New Eisenhorn

[DarkChaplain]

By that logic, they might have excluded Backcloth for a Crown Additional and Missing in Action too, because they were both in the Eisenhorn Omnibus AND in the paperback reprints of the trilogy, that this one is designed to match.

 

I'd argue that the two Ravenor stories are relevant, one of them even includes Eisenhorn and his work against the Cognitae, with interlude sections by him. Both also feature Harlon Nayl and Kara Swole, both of which have roles in The Magos - as does Ravenor, and not just in the novel, but also Perihelion.

[Manchu warlord]

By that logic, they might have excluded Backcloth for a Crown Additional and Missing in Action too, because they were both in the Eisenhorn Omnibus AND in the paperback reprints of the trilogy, that this one is designed to match.

 

I'd argue that the two Ravenor stories are relevant, one of them even includes Eisenhorn and his work against the Cognitae, with interlude sections by him. Both also feature Harlon Nayl and Kara Swole, both of which have roles in The Magos - as does Ravenor, and not just in the novel, but also Perihelion.

I confess I do not know what short stories are present in the Eisenhorn omnibus, for I own the three books separately. But if that is the case, then I think it should be omitted as well.

 

It is, just, my opinion. You do not have to be sassy about what I feel.

[Fire Golem]

 

By that logic, they might have excluded Backcloth for a Crown Additional and Missing in Action too, because they were both in the Eisenhorn Omnibus AND in the paperback reprints of the trilogy, that this one is designed to match.

 

I'd argue that the two Ravenor stories are relevant, one of them even includes Eisenhorn and his work against the Cognitae, with interlude sections by him. Both also feature Harlon Nayl and Kara Swole, both of which have roles in The Magos - as does Ravenor, and not just in the novel, but also Perihelion.

I confess I do not know what short stories are present in the Eisenhorn omnibus, for I own the three books separately. But if that is the case, then I think it should be omitted as well.

It is, just, my opinion. You do not have to be sassy about what I feel.

He was hardly being sassy.

[DukeLeto69]

 

By that logic, they might have excluded Backcloth for a Crown Additional and Missing in Action too, because they were both in the Eisenhorn Omnibus AND in the paperback reprints of the trilogy, that this one is designed to match.

 

I'd argue that the two Ravenor stories are relevant, one of them even includes Eisenhorn and his work against the Cognitae, with interlude sections by him. Both also feature Harlon Nayl and Kara Swole, both of which have roles in The Magos - as does Ravenor, and not just in the novel, but also Perihelion.

I confess I do not know what short stories are present in the Eisenhorn omnibus, for I own the three books separately. But if that is the case, then I think it should be omitted as well.

It is, just, my opinion. You do not have to be sassy about what I feel.

To be fair the cover of The Magos is subtitled Eisenhorn Casebook which "could" be miscontrued as meaning all stories are directly ABOUT Eisenhorn rather than having a bearing on the overarching Eisenhorn story arc. An arguably more accurate subtitle might have been something like "Inquisition casebook from the Scarus Sector" but that is obviously a rubbish subtitle LOL

 

Personally I have absolutely no problem with the shorts from the two omnibuses being included as there is a flow to the stories and it provides a complete set of stories in chronological order rather than having to switch between volumes. Also means people who do not own the omnibuses because they already own the individual books will still get those excellent short stories. There is also the point that ALL the stories are reprints as ALL have been previously available in some format except The Magos.

[Knockagh]

I’m certainly not complaining about the inclusion of any of the shorts. They were the best thing about the book. The Magos itself being decidedly mediocre.

[Sothalor]

Thorn Wishes Talon provides a look at Eisenhorn post-trilogy and how he's treading an increasingly darker path, so I think it makes perfect sense to include it.

 

Given how Abnett is retroactively linking previously disparate stories together, I wouldn't be surprised if Playing Patience has some kind of payoff down the line.

The Kindred Youth Scholam does foreshadow the Maze Undue in Pariah as a Cognitae-run facility grooming unwitting youth for their purposes.

 

There's also still potential storylines out there with the kids who got shuttled off. My off-the-cuff guess? One or both of Patience Kys' sisters was taken to become a Grael of the King in Yellow.

[DukeLeto69]

Thorn Wishes Talon provides a look at Eisenhorn post-trilogy and how he's treading an increasingly darker path, so I think it makes perfect sense to include it.

 

Given how Abnett is retroactively linking previously disparate stories together, I wouldn't be surprised if Playing Patience has some kind of payoff down the line.

The Kindred Youth Scholam does foreshadow the Maze Undue in Pariah as a Cognitae-run facility grooming unwitting youth for their purposes.

 

There's also still potential storylines out there with the kids who got shuttled off. My off-the-cuff guess? One or both of Patience Kys' sisters was taken to become a Grael of the King in Yellow.

I love that idea (although it could threaten to make the universe seem smaller if everything is neatly connected). Actually that is a slightly negative aspect of how all these shorts now tie together. It means that we no longer have a broad spectrum of different unrelated cases that Eisenhorn has worked on...but that is a minor gripe as the way they have Been linked was cool.

 

Also love the (unintended) pun ... "off- the-CUFF" ... LOL

[Sothalor]

I will say, one thing that felt a little "off" to me about The Magos and The Keeler Image before it:

 

The positioning of the Cognitae as Eisenhorn's long-running archnemesis. They weren't present in the original trilogy; they were introduced in Ravenor's series, and they always felt much more of a foil to Ravenor - sophisticated, intellectual, thinkers and plotters that pull strings from behind the scene and far more immersed in the esoteric. It just seems a bit disconcerting to me that suddenly now Eisenhorn is their most avowed enemy. Their introduction in The Keeler Image as Eisenhorn's long-running enemy is very much an in media res snapshot of their relationship; it feels like we're still missing some story or background there.

[Manchu warlord]

If I had not read Pariah before The Magos, I would have assumed that The Magos - well part of it - will talk about how Eisenhorn may, perhaps, finally get his broken body fixed.  Evidently, it did not.  This is getting a little... too much, that Eisenhorn still needs that exo-crutch to support his frame, after all these years.  I can't remember exactly what happened, did Fischig shoot his kneecaps or something?  In Hereticus, I assumed the exo-cruth was only temporarily, but apparently he has been wearing it for a hundred years now.  Even though he is a rogue and can't really find support from any official body, still, I would imagine he would at least get his body fixed. 

One hundred years, and he can't find a doctor, throne! that's insane.  Yet, he is able to acquire a savant, a double-agent interrogator, and a magos - The Magos.

It is just... too much.  Dan Abentt, fix Eisenhorn up would you kindly? 

[DarkChaplain]

Hereticus spoke of how his injuries could get fixed adequately, but that'd take time they did not think they had. Instead, despite warnings, Gregor opted for those crude exothingiethings. The problem was that putting them on/in him also caused permanent damage to his body that may not have been fixable after the fact.

 

I would however wager that at this point, Eisenhorn is keeping them as much out of principle as out of necessity. He certainly gets around better than before, when they were new, and I wouldn't be surprised if they had gotten a few upgrades over the decades. Still, this is the same guy who refused to wear a prosthetic arm when he lost his, for years, until he had an opportunity to get a properly grafted replacement. He worked without a hand for years despite it inhibiting his work a great deal more than using crutches.

[Manchu warlord]

It is just painful, to see that he is still quite broken... physically.  I mean, a hundred years have passed, surely, he'd have found something by now.

 

Also, what about the hair thing?  I was pretty sure that in Hereticus, it didn't say that his baldness will be permanent, but evidently, he still is.  Unless he constantly shaves it so it doesn't interfere with his exo-crutch-thingy.  

[Ascanius]

Why are you so fixated on these superficial issues? Eisenhorn isn't the kind of guy who'd give a damn what his hair looks like.

[Sothalor]

Eisenhorn was shot through the knees with a bolter.

 

Boltguns, lest anybody need a reminder, fire mass-reactive explosive projectiles that detonate within the target.

 

It's a fething miracle Eisenhorn has anything left below the knees at all. His augmetics were hastily and crudely applied in the field, done in extremis.

 

As he himself recalls:

 

"It was the best work Crezia and Antribus had been able to manage given the time and the resources available. Crezia had passionately wanted me confined to vital support until I could be delivered to a top level Imperial facility.

 

I'd insisted on being mobile.

 

'If we throw together repairs now,' she had said, 'it'll be worse in the long term. To get you walking we'll have to do things that no amount of later work can repair, no matter how excellent.'" - Eisenhorn omnibus, 2004 ed., p. 743-744.

 

Gregor has connectors and motive systems crudely plugged into his brain. It's hardly surprising he hasn't bounced back from that. Furthermore, he's a lonely, traumatized man full of deeply-rooted self-hatred and guilt. On some level, consciously or unconsciously, he blames himself for what happened. His crippling occurred in the midst of his entire life crumbling around him, the rapid sequential deaths of his oldest and dearest compatriots, and the cold, bleak reality that he was at least partly responsible for it all. Even if he were presented with some opportunity to somehow undo all the damage his body had taken, he's probably at a mental point where he believes he deserves it.

[Manchu warlord]

Why are you so fixated on these superficial issues? Eisenhorn isn't the kind of guy who'd give a damn what his hair looks like.

I am touched, that you seem interested in my feelings and concerns about - well, in this case - Eisenhorn's look.

And why do I care about his hair? I don't know, I'm the kind of guy that likes my things looking nice: A cool looking video game character, a beautiful looking notebook, a cool backpack, nice book covers, and oh - nice hair.

 

Furthermore, unless I am mistaken, it never said anything about Eisenhorn being permanently bald. So if its not permanently bald, why hasn't it grown back. The issue - for me - is not his diminished appearance, but the minor detail that Abnett refuses or neglects to touch upon. Issues like these, obviously, doesn't bother you, and it actually doesn't bother me TOO much either (surprise?). And you're wrong, very wrong mate, I am not "fixated" on this issue, but simply annoyed by it, and decided to add it as additional material on the post.

 

Even though "A Melancholic Sanguinity" provided the quote from above, still, I think (IN MY OPINION) that it is too much.

 

And I hardly think his exo-crutch is superficial, it limits his mobility and speed, if not his stomping power; and he is constantly tired.

[Knockagh]

Thorn Wishes Talon provides a look at Eisenhorn post-trilogy and how he's treading an increasingly darker path, so I think it makes perfect sense to include it.

 

Given how Abnett is retroactively linking previously disparate stories together, I wouldn't be surprised if Playing Patience has some kind of payoff down the line.

The Kindred Youth Scholam does foreshadow the Maze Undue in Pariah as a Cognitae-run facility grooming unwitting youth for their purposes.

 

There's also still potential storylines out there with the kids who got shuttled off. My off-the-cuff guess? One or both of Patience Kys' sisters was taken to become a Grael of the King in Yellow.

My thoughts exactly, the missing sister is far to juicy a thread not to return as an important player. It the potential to wreck the team and blow the story wide. I would be stunned if it wasn’t a central brick of the remaining books.

[Ascanius]

And why do I care about his hair? I don't know, I'm the kind of guy that likes my things looking nice: A cool looking video game character, a beautiful looking notebook, a cool backpack, nice book covers, and oh - nice hair.

 

OK. That's boring.

[Manchu warlord]

 

And why do I care about his hair? I don't know, I'm the kind of guy that likes my things looking nice: A cool looking video game character, a beautiful looking notebook, a cool backpack, nice book covers, and oh - nice hair.

 

OK. That's boring.

I appreciate that you value my opinion so much. But you know what's more boring? Not wanting to have your things look nice. Of course, not nearly as vainly as interrogator "Carl Thonius", but enough to be nice and presentable.

 

I apologize to the thread-followers that the two of us has gone off topic.

[Ishagu]

I'm late to the party and only just finished the Magos.

Wow, what a great novel! This book is superior to Hereticus in my opinion, but falls just short behind Xenos and Malleus. Everything about it was so interesting and I loved the characters. Some of the moments in the book were quite emotional too!

[Manchu warlord]

I'm late to the party and only just finished the Magos.

Wow, what a great novel! This book is superior to Hereticus in my opinion, but falls just short behind Xenos and Malleus. Everything about it was so interesting and I loved the characters. Some of the moments in the book were quite emotional too!

Hello little thing!  Am I going to have to carry you again?

[Ascanius]

I found it very interesting to spend so much time removed from Eisenhorn's perspective.

[FirstSonofHorus]

I think at this point seeing inside Eisenhorn's head would be redundant. We know his rationalisations for his behaviour and we know broadly how he would react to situations. Seeing perspectives on him that aren't his tells us a lot more about his character than we would otherwise see. In that sense, The Magos was very interesting. It definitely felt like an extended short though (which it was).

 

Also I would be very disappointed if any of the theories mentioned before came to fruition. The whole series has never really been about the big figures in 40k. It never needed them to feel big and I would be disappointed if they resorted to that.

[Cognitae]

So, bit of a necropost, but I wanted to weigh in...

Loved The Magos. It motivated me to re-read Pariah, which I didn't remember as being particularly good, but which, on revisiting, I thoroughly enjoyed! Also, anything that motivates DA to crack on with Penitent and Pandaemonium is surely a good thing! [ https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/02/24/rapid-fire-dan-abnett-talks-the-magos/ ]

 

I didn't take issue with the 3rd person style of the book, but that's partly because I think it feels more like Drusher's story than Eisenhorn's; with The Curiosity and Gardens of Tycho it makes a mini-trilogy all of its own. 

The 'Definitive Casebook' bit, I have some minor gripes with. The stories aren't presented in chronological order; this isn't a huge issue and DA does add a chronology in the back, but it irked me all the same. The bigger issue is that it isn't definitive - at the very least, it misses out Born to Us. It's not an especially long or important short, but its absence means that Definitive is an inaccurate descriptor. If I'm being really pedantic, there's an Eisenhorn Short Story in the 2001 Inquisitor rulebook (p.64 and 92), though, given that DA had nothing to do with that one, I can let it slide.

[Knockagh]

I think at this point seeing inside Eisenhorn's head would be redundant. We know his rationalisations for his behaviour and we know broadly how he would react to situations. Seeing perspectives on him that aren't his tells us a lot more about his character than we would otherwise see. In that sense, The Magos was very interesting. It definitely felt like an extended short though (which it was).

 

Also I would be very disappointed if any of the theories mentioned before came to fruition. The whole series has never really been about the big figures in 40k. It never needed them to feel big and I would be disappointed if they resorted to that.

I don’t understand your reply here at all. How can a persons perspective on a brand new story be redundant because we know how they responded within the frame of a different story? That doesn’t make any sense to me.

I also don’t think patience kys and her sisters are major character within 40k. They are completely planted entirely within the world of Eisenhorn

[BLACK BLΠFLY]

I loled people complaining about the PoV when most if not all the SS have been published years ago .

[Fire Golem]

I loled people complaining about the PoV when most if not all the SS have been published years ago .

But people are complaining about the point of view in the Magos, which is new.