New Eisenhorn

[Mechanicus Tech-Support]

Just as an update on the above post, on Saturday I woke up late(11am'ish) and after my mad rush to the computer and BL's website, I found it was sold out. I too thought there was a mix up on the when I saw and clicked the link to GW's site and found I was still able to order it. Thinking "why the heck not" I placed an order fully expecting the pending status to change and for me to get a refund. Lo and behold Monday rolls around and I get a notification that my order has been sent fully filled , I get to pick it up at my local GW Wednesday (Yay free tracked shipping). 

 

So perhaps they had a portion of stock kept separate for selling on GW's website instead of BL's, regardless I am ecstatic. 

[Knockagh]

Apparently according to a friendly GW employee GW purchased a good quantity from BL assuming they would sell well alongside the Eisenhorn mini. Doesn’t seem to have worked so well as the minis are all gone and GW still have their books! Division of Internal structures eh!

[Sandlemad]

RE: Gardens of Tycho: Wasn't part of the plot something to do with interplanetary smuggling of carnodons and big game? You could probably change a line or two and connect it to Gudrun and the carnodons bred/kept by House Glaw in Xenos. Or even simpler, add an explanatory paragraph at the start in Aemos' or Eisenhorn's voice, saying that this case was studied while investigating the Glaw criminal empire. It would work... but I can't think of any direct Eisenhorn link there.

 

RE: Pestilence: a great story, one of Abnett's best, but even less connection to Eisenhorn. Again, you could add an expository paragraph at the start covering how Eisenhorn looked into it for whatever reason but it feels a little forced. I guess these stories are not likely to be republished anywhere else.

 

So The Magos is weaving in the short stories in a neater way than I expected. Maybe a little too neatly, as hummus's review link suggests, but it doesn't particularly make the universe feel smaller.

 

I also like the sharp contrast between 'happy/content middle-aged Eisenhorn chilling on his country estate with his friends and some amasec' and 'lonely, friendless, estranged Eisenhorn who ruined his own life and walks the dark places of the world'. It was always there but having the short stories in one spot makes it very clear.

The variety of the stories also shows the difference between the contemplative, self-justifying, first person style of the Eisenhorn books and the action sequence-heavy Shadowrun party approach of the Ravenor books. It's strange to jump between them...Thorn Wishes Talon really crystallises the differences.

[DarkChaplain]

I haven't really gotten into the new material yet, since I figured I'd re-read all the short stories I had previously gone through (heck, must've been 7 or so years since the Omnibus shorts), but damn me if Master Imus's Transgression isn't still one of my favorite audio dramas BL has produced to date. I think I listened to it three times, including while reading along to spot differences, just because of how well it does what it does.

 

Pestilence feels reasonably lovecraftian in a sense. First person narrative, unspeakable horrors, insane asylums, and it ends right at the climax with only a brief section about the protagonist leaving things behind, but also acknowledging that he himself was damaged by the events. Small details like that odd hat make things seem just the right amount out of whack to be disturbing.

[Phoebus]

I loved both of those two stories! “Pestilence”, especially, just hits all the right notes.

[Manchu warlord]

It begs the question:  When did his hair grow back? 

 

In the novel "Hereticus", I was pretty sure his head was shaved, (permanently) so it could maintain the neural-feed from his brain to the device attached to his legs.

[DarkChaplain]

I don't think it said anything about being permanent in Hereticus. I just finished a re-listen last week before the new book launched, and all Eisenhorn said that it had to be shaved, but that's all. That's something I actually noticed myself on that re-read - I'd figured it was permanent too, but then, it never actually makes that statement. It's simply that artwork and the last time we see him there show him bald.

It's actually reasonable anyway - implanting the neuro-links is a surgical procedure, and hair'd be an issue there. After they're all plugged in? Outside of scartissue that prevents hairgrowth right around the sockets, I don't think anything would prevent it growing back.

 

I can't remember if Perihelion or The Keeler Image made any statements one way or the other, though.

[Sandlemad]

I loved both of those two stories! “Pestilence”, especially, just hits all the right notes.

 

Definitely, it was the star of the Deathwing anthology, amongst other really quite good stories. 

 

I'd recalled the horror but forgot the mundanity of the framing narrative about the imperial researcher visiting the asylum. All the stuff about the straw hat and the island refuge but also how Abnett made a virtue of the dull administrative numbercrunching.

[R_F_D]

Reading Xenos now to do a full novel run-up to Magos as I've seen that it is recommended to read to shorts in one go before Magos itself.  Pretty hyped for this.

 

On a side but related note: is there a Glossia dictionary?  I've always invariably got the gist but often feel like I'm missing the finer points.

[Petitioner's City]

You know what I'm loving about the novel of the magos, beyond how brilliant it is to spend time with these characters again. Having read the stories first I'm expecting it to be a short story. I'm at a point in the magos's narrative I expect it to end, based on all the other stories. But I'm only at 67%. This makes me very happy.

 

As for the book as a whole, magical. And lots to think about.

[Nineswords]

Same. Into the last act now, it’s been a ride and a half and I’m genuinely astonished at how Abnett has managed to make *all* ten stories connect togetber - it’s a real nexus model that asks more questions than it answers. Can’t wait to re read Pariah again after this.

[Petitioner's City]

I know - its great this wasn't filler, but a wide-ranging reframing of both the stories and Pariah. I am sad there is so little of certain characters, but indeed the eponymous Magos, Drusher, is fantastic - and a good foil to Eisenhorn. It is interesting to see Abnett tackle a theme as warmhearted as friendship face on - as well as aging and what a feeling of wasting life can mean. The two mirror one another as themes, as well as how Drusher and Eisenhorn mirror one another. Both are lonely and obsessive brilliant isolated people, with strange companions (cherubael and raptor), and broken loves, and a sense of frustration, rejection and loss.

[OPTIMVSCHRISTVS]

Just finished it- I hadn't even read most of these short stories so having them all in one place was worth it alone. The Magos' setting felt a bit constrained compared to the other Eisenhorn novels- however, I still really enjoyed it and I might just have to go reread Pariah to see how it locks in. Really looking forward to Penitent, now.

[Fire Golem]

Do I need to read the Ravenor books before this? I’ve recently read the Eisenhorn trilogy and I’m gonna get this, but I haven’t got/read the Ravenor ones yet.

[R_F_D]

The intro suggests that it may be a good idea.  Magos is set in between the finale of the Ravenor trilogy and Pariah.

[Petitioner's City]

And stories are set in and after ravenor as well, and ravenor is definitely worth reading

[Carach]

read them alllllllllllllllll

 

all of ittttttttttttttt

 

buy this one now though as well so you can go straight to it after completing the 2 previous trilogies. Because once you have started this rollercoaster ride you won't ever want to get off. 

[DukeLeto69]

Halfway through the shorts and loving it. Seriously thought I had read everything Abnett had ever written for W40k but realised I have never read Pestilence even though I have it in an old anthology!

 

The shorts definitely give a sense of building towards something and I cannot wait to start seeing the connective material being revealed in The Magos.

 

Had been tempted to try re-reading everything in sequence (as shown in the contents page - nice touch) but so want to get into The Magos that I simply cannot justify to myself yet another re-read of Xenos, Malleus, Hereticus, Ravenor, Returned, Rogue and delaying starting the new novel. However, I am going to read Pariah again for sure after The Magos.

 

Nice to have these characters back.

[DarkChaplain]

I was caught off guard by how chapter three of The Magos is entirely describing a location. It is short, and doesn't include any on-screen characters at all beyond briefly describing the original owner of said location to flesh out its history.

I hope this is a one-off, and not going to be the case again throughout. As thematic as it was, I just don't see why there had to be a chapter split there, especially since the next chapter is set right there anyway. Usually you'd just have a section jump, not start a new chapter.

 

Other than that, I'm very impressed with Eisenhorn's rendition. It is clearly unusual to see him from a 3rd person view (outside of Ravenor cameos, I guess), especially with Drusher taking center stage. I love their interactions so far.

Gregor really is screwed here, physically. In Thorn Wishes Talon, Nayl points out that he's a changed man and "so sane" he "thought he was mad". In TWT, yep, that's an easy impression to get, but in The Magos, set so much later, I'm feeling the full brunt of that. Not just that, Gregor is incredibly grumpy. I love it.

 

So far, a fantastic book.

[FirstSonofHorus]

That's a very one-off chapter, don't worry. Although, the protagonist's preferences mean you do get more physical descriptions than in the other books in the series (which isn't a criticism).

 

I read the Magos all in one day. Absolutely loved it. The new characters were interesting and the way it ties the stories together is very neatly done. There's some things about the latter narrative that I don't like, but I don't want to go into too much detail due to spoilers.

[R_F_D]

Arrrggghhhh still plowing away through Hereticus!!!

[DarkChaplain]

I'm now on chapter seventeen, and damn me this is actually making me still more excited for Bequin's trilogy. The Cognitae leveled up as a threat, in my eyes.

 

Not having finished it, I noticed something I hope to be addressed in the next chapter or two, namely

Abnett repeatedly describing one of the antagonists as having short-cropped red hair, which puts Kara Swole to mind, especially with how she disarmed Voriet. Last I remember, Kara was taken in by the Inquisition for trial at the end of Ravenor Rogue. Here's hoping this is clever misdirection and not a hint of Kara having switched sides somehow...

 

The way those middle chapters are playing out actually comes in hard-hitting. It makes me recall Hereticus, and the beginning of Malleus and Xenos, where with little preamble things come crashing down all around Eisenhorn. Seeing Gregor in his current, damaged state and from an outside perspective makes it even more chilling than before, when we were witness to his grief, disillusionment and anger.

[R_F_D]

I'm now on chapter seventeen, and damn me this is actually making me still more excited for Bequin's trilogy. The Cognitae leveled up as a threat, in my eyes.

 

Not having finished it, I noticed something I hope to be addressed in the next chapter or two, namely

Abnett repeatedly describing one of the antagonists as having short-cropped red hair, which puts Kara Swole to mind, especially with how she disarmed Voriet. Last I remember, Kara was taken in by the Inquisition for trial at the end of Ravenor Rogue. Here's hoping this is clever misdirection and not a hint of Kara having switched sides somehow...

 

The way those middle chapters are playing out actually comes in hard-hitting. It makes me recall Hereticus, and the beginning of Malleus and Xenos, where with little preamble things come crashing down all around Eisenhorn. Seeing Gregor in his current, damaged state and from an outside perspective makes it even more chilling than before, when we were witness to his grief, disillusionment and anger.

Looking forward to your review when you write it DC!

[welshrat]

Looking for some opinions,i read eisenhorn back in the day when they all came out but im wondering how dated they are. I love black library stuff having just read dark imperium ,the Beast series and all the horus heresy.

 

I started reading eisenhorn and found its style jolting (i dont remember it being like this) How in canon is it in regard to its content these days.

 

Thanks

[Fire Golem]

Looking for some opinions,i read eisenhorn back in the day when they all came out but im wondering how dated they are. I love black library stuff having just read dark imperium ,the Beast series and all the horus heresy.

 

I started reading eisenhorn and found its style jolting (i dont remember it being like this) How in canon is it in regard to its content these days.

 

Thanks

Considering it is mostly smallish scale stories, there’s nothing that really goes against canon at all. The style is a little different to the more modern stuff but I don’t think it suffers at all from that, it’s just different (I read the trilogy in the last few months).