Flight of the Eisenstein (The Horus Heresy)

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If you are a fan of the universe or the series, however, read on, because this book fulfils a key part of the story of the Horus heresy. It explains how the Emperor comes to know of the treason of his son, the Warmaster Horus, who has murdered the loyal soldiers under his command. Horus, and several of his Primarch brothers, have made a pact with the powers of Chaos, and they seek to overthrow the Emperor and replace his secular (if brutal) rule with one of their own. The Flight of the Eisenstein is book four in the Horus Heresy series and it’s a dark, atmospheric and brooding tale. The story follows on directly from the horrors of the massacre at Istavaan III, where loyalist legions are slaughtered by those whom follow Horus. This is written from a different perspective this time; that being from Battle Captain Nathaniel Garro of the 7th Company from the Death Guard. He is a doer, stoic, unbending and unyielding. Flight of the Eisenstein is the fourth novel in one of the biggest events in Warhammer History; The Horus Heresy. Well, it's the fourth novel if you're following the recommended reading list on Goodreads. Really, I know and understand that there are a dozen different ways in which this event could be read. There was one scene with a bunch of warriors awaiting a battle and I had just thought to note down that rank seemed less important to this crew, when suddenly the book said it for me: "There were no barriers of rank or Legion here." Our new hero of the Empire, Garro reminded me of the early Horus in some ways. Not a vengeful overlord so much as an intelligent leader. He really was a pleasure to meet and he confronted many wrongs in this story.

Once Garro had learned of the betrayal, Captain Grulgor and his small detachment of Traitor Marines attempted to kill the battle-captain and his detachment of Astartes from the 7th Great Company aboard the vessel. Grulgor and his fellow Traitors failed, largely due to the heroic sacrifice of Garro's Legion serf and equerry, Kaleb Arin. I have still yet to find a Space Marine Legion I can really class as my favourite, but the Death Guard certainly left a good impression upon me, particularly where Garro was concerned, as he was an engaging character. We also learn more about the Imperial Fists in Book 4, but I still really want to meet more of the Legions, which will be encountered in later novels. Brought before Malcador the Sigillite Garro, Iacton Qruze and a Sister of Silence commander are given a speech implying that they become the first of the Inquisition. The trial of the story begins with an opening engagement (seems to be the norm with early HH novels) against the Jargall, a race of bio-mechanical nobodies if I’m honest. Brilliantly written and very engaging, I really enjoyed the inter-play between Garro and his command squad – not to mention the Sisters of Silence. Essentially the opening helps establish who is who and who is loyal and whom is not. I rather enjoyed the opening ballard between Garro and Grulgor – who delights in putting down old-straight-arrow-Garro whenever he can. Garro stands for the original old Death Guard known as The Dusk Raiders whom were later renamed Death Guard once their Primarch Mortarion was found by the Emperor. Basically, it’s Terran born versus those from Barbacus, the Death Guard homeworld. Upon learning that Garro was unwilling to join the warrior lodge within the Death Guard, Mortarion decided to take Garro to the meeting with Horus at the initiation of the Isstvan Campaign as his equerry, in an attempt to ensure Garro's loyalty to what the soon-to-be- Traitor Legions were about to do in that benighted star system.

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Can Garro and his men survive the depredations of Chaos and get his warning to the Emperor before Horus’s plans reach fruition?

That said, there are parts of this novel where the conflicts seem to get solved a little too easily. Normally I would complain about it, except that later on these easy wins make the battle with Nurgle's folk seem like that much more of a battle, harder, vicious, you get the picture. It helps to illustrate just how touch the corrupt space marines will become as they continue down their path of corruption. However, Swallow does an excellent job of introducing us to the new characters; a talent that I both love and despise, because I'm a giant softy and I hate it when well liked characters die. Which is something they frequently do in WH40K stories. Anyway, I would say that I had grown very fond of The Sons of Horus and The Emperor's Children, but without a doubt by the end of 'The Flight' I had become very much attached to The Death Guard also. I'd been warned that the Horus Heresy series got worse as it went on, and after reading FOTE I suspect it may be true. So he was instead posted along with his Command Squad and 70 Astartes of his great company to the Death Guard frigate Eisenstein alongside Captain Ignatius Grulgor of the Death Guard's 2nd Great Company. Gulgor was a member of the Death Guard warrior lodge and of the circle of Death Guard officers eager and willing to follow Mortarion into rebellion alongside Horus against the Emperor.

Having witnessed the terrible massacre of Imperial forces on Isstvan III, Death Guard Captain Garro seizes a ship and sets a course for Terra to warn the Emperor of Horus's treachery. But when the fleeing Eisenstein is damaged by enemy fire, it becomes stranded in the warp — the realm of the Dark Powers. Can Garro and his men survive the depredations of Chaos and get his warning to the Emperor before Horus's plans reach fruition? There is no mention of any Loyalists being killed. Captain Varren says that he has 15 warriors of the World Eaters at his command, Captain Garro says 12, an unnamed character says 10 from the Luna Wolves, and another unnamed character says 20 from the Thousand Sons. Tarvitz says that there are 9 Emperor's Children beyond himself. In total, this represented 70 Space Marines. They agree that Varren will take the frigate Eisenstein because it is able to Warp jump, and Tarvitz mentions that it was falling behind because of mechanical problems. The others would slow their own ships and then take control of them. Four of these vessels would then defend the Eisenstein and clear a path for it to flee into the Warp. The World Eaters under Varren would then take the message of Horus' betrayal to the Emperor.

Garro was a stead fast character, and I really took a liking to him pretty immediately, and I really enjoyed his group of battle-brothers. Rahl, Sendrek, etc. even his housecarl was downright awesome in all of his scenes! The escape from the Istvaan system was awesome, and the journey through the warp and battle with Grulgor's men/Nurglings was fun as hell.In fact, I think this book is one of his better works. The characters are interesting, you can see their inner conflict and the choices they are faced to make, and each person handles the events around them by being true to their character. It's helps to make the story more interesting when you see how the Terran born are viewed among those in the legion who came after their primarch was discovered. This isn't really touched on in the previous works, but here it plays a major role and works well in the story. It almost read like a palette cleanser, where everything that Garro and his men faced was solely the Chaos from the warp. As opposed to the threats brought about by those they considered to be kin. You can see why one would leave readers feeling more emotionally raw than the other.