Book Review: The Flight of the Eisenstein

Written by Fab on December 27, 2011

4/5 Stars: Really liked it

The Flight of the Eisenstein centres around Death Guard Captain Nathaniel Garro, how he came to avoid the massacre of Isstvan III and seized the Imperial frigate Eisenstein in an attempt to flee to Terra and bring news of Horus' treachery to the Emperor. It also features the appearance of Ignacius Grulgor and the first Plague Marines, a foreshadowing of what is to come for the Death Guard legion.

Battle-Captain Nathaniel Garro

All in all, the book is well written an executed. This owes a lot to the character of Garro who is the embodiment of a loyalist Space Marine but also, in sharp contrast to Garviel Loken from the earlier books, starts to embrace religion and the Lectitio Divinitatus which makes for a very interesting personal component to this book.

The pace of the story is generally relatively slow but tightens up considerably around the great battle scenes with the Death Guard soldiers that have turned into Plague Marines. As you would expect from any story where Nurgle is involved that heavily, the descriptions are quite graphic and disgusting and nothing for the too faint of heart. Having said that, I don't much expect any squirmish readers to read Space Marine novels, though. The story reminded me a lot of The Empire Strikes Back in places, especially the very last scene which echoes the last scene in that movie somewhat. This is, of course, a good thing.

I must say I really enjoy the doubling-back on events which we have witnessed before as it is employed in this story to shed more light on the period surrounding Horus' initial betrayal and I like the pace that the series is setting in general. I like that they aren't burning up their material and give the galaxy-changing events that are unfolding before us as much time as they deserve, almost in a historical treatise kind of way — except in the form of enthralling novels. The book is a worthy entry in the Horus Heresy saga and I can't wait for the next installment.