There is no way to pretend that his actions are remotely consistent, other than to not think about it, which is of course the path he chooses. This is especially awkward as Eisenhorn makes the journey from relative Puritan in Xenos to a (well meaning and it turns out all right, but let’s face it) Extremis Diabolus in Hereticus. If they can’t prove it, for now they are the Puritan who is preventing you from Doing What Needs To Be Done to keep the galaxy safe and by the Emperor’s name you are not about to let them find out what you are up to, lest they destroy things vital to your work and Let The Terrorists (Chaos) Win. They then try to kill you, so the effective punishment is again death. Anyone who engages with chaos less than you is… the guy putting out the proclamation that you are Extremis Diabolus. If you can’t prove it yet, then for now they’re just a radical. ‘Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?’ – George CarlinĪnyone who engages more with chaos than you is Extremis Diabolus.

If you’d like to read that story, the books aren’t bad.īeyond the fold, SPOILERS in the service of discussing the trilogy’s slash universe’s practical and ethical dilemmas. There is an obvious story one would tell about such an Inquisitor in this universe. Inquisitors also go around fighting with energy guns and specially engraved swords, killing huge numbers of chaos-enhanced enemies while mostly dodging any attempts to kill them, and looking dope doing it. In response, they have the Inquisition (think the Spanish Inquisition, except the demons are real, have mind control powers and are the most efficient source of physical power) which goes around trying to keep down chaos, including all the Inquisitors who get a little too close to the chaos and turn insane, which happens a lot, and arguing over how engaged with chaos they should be willing to be in order to fight it. In the Warhammer 40K setting, the warp allows travel through space, and also offers lots of other benefits if you are willing to engage with it, but also has the side effect of being full of mind-corrupting demons that drive you into becoming an insane murderous servant of chaos, so the Empire has to deal with people continuously going insane and forming cults that worship chaos demons and try to kill everyone. What I found was a fun romp through numerous action sequences that slowly starts asking interesting questions in between action sequences. I did not love the books as much as he did, but that is to be expected. I read the Eisenhorn Trilogy on the recommendation of my friend Raymond Arnold, who bought me the first book as a birthday present, presenting it as worth reading and as providing insight into Lovecraftian horror, and as something that would be fun for us to talk about. Spoiler Status: Very mild spoilers before the fold, full spoilers after the fold

Eisenhorn trilogy