With the commander of an enemy force suddenly slain, the balance of the battle can be skewed dramatically in favour of the Imperium. Vanus Temple - Almost nothing of the Vanus Temple is known beyond its name and the fact of its existence (though the High Gothic word "Vanus" means "Empty"). The Vanus Assassins are primarily used as intelligence-gatherers and in matters of grand strategy and intelligence tactics they are without peer, their political insight unparalleled by the savants of the Imperium. The Vanus Temple works to engineer their mark's doom via their consummate command of information. The Vanus Temple wages a far more complex war, taking the art of the stealth kill to the next level. Their modus operandi is to learn everything possible about not only their target but also those closest to him, then to tacitly manipulate circumstances so that their mark's death is brought about by his own folly or -- preferably -- by the hand of a once-trusted friend or comrade. It is the Vanus Temple that the Imperium employs when the revelation of a prominent figure's heresy would cause more damage than the knowledge of the resultant retribution. Many a shining saint or vaunted figurehead has met with premature martyrdom after some secret heresy has reached the ears of the Vanus. Perhaps the best summary of the Vanus Temple's philosophy was stated by Fon Tariel, an infocyte of Clade Vanus, the Vanus Temple's precursor, during the terrible civil war and intrigues of the Horus Heresy: "the cleanest kill is one that another performs in your stead with no knowledge of your incitement." And many Easter Eggs inbetween, like Imperial Knights (Rakkan, Hawthorn) naming thier dogs after Imperial Guard heroes:

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The Assassins of the Imperium are able to change the fate of worlds with the pull of a single trigger. Where the length of the Emperor's reach needs to be made abundantly clear, a Vindicare sniper will put a bullet in the target's head whilst the errant individual is surrounded by his followers. If the traitorous creed has spread to an entire organisation or military force, an Eversor will instead be set loose; a bio-enhanced berserker that will slaughter dozens if not hundreds of rebels alongside the key individual he has been sent to slay. Should the deed require more subtlety, an operative from the Callidus Temple will instead be despatched; in such cases it is all but impossible to detect the presence of these shape-shifting Assassins until the deed is done. If the target is a psyker, one of the rare and fearsome Culexus will be sent to hunt them down –- beings with a strange void in place of a soul that makes them the bane of all who treat with the Warp. Before the being called the Emperor revealed Himself, before the rise of the aeldari, before the necrontyr traded their flesh for immortal metal, the world was born in violence. The Blinded Seer (452.M34) - A Culexus Assassin is sent to claim the head of the manipulative Farseer Lithandros-Esmanthil. The Eldar senses the threat and scries the skeins of fate accordingly, but is increasingly alarmed to find he is unable to locate the thread corresponding to his pursuer. After a long and terrifying hunt, the Assassin ambushes his prey in the lonely halls of Saim-Hann's Dome of Reflection. Rendered psychically inert and driven to exhaustion by the chase, Lithandros-Esmanthil gives himself up to the sinister violence that follows. Robert Rath did something that was necessary for the warhammer 40K lore; truly dissecting the perception of time that entities such as the necrons must experience. What does time mean for a being on the edge of immortality? What motivates a mind that has had his biological drives stripped away? The lords of the necrons such as Trazyn and Orikan are not automatons following a program, yet they are not truly free persons either. The fact that the ultimate luminaries of the Imperium give their direct attention to the deployment of a single individual shows just how exceptional these killers are. The records of the Officio temples are as detailed as they are scrupulous, a source of great pride to the masters that watch over them. Across the millennia, occasions where the despatch of an operative has not resulted in the desired result are extraordinarily few and far between. Be the target man, witch, beast or daemon, the result is the same, for an Imperial Assassin is death incarnate.

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In this way, the Vindicare can be likened to a spider or mantis, waiting motionless as stone before springing into action at the critical moment. Over the course of the Imperium's history, the agents of the Officio Assassinorum have claimed millions of lives for their masters. But their tactics differ greatly from the worldwide slaughter brought to bear by the Astra Militarum or the unremitting force of an Adeptus Astartes strike. Each death they bestow upon the enemies of the Imperium is a carefully crafted link in the chain that binds the realm of Man to the Emperor's immortal will. Though every one of these kills is extensively documented in the appropriate temple's datacrypts, only a very small fraction have entered the legends of the Imperium, known by few outside the vaulted halls of the High Lords themselves.

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Apart from Raithe, there is also a lot of focus on Sycorax, a Callidus assassin who specialises in infiltration and whose enhanced abilities allow her to morph her shape. Due to her role impersonating Rakkan for most of the novel, Sycorax is one of the most significant characters in the book, and she ends up with some thrilling and intrigue laden sequences. Watching her take on multiple personalities throughout the novel is really cool, and it was captivating to watch her more elaborate methods strongly clash with Raithe’s more direct attempts throughout the book. Sycorax also provides the reader with some of the best and most intense insights into being an Imperial Knight pilot, as she is required to bond with Rakkan’s Knight Jester for much of the book. Seeing an outsider character interact with Jester’s mind, which contains the spirits of its previous riders, was extremely fascinating, and you get a good sense of the difficulties and insanities involved with piloting such a machine. In addition, the experiences and memories she obtained from the link impacted on Sycorax’s psyche and ensure that she gets some fantastic interactions with Rakkan, while also gaining a better understanding of the people and machines she is trying to manipulate. Kingmaker feels like a spy movie in terms of its plot and characters. There are political machinations, hidden agendas, murky loyalties, factions maneuvering both openly and in the shadows, while characters try to navigate byzantine networks of relationships as deadly as a battlefield. It’s very much a plot-driven novel, where events and actions are the primary movers of narrative threads.The action scenes are great, characters pretty good. I think Robert Rath did pretty well characterising his assassins working within the limitations of Assassinorum Operatives (especially Wraith, the Vindicare). I did like the supporting characters as well, and I felt the story was well done in its moral ambiguity for much the "villains". Their motivations are understandable and quite human. The most lethal assassins in the Warhammer 40,000 universe go face to face with a gigantic foe in the impressive and deeply thrilling Assassinorum: Kingmaker by amazing author Robert Rath.

Assassinorum: Kingmaker by Robert Rath | Goodreads

Kingmaker is the Assassinorum novel I’ve wanted for years. Rath realizes the Assassinorum as unique and distinct from the Inquisition despite an oft overlapping remit, giving the Officio a Cold War spy vibe that really fits. There’s no religious mumbo-jumbo and everything seems much more centralized than you get in Abnett’s or Wraight’s work. However this book is decidedly more about the process of conducting an operation than the functioning of the Assassinorum as a whole. Rath focuses on how the assassins involved, all of whom are wonderfully well depicted in their interactions with each other and their targets, plan out/perform their mission. There’sEversor Assassins are primarily used against rebels who have plans to move against the Imperium with a large armed force. When the long, grinding war of attrition that is the Astra Militarum's forte is ruled out -- perhaps because it is likely to leave a valuable planet ravaged -- the High Lords will sometimes sanction the use of an Eversor Assassin. From storied successors including the Crimson Fists and Flesh Tearers to lesser-known Chapters like the Emperor’s Spears and Consecrators, you’ll be spoilt for no-holds-barred Adeptus Astartes action. It’s a true artefact of the conflict – with this map unfurled on your desk, you’ll feel like Rogal Dorn himself as he strives against the odds to oversee an impossible defence. Basically, imagine Grumpy Old Men, but far grumpier, as in to the point they're willing to kill each other, then exponentially elevate that to the Nth degree.

Assassinorum Kingmaker Black Library - eBook: Assassinorum Kingmaker

The Assassins of the four major temples of the Officio Assassinorum -- an Eversor Assassin, a Culexus Assassin, a Callidus Assassin and a Vindicare Assassin. Infiltrating the planet using returning Knight, Sir Linoleus Rakkan, who has been co-opted into their plans, the assassins arrive to find a world in turmoil. The planet’s two rival ruling houses are in constant battle with each other, and in the ensuing chaos, anti-Imperial sentiment is high, and the already invincible High Monarch is under heavy guard. Seeking to infiltrate the court of Dominion, the kill team begin to manoeuvre themselves into position, while manipulating the feuding knights around them. However, the assassins soon begin to realise that not everything is as it seems, and a dark secret lies at the heart of this noble planet. Can Raithe’s team achieve their goals, or are they destined to die at the hands of a dangerous foe with malicious plans for the entire Imperium? Vindicare Temple Assassins are cold, calculating killers that eliminate their targets with contemptuous ease. They aim to bring inglorious death to the enemies of the Emperor with a sniper's bullet, and have elevated the skills of the marksman to an art form. Adamus Temple - The Adamus Temple, originally known as the Clade Adamus, was the oldest of the clades of the Officio Assassinorum during the Great Crusade and Horus Heresy. It is unclear whether it survives into the 41st Millennium as one of the Officio Assassinorum's present temples. Clade Adamus Assassins are master swordsmen and melee specialists, drawing on some of the most ancient blade-master traditions of Old Earth. Adamus Assassins were dedicated to decapitation strikes intended to eliminate an enemy military force's command and control. I think it is fair to say that I deeply enjoyed Assassinorum: Kingmaker. Robert Rath crafted together a brilliant and exceptionally entertaining Warhammer 40,000 novel that was loaded with action, fun and great characters. Featuring lethal assassins facing down massive Imperial Knights, Kingmaker has a little bit of everything, including political intrigue, impressive use of Warhammer elements, and some fantastic war sequences towards the end. Easily one of the most impressive and captivating Warhammer novels of 2022, Kingmaker is a must-read for all fans of the franchise, and you are guaranteed to have an incredible time with this epic book.The next time we have a Militarum delegation,’ Rakkan said, ‘best not to mention the names. They wouldn’t appreciate it.’ While Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is his most famous work, Le Carré’s The Spy Who Came in From the Cold is in some ways the thesis statement of the George Smiley series. The Officio Assassinorum safeguards the future of humanity. They are the bloody-handed, secret saviors of the Imperium, killers charged with achieving the impossible... and Vindicare assassin Absolom Raithe has just been handed the most difficult assignment of his career. [1]