Description

Soul Drinker is Ben Counter's 2002 debut novel and the first book in the Soul Drinkers series, introducing the fleet-based Space Marine Chapter and Librarian Sarpedon as their pursuit of an ancient relic brings them into conflict with the Imperium. On the world of Lakonia, the Soul Drinkers assault the star fort of the renegade Van Skorvolds to recover the Soulspear, an ancient weapon and one of their Chapter's most revered relics. When the Adeptus Mechanicus seizes the spear for its own purposes, Sarpedon is forced to choose between obedience to Imperial authority and the honour of his Chapter. The Soul Drinkers' attempt to reclaim the relic turns into open conflict with the Mechanicus, leaving the Chapter branded renegades and hunted by the Imperial authorities. As Sarpedon takes command, he leads the survivors into a desperate struggle to preserve the Chapter while resisting the growing influence of Chaos. Soul Drinker is an unusual early Space Marine novel in which the protagonists' conflict is not simply with an external enemy, but with the Imperium itself, establishing the Chapter's distinctive position between loyalty, rebellion and Chaos.