Post by Manius on May 2, 2008 10:15:23 GMT
Part of a trilogy of books written by Dan Abnett (bless Mr Tolkien for the invention of the fantasy trilogy – oh, ok bless the publishers of LoTR then), the first book “Xenos”, as its title suggests, deals (eventually) with a xenos (or alien) race and Eisenhorn’s experiences up to the final meetings with the mysterious xenos themselves.
As to be expected from a book about an Inquisitor there is a heady mix of intrigue and treachery to add into the normal mix and our old friend “Chaos” rears its ugly head as would be expected from nearly any 40k book in circulation.
It’s clear from the writers own prologue and the style of writing that Mr Abnett has taken a vastly different route with the Eisenhorn books. Focusing more on the normal procedures and “day to day” aspects of what it may be like to be an Inquisitor. In all honesty, I did find some periods of the book a little more, hard going than I’m used to from this writer. Writing about normal things tends to leave you feeling as if you are missing out on something when you read the results and that is exactly what certain passages leave you with….a feeling that you’re just starting to get a bit bored with it all.
Still, those readers able to get through these passages (that tend not to last beyond 4 pages) are rewarded well. Eisenhorn himself is a well conceived character and whilst the secondary characters in his retinue are far well less developed (a problem all writers face when writing in the “first person”), you are firmly invested in what Eisenhorn is doing and where he’s going. There are plenty of minor twists in the main plot and, certainly, the Xenos themselves are perhaps the most imaginative I have read about so far in any 40k based book. Whilst I have knocked some of the longer descriptive passages they still give you a very vivid picture of what the writer is trying to envisage, and at times this was strongly at odds to the 40k universe as “I” envisaged it. This, you may find disconcerting as I did, but putting the reader off balance in this way is often a good idea.
Unfortunately, whilst the main plot of Xenos is on paper very good, it still lacks true mystery. It’s fair to say that I was only just halfway through the book when I realised what the final outcome would be, in broad terms, and that was a little disappointing. Granted there were details I had not envisaged but not only does the title give much away (Hello! Return of the King!!), but the are certain plot “hints” that are lathered on as thick as Royal Icing on a Chav’s wedding cake.
At the end of the story I still felt “satisfied” but not as emotionally caught up or tired as I do when I read the Tanith range of books written by Dan.
I am reading this as part of the Trilogy in the compilation book entitled “Eisenhorn” and there is ONE major redeeming factor – linking stories.
I have yet to read the next book in the series (Malleus…I must look that word up and find out from that what’s going to happen) but read the short linking story between Xenos and Malleus.
Whilst this story does little to actually “link” the two stories together that I can see (being more a story of a minor incident between the two main stories chronologically), it was exceptionally written and showed and emotional investment by the writer far beyond any that I have read by Dan Abnett on previous occasions. I will not be giving anything away here if I can help it but the story was clearly inspired by certain more current (and real) events and what there longer term effects may be. Purely from a personal level I felt the story profoundly.
As to be expected from a book about an Inquisitor there is a heady mix of intrigue and treachery to add into the normal mix and our old friend “Chaos” rears its ugly head as would be expected from nearly any 40k book in circulation.
It’s clear from the writers own prologue and the style of writing that Mr Abnett has taken a vastly different route with the Eisenhorn books. Focusing more on the normal procedures and “day to day” aspects of what it may be like to be an Inquisitor. In all honesty, I did find some periods of the book a little more, hard going than I’m used to from this writer. Writing about normal things tends to leave you feeling as if you are missing out on something when you read the results and that is exactly what certain passages leave you with….a feeling that you’re just starting to get a bit bored with it all.
Still, those readers able to get through these passages (that tend not to last beyond 4 pages) are rewarded well. Eisenhorn himself is a well conceived character and whilst the secondary characters in his retinue are far well less developed (a problem all writers face when writing in the “first person”), you are firmly invested in what Eisenhorn is doing and where he’s going. There are plenty of minor twists in the main plot and, certainly, the Xenos themselves are perhaps the most imaginative I have read about so far in any 40k based book. Whilst I have knocked some of the longer descriptive passages they still give you a very vivid picture of what the writer is trying to envisage, and at times this was strongly at odds to the 40k universe as “I” envisaged it. This, you may find disconcerting as I did, but putting the reader off balance in this way is often a good idea.
Unfortunately, whilst the main plot of Xenos is on paper very good, it still lacks true mystery. It’s fair to say that I was only just halfway through the book when I realised what the final outcome would be, in broad terms, and that was a little disappointing. Granted there were details I had not envisaged but not only does the title give much away (Hello! Return of the King!!), but the are certain plot “hints” that are lathered on as thick as Royal Icing on a Chav’s wedding cake.
At the end of the story I still felt “satisfied” but not as emotionally caught up or tired as I do when I read the Tanith range of books written by Dan.
I am reading this as part of the Trilogy in the compilation book entitled “Eisenhorn” and there is ONE major redeeming factor – linking stories.
I have yet to read the next book in the series (Malleus…I must look that word up and find out from that what’s going to happen) but read the short linking story between Xenos and Malleus.
Whilst this story does little to actually “link” the two stories together that I can see (being more a story of a minor incident between the two main stories chronologically), it was exceptionally written and showed and emotional investment by the writer far beyond any that I have read by Dan Abnett on previous occasions. I will not be giving anything away here if I can help it but the story was clearly inspired by certain more current (and real) events and what there longer term effects may be. Purely from a personal level I felt the story profoundly.
