Twelve years after his novel Outlander, Matt Keefe returns to the underhive with a Necromunda audio drama – Expectatio. The bounty hunter Arturos is ready to claim a bounty, but it turns out Guilder Meriko doesn’t have the credits to settle up…so he takes his payment in the form of a Spiraptor – a rare piece of technology in the form of a mechanical bird. After learning a little of its secrets, Arturos hatches a plan to put his newfound acquisition to good use and claim a different prize, one which comes with considerable risk but which promises rich rewards.
Told entirely through dialogue and SFX this could have done with a little more variety in accents among the cast, but otherwise it’s packed full of engaging dialogue and nicely captures the Necromunda vibe. It’s hard not to enjoy this sort of story, where you know the grand plan is (almost certainly) going to pay off but the author keeps you guessing on the specifics, and this assuredly delivers with an entertaining journey through the underhive and a satisfying payoff. There’s not much character development, but that’s not really the point; there are hints at Arturos’ background, but mostly it’s just about having fun pulling off a cunning plan.
This was released as part of the 2018 Black Library Advent Calendar – click here to see the main page for the Advent Calendar, with links to all of the reviews.
