Vaults of Terra: The Hollow Mountain

Warhammer 40,000

By: Chris Wraight

Narrated by: John Banks

Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Vaults of Terra Book 2

Inquisitor Erasmus Crowl and his acolyte Spinoza face new dangers as the Great Rift opens and a new, bloody age dawns. Can Crowl stay true to his course and expose the horror that lies at the heart of the Hollow Mountain?

Listen to it because...

Discover what happens when Chaos comes to the Throneworld itself for the first time in 10 millennia and agents of the Inquisition must deal with conspiracy even as monstrous daemons are clawing at the door....

The story...

Inquisitor Erasmus Crowl has discovered a terrible plot, its roots firmly planted in the very highest levels of Terra. Pursuing it is fraught with risk, but Crowl’s sense of duty compels him to persevere.

He and his acolyte Spinoza run down their leads in secret, knowing that their every move invites danger, but even as they begin to reveal the truth, a greater peril is unfolding in the skies - the Great Rift is becoming manifest. During the madness that threatens to tear Terra asunder, Crowl’s Inquisitorial base of operations comes under attack and is badly ravaged. As his world begins to unravel and a new, bloody age dawns, can Crowl stay true to his course and expose the horror that lies at the heart of the Hollow Mountain?

Written by Chris Wraight. Total running time 9 hours and 47 minutes. Narrated by John Banks.

©2019 Games Workshop Limited (P)2019 Games Workshop Limited

40k Goodness

Most Inquisitor novels are compelling. They combine interesting characters, darker subject matter, combat, and mystery. This book is no exception.
The characters introduced in the previous book are fleshed out as we see them handle the consequences of an unsatisfactory conclusion to the investigation into the appearance of an enemy on Terra.
The best 40k novels showcase characters making brutal, devastating decisions in a world where there no longer are any “good” choices. The Hollow Mountain see our protagonists confront this reality as they struggle to pursue their goal of unraveling a monumental conspiracy threatening the heart of the Imperium of Man. The book has twists and revelations aplenty, and I happily recommend it!

World Building at its finest

I loved this book. I love this series. The story is good and the characters are interesting, but the true strength of this series lies in the depth it adds to the 40k universe, particularly Terran lore. I get it that a whole chapter dedicated to the importanance and logistics of animal skin might seem tedious to some, but it's stuff like that which makes this series so good. you just learn so much about parts of the Imperium you never thought you had interest in.

Interesting But Specific Lore, Great Narration

It was a little hard to follow and I often found myself rewinding a number of times just to follow where or what I missed. Really interesting insight into Terran lore but overall murky story.

I like the narrator and I noticed he's the only narrator for Games Workshop that doesn't occasionally drop his voice so low I can't understand him.

My favorite characters weren't actually in the main cast, mostly because they weren't exactly cohesive.

An overall good story for the lore and depictions of secrets and little-told depictions of things on Terra. Though you might have to rewind a few times just to understand what the last 3 minutes of explanation we're about

Awesome Book!

All the Vaults of Terra books are good. They all give you a deeper look into the 40k universe. Very good book I highly recommended it.

Awesome book

Great book and amazing story telling. Looking forward to the next one because I'm so attracted to these characters.

amazing

another masterful work from Wraight. an essential novel for the modern 40k setting and a fun read.

Short but full to the brim

You follow, 3 characters, the inquisitor, inquisitor interrogator/acolyte and the captain of the stormtroop- *cough* tempest scions, my bad games workshop. The book does a good job at adequately going through the 3 characters not allowing the story to slag but not throwing into overdrive ether.

This outside of the Esienhorn novels, is the best 40k inquisitor series, and is distinctly different following an old dying inquisitor and his acolyte, which is an interesting dynamic. Since this is the 2nd book in the series, the main question is, does series keep on giving and the answer is yes it certainly does.

John Banks performance is also quite good here.

Great second installment

Continues to build on the already excellent The Carrion Throne. The characters continue to develop and deepen as well as the plot and it's refreshing to hear a story which end you can't predict. The setting also continues to be treated expertly by Chris Wraight who shows that he really gets 40k. I'll swiftly move on to the 3rd book!

Feels like middle of trilogy

Best way to describe it is that it feels like the middle of a trilogy. Good action, moves the plot but no real denouement. Still very much worth a listen.

Excellent as always

Gripping story with excellent twists - even though the overarching plot is covered in the previous book.