Post by Lex on Feb 22, 2007 12:02:00 GMT -5
What follows is a review and plot overveiw of the Eisenhorn trilogy published by the Black Library.
***
Hmmm... those who saw me come will know I am obsessed with warhammer 40k fic, and this book was the reason behind it.
It is the most accesible book I have ever read, written in first person, and with the most interesting personality development I have ever read. I can offer you the first chapter for free, if you wish to read it, as the publisher shows it on thier site.
The main character, Eisenhorn, is the msot detailed man I have ever encountered. He is an inquisitor, a purger of aliens in the galaxy of the 41st millenium, and so a man of unlimited power. The major personality change reflects around his opinion to his work.
You see, the inquisition is divided into six ordos; the main three are malleus, xenos and hereticus (demons, aliens and heretics respectively) and within these the inqusitors are stereotyped into two categories; radical and puritan.
Puritan inquisitors destroy their opponents, using the fist of the imperium as thier weapon!
Radicals however... use thier enemy against themselves. but using demons and heretics isn't... normal. If a man(or woman) iis found to have used the devices of chaos (heretics and demons) then they are hunted and burned at the stake.
Eisenhorn starts as a puritan. The first book (xenos) shows his work against with the ordo xenos, where he battles against the men associating themselves with aliens to acquire books from the maelstrom (a chaos realm, madness put into a form). He accomplishes his mission, defeating the men at the price of many imperial lives.
In the closing scene of the book, he encounters a demon trapped within a human form, a demon called cherubael. Eisenhorn has dreamt of the strange figure for a long time, and the creature insists it is fate feeding him hints.
The second book (malleus) shows Eisenhorn hunting a rogue inquisitor who has taken the term "radical" so far that he is creating evil in the real-verse to destroy evil. The idea is stupid, but the inquisitor is to far gone, and so he is declared a heretic and hunted.
Eisenhorn suffers the same fate. As news of his contact with Cherubael, so the ordo malleus hunts him. When news of the demon letting a man live because he had mistaken him for the Xenos inqusitor, the might of the Imperium comes roaring after him.
The third book generally follows the end of Gregor Eisenhorn's life. One (among many) of the major events is his clash with a huge behemoth which chaos has corrupted.
Eisenhorn is rendered useless agaisnt such power, and is forced to bring back his arch-enemy cherubael to destroy it. Cheurbael escapes, and once again Eisenhorn is hereticus, though this time also crowned "diabolus" (read the book, it explains it well).
The change from destroying chaos to slowly utilising it is what makes Eisenhorn such a great character. He gradually changes, so slowly in fact that the transformation spans one hundred and fifty years!(The books have a few .... time jumps).
Well worth a read, even for none 40k fans.
I'll get up a link to chapter one if anyone is interested in having a look in.
***
Hmmm... those who saw me come will know I am obsessed with warhammer 40k fic, and this book was the reason behind it.
It is the most accesible book I have ever read, written in first person, and with the most interesting personality development I have ever read. I can offer you the first chapter for free, if you wish to read it, as the publisher shows it on thier site.
The main character, Eisenhorn, is the msot detailed man I have ever encountered. He is an inquisitor, a purger of aliens in the galaxy of the 41st millenium, and so a man of unlimited power. The major personality change reflects around his opinion to his work.
You see, the inquisition is divided into six ordos; the main three are malleus, xenos and hereticus (demons, aliens and heretics respectively) and within these the inqusitors are stereotyped into two categories; radical and puritan.
Puritan inquisitors destroy their opponents, using the fist of the imperium as thier weapon!
Radicals however... use thier enemy against themselves. but using demons and heretics isn't... normal. If a man(or woman) iis found to have used the devices of chaos (heretics and demons) then they are hunted and burned at the stake.
Eisenhorn starts as a puritan. The first book (xenos) shows his work against with the ordo xenos, where he battles against the men associating themselves with aliens to acquire books from the maelstrom (a chaos realm, madness put into a form). He accomplishes his mission, defeating the men at the price of many imperial lives.
In the closing scene of the book, he encounters a demon trapped within a human form, a demon called cherubael. Eisenhorn has dreamt of the strange figure for a long time, and the creature insists it is fate feeding him hints.
The second book (malleus) shows Eisenhorn hunting a rogue inquisitor who has taken the term "radical" so far that he is creating evil in the real-verse to destroy evil. The idea is stupid, but the inquisitor is to far gone, and so he is declared a heretic and hunted.
Eisenhorn suffers the same fate. As news of his contact with Cherubael, so the ordo malleus hunts him. When news of the demon letting a man live because he had mistaken him for the Xenos inqusitor, the might of the Imperium comes roaring after him.
The third book generally follows the end of Gregor Eisenhorn's life. One (among many) of the major events is his clash with a huge behemoth which chaos has corrupted.
Eisenhorn is rendered useless agaisnt such power, and is forced to bring back his arch-enemy cherubael to destroy it. Cheurbael escapes, and once again Eisenhorn is hereticus, though this time also crowned "diabolus" (read the book, it explains it well).
The change from destroying chaos to slowly utilising it is what makes Eisenhorn such a great character. He gradually changes, so slowly in fact that the transformation spans one hundred and fifty years!(The books have a few .... time jumps).
Well worth a read, even for none 40k fans.
I'll get up a link to chapter one if anyone is interested in having a look in.
