Rites of Passage Audiobook By Mike Brooks cover art

Rites of Passage

Warhammer 40,000

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Rites of Passage

By: Mike Brooks
Narrated by: Helen Keeley
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A Warhammer 40,000 novel.

The death of Lord Azariel, head of the Navigator House Brobantis, draws his widow into a dark world of ritual killings and cult murders, while larger plans are at work and entire worlds are threatened....

Listen to it because:

Delve into the murky politics of the Navigator houses with a novel packed full of murder, conspiracy and warp-borne threats.

The story:

Lord Azariel, Head of the Navigator House Brobantis, is dead. His widow and murderer, the Lady Chettamandey, stands to inherit his power and influence. Her plans for ascension are curtailed when she’s drawn into a dark world of ritual killings and cult murders. With planets being dragged into the warp seemingly at a whim, the threat to Chettamandey’s legacy is dire, and only she can avert potential disaster.

Written by Mike Brooks. Narrated by Helen Keeley.

©2019 Games Workshop Limited (P)2019 Games Workshop Limited Crime Fantasy Fiction Murder
Engaging Political Intrigue • Excellent Character Development • Compelling Murder Mystery • Well-crafted Story
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Way better than I expected. Ive run through most of the 40k books on audible and was just listening to this because I had nothing else. WHAT A MISTAKE! Very good performance and very good book. Cool look inside the navigator houses and cool to hear the inquisition not be omnipotent. Well read for a female vocalist. Overall im impressed, i hope there are more like this.

Wayyy better than I expected

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I read more than a hundred 40k novels and this one is easily top five l.

One of the best 40k books ever.

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I love Mike Brooks’ ork books and he does a wonderful job with this one as well.

Mike Brooks does it again

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I listened to a lot of WH40K audio books. This narrator did a very good job. I usually don't enjoy female narrators very much and with 40k there are the usual 2 established names. So im happy to say this was a very well voice acted story.

Pretty good

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Listen, this is a very good book performed by a very talented VA. It’s that simple.
Dont listen to the mouth breathers who complain that there is a gay character, it has no impact on the story and it hardly brought up.
You’ll most likely see the review, it’s not hard to miss due to its rambling babble of trying to sound smart by calling women “females”.
I mean cmon buddy that is a MASSIVE red flag
40K is fine, the gate is shut. Dont turn it into a platform to spread hate

It’s a good despite what narwhal said

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Simply couldn't stop listenin. Characters are well played and extremely well written. Higly recommend this listen.

A masterpiece of suspence

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lots of characters occasionally made it difficult to follow as an audiobook, but otherwise fantastic fantastic fantastic

Great plot lines and complex character relationsions

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It’s not as good as Annette stuff but it’s damn enjoyable. It offers a great look at the details of the universe

Great Abnett-esque insight into the world of 40k

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I was mislead by the cover art. I thought this was an Eldar story. Most of the Black Library is told from the Imperium's perspective. It was a bummer to not have an eldar story to enjoy. However, this is the first story I have read about a navigator house. The 30k novel, "The Outcast Dead", was all about the astropaths.
This was a decent 40k role playing session. I felt like the narrator was the DM and I was the players. Some of the action points were predictable. The characters did their job. The story moved along well with almost no filler or drag. It reminds me of a Star Trek original series episode. Good, but not amazing.
The narrator is a lady. I have never heard a female narrate a 40k novel. The usual, well educated British scholar man is the norm. She did a good job. Though I dislike when a female narrator does a man voice or vice versa. It sounds silly. My only gripe is that her voice got too excited during the action parts.
This is where I start to raise my eyebrows in surprise. All of the main characters were female. The story is told from the view of a matriarch of a navigator house. She is old, uses a cane and has bad joints. You would think she would be helpless in most situations. She is a superwoman. Some of it is believable. She runs her house well. She is adept at manipulating the players who scheme behind her back. These are all things that a capable, aristocratic woman strengths.
By the end of the book everyone is dead or dying except for her and two other females. Female characters in this book do not need genetic enhancement of the post human Astartes. They are super human.
The navigator matriarch used her can to smack a acrobat assassin while he was in mid-somersalt. An elderly woman timed her blow perfectly to connect with a highly trained athlete. Her personal aide is a female and notices all sorts of clues the men around her fail to see. Men die left and right while these female femme Fatales are nigh unstoppable.
Compare the villain to these characters. He lurks in the shadows. He uses stealth and surprise to kill his victims. He manipulates a cult to do his dirty work. In a stand up fight, he will surely have his bounkey kicked.
I understand this is science fiction. The Matriarch character went from totally believable to super hero depending on the writer's whim. At times I felt like I was reading an "Invasion Earth" novel. The 40k novels go to great length to compare the fragility of humans to post human Astartes. This story messed with that golden rule.
I compare Ellen Ripley of the Alien movies. She was definitely a woman with all the female strengths and weaknesses. But she still saved Newt and survived! Ripley was a fully able, fit individual. The Matriarch in this novel got exhausted from too much walking.
I would have ignored all these details except for one small detail. A very minor male character mentions he has a husband. I kept thinking it was a mistake or a typo. No. This story has a openly hunk hugger working in the Adminstratum. I have been involved in some fashion with Gee Dubs since early 3rd edition 40K. Sex preferences are rarely ever addressed. Shucks, Sex is almost never mentioned. Human reproduction is glossed over like insect swarms mating.
Look at the universe and lore. Humans multiply by the billions every day. I argue that if the Imperium is locked in medieval superstition then hunk hugging and lady loving is strictly forbidden. The Imperium needs lives for those factory jobs. Any view or idea that stops the Imperium from producing is suppressed. Therefore, if you're not breedin', you're bleedin'.
40k novels are not about political commentary. This is a oppressive, miserable world. I read these books and appreciate that life is not that terrible.
If you like your Ellen Ripley's defying all odds or cybernetically enhanced robo-babes killing genetic super humans... this book may not be for you. If you like regular women who have no limits and a bottomless well of power (and your hair is pink or purple)... you are going to love this book.
The female characters in this book (I suspect) are greatly influenced by modern political views. It does not accurately reflect the lore of the 40k universe.

The future of Gee Dubs WH40KLTQ+SPOILERS+

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If you’re like me and enjoy the exploration of the different peoples of the 40k universe, this is a great insight into the navigators. The story itself isn’t mind blowing but it helps to get clarity into the intrigue that goes on in the Imperium.

Good for world building

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