Product Description

The start of a new series by the author of the much-acclaimed Blood Angels novels. When a dangerous psychic terrorist escapes from their custody, the Sisters of Battle not only have to hunt down and recapture the criminal, but also need to restore their honour in the eyes of their superiors. Armed with determination, faith and some very big guns, the Sisters will let nothing and nobody stand in their way.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #298291 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 416 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781844162895
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
James Swallow has written several books, including Star Trek: Terok Nor: Day of the Vipers and Seeds of Dissent (from Star Trek: Myriad Universes: Infinity's Prism); the Sundowners quartet of ?steampunk' science fiction Westerns (Ghost Town, Underworld, Iron Dragon and Showdown); the best-selling novelization of The Butterfly Effect; The Flight of the Eisenstein, Faith and Fire and Jade Dragon; the 2000AD tie-ins Eclipse, Blood Relative and Whiteout; Stargate Atlantis: Halcyon; and the Blood Angels duology Deus Encarmine and Deus Sanguinius.

In addition, Swallow's short fiction has appeared in Inferno! and Stargate magazine, the anthologies Star Trek Voyager: Distant Shores, the Doctor Who Short Trips collections Dalek Empire and Destination Prague, Something Changed, Collected Works, What Price Victory and Silent Night.

His non-fiction includes Dark Eye: The Films of David Fincher and books on writing, genre television and animation; he has also written for Star Trek: Voyager, Doctor Who and Space 1889, along with several scripts for audio and videogames.

Customer Reviews

The Sisters of Battle get their chance to shine....
Faith and Fire is the first book outside of the Games Workshop Codex supplemental books to truly showcase the all-female military arm of the Imperium and its dogmatic Ecclesiarchy. Those who have followed and played the Warhammer 40,000 games from Games Workshop would know right away the subjects of James Swallow's third Warhammer 40,000-based novel. For the uninitiated the book easily introduces the Adepta Sororitas role in the war-torn galaxy of the Imperium.

Swallow does a better job of following the basic guidelines, rules and history created by the makers of the game than in his two previous GW books. Loosely-based on the legendary Amazon's of Earth's past, the Adepta Sororitas are seen as faithful, loyal and zealot followers of the Imperium's God-Emperor. Swallow describes them as both being beautiful as angels and true warrior-nuns. Warriors whose dedication to their God-Emperor, and the church tasked in leading the Imperium in his worship, is unquestioned if not blindly at times. The main character of Sister Superior Miriya owes alot to past 40,000 novel characters like Uriel Ventris of the Ultramarines, Brother-Captain Alaric of the Grey Knights, and Colonel-Commissar Gaunt in that she's not just a blind follower of her religion's dogma but intelligent enough to question the world around her when things don't seem right.

Sister Superior Miriya is given the task of escorting captured psyker-criminal Torris Vaun back to his home planet of Neva where it's Lord Bishop LaHayn of the Ecclesiarchy will dispense justice to the rogue personally. It is a task easier said than done. From the beginning the task doesn't sit well with Miriya and the Celestians under her command. The assignment goes against the very nature and role of her Sisterhood, but an order is an order and the situation soon spirals out of Miriya's control. Soon, Miriya is disgraced by her failure in her mission but given another chance to redeem herself, her unit and those who lost their lives during the mission. She's joined by Sister Hospitaller Verity (non-combatant medical-nun of a lesser order of Sororitas tasked with healing) whose blood-sister was one of the Celestians in Miriya's command who was killed during the mission.

The story moves at the brisk pace and gradually gives insight to the workings of not just the Adepta Sororitas, but also to the Ecclesiarchy they are bound to by ancient oaths and to the mythical and mysterious past of the Imperium's early days and the works of its immortal God-Emperor. Miriya and Verity are soon plunged headlong into political intrigue anethema to the Sisters of Battle, but their unshakeable faith will have to protect them from a secret kept by both allies and foes. The secrets and how Swallow gradually gives out tidbits throughout the book made me want to read faster and finish the novel to its conclusion. Those who hoavee been following the slow release of information concerning the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy histories of 40,000 will enjoy the info given by James Swallow.

Faith and Fire is a very good start to a new Games Workshop novel series.The character of Battle Sister Miriya and Hospitaller Verity are well-written and come off the pages with their own distinct personalities. I can't wait for the next book in the series and highly recommend this first book to fans of other Warhammer 40,000 novels.

Dark, Gothic Sci-Fi at its Best!
I'm a newcomer to the "Warhammer" universe and Janes Swallow is the first author I've read, and I must say, his novel "Faith and Fire" was awesome. What an introduction to the complex, multi-layered universe of the Imperium!

Swallow's use of Roman Catholic terms/symbols for the Imperial Church, its many religious orders and saints' cults, such as the Sister Sorititas, the Sisters Repentia, the Adeptus Mechanicus, etc., as well as his use of archaic phrases and words give this novel a wonderful Gothic feel. It's the Gothic High Middle Ages in space. You can feel the enormity, grandeur, the self-righteousness, and ultimately the decadence of the Imperium.

Swallow does a masterful job of portraying the piety and zeal of the Battle Sisters, casting their extreme religious devotion in a very sympathetic light-we understand why they serve the God-Emperor with such unquestioing loyality, even to the point of slaughtering all who oppose his divine will. They come across as sympathetic characters and we cheer them on as they stride into battle. The Sisters Repentia are just a really cool idea!

I could not put this novel down, and hope Swallow will write many more. Now I've got to read the other "Warhammer 40,000" titles.

Pax vobiscum.

Stellar novel!
Sister Superior Miriya of the Adepta Sororitas and her Battle Sisters are part of the Order of our Martyred Lady. Miriya's group is a Celestian squad. They are usually deployed for front line combat operations. Even though they are used to fighting at the heart of heretic confrontations and mutant uprisings, they do not balk when they are given a simple duty such as this one, a prisoner escort. Miriya's elite squad is the deliver Torris Vaun, a dangerous psychic heretic, to Lord Viktor LaHayn on the planet Neva.

Vaun had been locked up tight, sealed up, automatic gun mounts at ready, and guards placed around him, yet he still managed to escape. Seraphim Miriya is disgraced in the eyes of her fellow sisters and superiors. Miriya and her sisters follow Vaun to Neva with thoughts of capturing him and perhaps wreck a bit of vengeance. They end up uncovering a dark and horrible plot that could very well destroy the Imperium.

***** This is the only novel I have found that stars the Sisters of Battle. I certainly hope there will be more forthcoming. Battle is joined and blood has spilled before I even reached the second chapter. It remained full of action until the very end. Author James Swallow paints a vivid picture that pulled me in quickly and brought the story to life. Stellar novel! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.