Book Review 218 // Eisenhorn #3: Hereticus by Dan Abnett

And now the end is near. The final Eisenhorn tale from the trilogy is to be read. Before anyone chirps me, I know there is a four-book full of the shorts and, of course, the spin-off novels, but this is it as far as the original Eisenhorns go.

Title: Hereticus (Eisenhorn #3)

Author: Dan Abnett

Blurb: Part three of the epic Eisenhorn trilogy returns Inquisitor Eisenhorn, and this time he’s on the edge of treachery. How far can he go before he crosses the line and becomes what he is sworn to hunt?

Eisenhorn seeks the truth behind a string of disappearances centred around a travelling carnival and a pictographer whose images are more than they seem. Inquisitor Eisenhorn has saved worlds and beaten bad guys galore, in short, he's a hero. But he's also done some dodgy things, and they're coming back to haunt him... His struggle to justify his actions (especially the daemon summoning) make this an incredibly compelling read and rounds off the trilogy perfectly.

Format: 416 pages, Paperback

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Review

Let's get something straight right away. The back cover story description needs to be corrected. It basically talks about the plot of the other books, not this one; someone must have really F'd up at Black Library. But let us move into the review properly.

Wow, knock-out way to end the series. It builds off the last two stories and then adds an emotional edge. There are many emotional parts which are rather painful to read as we see the Eisenhorn team ripped apart by warfare, intrigue and moral high-grounding. Unfortunately, I can't say too much without ruining the plot. The action is incredible throughout, with, in my opinion, some of the greatest scenes in the series. The ending felt rushed, though, which is a shame. This should have been given the extra page time it deserved and split into two longer books.

As for the characters themselves, we had a lot of camos, some I recognized from Gaunts Ghost, which was an incredible easter egg! It was also lovely to see how Abnett set us up for his spin-off series, and I can wait to get into them.

Ultimately a great way to finish the series, and I am sad to see it go. But it was once again amazing to leap back into a series I have enjoyed for almost 15 years.