Flight of the Eisenstein (The Horus Heresy)

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After the mediocrity of Galaxy In Flames, I am glad the 4th novel is carried to new heights by James Swallow. In addition to this, Nathaniel Garro is definitely the most Mary Sue marine I've come across outside of Matt Ward's territory, and to be honest he was a bit dull. In focusing largely on Garro, the narrative really fleshes out the shock to the system instigated by larger events. A decent enough entry in the Horus Heresy series, undermined by the inevitability of the premise's outcome and so-so dialogue, but boosted by some fantastic naval action.

Radnja ove knjige se preplice sa radnjom predhodne te mozemo videti iz jos jednog ugla Horusovu izdaju i zverstvo pocinjeno na Isstvanu III.Ordinarily the hero would be a cypher, ultimately doomed to die and serving little purpose except to drive the arc forward. Euphrati Keeler has the rest of her sharp edges shaved off so she can be a vehicle for a wider religious movement but I think it's fine, and it provides a link to Garro’s motivations and decision-marking. Keeler and the gang are back, but don't take centre stage, nonetheless they're used well as background characters - there to keep the plot moving but not stealing the limelight. As with any series, there are a few intriguing threads that will doubtlessly be picked up elsewhere but apart from that it's another tremendous effort in the line. You're not going to cover much of the same ground at all, so don't worry about a retelling, you will occasionally see a familiar face but this is an entirely new story.

Once our main cast are aboard the Eisenstein, however, the story takes off like a rocket and I read through it at such a rate that I was able to finish it within a few days. But much like a James Bond movie, the fun isn't so much if the good guys will win but instead how they will win. This book was no different, with a lot of overlap with Counter's book but standing alone in a way that didn't having me reach for it to refresh my memory.

It truly is the the opening quadrilogy with Flight of the Eisenstein closing the initial chapter of the Horus Heresy spectacularly that is essential and exquisite. It's well-written, well paced and has a cast of interesting and likeable characters that really make you care about them. Some of the character renditions weren't particularly great either, like the primearchs and the saint.

In a preliminary battle to take an outer facility held by the rebels the Death Guard and Emperor's Children encounter a Warsinger, one of the rebel leaders who can create sonic force and inspire their followers through their singing. It feels that each author is really trying to leave their own mark on the series which I think is keeping the quality a level above what I was expecting. Once we're all back on the titular Eisenstein and ready to go this book never looks back and never lets up. Much like the previous books, reading this in 2021 came with no small expectation on the readers part. This is an unfortunate event to build a book on, as the outcome is guaranteed: the forces of Chaos don't come out victorious.Treachery, intrigue and salvation all bottled up into a couple hundred pages of pacey action, reaction and revelation in the gothic sci-fi cosmos of Warhammer 40K. This is something that can be safely done with a few, very distinctive characters, but Space Marines are a rather uniform lot, and I found it hard to follow. That headline rating does actually mask a little nuance because a bit like False Gods (which I also gave five stars) this was slow to get going, the effort of catching up to where we left proceedings at Isstvan III while we examined the buildup to the betrayal from the perspective of the Death Guard a little hard going at points.