Eidolon: The Auric Hammer

[Roomsky]

Eidolon: The Auric Hammer - Marc Collins

 

This is definitely my favourite work by Collins since Grim Repast. I wouldn't say it's quite on equal footing, but the Crime range had few equals in Black Library. This didn't overstay it's welcome, it wasn't too big a story for this page count, and while it is bolter-porn, it's the good stuff. When I actually like a book with this much fighting, I'm always impressed.

 

I don't want to downplay Collins' strengths, because he has written tolerable bolter porn before, but I think the Emperor's Children are the secret sauce for this kind of book. They're all so murderously self-centred that their combat sequences are intrinsically tied to their motivation and character movement. The III Legion has this great built-in feature where if a scene would be boring, the EC find it boring also and don't give it time or attention. I observed the same phenomenon in the very entertaining Lucius: The Faultless Blade.

 

As for the man on the cover: who doesn't love to hate Eidolon at this point? The guy has come far from Abnett's bumbling III legion caricature. Who would have thought he'd become such a complex bastard? I'd be disappointed if he were anything but fascinating at this point, and Collins does a good job with him. Would I have preferred a wider look at his career instead of a new battle on the eve of the Siege? Yes, but I would prefer WARhammer books to relegate most of their battles to something of-screen. Does this book further illuminate an incredibly unique man to my satisfaction? Also yes. Collins uses references to past works, and new tidbits of Eidolon's history, very well when they come up. There's no extended flashbacks, but at the same time every revelation and reflection feels organic. As a point of comparison: this book is like Roboute's Primarchs book, except good. Lots of action, intriguing self-reflection, but it's always entertaining and doesn't leave you frustrated at the paths not taken by the end.

 

Speaking of the ending, the last chapter of this book is perfect. It is ~15 pages of peak character writing, and probably one of the best renditions of

Fulgrim

I've ever read. As much as Collins does this action book well, that conversation is the perfect dessert to an already satisfying meal. Collins in general has an excellent voice for primarchs; the Helbrecht book's best chapter was the titular templar's chat with Guilliman, if I recall correctly.

 

Collins has become divisive since Grim Repast, so I must in fairness say this is To Taste. If, like me, you've found his talent a bit squandered on his last few books, I think this is a return to form. So too will a book with this much fighting annoy some, but as mentioned I think it's a cut above in that field. It's a satisfying portrait of Eidolon, and a surprisingly good action book!

[TrevorLoLz]

I enjoyed this book for the most part.

 

It does suffer from the mandated bolter p0rn that Black Library requires in every book, when the best parts of this story are the internal battles the main characters (particularly Eidolon) are having. 

 

For example, 

Spoiler

Vocipheron's internal struggles to maintain the pure swordsman while surrounded by utter corrupt madmen and daemons was excellent. I would have preferred much more of this than more "deft swordplay" and "Glory Aeterna pulverising".

 

Similarly, Eidolon's 'battle' with Fulgrim at the end of the novel was also well done, showing a degree of character growth and motivation missing from previous renditions of Eidolon. 

 

[DarkChaplain]

I'm already glad that it comes with a brief line about Eidolon working for Mortarion for a bit... I still feel bloody robbed that this plotline was axed by Swallow in The Buried Dagger.

[TrevorLoLz]

On 10/28/2024 at 1:00 PM, DarkChaplain said:

I'm already glad that it comes with a brief line about Eidolon working for Mortarion for a bit... I still feel bloody robbed that this plotline was axed by Swallow in The Buried Dagger.

 

Yes - the two Legions couldn't be more different. It would have been interesting to see how they interacted. I have no idea how come they did not run with this.

[LSM]

This is perhaps a weird request, but for those who have read it: how is Eidolon's armour described?

 

Obviously, his pre-Heresy armour is as his Forge World model. Then he's killed in The Reflection Crack'd and resurrected in Angel Exterminaus, where he's described as wearing "neon colours that offended the eye" with "barbs of coiled wire" on his shoulders guards and a "razor-hooked cloak".

 

That gets ignored by The Path of Heaven, which seems to put him back in his pre-Heresy purple & gold (roughly - he does have a new breatplate, gorget, and helmet - the latter of which is said to be twice the size of his old one, "chocked and studded with auditory dampeners and channellers"). The Soul, Severed then adds a "grotesque organ grill" to his breastplate, before his armour gets chem-washed - causing his heraldry to deform into "nightmarish slurs" and the old purple to turn into "virulent pink".

 

Saturnine then also describes his armour as being pink.

 

Buuu-uuut I noticed that the book's cover has him in his pre-Heresy armour, again. Is that as it is in the text, or is it just artistic license?

Edited November 4 by LSM

[DarkChaplain]

I only just started this one, but it appears that this is set right after Slaves to Darkness. I'm not sure whether The Soul, Severed is set before that or after.

It's been too long since I listened to it, but I mentally filed it as right before Eidolon goes to Terra?

 

That being said, the cover art is clearly matching the official paintjob of the ForgeWorld model, rather than the lore.

Edited November 5 by DarkChaplain

[Roomsky]

9 hours ago, LSM said:

This is perhaps a weird request, but for those who have read it: how is Eidolon's armour described?

 

It's described as "ruined and corroded," but its colour is not given attention in his introductory scene (it may be off-handedly described in a later scene, though.) I'd say the cover art does not depict ruin or corrosion, so we can probably assume it's artistic license.

 

1 hour ago, DarkChaplain said:

I'm not sure whether The Soul, Severed is set before that or after.

It's been too long since I listened to it, but I mentally filed it as right before Eidolon goes to Terra?

 

It is set after. The Soul, Severed ends with Eidolon noting they're headed for Terra, but the muster at Ullanor hasn't happened yet.