Series · science fiction

Ravenor

by Dan Abnett

The Ravenor series by Dan Abnett has 3 known books (3 published) and is best read in publication order, starting with Ravenor (2004).

Books
3 known books (3 novels)
Published
3
First published
2004
Status
completed
Shelved under
Last checked

Start here: Ravenor (2004) — then read straight through in publication order.

Reading order

The date order of published books and any announced future entries — the default way to read the series.

  1. Book 1:

    Ravenor

    Novel

    Ravenor opens Dan Abnett's trilogy in 2004 at 416 pages, following Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor -- Gregor Eisenhorn's former protege, now bound to a life-support chair and reliant on psychic power -- as he investigates crime lord Zygmunt Molotch.

    Alternative text for cover: Cover of Ravenor
  2. Book 2:

    Ravenor Returned

    Novel

    Ravenor Returned followed Ravenor in 2005, shorter at 320 pages, continuing Dan Abnett's ensemble investigation into Chaos-tainted crime lord Zygmunt Molotch's criminal empire. It keeps Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor's retinue of specialists in sustained point-of-view rotation, ahead of Ravenor Rogue's close of the trilogy, Abnett's direct follow-up to Eisenhorn.

    Alternative text for cover: Cover of Ravenor Returned
  3. Book 3:

    Ravenor Rogue

    Novel

    Ravenor Rogue closed the trilogy in 2007, matching its predecessor at 320 pages and bringing the Molotch conflict to its conclusion three years after the series began.

    Alternative text for cover: Cover of Ravenor Rogue

About the Ravenor series

The Ravenor trilogy is Dan Abnett's direct follow-up to Eisenhorn, following Gideon Ravenor, once Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn's most promising protege, now an Inquisitor in his own right after an assassination attempt left him bound to a hovering life-support chair and dependent on powerful psychic abilities in place of a working body. Ravenor runs his own retinue of specialists and, in the trilogy's opening novel, is drawn into investigating the criminal empire of Chaos-tainted crime lord Zygmunt Molotch -- a case that keeps circling back to unfinished business from his old mentor's fall from grace in the Eisenhorn books.

Where Eisenhorn is about a single investigator's slow corruption, Ravenor is built more as an ensemble: Ravenor's team of aides and specialists get sustained point-of-view time across Ravenor (2004), Ravenor Returned (2005), and Ravenor Rogue (2007), and the trilogy leans further into undercover work, heist-like set pieces, and the politics of the Inquisition than into Eisenhorn's darker, more introspective fall. It stands as one of Abnett's most acclaimed Warhammer 40,000 works after Gaunt's Ghosts and Eisenhorn itself, and both a satisfying continuation for Eisenhorn readers and a workable entry point on its own.

Frequently asked questions

How many books are in the Ravenor trilogy?

Three: Ravenor (2004), Ravenor Returned (2005), and Ravenor Rogue (2007), collected in the 2009 Ravenor: The Omnibus.

Do I need to read Eisenhorn before Ravenor?

Yes -- Ravenor is a direct sequel to the Eisenhorn trilogy. Gideon Ravenor is introduced as Eisenhorn's protege there, and Ravenor's plot builds on events from Hereticus.

What order should I read the Ravenor trilogy in?

Publication order: Ravenor, then Ravenor Returned, then Ravenor Rogue. It's a single continuous story across all three.

Does the Ravenor story connect back to Eisenhorn's story?

Yes -- both threads converge in Dan Abnett's later Bequin trilogy, which is not yet tracked in this catalogue.


Reading order last verified .