Dan Abnett’s short story Thorn Wishes Talon was first released as an audio drama, as part of the Thorn and Talon collection, before subsequently getting the prose treatment. Fans of Abnett’s Inquisition stories may understand the title’s reference from the off, but suffice to say it’s a story which sees Ravenor and his warband responding to a cryptic message which draws them into conflict with a shadowy cabal of twisted seers. As a storm builds and enemies close in, Ravenor meets with the message’s author to learn of a terrible danger that clearly someone doesn’t want him to know about.
It’s a slightly unusual crossover story that feels a little different to most of Abnett’s Inquisition stories – the characters are all familiar but a mix of different perspectives and styles lends it an additional air of mystery. That notwithstanding it’s everything you might expect from Abnett, with a nicely balanced pace and peppered with the usual characterful dialogue. Narratively it nestles comfortably in between Ravenor and Ravenor Returned to add a little context to what comes next in the wider story, and while you don’t absolutely need to have read this, it’s definitely worth checking it out if you can.
Click here to see how this fits into the wider Eisenhorn/Ravenor/Bequin arc.
I am sure this short was also in my Ravenor omnibus.
Yes, I just finished re-reading Ravenor and it was in 🙂
Yesss!!! How does Ravenor fare on a re-read? I am planning on diong one as soon as I finish Eisenhorn’s first trilogy…