The Magos: Eisenhorn: Warhammer 40,000 Book 4

Excellent book. I am not really a follower of the Warhammer Universe. I was introduced to it through the Ciaphus Caine series, which is another Warhammer series very much worth checking out. I tried to follow the Horus Heresy (very long) series for a while but lost interest. However, because of these two I did happen accross the Inquisitor Trilogy(s) by Abnett . . . I am a big Sci Fi/Fantasy fan. I'm the guy who ends up rambling on about how "you have to read Zelazny" at parties . . . I was very pleasantly shocked by Abnett's skills as a write. I'd pace him up there with Glen Cook as far as gritty realisitic fiction goes. Unfortunetly, due to Warhammer's appaeant inability to publish physical novels in any quantity on some of their series, and my refusal to go kindel (books should be books, you should be able to flip through the pages and spend time and money building shelves to display them on . . .) I have not read Pariah yet. I was very excited to see this available to pre-order hardcopy and read it over the next two days after getting it. It does not dissapoint. After reading it I decided I might even break down and order the digital copy of Pariah (maybe). My only complaint is I think 3 of the short stories included were already in the two trilogy omnibuses of this series. I understand it's an editor decision to have "all the short stories here." However, considering most people interested in this series have already read the Omnibuses and therefore read those short stories . . . but overall the package of stories is quite worth it. If you miss Eisenhorn then you won't be disappointed here. If you are unfamiliar with Eisenhorn then you should read the trilogies and then get this one.

Warning before you decide to read this: It is best to also read the Ravenor Trilogy before this as events in that are referenced here. With that said, as a fan of the Eisenhorn series, this was a great conclusion and a great lead in to the Bequin Trilogy currently going on right now. I recommend this book and the great short stories collected inside. Check it out.

This is arguably Dan Abnett's best book for the Black Library. It is utterly unlike anything else he has written and for those who prefer Eisenhorn to Ravenor, it is a must have. It's comprised of multiple short stories, a novella, and ends with the new novel Magos which is excellent. It is filled with older beloved characters and introduces new characters that quickly become favorites. Slight Spoiler Alert: if you have read the original Eisenhorn Trilogy, you will know that he consider himself a "low delta" on the psyker scale yet he always seems to beat superior opponents like Pontious Glaw and Qxious. This book explains the very WHY of the that and it is not even knowledge Eisenhorn knows himself. Or about himself. He is not just "hyper-lucky". Also, the novel Magos at the end is a direct PREQUEL to Pariah. THAT is a must read. Look at the cover. It says, "The Magos", but underneath it says, "The Definitive Casebook of Gregor Eisenhorn" and that is what this book really is. It's his entire career spanning his birth on Dekere's World around 201.M40 up to just before the events of Pariah around 825.M40. If you are going to start rereading your 40K library, start by ordering this one. You'll love it.

I've read both the Eisenhorn and Ravenor series multiple times (and a lot of Dan Abnett's other Warhammer 40K novels), so I was excited to see this book was being published. I had already read some of the short stories included in this book so I was tempted to skip over them, but I didn't. I recommend you read them, thoroughly, before reading the actual novel. They will make it much more enjoyable. The short stories were all decent, as could be expected. They serve their purpose. However, the novel itself, The Magos, is excellent. I don't think it is as good as the original trilogy (but, maybe nostalgia has just made me partial to them), but it is a good book. The plot, while grand, lacks the size of the original novels. I still enjoyed it though, and I especially enjoyed the tie-ins with the short stories (hence, why you should read them). I read this entire book in one sitting without much trouble, in that it was good enough to keep me enraptured for so long. I would recommend it to any Warhammer 40K fan. You'll be more likely to enjoy this book if you're already very familiar with the Eisenhorn novels.

I've enjoyed the Eisenhorn series since the first book and found The Magos to be such a fitting conclusion. I particurly enjoyed the short stories that precede the actual novel and they pay off in turn in the novel. The supporting characters felt much more dimensional than in many stories, and I particularly enjoyed how the stakes felt for each of them.

The Magos connects Abnett's Eisenhorn short stories together with a few of his other 40k shorts, and adds a whole new novella into the process. I can't assess the old short stories properly -- I grew up with them and don't have the distance. But the new novella works VERY well.Structurally, the Magos provides connective tissue between Abnett's Ravenor and Pariah trilogies, providing additional details on the metaphysics behind the creation-language Enuncia and the investigative leads Eisenhorn follows in Pariah. But it's also a nice piece of writing in its own right. Abnett mixes in folklore concepts of fairy tales with extraplanar dimensions in a way that unites both under the cosmology of 40k. Characters both lead and trivial are written in a charming, compelling fashion, and Abnett plays with language in a fashion most surprising for a licensed tie-in novel.It's pretty dang good.

This book is a huge book of awesome. Eisenhorn is my favorite 40k character and it's been a while since I've read an Eisenhorn novel. This collection of short stories and novel at the end is awesome. You have to be a bit patient as you work through the short stories, but they all come together at the end in great fashion.I am rarely disappointed with Abnett and his writing. He catches the mood and character of Eisenhorn and all of his contemporaries perfectly. Finishing this made me want to reread the Eisenhorn and Ravenor omnibuses.

The original Eisenhorn trilogy is great, especially Malleus. Cracking books which I will re-read for years to come. I didn't enjoy the Ravnor series as much but at least the 'bad guys' Ravenor faced brought a smile to my face.The Magos is really disappointing by comparison. The plot fails to ramp up convincingly. Eisenhorn's companions are also far too mundane considering where his character went already in the series. The eponymous magos seems a nice enough guy... and that's all I can really say for him.A couple of the short stories in here are good. The pick for me being 'The Strange Demise of Titus Endor'; it's basically the King in Yellow but with Inquisitors. It was a fun read! Others actually ended up souring events mentioned in the omnibuses. I prefered it when I didn't know what occurred in 'Thorn wishes Talon' for instance, and it was up to me to imagine the event.

Well I’m not sure what I was expecting really. First off Dans writing style has changed, I’ve bee. Reading his books since First and Only, and this book along with WarMaster is different. It is hard to put my finger exactly why, if I had to say I wold say that his writing seems even more confident than before. There is almost more story.... more action. He gets to the point quicker. Please understand that this is not a criticism of his previous work at all, just an understanding. Things change, and this obviously applies to Dan. On the book itself, one thing I didn’t really get which I should have seeing as I read the foreword and it is clearly stated there, that half the book is a collection of short stories leading up to Magos in chronological order. I especially enjoyed the short story relating to Titus Endor.

if you're like me then you've read the eisenhorn and ravenor omnibuses which then means you've already read almost half this "novel"unfortunately the new novella is almost less than 50 percent of the book. the rest taken up by short stories many as already mentioned being in the omnibuses.It is a good novella though i was expecting more from the ending.Maybe half price it due to the size of the new story.

Excellent novel. Part detective story, part gothic horror novel with a smattering of sci-fi/fantasy. The best of the Eisenhorn tales yet. If you have read the Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogy some of the short stories which fill the first part of the book may be familiar to you. But read them again anyway they all link into the main story; The Magos.

At first I was bothered that this was basically a set of short stories that had been put together to form this but BUT the way Dan Abnett ties them together is gripping and leaves you wanting more.