The Dark City

Vaults of Terra: Warhammer 40,000, Book 3

By: Chris Wraight

Narrated by: John Banks

Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

Vaults of Terra Book 3.

Separated from Inquisitor Cowl, Interrogator Spinoza hoists her crozius and sets to protecting what’s left of their organisation while continuing her quest for truth. But can she survive the dire straights she finds herself in, as she guards humanity from enemies within and without?

Listen to it because....

Luce Spinoza comes into her own, with the weight of her lord’s fate sitting heavy on her shoulders, while pushing forward with their mission. With enemies closing in on all sides, she must choose a path for herself.

The story:

The Throneworld is in turmoil, wracked by the opening of the Great Rift and the failure of the Astronomican. Inquisitor Erasmus Crowl, his mind and body ravaged by what he has seen in the Hollow Mountain, is missing, taking with him the clues to the conspiracy that has come to obsess him. Luce Spinoza, his interrogator, must choose whether to seek him out or defend her diminished realm from the many forces that still seek to destroy it. As enemies circle, Interrogator Spinoza enters a race against time to find the evidence she needs. But with the fate of humanity itself hanging in the balance, she must decide what lengths she is willing to go to in order to uncover the truth.

©2022 Games Workshop Limited (P)2022 Games Workshop Limited

I only hope there’s more.

I enjoyed every bit of the character development through the whole series, but this really does show all the characters that you’ve been following being their absolute best. The characters in my opinion end up being exactly what I hoped they would be, and such a cool ending honestly, although a true conclusion would be good I think.

A fitting conclusion

I would recommend re-reading the previous book before going through this one. All in all very good. John Banks gives his usual great performance. The story concludes the way it should with fitting resolution.

Great voice acting, as usual

Voice acting was simply amazing. Ending was incredibly disappointing. Basically it's all been for nothing and nothing happens as a result of this three book series. Sign.

Uh.. movie/series/animation please?

Wow this series has just been amazing to say the least.. Chris Wraight is a Custodes fanboy, I can tell (so am I) and I can’t wait to see what else he adds to the vaults of terra series.. I really see a screen adaptation and it would be awesome if it were anime but anything would do so long as they didn’t divert much from the story. Definitely a true fan here.

Fantastic read suspense and action

Everything a good Warhammer story should be! A mix of battles and mysteries and suspense perfectly balanced!

Incredible!

The Dark City goes down as one of my top three favorite 30/40k novels of all time! Brilliant story, fantastic characters and real suspense! This book alone makes the trilogy worth it.

Great writing, what a ride!

The first half is a slog to get through. I don't necessarily blame the author for that. The problem stems from this being the 3rd Vaults of Terra book and Chris Wraight has another recent series set on Terra that covers roughly the same timeframe and events. Everything in the first half just felt like ground we've covered before. But when finally Inquisitor Crowl shows up the action picks up very fast. Even in his deranged state he is still the star of the whole Vaults series. An intensely bittersweet ending to the Vaults of Terra trilogy, which rises to about as high a level as tie-in fiction for a game of tiny toy soldier models could ever be expected to ascend to, or possibly higher.

Great Series

Loved the characters, the setting, and the way the it wrapped up. Great narration too.

fantastic

a great chapter in the story of Crowl and Spinoza, tying together a number of disparate threads in a way both thrilling and satisfying.

also, a special bit of praise for including eldar in a way that really helps lessen the usual paucity of representation in truly good 40k fiction. here as antagonists they manage to feel powerful and alien, without being worfs or Mary sues.

A can't miss book from one of BL's best.

Brilliant display of the theme of the 40k universe

No ending in this series, is a happy ending. At best, it's a staving of the worst, at worst? The players of the game are removed and their efforts, flavored by generally good intentions or self preservation, don't even matter.

it's been a beautiful three books and it sucked to get such a grim dark reminder that you could do everything right, only for it to be reduced to ashes. I know what I said, but read it anyway. It won't disappoint.