Customer Reviews

Eisenhorn (A Warhammer 40,000 Omnibus)

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Eisenhorn, as the collected works are now known is the quite possibly best of Dan Abnett's work. Originally published as three separate paper-back novels named Xenos, Malleus, and Hereticus this new edition includes the unabridged contents of those three books as well as two "arching" short stories of about twenty pages that connect books one to two and two to three. This is an amazingly opportunity.

Covering a period of nearly three hundred years, Eisenhorn is an epic tale of the far distant future of humanity. The galaxy has been colonized by mankind and is united together in one glorious and dark Imperium that spans nearly forty-percent of the galaxy, untold trillions of human beings spread across thousands and thousands of worlds struggle for survival as the Imperium's tenuous hold on its territory and its way of life is threatened from without and within by forces both malevolent and ancient. Principle among these foes are the insidious taint of warp-spawned daemons and their corrosive chaos that corrupts the very soul of and body humanity, aliens who range from disdainfully arrogant to primordially evil, and the threat of insurrection from within the ranks of humanity itself.

Set in the Helican Sub-sector, Scarus Sector, Segmentum Obscurus, but a small part of the massive Imperium, Eisenhorn will sweep you away across a region of the galaxy which spans nearly two dozen worlds. Named for the central protagonist of the novels, Gregor Eisenhorn, this tale follows his life of as Imperial Inquisitor, a man who has the power to devastate worlds and commandeer virtually any of the forces of humanity in his pursuit of the purification of the human race and the eradication of the mutant, the alien and the heretic. It is a tale with more in common with the epic poems of the Norse and Greeks than with modern science fiction for not only does it cover matters military but it has more than its share of, intrigue, desperation, a vast cast of characters, poignant moments of drama, betrayal, hopeless odds, sacrifice and mad hope.

Abnett's setting and visuals almost leap out of the page and his characterization and storytelling is not only the best in the Black Library but one of the best in genre. Part Tom Clancy and part Robert Jordon, Abnett's tale of Gregor Eisenhorn from age 30 to nearly three hundred is a magnificent experience both sinister and sublime. You will not be disappointed.

Much as we love its products, Games Workshop and its related entities (Forge World, Fanatic Press, et al) are not best known for 'value pricing.' One such, however, the Black Library, has done its readers a tremendous service--and
done it for a terrific price, as well.

Dan Abnett is almost universally lauded as the best of GW's stable of writers exploring the grim, dark future of its Warhammer 40,000 universe. While his 'Gaunt's Ghosts' series is probably his most popular, and its gritty,
in-the-trenches, on-the-front-lines view of the 40Kverse appeals to readers of both SF and military fiction, his three volume series about Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn and the goings-on within the vast Imperium of Man behind those front lines is arguably his best...so much so that the three paperbacks which made up the series--'Xenos,' 'Malleus' and 'Hereticus' (named for three major branches, or
Ordos, of the investigatorial Imperial Inquisition which Eisenhorn serves)--quickly sold out and became secondary market collectibles.

Readers have clamoured for an omnibus edition of the three under one cover--and the Black Library has now delivered that, with 'Eisenhorn.' They've added to the collection, however, by including an introduction from Abnett outlining the origins of the project, as well as two interstitial short stories otherwise available only in old issues of the much-missed GW fiction magazine 'Inferno!' They've topped it with a terrific cover painting of Eisenhorn by Clint
Langley (after Adrian Smith's original); and then they've priced the whole package for little more than a third of what the original novels alone cost, new.

This is a tremendous series: if you are a fan of action/adventure, space opera, borderline superheroics, or military fiction (particularly of the 'small band of specialists on a mission' subgenre), you are going to find as much to
enjoy as the dark science fiction reader the book is ostensibly aimed at...and if you've an interest in any corner of GW's richly-detailed 40K universe, you will not get a better 'feel' for it than you will here. Abnett draws his
characters richly and emotionally, conjures a plot around them over the course of the three novels filled with wonderful small moments and an occasional
jaw-dropping sequence (the beginning of 'Hereticus' is so good, you will wonder how its climax can ever begin to equal it), but--probably best of all--never loses sight of the series' real star: the unique universe of GW's 41st millennium,
which he never fails to find an opportunity to detail and explore, always convincingly.

The three books of the 'Eisenhorn' trilogy are my favorite 40K novels thus far. Having them under one cover is a real 'fanboy' delight, a pleasure increased by the bonuses the Black Library has thoughtfully included. And the price
point means I will be able to introduce the Warhammer 40K universe to more than a few friends who do not play the games, but whom I know will enjoy these stories.

Well-done, GW. Of course, a limited edition of the collection in hardcover would still be even nicer....

Christopher Allen
+++

This compilation includes the novels: Xenos, Malleus and Hereticus. The trilogy chronicles the progression of Gregor Eisenhorn from "puritain" to "radical," along with his trusted staff, one of whom - Ravenor - has spawned his own series.

The characters are well developed and engrossing, the "sets" immersive to the reader, and the plot keeps you turning the pages (and wishing for more). Abnett brings out the best in the Warhammer 40K canonical background, capturing the dark essence of the Inquisition in this case, as he similarly captured the core of the Imperial Guard in the Gaunt's Ghosts series.

In short, this is one of the "essential library" for any 40K fan, and makes for a good read even if you don't fit into that category.

I picked up this book mostly because of the cover art. It is one of the most gripping covers I've seen with the Inquisitor Eisenhorn looking like the Grim Reaper loaded for war.

The book is just as compelling and it surprised me in the depth and complexity of the characters created.

The book revolves around the Inquisitor Eisenhorn and his life's work to combat chaos and protect humanity.

The colorful and insightful characters are deep in the politics of the Imperium and delves into the moral questions of right and wrong, good and evil, and do the ends justify the means.

The plot never seemed to stagnate throughout the almost 800 pages of this trilogy.

Dan Abnett is an author that I would look out for and I have purchased several of the Gaunt's Ghost series (I'm waiting for the delivery)

This is my first Warhammer 40K book but I never felt like I was missing from the story by not playing/or having a history in the game.

I would not hesitate to recommend this book for non- Warhammer 40k readers as I would classify this as a very good science fiction tale.

I was always intrigued by this Universe ever since the early 1990s when a friend of mine from university introduced me to the gaming Warhammer Space Marine miniature figurines (which I was always fascinated with) but which I never collected, painted, played or saw anybody play. I'll ask true Warhammer fans and connoisseurs to forgive me as I review this book and share a little bit about the Universe of Warhammer from an outsider's perspective. If you don't know science fiction, I'll ask you to stop here as what I'm about to write will be unintelligible to the non sci fi fan.

This omnibus is actually 3 entire books which tell the story of the Imperial Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn. What is an Inquisitor? Well let me tell you about the Universe to help provide context. Warhammer 40,000 Universe is set circa the year 40,000 in a time when humanity has colonized countless millions of planets throughout a good portion of the Milky Way. The whole Imperium is ruled by an Emperor centered on Earth who exists in a half dead state (he's ruled for thousands of years in this state....The Horus Heresy books tell the story of how the Imperium came to be) and the whole administration of the Empire is somewhat Feudal and Medieval with gargantuan bureaucracies and religion seems to permeate a significant portion of people's lives. So many technologies have been invented and forgotten that technology has come to be regarded as technomagic and there's a whole religion associated with technology. There's an Imperial Army and there are Space Marines, the Emperor's elite, genetically engineered, and powerarmour augmented fighters. In this time, faster than light space travel is through something called the Warp also known as the Immaterium (hyperspace) but hyperspace is not empty like in Starwars or Star Trek, hyperspace is teeming with demons and lost souls that are just ready to rip a spaceship that is not protected appropriately -- This realm of the Immaterium is also known as Chaos. In certain places the Imaterium is very close to real space (the two realities, ours and chaos, are very close to each other and here demons will sometimes spill out into the real universe and invade and corrupt real worlds and people (they become tainted with chaos)). In addition to the threats of chaos, there are orks and elves (homage's and elements of traditional fantasy, Tolkein etc)and insect like creatures (homage's to Starship Troopers and the Forever War) and ancient powerful creatures from millions of years ago --- and everything is fighting everything in this Universe (homage's to Brin's Earthclan etc). So there is plenty of evil to go around.

With me so far? Here then the Inquisitor's job is to seek out and find the taint of Chaos, mutants, orks, xenomorphs, elves etc throughout the Imperium (basically orks and evil elves, genestealer cults, and demons). Inquisitors are very independent but they each carry the full weight of the Emperor, each has his own way of doing things but they have a hierarchy and they go out throughout the Universe seeking anything evil and once they do (each in their unique way) then they focus the Empire's legions to destroy it. They're like the white blood cells of the imperium by finding evil, tagging it, and then having space marines or imperial legions to come and destroy the evil.

What we wind up with is a very Gothic, dark, dystopian and dystopian in the sense that this Universe entirely unapologetic in the torment and suffering of its people (hopelessness, war, terror, is the norm). Seems dark huh? It is....

Begin tiny spoiler ****
The Omnibus of Eisenhorn finds Eisenhorn already a full fledged Inquisitor hunting evil and traces his development as his devotion to emperor has him use more and more marginal (almost heretical) approaches to hunt Chaos and finally leaves us with an Eisenhorn who is devoted to the Emperor but who will use even Chaos to fight Chaos....is Eisenhorn good or evil - hard to tell....and this also leaves the gamers with the character as the gamers and their miniature games portray him....a Super Inquisitor
***************End Spoiler

I loved this book -- if you're going to jump or dabble (as I) in the Warhammer Universe --- this book is probably the best to open the doors and show you the Warhammer Universe. If you want some background on how the Warhammer Universe came to be, I highly recommend Horus Rising also a tremendous book from Abnett. Eisenhorn will show you some of the greatest parts of the Imperium as well as some of the worst evils and you'll even be rewarded by Abnett by him giving you glimpses into almost every facet of the Imperium including some glimpses into some Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines, and Titans and Chaos Titans (giant sentient Battletech like robots -- Warhammer fans, don't shoot me for comparing Titans to Robotech).

Adult Context and note to PARENTS (next two paragraphs)

A couple of things I didn't like about this book in fairness. Inquisition brings back thoughts of the Spanish Inquisition and some of the other horrible atrocities like the Holocaust that we as humanity have done to our fellow man and especially some of the atrocities towards the Jewish People. Also, this Universe is very very dark and grim - aside from being gothic it is filled with endless suffering and there is no hope for this suffering to ever end so it seems so unending but that is part of the appeal to the Universe. Also, I imagine by writing about Inquisitions and these terrible dystopias, in some grim sense - it helps us remember some of the horrible things we've done and how important it is to try to keep our real universe from becoming a Warhammer type Universe (I imagine WWII felt very much like Warhammer).

Off the soapbox and back to the book, Eisenhorn and his company of travelers (and it felt formulaic in a the sense of having an almost D&D or Final Fantasy where Eisenhorn builds a company of companions and then goes on quests and solving the world -- regardless, they all became very real to me and I connected with them. I've read some of the other Space Marine books since then etc and I must say writing for this genre is very very hard especially for Space Marines (they're very one dimensional) so once you finish Eisenhorn and you decide to venture beyond, you will find much more one-dimensional characters and writing appropriate more to young adult audiences (although don't know if I want my young adult reading this without the context of the holocaust, WWII, Khmer atrocities, Rhwanda etc so if you're a parent and your 12 year old is reading this genre - definitely consider pulling them aside, sitting them down, and provide some context...would I let them read? don't know - your call.

Abnett did a great job with Eisenhorn (probably the best Warhammer Novel I've read -- although i'm working through Horus Rising and that's also truly fantastic). Disclaimer, I'm not a gamer or a Super Diehard Warhammer person and I'm definitely not Goth in any way. I'm glad I read it and I'm glad I got to peek into this fantastic and rich Universe that brings so much enjoyment to so many and which to me is comparable to the Dune, Starwars, Startrek in matter of complexity and Scale. So connoisseurs please don't bash me for highlighting this as a dark dystopian universe or analogies to holocausts etc.....the darkness is the appeal and so long as we approach it from a mature standpoint, this has tremendous entertainment value as proven by an almost 20+ year longevity and worldwide following. Fantastic!

On Abnett -- Fantastic writer. You can tell he is very literary, very well versed, and has complete mastery of storytelling. I've loved every book I've read from him. His characters are real and I definitely connect with them.

On Amazon - Discovered and bought this from Amazon. When I was done, I went to a local bookstore to look for something else Warhammer and found a very limited selection (Its gotten better lately as this genre has gotten more popular though) but overall, for some of these harder to find books or the latest Warhammer releases - I find Amazon the best.

`Middle Ages in space' doesn't do justice to Warhammer 40000, which draws on elements across the tapestry of western history to create a dystopian but many-layered future universe. Where Warhammer was confined by its late medieval setting, 40K gets to indulge a smorgasbord of historical flavours - Imperial Rome, Victorian England, 20th century fascism - while keeping Elves, Orcs and other medieval fantasy staples, only adding spaceships and guns. Hardcore science-fiction buffs may sniff as such quarrying of the past as intellectually lazy and tacky, but that's their loss.

It's this sort of descriptive opulence that makes the Eisenhorn novels worth the read. In contrast to his Gaunt's Ghosts series, which can qualify at a pinch as military fiction, Abnett's trilogy of the plucky Inquisitor can't aspire to the detective genre. He gives us a sequence of events rather than well-defined plot lines leading to a resolution, admittedly a criticism that could be applied to many Sherlock Holmes stories. The trick is that the reader doesn't notice because he (more occasionally, she) is absorbed with the events themselves and the backdrop against which they take place. As Abnett acknowledges in the preface to the one volume edition, the idea was to give readers an insight into the texture of the 40K universe, so often sublimated into the pervasive violence associated with Games Workshop. The `storyline' is Eisenhorn's self-narrated personal journey, which is used to showcase the 40K universe and serve as a metaphor for its moral paradoxes, with liberal doses of bloodshed, psychokinesis and daemonancy thrown in along the way.

An Inquisitor was the obvious choice for this role, not just because he gets to travel but because the Inquisition is the Imperial institution par excellence, its raison d'etre being to root out difference within Imperial society and burn it - sometimes literally - in the name of species survival. The first paradox is obvious: to save humanity one has to crush it, in spirit and often in flesh. The second and connected one is more subtle: to fight the darkness one must flirt with it, a dilemma Abnett achieves primarily through the daemon Cherubael, who despite being more a device than a character and warp spawn to boot is one of the Black Library's more memorable creations. The implications of this ethical impasse aren't pretty. Everything Eisenhorn is attached to as a human being (even his own body) is progressively destroyed, leaving him stalking the shadows alone, or more precisely with an imprisoned daemon for company. The God-Emperor's work is a hard calling.

As expected of a 40K novel, Eisenhorn is not exactly a light read. Occasional scenes of poetic charm and even beauty relieve a sea of grimness, in which most characters eventually die with varying degrees of unpleasantness. It seems to be the First Law of Science Fiction - the more dystopian the universe, the more readers relate to people living in it - and Abnett, who's perhaps better known for his work on the 2000AD (Judge Dredd) franchise, is an old hand at this. I can't think of a novel that better captures the baroque and sometimes frankly disturbing appeal of Warhammer 40000.

I picked up Eisenhorn not really knowing what to expect as it was the first Warhammer 40,000 book I had read. I was pleasantly surprised at the depth of the characters, the complexity of the story, and the multiple plots Dan Abnett devolves throughout the 800+ pages.
Eisenhorn is a compilation of three books. The continuity of the story and consistency of the characters warrants putting all three under one cover. I found each book; Xenos, Malleus, and Hereticus quite entertaining. The entire Warhammer 40,000 universe is based on the monolithic struggle of man vs. machine vs. evil vs. everything else. The Eisenhorn character is an agent of the empire of man whose primary mission is to stand between the onslaught of evil and evil machines and the countless billions of humans who exist in a quazi-techno hell set in the far future (*breath). His purpose is to stamp out `Heretics' desire to obtain forbidden technology and the countless incursions of beings from an alternate universe called The Warp. He is accompanied by several characters throughout the book that are developed in concert with Eisenhorn.
If you like to read about a never ending war with death and destruction on this kind of scale then I would think you would enjoy this book as much as I did. I could barely put it down as I was pulled right into the development of Eisenhorn right from page one.

I reccomend this book to anyone who is a fan of Sci-Fi

I just finished the Eisenhorn novels, and I must say that they were not only the
finest work of 40K fiction I've read, but were one of the finest sci-fi works
I've ever read period, right up there in a near-orbit with the likes of Frank
Herbert and Roger Zelazny.

They were everything I had hoped the Inquisition War novels might be and wasn't.

Abnett does a superb job bringing the 40K universe to life, and his characters
are excellent. Eisenhorn and his warband of henchmen are engaging and
three-dimmensional, so that by the end of the first book you think of them as
old friends. He treats the characters so well, and with so much individual
integrety and attention to detail that he is able to go beyond the bounds that
most authors could go without alienating the readers.

His descriptions of Imperial life, both glorious and mundane, are so expertly
rendered, niether underly descriptive or overly verbose, that it literally
paints a picture in your mind. In addition, Abnett expertly grabs threads from
disparate genres; Space Opera, High Fantasy, Lovecraftian Horror, Cyberpunk,
Steampunk, Spy Thriller, Historical Renaissance and Religious Devotional, and
expertly weaves them together into a rich and beautiful tapestry which few works
of science fiction can rival, and which is at once both completely unique and
completely in harmony with the 40K universe which I've always imagined.

Kudos Dan!! Great read...

I highly reccomend it to anyone who is interested in 40K or in Sci-fi in
general.

Although Warhammer books have an unfounded reputation for being cheap-thrill paperbacks filled with nothing but explosions and interplanetary chases, Dan Abnett has taken the Warhammer universe as the backdrop for a seriously good work.
"Xenos", "Malleus" and "Hereticus", the three books of the Eisenhorn Trilogy, are the best I have read by Abnett so far, better even than the ongoing 'First of Tanith/Gaunt's ghosts' series. The best thing about these books is undoubtedly the group of unforgettable characters we are introduced to (that fortunately we will find again, see "Ravenor returns") and the agile, gripping plot. I particularly liked the lead character, dedicated Inquisitor Eisenhorn, and his personal nemesis, the intriguing Cherubael.
Believe me, this book won't let you remain detached. You'll find yourself taking sides and judging decisions as if you yourself were a part of Eisenhorn's team, and when you reach the last page there'll still be many questions that you will have to answer for yourself.
A must-read for Warhammer fans, or for people who like coherent, intelligent adventure.

I have returned again and again to this author, but sadly nothing has quite matched the scope and force of his tour de force, the Eisenhorn saga.

An epic you will remember. The characters and their fates and relationships will stay with you like few do. Years later I still remember key events vividly, and this marks the THIRD time I have frickin bought these particular stories, after twice having erroneously decided that saving weight and discarding non-essential personal belongings prior to making military moves around the world were more important than a good read.

That said, there are some gripes.
- Lack of occasional polish. Some endings feel rushed.
- Some fight scenes are a bit silly, at least to the ex-mercenary, deepsea diver military man that I am.
- He tried a little too hard to be hip, steampunk-ish and street-creddy in the scene where two of the main protagonists hit the slums.
- Though he generally does a good job of keeping the fantastically impossible to a minimum, there are exceptions, where you just kind of groan and wish he'd just pay attention to the laws of physics and facts of old age a bit more. Heroes can be heroes, and a certain amount of suspension of disbelief is necessary, but sometimes he goes too far.
- Hanging on to gravity-defying deadly raptor-like dinosaurs anyone?
- Leaping from crashing speeder-bikes that are described as waaaay too fast to really allow such a thing?
- The occasional unexpected introduction of a new central character that by all rights should at least have been mentioned before?

Otoh, you will remember some little inventions of Mr. Abnett long after you've finished reading the stories. The coded language, the long and superbly drawn-out battle of wills between one man and one daemon. The self-sacrifice and the pride. The rise of man and the fall of man.

A timeless classic that deserves the full treatment of the people who did the CGI Final Fantasy feature movie. Or the Peter Jackson treatment. Or a full set of Computer Game adaptations.

Bravo, Mr. Abnett. Bravo. Your courage in letting this body of work stand, without resurrecting the main character, is admirable. And rest assured, though you may lose the rights to that character, no-one will ever equal what you created.