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Title:
The Wicked and the Warped
Series: Warhammer
40K: Necrons
Author: Robert Rath
Rating:
3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages:
287
Words: 209K
Publish: 2026
This
was a buddy read with Joelendil and Dawie. It is a very loose sequel
to “The Infinite and the Divine” as
in it is about both Trazyn the Infinite and Orikan the Diviner, who
are Necrons. Necrons are robots who used to be a people millions and
millions of years ago. They gave up their souls and bodies to gain
the “immortality” of the robot bodies but ever since have whined
and whinged about not having souls and are always looking for ways to
get their souls back.
This story follows Trazyn as he tries to find his old master Sothka, who disappeared millennia ago. Sothka was convinced that the Necrons could regain their souls and that became his life’s purpose. Because Trazyn is looking for him, Orikan gets roped into things and they, along with a bunch of other characters, go through a bunch of stuff in the Warp and on warp twisted worlds.
The Infinite and the Divine was a comedy duo, almost a buddycop type book and I went into this expecting that. There was still the bickering and fighting between frenemies Trazyn and Orikan, but the subject matter of getting the Necrons souls back didn’t leave as much room for a light atmosphere. Also, when Sothka and Trazyn get going on what a soul is, can Necrons get theirs back, blah blah blah, my eyes started glazing over. Not because the discussions were deep, meaningful or of any actual worth, but because they were so puerile. It fits the whole Warhammer 40,000 universe but my goodness, it doesn’t mean I have to like such chicken nugget philosophy that is basically just a bunch of platitudes coupled with buzzwords. That aspect is what actually bugged me the most.
I’ve always been very fuzzy about the Warp, that dimension where Chaos and demongods live, that intrudes on our universe and causes such problems. We get a lot of Chaos here and there was a pretty good description that helped me a lot. One character describes the Warp and our reality as the ocean and the land. One laps up against the other, separate and opposed yet “one”.
The buddy read aspect was a bit tough as we were dealing with three different time zones. We soldiered on via Whatsapp and all I can say is thank goodness I have it installed on my laptop as an instant messenger program. Trying to type that much on my phone would frustrate me unto no end. It is always fun to bounce thoughts, ideas and questions off of others in real time and I can see why book clubs exist. That being said, this was about my monthly limit for “socialness”. I shall now regress into Troll Mode and make nasty comments on your posts for the rest of the month ;-)
To
close this review, I’d like to focus on the cover. Oh goodness, it
fits perfectly with The Infinite and the Divine. The
greenish cast to the whole thing fits my idea of how the Necron gauss
weapons and energy cores look. It is also a really good look at
Trazyn and Orikan as whole creatures instead of just heads.
★★★✬☆☆
From the Internet:
The Wicked and the Warped by Robert Rath centers on the return of the ancient Necron world Amenthis, which has been cast back into realspace by the catastrophic opening of the Great Rift. Having marinated in the Warp for millennia, the planet sends out a mysterious distress beacon.
Trazyn the Infinite views this as an unmissable historical opportunity. He seeks to solve an ancient mystery, recover lost technology rumored to restore Necron souls, and—most surprisingly—attempt a twisted form of "reconciliation" with his eternal rival, Orikan the Diviner.
Act I: The Cursed Expedition
When the mission gains the attention of the Silent King, Triarch Praetorian Executor Phillias (Fiyas) commands both Trazyn and Orikan to undertake the expedition together. Because Necrons are soulless machines, they are completely blind to the true nature and dangers of the Warp. To counter this, Trazyn pulls Inquisitor Helynna Valeria out of stasis in his museum galleries. Valeria is dragged along as a "canary in a coal mine" due to her human warp-sensitivity, acting as an unwilling advisor through the planet's daemonic landscape.
Upon arrival, the team faces immediate, slapstick-infused hostility and Chaos-warped horrors. During an initial retrieval of an artifact disc, Trazyn is ambushed by morphing empyric entities and forced to constantly transfer his consciousness between Lychguard phalanx decoys to survive.
Act II: The Two-Year Fall and Betrayal
As the group delves deeper into Amenthis, disaster strikes. Trazyn and Orikan are separated from the main force, plunging into a surreal reality-warping void. They spend two years continuously falling through a shifting empyric chasm. Stripped of their armies and forced into close confinement, the two ancient rivals are pushed past their usual petty sabotage and into profound discussions regarding their immortality, loneliness, and mutual grudges.
Meanwhile, back on the surface, Executor Phillias presumes Trazyn and Orikan are permanently destroyed. Seizing the opportunity, Phillias abandons the mission parameters and usurps control, claiming the throne of the local dynasty for herself.
Act III: The Mentor's Trap
Trazyn and Orikan eventually find a way out of the void, only to discover a dark truth at the heart of the planet. They find Sothka the Arcane, Trazyn's long-lost ancient mentor. Sothka has been twisted by the Warp and claims to have successfully bypassed the Necrons' bio-transference, recovering his organic soul.
Sothka pressures Trazyn to accept this warped form of "redemption" and take a soul of his own. However, the duo realizes that this soul reclamation is heavily corrupted by Chaos. Rather than saving their species, it would subject the Necrons to the absolute horrors of the Warp.
The Climax & Resolution
Forced into a rare moment of genuine alliance, Trazyn and Orikan reject Sothka's offer. They wage a frantic battle against Sothka's daemonic forces and Chaos-infected "Chaos Android" Necrons. Relying on Orikan's master chronomancy and Trazyn's pocket-dimensional museum trickery, they manage to overthrow the usurper Phillias, defeat the corrupted remnants of Sothka's expedition, and escape Amenthis via a Night Scythe just as the planet threatens to tear itself apart again.
Ultimately, the status quo of their bitter, bickering rivalry is restored, but both leave Amenthis profoundly altered by their glimpses into the vulnerability of their own immortal existences.
Joel’s Review of The Wicked and the Warped
Dave’s Review of The Wicked and the Warped
