REVIEW: Witchbringer by Steven B Fischer

About Witchbringer

Published by Black Library, Witchbringer is a Warhammer 40,000 novel written by Steven B Fischer. It takes place during the fictional 41st Millennium and focuses on a Cadian regiment of the Imperial Guard as it goes to war on a planet which seems to have an unnaturally high supply of human psychics attuned to the warp.

Witchbringer by Steven B Fischer Review

Few authors have dived into the mysteries surrounding the Scholastica Psykana as intricately. Yet, Steven B Fischer’s Witchbringer provides a different approach to Imperium-level psychers without disrupting the Warhammer 40,000 lore too much. Following former captain of the Cadian 900th regiment turned Primaris Psyker, Glavia Aerend, with a gift of (somewhat) useful precognition. Aerend receives a startling vision about her old unit and a dangerous psychic artefacts sees her dispatched to the murky swamp world of Visage.

From the moment she arrives planetside, Aerend is met with aggressive suspicion, as the Cadian regiment is constantly besieged by the local population led by Witch Psykers who, unbeknownst to Aerend and her fellow Cadian soldiers, is being led by a former Imperial Guard Colonel, who is plagued by the guilt of following the Emperor despite losing his family.

Steven B Fischer uses a variety of horror and war story tropes to communicate the dangers of this new and unknown world to the reader. As Aerend’s story unfolds she comes up against stories of undead soldiers causing her fellow Cadians to disappear. Then she’s besieged by numerous squads of Witch Psychics with little Cadian-support which causes her to use psychic abilities with a little Cadian Imperial Guard ingenuity.

While the final reveal of what the Witchbringer artefact is provides a Catch 22 situation of whether to destroy it or not, thereby presenting an interesting science fiction-laced conundrum. There’s time where Fischer’s writing, devolves into Warhammer jargon and lore-heavy gobbledygook which, unlike Victoria Hayward’s Deathworlder, is enough to alienate a 40K first timer.

Still, if you can get past wordy descriptors and chain of command politics in favour of a spooky behind enemy lines sci-fi horror story then Witchbringer will quench your appetite for even more grimdark shenanigans. Even if, at times, it does feel like an Imperial Guard side quest.

Is it My Kind Of Weird? Yes.

Score: 8/10.