Reviews

The Flight of the Eisenstein by James Swallow

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wiroju's review against another edition

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adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

shmark's review against another edition

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5.0

Another great entry to the Horus Heresy series.

If you're a fan of 40k (and doubly so if you're a loyal servant of the emperor), you should give this series a try.

mjryan007's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes

4.75

shookone's review against another edition

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2.0

I had really high hopes for this one. The concept sounded cool to me, and I was genuinely curious to see what ship to ship warfare looks like in the Warhammer setting. This just didn’t deliver though. The first third or so of the book is only barely relevant to the rest of the plot. The second third is just rehashing material from the previous three books in the series. The last third of the book is when the plot finally gets started, and to be fair things get better at that point. The book especially shines during an absolutely unhinged cosmic horror freak out section, and during the one moment in the story where you see these big giant capital ships playing cat and mouse with each other. If the whole book was like those two segments this would be an easy five stars. As it is, both of these segments are fairly brief, and they stand out so much partially because they’re so unlike anything else in the story. Very much my shit but there just isn’t enough of it to keep me happy.

st_ruben's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The first half of this book takes place during the third book (Galaxy in Flames) and follows my favourite legion; the Death Guard after the treachery of the Warmaster has been revealed *dun dun dun*.

It's quite similar in scope and story to the previous books, but because it relies quite heavily on characters/settings/scenes from the previous books while primarily feautiring new characters that don't get the room to evolve and grow as much as characters in the trilogy before had.

This is ofcourse not a big problem as the setting of the story is well established up to this point and this book really fills in some perspective of the events on Isstvan III and what happened to the Eistenstein afterwards. If you're invested up to this point than this book does share some key moments and events that help fill some gaps that are there when "The Siege of Terra'' book series starts.

neartaking's review against another edition

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adventurous dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.5

aoc's review against another edition

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3.0

In conclusion of my review of the previous installment of Horus Heresy I raised the question of needing an entirely new cast for the next one given what transpires, and I was only somewhat correct. Enter the Flight of the Eisenstein.

What we have here is essentially Galaxy in Flames told from a new, parallel perspective we only witnessed brief bits of in that one. Half-way through, at least. Where previously there were Luna Wolves, Sons of Horus and Emperor's Children we now step into the shoes of Death Guard legion as narrative surrounding Horus' betrayal and Isstvan 3 massacre continues to unfold. This time we don't take the boots-on-the ground approach very much to Nathaniel Garro's dismay as he becomes our protagonist of the new legion earlier held somewhat aloof. Provided you've read the three novels up to this point you know what the deal is - getting to know legion culture from the inside, cast of Astartes and support cover familiar archetypes and insidious problems festering that would only escalate as, unfortunately, Death Guard would also turn traitor. That's only half of the story as it then breaks to, well, the title itself and it falls on Eisenstein and its crew to navigate through dangers of the Warp for a miniscule chance they can get the message of the Warmaster's treachery back to Terra and warn everyone of the danger that's in the making.

What's my biggest issue with the Flight of the Eisenstein? If there was foreshadowing in earlier novels, and there was aplenty, it enters blatant territory here. While I was glad to see the Death Guard expanded on I wish there was less obvious leaning to what their fate would become. Particularly their future affiliation with a certain disease-loving entity. There's precisely one too many instance of Astartes turning into a malignant monstrosity when it should've been reserved for the final showdown only. Depending on the perspective this could be seen as fan service, though.