Book Club #91: Witchbringer by Steven B. Fischer

Every two weeks we read a new book in the WH40k universe and discuss it on our podcast. We invite you to read along with us and join in on our conversation via comments, Twitter, email, or vox cast.

For this episode, we’re reading Witchbringer by Steven B. Fischer. You can purchase it at Amazon, or Black Library. Sorry, audio fans, this one isn’t available on Audible. (That’s three in a row, sorry, guys!)

From the back of the book:

Suffer not the witch to live, unless by their service they might earn redemption. This is the creed of the Scholastica Psykana, a brutal foundry in which those with psychic power might be taught to serve. On the eve of her sanctioning as a primaris psyker within these very halls, Glavia Aerand, former captain of the Cadian 900th Regiment, receives a startling premonition – one concerning her old unit, and a dangerous psychic artefact hidden on the planet where they are deployed.

After a reunion she never expected – or wanted – Aerand finds herself mired in a vicious campaign on the psychically active world of Visage, where the shallow seas and endless fogs are rumoured to swallow the souls of the dead. Haunted by growing suspicions of her new commander and the manifestations of the sinister relic, Aerand must trust in her new-found abilities to keep her former comrades alive, and confront an ancient threat that could consume Visage entirely.

Questions to ponder after reading Witchbringer:

• Did you like the book?
• What parts stood out to you?
• Did you like Aerand as a character? As a “leader?”
• This book spent a lot of time describing how a sanctioned psyker operates. Do you like the concepts and ideas?
• What did you make of Restripa and Libertinum? Did you better understand them by the end? Did they serve the plot?
• Was the Colonel an effective villain? Did you understand his motivations?
• Let’s discuss the Witchbringer. Was it an effective plot device/villain?