Seven years after Ahriman: Unchanged brought the first trilogy to an end, John French returns with Ahriman: Eternal, a new novel detailing the great sorcerer’s ongoing attempts to undo the damage he’s unwittingly caused to his Legion. In the aftermath of the Second Rubric, Ahriman and his Exiles find themselves pursued by the Pyrodomon, a force released by the Rubric which reaches out from the warp to consume the Thousand Sons, sorcerers and Rubricae alike. With cracks widening in the alliance of his followers and the Pyrodomon on their heels, Ahriman looks to techno-arcane xenos abilities – via a captured Necron called Setekh – for the power to control time itself. As the Exiles seek out this power, the Harlequins intervene in their unique fashion, determined to shape events to their own ends and avoid a tragedy only they can foresee.
Most of the cast is made up of familiar characters from earlier books, but rather than being just a coda to what’s gone before this is clearly the start of a whole new series extending and deepening Ahriman’s story. Each of the first three novels offered a slightly different perspective on Ahriman and his actions and Eternal feels subtly different again, with more of Ahriman’s own thoughts than French has revealed since Exile, along with an interesting mix of other viewpoint characters. Ahriman himself is arguably more powerful than ever before but there’s greater distance between him and his brothers too, and his control is under intense strain from the time pressure applied by the Pyrodomon and the painful reality of Helio Isidorus – restored to life (sort of) by the Second Rubric but still broken, a connection to a mourned past and potential future that Ahriman clings to but others are uncertain of, and perhaps even fear.
One of French’s great strengths is his ability to add rich texture and detail to the stranger corners of the 40k universe, and Eternal is packed full of great examples of this. In his hands the Harlequins are enigmatic, sinister, lethal and bleakly tragic, while new character Maehekta is a classic French creation – mysterious, highly capable, full of promise and secrets – and navigator Silvanus is fragile, much-changed by the warp but still strangely human. Meanwhile the introduction of Setekh as an antagonist for Ahriman to pit his wits against provides an intriguing contrast of power and intellect, with each manipulating the other, confident in their own superiority. The combination of the Thousand Sons and Necrons is a really smart choice, especially given that at this point in the 40k setting the Necrons are still largely unknown, while the Harlequins add the classic 40k element of confusion and uncertainty.
It’s really a story about the price of memories, about time running out and consequences catching up (the Pyrodomon being a tangible representation of this), wrapped up in the classic Thousand Sons theme of good intentions coming into conflict with sheer, absolute arrogance. Like so much of French’s work it’s richly layered, dealing with plans within plans, hidden patterns and dangerous pacts, and it’s the sort of book that really rewards multiple readings. Even putting the narrative aside, it’s satisfying to just relax into French’s depiction of the Thousand Sons and their relationship with the warp, the real world and the way the two intertwine, and fans of the original trilogy will find a lot to enjoy here without any sense of retreading old ground. As the start of a new series though, it’s a delight to not just return to these characters but to see them continue to develop. Where Ahriman goes next remains to be seen, but it promises to be another fascinating journey.
If you haven’t already, check out my guide to the Ahriman series for the author’s reading order, and links to reviews of every Ahriman novel, short story and audio drama.
Ahriman: Eternal is due out from Black Library/Games Workshop as a standard hardback and ebook (no word yet on audiobook) sometime in June, having so far only been made available as a ‘Mega Edition’ boxed set. Massive thanks to my friends who bought me the boxed set for my birthday!
Note that Black Library hasn’t released the standard cover image yet, so I’ve used the original cover art by Dan Watson for the header image on this review.
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Are we… reasonably sure this is the beginning of a second trilogy?
Sorry I didn’t log in and accidentally posted as Anonymous.
No worries. I think so, though – obviously this is BL so anything is possible, but I’m working on the assumption that Eternal is the start of a new Ahriman arc.