Another week has gone by and another book has been read. I jumped straight into Malleus after finishing Xenos and it took me roughly as long to read the second book as the first. Dan Abnett is still a captivating author that makes you want to just continue reading and not going to bed. Still, this second book had a few short comings.
What is Malleus?
Malleus is the second book in the Eisenhorn: Omnibus set in the Warhammer: 40,000 universe.. It picks up where the first book left up, but with a decent time skip. Gregor Eisenhorn is still the main protagonist but some characters has died or been cut loose while some have just joined the fray.
Where Xenos focused a lot on crime solving and action hero moments I'd say this book focuses more on intrigue, betrayal and character development. Elements of the first book are still present but it feels like Dan Abnett established Eisenhorn as a crime solving action hero in the second book and is now focusing on building the character in other ways.
Malleus book cover
Thrilling buildup with an abrupt end
Xenos was a very balanced book. It balanced the introduction of the characters and universe with a decent buildup through the book and concluded with a satisfying end. Malleus has a very good beginning, a thrilling buildup and then a very abrupt end. It's almost like the author ran out of pages to write on and just had to rush it. By the end I was sure that the events in the book would follow over to the next book instead, but no. A long buildup of events was all concluded within the last 20 pages with a bang and a boom.
Still, it's not a bad book. It does a great job of further introducing readers to the universe of Warhammer: 40,000. Instead of focusing on the individual workings of people we now get to see how both larger and more segregated societies function. We get to learn more of the Inquisition and Chaos as a whole, as well as some of humanities greatest strongholds against Chaos. It's really tickling my curiosity and making me want to delve deeper into Warhammer: 40,000.
Malleus book cover
I've already read about 8 chapters of the next novel in the series called Hereticus. I'll probably finish that sometime in the coming week. After that I think I'll move on to reading the Ravenor series. Written by the same author, Dan Abnett, and following the adventures of Gideon Ravenor who has been employed in Gregor Eisenhorns retinue. As far as I've understood it further fleshes out the story of the books I'm reading now.
All images in this post are taken from the Lexicanum page for Malleus.