First released in the special edition hardback of Penitent and then included in the Inferno! Presents: The Inquisition anthology, Dan Abnett’s Lepidopterophobia is a slow, sinister tale featuring Medea Betencore, and a welcome addition to the large collection of short stories that support and enhance the Eisenhorn/Ravenor/Bequin trilogy of Inquisition trilogies. Best read after Pariah to avoid spoilers for that novel, it sees Medea scouring the city of Queen Mab for information that might help her and her master Gregor Eisenhorn understand or even locate the mysterious King in Yellow. When the discovery of an unusual tome in one of Queen Mab’s many book markets leads her into the maze-like stacks of a dark and dust-laden store, little does she realise she will soon have to face her oldest fear, amongst other things, simply in order to stay alive.
One of Abnett’s many strengths as a writer is his ability to bring his stories to life with wonderful little everyday details, and the setting of Queen Mab couldn’t be more perfectly suited to this. The quiet, shadowed streets that Medea explores simply jump off the page, populated by “silently pensive” booksellers, basking cats, and strange little stalls offering ancient, impossible artefacts representing the city’s unique nature as “a scrapbook of obscured culture, a memorial to the forgotten”. The dusty gloom of the Remainders – the particular area Medea finds herself in here – provides her with both hope and discomfort, the gentle susurration of countless pages an unwelcome reminder of her fear (for which the story’s title provides a clue) even as it offers the possibility of new, vital information.
On top of its obvious theme of conquering fear, this is very much a story about things not being quite what they seem, and disguised in various different ways. It’s perhaps a stretch to call it an out-and-out horror story, but it’s certainly a tense, slow-burn story that leans into the creepiness of its locations and Medea’s specific phobia. Readers who want to really dig into the setting of Queen Mab and the events surrounding the core narratives of Pariah and Penitent, and who enjoy Abnett’s tendency to sneak in little references to both in-universe and real world people and places, will find a lot to enjoy here. Like most of these side stories it isn’t essential in order to enjoy the novel, but it’s such a clever, intriguing little story that it’s absolutely worth reading regardless.
For more information about Dan Abnett’s ‘Inquisitor Cycle’, including loads more reviews, check out my series guide here.
See also: all of the Dan Abnett-related reviews and interviews on Track of Words.
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