Enforcer Omnibus- Matthew Farrer

Enforcer Omnibus
Crossfire, Legacy, Blind
By Matthew Farrer
Pub: Black Library.




I’m going to state right away I really like the cover. Although the pistol is a little odd. Glad to say the cover is not the only thing to like. Enforcer collects the three books of the Shira Calpurnia omnibus; Crossfire, Legacy and Blind as well as some bonus material for each. Set in the 40K universe each book centres around a case investigated or judged over by Calpurnia. She is an Adeptus Arbiter, one of the police of the Imperium. Tasked wityh upholding the Imperial Law and the will of the Emperor, the books centre around human corruption, desires and failing, rather than the more exotic threats of alien or chaos. I’m going to go thought each book separately, and then do some sort of conclusion.




Crossfire

Crossfire opens with Arbitrator Shira Calpurnia’s first few days on the planet of Hydraphur. Newly appointed as an arbiter senioris, Shira is the victim of a botched assassination attempt, and is tasked with hunting down whomever ordered the hit, as well as safeguarding the Mass of Balronas, a planet wide event, and the centre of much political wrangling amongst the noble classes. The investigation is persistently stymied by both the interference and non cooperation of both agents of the Imperial Church and the noble houses.

I’ll leave it there and try not to give to much more away. Crossfire wraps the action around the central mystery very well. The key players are not obvious until they reveal themselves and the plot holds together well. The chapters alternate between a brief page to two page description of what the correct religious abeyances for the day are to be and the continuing investigation. The story is brim full of nuggets of background information and little touches that not only ground the piece in the 40K universe but also make it a book centred far more on the daily life of the Emperor’s servants than more action packed blades and bullets affair. Crossfire is the largest book of the collection, but maintains pace thought before reaching a satisfying conclusion.

Calpurnia herself is a very well drawn character. Driven by an overriding sense of duty she maintains the Emperor’s Law with iron resolve. Wrong footed by the unfamiliar surrounding she is on edge and wary, and on the catch up, but does not let that stop her.

Bonus Material

Going to mention this once and once only. The additional material is not particularly stunning. While providing insight into the world of the Imperium, it does not always have direct bearing on the story and feels superfluous at times. It’s not that it isn’t a well written and presented it is just oddly placed.




Legacy

I have a confession to make. Legacy threw me, and I never quite settled into the book as I did with Crossfire. I was expecting the story to follow Crossfires template of action violence and a mystery. Legacy changes pace and order, in a good way, but one that makes you stumble jumping from one book straight to another. It also focuses much less around Calpurnia than the first book does.

Legacy revolves around the inheritance of a Rouge Traders charter. In the early days of the Imperium these were granted to allow ships to fly into the uncharted galaxy beyond the expansion of the Great Crusade (Everyone read my background piece yesterday? Keeping up? Good) and have been passed down through families ever since. Ungoverned by Imperial rule the Rouge Traders believe themselves to be a law unto themselves and look down upon the Imperium. The charters are not only legal documents but also significant relics from the dawn of the Imperium.

When the Rouge Trader Hoyyon Phrax dies his fleet must return to Hydraphur for the charter to be passed on to the Phrax heir. Matters are not quite so simple however. The masters of the fleet are not willing to accept the leadership of Phrax’s true heir, whom had left the fleet as a child and been brought up on a distant planet by his mother. The masters hatch a plan to create an heir of their own and inherit through false means.

The inheritance of the charter has brought factions circling around the true Phrax heir, determined to take some share in the power he is soon to hold. Even the Imperial Church believe themselves to have a claim on the charter, seeing it as a holy relic, the ownership of which would increase the standing of the cathedral of Hydraphur. These to factions wage a subtle was of information and manipulation in order to further their own ends.

Trapped in the middle of all this is Calpurnia, working in the unfamiliar role as judge over the inheritance, wrestling with both millennia of legal procedure as well as the separate factions.

Legacy starts with a fantastic opening scene, which wrong foots the reader for what is coming next. The major plot is dealt with well but as mentioned it takes a little while for the reader to get into the swing of it. Knowing what to expect means it probably won’t be such a leap, and certainly don’t hold it against the book. The book moves between the preparations of the two Phrax heirs, and Calpurina, coming two a head when Calpurnia passed judgement over the case.

The book continues the immersive feel of Crossfire and is very well written, and the plot and subplots holding the attention throughout. While I’ve given the book a bashing for the sudden lack of action the scenes that are in there are amazing. I’ve already mentioned the opening, and there is a truly grisly battle on a starship. The finale is suitable explosive as well, coming a little bit out of no where in terms of it’s scope.




Blind

Blind returns to a format similar to Crossfire, with Calpurnia at the centre of an investigation. There is a huge swing of pace and perspective in the piece and it is a welcome change.

Blind is set almost exclusively on an Astropaths space station. These psychers transmit and receive messages through the horror of warp space. When the Master Astropath is murderd the Arbiters launch an investigation, headed by Calpurnia.

Calpurnia has been left a changed character from the events of Legacy, and has been stripped of her rank following the events of that book. On her way to her own trial she is temporarily restores to arbiter senioris, to conduct the investigation. Beset by doubts, as well as the strange influence of the witch tower, Calpurnia needs to not only find the killer, but also contend with the factions vying for the position of Master.

Much like Crossfire, Blind combines mystery and action in a fantastic pairing. The killer remains hidden until the very final pages, and the action is kept refreshingly constant after Legacy.

The station is beautifully realised and is a haunting setting, and the home of some disturbing characters. The Astropaths themselves and their psychic abilities are well presented, as is the increasingly conflicted character of Calpurnia herself.

I enjoyed Enforcer quite a lot, and will certainly be rereading it soon. I also have my fingers crossed that we’ll get to read more about Calpurnia in the future. Once you’ve read the book take a step back though and look at Calpurnia and the world she is in. It remains a horrific place, and Calpurnia would struggle to be even an anti hero in any other setting.