The Magos: Dan Abnett and the Long Shadow of Eisenhorn
Dan Abnett’s The Magos occupies an interesting and slightly awkward position within the Eisenhorn series. It is neither simply a fourth novel nor merely a short-story collection. It is both: twelve shorter works gathered into a casebook, followed by a substantial new novel that depends upon the history they establish. That awkward structure is also the book’s method. Read in sequence, the stories turn Eisenhorn’s past into evidence. Decisions that once appeared to be isolated necessities begin to form a pattern, and when the main novel finally removes Eisenhorn’s first-person narration, the reader is forced to consider what that pattern looks like from the outside. Cover image: The Magos by Dan Abnett, published by Black Library. Used here for purposes of review and commentary. A Novel Inside a Casebook The volume collects twelve stories written across many years before arriving at the full-length novel itself. Some follow Eisenhorn directly, while other...