Post originally by Adrian Forest at 2003-04-23 19:26:17
Converted from Phorums BB System

<i>Another GW Fiction Reader wrote:
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Nope, nope, nope. Ian Watson was the BEST 40k fiction writer. What your taking to be non-canon was canon when the books were written. Which I might add was before GW dumbed down the setting so it could sell more miniatures to 6 year olds.

The Inquisitor trilogy is some of the finest fiction based on any of GW's settings.</i>
Seconded.

The 'Inquisitor' trilogy (or the 'Inquisition War' trilogy, as GW is now billing it) was started in the days of Rogue Trader. The stuff in the first (and even second, to some extent) books was canon at the time, though the change to 2ed. 40k between the first and second books introduces some small inconsistencies (like Jaq losing his ability to wear power armour).

Remember that this is a book written when GW first had it's own fiction imprint, GW books; in the days when GW went begging to existing sci-fi authors, rather than GW fans going begging to them. Ian Watson's other work demonstrates that his writing stands up well on its own, without GW's properties.

It's only a pity that 'Space Marine', the book Watson wrote between 'Inquisitor' and 'Harlequin' that details the origin of Lexandro d'Arquebus, is not being reprinted.

And finally, I'm highly dubious of the merits of reviewing the third book in a trilogy without reading the previous two volumes. What exactly was the point of this?