Review of The Flight of the Eisenstein by James Swallow

The events on Isstvan III shook the human-known universe; Horus pulled back the covers, revealing his grand revolt against the Emperor. The Astartes' legions forced to choose sides, their conception of the world is now in tatters. Offering an alternate viewpoint to events on Isstvan III is James Swallow's 2007 The Flight of the Eisenstein.

Flight opens on a lengthy space marine battle against xenos, lead by Captain Nathaniel Garros. After dealing with the xenos, Garros is called to Isstvan III to help Horus battle a world ostensibly rebelling against the Emperor. Garros is tasked with bombing the planet, but when he discovers what the bombs are, he is forced to choose sides, and choose quickly, nothing certain as the planet burns.

The Flight of the Eisenstein has started to make me wonder whether Games Workshop (the producer of Warhammer novels) asks its authors to work with a page count, something beyond 350 pages. I say this because the first 20% and the final 20% of Flight feel gratuitous. Another way of putting this is, back cover copy describes known events, but promises to progress the Horus Heresy storyline in the aftermath of the chaos of Isstvan III. Progress does happen, but happens regardless of these lengthy opening and closing scenes. Undoubtedly readers heavily embedded in the universe know of reasons why these portions may be important, but the fact remains events relevant to the overarching storyline would form a shorter novel.

Another question is, how does Swallow's style compare to the other Warhammer writers', like McNeill, Abnett, etc.? It's middle of the road. Swallow writes in straight-forward prose with little between the lines. Everything is on the surface, little to no subtleties. At the same time, Swallow keeps the story moving in a fashion that wholly fits within the motif Games Workshop curate for their fiction franchise. He gets the job done, just without subtlety.

The last consideration I would have of Flight of the Eisenstein regards Garro as leading man. Like Swallow's straight forward style, Garro is a straight forward character. Swallow adds narrative elements to humanize him (mostly through the greivous injury he suffers in the early going, something which makes him gruff and distant), but at Garro's core he lacks the depth of some of the other characters which have time in the spotlight, for example Fulgrim in Fulgrim, Lorgar in The First Heretic, or Magnus in A Thousand Sons. This is not a proper complaint, just an observation that Garro lacks the nuance found elsewhere.

In the end, The Flight of the Eisenstein feels like a Horus Heresy book for diehard fans who want to know what happens in all of the storylines that intersect with major events (like Isstvan III). Rather than push the main storyline forward, it gives readers a parallel view. Fans of the character Garros will inevitably want to dig in. Otherwise, I'm not sure where it sits on the 'must-read' list of Horus Heresy books. If you put a gun to my head, I would put it on the list. But I would add the caveat that not all of the novel ties directly to Horus vs the Emperor.