Eisenhorn, Ravenor and Bequin

This article was originally published in 2018, and since then I’ve written an updated, more comprehensive guide to Dan Abnett’s Inquisition Cycle, which I would recommend you check out instead.

Dan Abnett’s trilogy of Inquisition trilogies – the Eisenhorn, Ravenor and Bequin books – are among the best that Black Library have ever published. With the release of The Magos & The Definitive Casebook of Gregor Eisenhorn – the fourth book in the Eisenhorn trilogy (I’m not calling it a quadrilogy…that just sounds daft) – and increased positivity from Abnett regarding getting the second and third Bequin novels written, I thought it was about time I started to slowly tackle the whole set of stories. The idea of this post is that it will list the recommended reading order for all of these stories, with links out to my reviews as and when they’re posted.

At the time of writing I’ve already reviewed Xenos and a couple of the accompanying short stories, with more on the way. I’m not planning to blast through everything all in one go, but instead gradually work through all of the short stories/audio dramas and novels over a longer period of time – barring The Magos I’ve already read all of these, but it’s going to be fun to revisit them. As and when I have a new review ready, I’ll link out to it here.

While the existing reviews are a little out of sequence in terms of this reading order – which is pulled from the front of The Magos, rather than something I’ve devised – I’m aiming to largely go through the rest in this order.

Titles in bold denote the novels, while those in red and underlined include links to my reviews.

• Pestilence (short story)
• Master Imus’ Transgression (audio drama/short story)
• Regia Occulta (audio drama/short story)
• Xenos – Eisenhorn book one
• Missing in Action (short story)
• Malleus – Eisenhorn book two
• Backcloth for a Crown Additional (short story)
• The Strange Demise of Titus Endor (short story)
• Hereticus – Eisenhorn book three
• The Curiosity (short story)
• Playing Patience (short story)
• Ravenor – Ravenor book one
• Thorn Wishes Talon (audio drama/short story)
• Ravenor Returned – Ravenor book two
• Ravenor Rogue – Ravenor book three
• Gardens of Tycho (short story)
• The Keeler Image (short story)
• Perihelion (short story)
• The Magos – Eisenhorn book four
• Pariah – Bequin book one
• Penitent – Bequin book two (not yet published)
• Pandaemonium – Bequin book three (not yet published)

Strangely, there’s also one more (very) short story that doesn’t seem to have been included in The Magos and so I’m not sure where it should live in the reading order. Hence, until I know otherwise, here it is on its own:

• Born to Us (short story)

I’m really looking forward to spending some more time with these characters, and I hope my reviews are interesting as and when they arrive! If you’ve got any comments or questions, I’d love to hear from you – you can get in touch via the comments section below, or on Facebook or Twitter.