Warrior Priest by Darius Hink

Book Review: Warrior Priest by Darius Hinks

I have never read a warhammer 40K novel before. (Yeah, whip me, chastise me, curse me to infernal rot in the underworld and neverwhere!)

There. Now that I have that confession off my chest, I can go ahead with this review. My first look at the grim desolate universe torn by incessant warfare against the creatures of Dark, came with this rollercoaster of a book, called the Warrior Priest. By Darius Hinks. This is a stand-alone book with a self contained story of one of the heroes in the warhammer world and the empire army. And yet, it weaves strong links to the whole world that has been built around this theme.

Here’s the blurb –

“Warrior Priests are the holy crusaders of the Empire, crushing daemons, witches and heretics alike with righteous fury. These bold men wield death and damnation, with warhammers held high and the word of Sigmar on their lips. They provide the final bastion against the forces of darkness that would run rampant and forever turn the hearts of men. Jakob Wolff is one such warrior, and sets out to track down his brother, whose soul has been tainted by the Ruinous Powers. Family must be put to one side as he battles to prevent the Empire from sinking into Chaos, with only his strength of arms and the purity of his beliefs to call upon.”

I haven’t heard about Sigmar. Apparently he is one of the earliest heroes in this war-torn land who repelled the dark forces. The Warrior Priests consider him God-King. This story details just one single hero, in this landscape and his struggle to contain his brother, who has been ruined by the Dark Forces. All said and done, a minor strife detailed in this rich vast land. But a good starting point into the military fantasy world of Warhammer 40K and the Empire Army.

Frankly, I found the first quarter of the book heavily dragging. It portrays Wolff as the strong silent man impervious to any kinds of evil as he breathes, eats and drinks piety and devotion to his Faith, that is of course unshakeable. The minor cast of this novel all get introduced in the first quarter of the book with very insipid side-line story plots that somehow don’t weave into the central theme. A healer, who is being pursued by this fake priest, Wolff’s side kick who inspite of having a major story-share really failed to connect with me. His faith is questionable, his love for the Anna ( the Healer, did I say?) is unrequited, his strengths in war is laughable ( except for this one scene where the “Faith” burns strong in him, inciting a blood lust that leads to slaughter of enemies! I really found this unbelievable and amateurish) The theme we know is the conflict between blood brothers. So you already know that the other main protagonist is his brother, Fabian. Who is not introduced in the first quarter. But that’s the end of the short-comings.

Though, once Fabian gets a voice and POV in the book, it’s a joy-ride. It just cruises along. A flash-back that helps us understands the whole conflict between brothers, the final desperate hold-out against the Otherworldly enemy, all building to a logical thundering climax with very tautly described visceral war scenes that crowd your memory. I don’t fault the endings as well. Perfectly paced and very well fleshed out with vivid war scenes and two strong protagonists. A satisfying quick read.

I give this book seven on ten. And while Darius Hinks has not completely bowled me over, I wouldn’t be averse to reading more works of his in this world.