Ephrael Stern: The Heretic Saint (Review)

 "Guide my flight, Father of Mankind," she prayed.  "Make me your spear, that I may pierce the heart of your foe." -Ephrael Stern.

This is my review of Ephrael Stern The Heretic Saint by David Annandale. Oddly, while doing some digging, I found that there was a previous tale of Ephra Stern called Daemonifuge: The Heretic Saint. That is a graphic novel and it is not this story.  I swear the way the GW design team and Black Library reuse words and phrases can get dizzying sometimes. Anyway, this story takes place on the other side of the Imperium Nihilus, the big galaxy spanning warp storm that formed as a result of the events from the Gathering Storm story (particularly the bit where Cadia blows up). And, for the past 100 years, Stern and her Harlequin companion Kyganil, have been jumping ( thanks to Kyganil's access to the webway) from world to world purging and slaughtering daemons while recovering and gathering holy relics. 

Inquisitor Otto Dagover of the Ordo Xenos has found himself on the wrong side of the Imperial Nihilus and he too has been trapped here for about as long as Stern has. He has learned of her, found her, and hopes to recruit and weaponize her against the forces of Chaos. They both dread that the Imperium they knew no longer exists on the other side of the Great Rift. She reluctantly agrees to join the Inquisitor. 

+++SPOILERS AHEAD!+++

The snazy special edition. 

Not long after they depart, Stern and Kyganil slip into the webway and meet with Yvraine, the Herald of Ynnead. This chapter pushes Stern and Kyganil's story forward as they were supposedly looking for a way to get to the Black Library over the past century in-between Stern's daemon ass-kicking fests and just never managed to get there. Yvraine updates Stern about the return of the Primarch, Roboute Guilliman, and that not only does the Imperium survive but Guilliman is leading it on a crusade into the Imperium Nihilus. She is thrilled with renewed vigor upon hearing all this good news. Kyganil departs on his own side-quest and doesn't return by the end of the story. I am assuming that's either to lay the foundation for a future subplot or to eliminate his ability to get Stern out of difficult situations* since she is very much about to get into one.  

Rejoining the Inquisitor, Stern leads the Inquisitor through the Great Rift to a world on the otherside called Severitas. It's there that she comes to the aid of a force of Adepta Sororitas of the Order of Our Martyred Lady who are not doing so well. The chaos cultists of this world have proven surprisingly adept and have the Battle Sisters trying to reach a cathedral where they can make a stand. Stern shows up, proves she's essentially a psyker supergirl and after an impressive display of over-the-top ass-kicking they begrudgingly accept her aid. 

With the world of Severitas in utter turmoil Stern takes the fight to the foe and gets captured. She wakes up to find a Master of Possession and a Warpsmith looming over her and this exchange actually happens: 

"Let us be known to each other," said the Word Bearer. "I am Varak Ghar." His horned head nodded dismissively at the Warpsmith. "That is Kragen Pak. And you...are Ephrael Stern." 

It gets crazy weird after this. The Sisters fight at the Cathedral gets bloody and trippy, and Stern's final battle vs. Varak Ghar (doesn't that sound like a beastman's name?) borders on some of the most epic showdowns ever.  Do I need to tell you who wins? 

• Did I like it? It was a fun book. Yes I liked it. It was nice and refreshing to read something straight forward after the recent word wrangling I experienced when reading Ian Watson's works.
• Was it hard to put down? Oh, it's an engaging read for sure.  It was simple and straightforward and an easy read to engage with.
• Could I care about the characters? Yes and no. Stern herself was a complicated character and if you have read the original stories in Warhammer Monthly or in the various collections that her story was reprinted in you'll have a better understanding of her character. In this book she was omega powerful it seems. l mean, if her table top rules were as awesome as depicted in this story she would be in every Adepta Soritas list ever drafted for game play. I liked the Inquisitor character but I thought the end of his story was a strange cop out. it was like he has served his purpose in getting Stern back into action, and was written off after the fact. I did like his creepy servitor. 
• Did the writer truly grasp how the 'world' of the 41st millennium works in the sense that it doesn't betray or retcon previously established (as I know it) lore? Tough one, What is written and executed there has a 'fly by night' vibe, although not necessarily bad per se, I can't help but feel that this is just the start, or a preamble, into something bigger for this Character.  I already touched on Ephrael Stern's power level seeming to be a bit epic, but then this Master of Possession was really over the top! I suspect many a Chaos player re-read the stats to this guy after reading this tale and wondered what the disconnect was...
• Was I being talked down too? It is difficult to read any Sister material and not feel their arrogant holier-than-thou haughtiness, and yet I felt alright with it in this book as reality (and it's subsequent distortion) was unkindly humbling the Sisters every chance it got. 
• How predictable is this story? Not too bad, it's a fairly straight forward plot but there was a lot bizarre stuff happening to make you second guess this outcome. 
• Do I recommend this book? I do. It's a fun book, and a short book, and is a satisfying read. 

* Like back in the day when the producers of Dr Who decided to have him lose his Sonic Screwdriver  because they thought it got him out of situations too easily.