for the next books in the arc, not least by reframing the Ghosts as being dulled from so much time off the front lines. A cynic might suggest that it’s a touch lightweight, narratively, but in context of this arc, The Victory, it’s a fascinating start. It’s also just hugely entertaining, and adds a nice touch of variety to the series overall.
