Eisenhorn: The Omnibus (Warhammer 40,000)

This compilation was the 'last chance' read for dan abnett in my book, after what I considered contrived or overt insertion of coincidences to introduce plot items or devices/resolutions in First and Only and Fell Cargo. I particularly felt first and only was entirely too contrived in the introduction of elements of gaunt's background, each as needed for the plot. Maybe he was limited in space or had strict outlines there, but in any event.... this series had none of those flaws. First-person narrative read well, and usually quickly, with no sense of contrived coincidences just to move the plot along, and few if any of the cliche plot turns that I disliked in the books i mentioned above. Furthermore, Abnett shows his tremendous ability to describe enviroments, worlds, cities, through language. When he describes a Hive-city, a small village, a trans-alpine railway, you feel like you are seeing it. Another great strength of this story, particularly Hereticus, is the development of his ability to write very competent antagonists. A major defect in much sci-fi, BL and not, is the use of cardboard-cutout antagonists, who leave you wondering how they ever rose to their position in the first place. The major antagonist in this trilogy, Pontius Glaw, shows early signs of the extreme competence without omnipotence that some villains from his later Ravenor series show. Edit - 4th re-read, 08.2008 - Having read everything else by Abnett, and gained a lot of familiarity with W40k in general, I would like to offer that this is a great trilogy. One thing that caught my eye this time was an aspect of Ravenor that was apparently dropped in the Ravenor novels - His Lord Seer eldar that he referred to in the last part of this trilogy. The implication was that Ravenor was subservient or at the very least allied with the Eldar, something Abnett seems to have just dropped in the follow-up series.

Edit: WHAT? STILL NO HARDCOVER EDITION? HERESY! I have returned again and again to this author, but sadly nothing has quite matched the scope and force of his tour de force, the Eisenhorn saga. An epic you will remember. The characters and their fates and relationships will stay with you like few do. Years later I still remember key events vividly, and this marks the THIRD time I have frickin bought these particular stories, after twice having erroneously decided that saving weight and discarding non-essential personal belongings prior to making military moves around the world were more important than a good read. That said, there are some gripes. - Lack of occasional polish. Some endings feel rushed. - Some fight scenes are a bit silly, at least to the ex-mercenary, deepsea diver military man that I am. - He tried a little too hard to be hip, steampunk-ish and street-creddy in the scene where two of the main protagonists hit the slums. - Though he generally does a good job of keeping the fantastically impossible to a minimum, there are exceptions, where you just kind of groan and wish he'd just pay attention to the laws of physics and facts of old age a bit more. Heroes can be heroes, and a certain amount of suspension of disbelief is necessary, but sometimes he goes too far. - Hanging on to gravity-defying deadly raptor-like dinosaurs anyone? - Leaping from crashing speeder-bikes that are described as waaaay too fast to really allow such a thing? - The occasional unexpected introduction of a new central character that by all rights should at least have been mentioned before? Otoh, you will remember some little inventions of Mr. Abnett long after you've finished reading the stories. The coded language, the long and superbly drawn-out battle of wills between one man and one daemon. The self-sacrifice and the pride. The rise of man and the fall of man. A timeless classic that deserves the full treatment of the people who did the CGI Final Fantasy feature movie. Or the Peter Jackson treatment. Or a full set of Computer Game adaptations. Bravo, Mr. Abnett. Bravo. Your courage in letting this body of work stand, without resurrecting the main character, is admirable. And rest assured, though you may lose the rights to that character, no-one will ever equal what you created.

If you love epic science fiction, mind blowing environments, catastrophic battles, sinister characters, and you can overlook a few flaws, you'll love this book. Story: This omnibus features a trilogy of novels and two short stories chronicling the life of Imperial Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn. An Inquisitor is an agent who carries out the Emperor's will and combs the galaxy in search of heretics who have been touched by the forces of Chaos. When heretics are found, they are forced to confess through nine steps of unpleasant 'interrogation.' An Inquisitor follows a strict moral code, and must be very careful not to be corrupted by the forces that he is exterminating or he himself may be hunted down and interrogated... most unpleasantly. World: The Warhammer 40K universe is amazing. It is designed around an empire in a tumultuous existence fighting everlasting wars for thousands of years. The galaxy is war torn and just about every object in the world has been built to kill or withstand bullets, lasers, and blasts. The people are hardened, heroic, and loyal to their emperor. Just do a Google image search for "Warhammer 40k" and you'll see what I'm talking about. These books do an outstanding job at describing the landscapes, the vehicles, the weapons, the armor, the aliens, the demons... It will push your imagination to its limit. Characters: The characters are a mixed bag. Gregor Eisenhorn is well written and you understand his emotions and feel for him as he makes very difficult decisions. The rest of his allies are somewhat expendable. Many die off screen in a few words. "Fred was vaporized." Or "Fred died." Then Fred is suddenly replaced by Dave. Because of this, it is difficult to get attached to Gregor's crew. The villains in this series are excellent. They are dark, malicious, deceiving, and usually have some pretty scary physical characteristics. One antagonist is another Inquisitor who had his bottom jaw destroyed and replaced by a steel one. At first I thought, "bear trap." Then I imagined it as real as possible, an uncanny valley of steel complete with a chin and bottom row of teeth, with squealing metallic sounds whenever his mouth moved. It's really fun to imagine the villains. Writing Style: Dan Abnett's writing style is a mixed bag. He does some things great: The Environments, the Battles, the Characters' Personalities, and the Villains. But there were a few things that really bothered me: 1) Sentences are not written in chronological order. Example: "This is Medea Betancore," I said, once his strong metallic grip released my hand. If you are trying to visualize this scene, you hear a voice say the line... then realize it was Eisenhorn... then realize that he shook hands... with a cyborg... Sentence structure like this will throw you off if you enjoy "watching movies in your head" as you read fantasy. It is a minor detail, but as these creep up, you'll find yourself re-reading sentences and paragraphs over to get a better idea of what happened. 2 Pacing At times, the book goes into great detail about where the crew went, but glosses over important details with just a few words. "We spent 2 months on X moon, then a year on Y planet, then traveled to a distant star for 3 months. And Fred was vaporized. And then we visited Inquisitor Z in a space station..." Wait a second... Fred died?! He was my favorite character and that's all we get? Why was Fred's death buried in a massive section of Warhammer codexes? Fred deserved an on-screen heroic death! Sigh... I'm gonna miss Fred. 3 Momentum The books typically start out with a main goal, but the characters end up on a lot of side quests that almost feel like 20-50 page tangents. Then it's a big rush at the end to tell what happened. This book would have been much better if the important events were given more "screen time" and the story was paced more evenly. These things won't bother most of the Warhammer 40K fans, though. Action: The action in this book is pretty damn awesome and has some of the most epic battles ever written. There are wars, skirmishes, demons, psykers, battle titans, space battles, robots, lasers, metal slugs, aliens... Warhammer fans will be happy to read these. They are "crazy-over-the-top-super-epic!" Maturity: Older Teens - Adults This book features violence, gore, torture, swearing, demonic possession, aliens, and mass destruction. So... umm... it's not for kids. Overall: I understand why Warhammer 40k fans love this book. Dan Abnett got all of the important stuff right. There are great battles, a deep story, great villains, and fantastic descriptions of environments. It definitely puts you in the heat of battle! This book also contains some unforgettable scenes of carnage! However, the books do have some flaws with the things that don't matter as much. If you're just in it for the Warhammer 40K Greatness, you will give this 5 stars. If you want to enjoy this as a book or focus on the writing style, then some of the little flaws will bother you. Read this book if you love the Warhammer 40K environment. Read this book if you want to push your sci-fi imagination. Read this book if you love BATTLES!!! Read this book if you love dark characters and dark stories. Avoid this book, if the writing quirks that I mentioned are deal breakers. Avoid this book, if you like happy stories.

Some of the best WH40K stories I have ever read.

This book was my first foray into the Warhammer 40k Universe and I am now worried I have may have spoiled myself! This book was incredibly good. Fascinating, fast paced, and with great characters development. I have rarely read a book this fast. Let alone 4 in 1. If I HAD to give a fair criticism, it would be that the endings of most of the books felt rather abrupt. Three of them could have used with more falling action, but at least the last book, The Magos, fortunately closed in a satisfying manner. HIGHLY recommended!

Great series, all of it well worth the read

If you're a fan of Warhammer books or Dan Abnett, Eisenhorn can't be beat. And, if you're not a fan of Dan Abnett, I can only assume you haven't read his books. This is one of his best, along with both the popular Gaunt's Ghosts series and Ravenor, which is a spin-off series from Eisenhorn. Following the life of Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn, the books have a detective novel feel to them, which is effectively conveyed through the first person narrative. When coupled with Abnett's marvelous skill at bringing to life the stunning 40k universe, this is a must read. Oh yeah, and there's also the fighting, which is very tastefully done in Eisenhorn, and almost always patently believable. Abnett does a masteful job of sketching out Eisenhorn and his close circle of associates, and throughout the series you can't help but feel empathy for them. As for the Omnibus version, which is being reviewed, I would recommend it for the two short stories that readers of the individual books missed out on. The more Eisenhorn, the better. If you're absolutely new to Warhammer, there are probably better introductory texts out there. Then again, none of the other Warhammer authors write as skillfully as Abnett, so I would be loathe to recommend anyone else. Therefore, it would be smart to read the Gaunt's Ghosts novels or this first. Only read Ravenor after Eisenhorn, for the sake of continuity.

A must read. I was hooked from start to finish and a good intro to the universe. Eisenhorns journey you wont forget it.

An excellent first step for anyone who is looking as to how to enter the vast 40k universe. Thank you angryjoe show for the recommendation

güzel

I loved reading every second of this. I'm just a mom who would normally turn my nose at something Warhammer, but was convinced to try and enjoy the complex and rich lore by a family member. I couldn't put the Eisenhorn omnibus down, cover to cover I read the entire thing in less than a week, and then read it again. This and Space Wolves were fantastic gateways into the Warhammer universe. I've since bought several more Warhammer book series and am devouring them. This particular work was excellent and Abnett is a great writer, he avoided the sloppy, lazy, low vocabulary writing I've seen littering most modern "literature". The pace is excellent, the surprises and character developments were great, the story arcs were well done. I really really loved this series and look forward to the Ravenor books.

Eisenhorn: The Omnibus is an outstanding read for anyone who enjoys Warhammer 40,000 lore or gripping science fiction in general. The stories are rich and immersive, with Gregor Eisenhorn as a central character who feels complex, intelligent, and morally compelling. The blend of detective-style mystery with the dark, expansive Warhammer setting keeps you hooked from start to finish. I was particularly impressed by the depth of the world-building. The various factions, technologies, and political intrigues feel detailed and believable, and the author does a great job of balancing action with character development. Each book in the omnibus flows seamlessly into the next, making it easy to binge-read while still appreciating the nuances of the story. Overall, this is one of the best Warhammer novels I have read. The writing is engaging, the plot is well-paced, and it brings the universe to life in a way that both long-time fans and newcomers can enjoy. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a captivating and intelligent sci-fi experience.

El libro lo adquiri para regalo y llegó a tiempo y la persona que se lo regalé, le encantó