Parah is a science fiction and fantasy novel. It is the first novel in Bequin: Warhammer 40,000 novel series. It is written by Dan Abnett. He not only writes science fiction but also comic books as well. However, he got a lot more appreciated for his science fiction novels. His Horus Rising novel is a testimony of this. Other than this one, the First and Only novel is also a very good one from the author.
The narration of this audio novel is done by Helen Keeley. This performance wasn’t that impressive as the narrator was getting a few words wrong consistently. Moreover, variation in voice was also lacking.
In Queen Mab city, nothing was quite as it appeared to be. A spy, Pariah, and an Inquisitional agent, Elizabeth Bequin were all of those things, and still, none of them. She was stuck in between the Inquisitors Gideon Ravenor and Gregor Eisenhorn.
They were former allies who later turned into enemies. They were playing a shadow game against a deadly and mysterious enemy. Bequin was coveted by the archenemy and she was embroiled in an immensely dark plot about which she knew nothing about the purpose and her role. She was supported by a contrasting group of allies. She must look to unravel all the secrets if she was serious about surviving in the expected war that was looming. It will be a battler where the line between foes and allies is gravely blurred.
Dan Abnett has surely done better writing than this. This book has a slow story and a good part of the book is filler. On top of that, the poor narration further made this one not-so-interesting experience for the listeners.
The derisive reviews of this book criticizing everything from Abnett’s writing itself to the narrator’s voice variation are founded not in the content or it’s delivery but rather in the blatant manchild insecurities of the reviewer.
Nothing could be further from the truth. This novel and the audio delivery here are superb, a delight to both the senses and intellect….provided the listener doesn’t have any sensitivities that result in a reflexive nervous whine anytime the suggestion that testicles might not be the key to godhood is made.
“Manchild” Yeah, opinion duly discarded.
You will never be a woman.
You will never be a woman.