Purity is a Lie

Black Library Advent Calendar 2018 #20

by Gav Thorpe

Advent Calendar 2018: Day Twenty


When Taddeus the Purifier joins Rogue Trader Janus Draik on a mission into the dark heart of the Blackstone Fortress, his faith is tested – as is his patience with his would-be allies.


READ IT BECAUSE

Everybody loves a Imperial priest – especially one who wants to purify things in flames and thinks he's seeing visions from the Emperor…


THE STORY

Of all the explorers in the Blackstone Fortress, few are as feared by those who have made Precipice a home as Taddeus the Purifier. Though the Ecclesiarchy priest disdains all those around him who would plunder the fortress for profit or power, he knows they are of use – for the visions sent to him by the Emperor are all that matters. Accompanying Rogue Trader Janus Draik in search of a hidden vault will put Taddeus' beliefs to the test, as danger looms.

Genres: Science Fiction, 40k, Short Stories

20 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 20, 2018

About the author

Gav spent 14 years as a developer for Games Workshop, and started writing novels and short stories in the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 when the Black Library imprint was launched in 1997.

He continues to write for Black Library, and his first 'homegrown' novel series The Crown of the Blood has been released via Angry Robot.

Currently living in Nottingham, Gav shares his home with his loving and very understanding partner - Kez, and their beautiful little boy - Sammy.

Reviews

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 2 out of 5]

Essentially a quick dungeon-bash tale with lame characters, storyline and an abrubt ending.
Taddeus the Purifier is almost a bad copy of Pat Mills' The Redeemer, but the problem with BL's fanatic zealots in Warhammer Fantasy and 40K stories is that they seem often the same ones to me.



Read it if you are a die-hard completitionist fan of the Warhammer Quest Blackstone Fortress tabletop game or if you are into "Go down into the dungeon. Kill everything you meet. Backstab your friends and steal their stuff. Grab the treasure and run." games/tales.



Otherwise you can just skip it.

[L J Field · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story felt more like an episode from a longer work rather than a complete story in itself. It is well written, but the ending was left unexpectedly wide open. This is a Blackstone Fortress work.

[Herb · Rating 2 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed the lack of point in this story.

[Michael Dodd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Featuring several of the same characters as Darius Hinks’ novel Blackstone Fortress, this sees the firebrand priest Taddeus the Purifier join Rogue Trader Janus Draik on an expedition to the Fortress itself. Taddeus despises the faithless masses surrounding him on Precipice, but when he’s invited by Draik to join the expedition he recognises the need to rise above his distaste in order to enact the Emperor’s will.

Strangely, it doesn’t tie in with Darius’ novel, instead offering an alternative interpretation of these characters, which you might charitably attribute to the warping effects of the Fortress…or perhaps to an editorial oversight. That notwithstanding it’s an entertaining enough story, albeit a little too short and abrupt to really dig too far into this interesting subject.

Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/12/...

[eFTy · Rating 1 out of 5]

The last of the Blackstone Fortress short stories. This one doesn't even bother to fit properly with the book, despite being written from the point of view of one of the main characters in that book.

Not only does it contradict the novel, the story and the characters are completely bland. The action predictable and boring, feeling like a half-assed attempt at inserting as many items from the game as possible (only 4 people can fit into a mag-lev, all the enemies use the exact terms from the game, etc.).

Even if you are really into the game, avoid this one. It will only irritate you for wasting time on it.

[Michael David · Rating 5 out of 5]

creates a very good image of the confessor's character and further defines vorne

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read as part of Advent Calendar 2018.

[miremnao · Rating 2 out of 5]

A 40k short story with little context.

[doowopapocalypse · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's like one of the old mini-comics inserted in He Man toys and the like as a way to get kiddos wanting more more more. But bad.

[T R Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

This short story stars the Ministorum Priest Taddeus the Purifier (with a cameo by his acolyte, Vhorne the Pious) as he ventures into the bowels of the ancient xenos space station for the first time. This is quite a good short story that manages to squeeze in some character development for Taddeus by showing how quickly even the most puritanical follower of the Imperial Creed can begin to compromise their beliefs given the right situation. The action is the story is also quite good and was quite entertaining to read overall.