Saturday, October 29, 2011

Path of the Seer - Book Review

Path of the Seer by Gav Thorpe
The ancient eldar are a mysterious race and each devotes their life to a chosen path that will guide their actions and decide their fate. Thirianna abandons her simple existence to embark upon the mysterious Path of the Seer. She will tread a dark and dangerous road that leads her to the other realm of the warp, where daemons are made flesh and nightmares are manifest, for only there can she realise her psychic abilities. After unleashing her powers in battle and communing with the spirits of her craft world, Thirianna turns her skills to discerning the future amidst the myriad strands of fate. Her visions reveal a great threat descending on Alaitoc, and both the living and the dead will march to war to defend it.



The ancient eldar are a mysterious race. Their lives must be in constant motion, moving from one Path to the next, developing their senses of self and the universe. On their craftworld, Alaitoc, Thirianna reaches the end of her journey on the Path of the Warrior. As one of the Dire Avengers, she has sated her anger enough for multiple lifetimes. Thirianna moves on to the Path of the Poet, upon which she fills several crystals with her poetry. One of her two closest friends is Korlandril the Sculptor. The Path of the Artist and of the Poet is similar and the two have much to talk about.


The day finally arrives for Thirianna's second close friend to return to Alaitoc. Aradryan is happy to see Korlandril again, but it is Thirianna that holds his attention. When Aradryan expresses his deep feelings for Thirianna, she is unable to return them. Aradryan quickly abandons Alaitoc, choosing to return to space and become in Outcast. Very shortly afterward, Korlandril expresses his own feelings for her. Again Thirianna gently confesses that she is unable to return those feelings. Korlandril's reaction is much worse than Aradryan's had been. Instead of disappointment, Korlandril's anger ignites and he begins walking upon the Path of the Warrior.

Thirianna begins her journey upon the Path of the Seer. Farseer Kelamith is her guide. He teaches her much about connecting with the skein, a webway to help search possible futures. Thirianna must learn when to nudge events in the best directions and when to not interfere, even if it means the death of someone she cares for.

Thirianna develops her psychic abilities. After unleashing her powers in battle and communing with the spirits of her craftworld, she briefly spies a disturbing, possible future of humans attacking Alaitoc. The Sons of Orar, lauded and feared Space Marines of the Emperor, were about to bring destruction to her world, and both the living and the dead will march to war to defend it.

Thorpe continues to bring the mysterious eldar race out of the shadows and into the light so that W40K fans are able to see and understand them more clearly. In June, 2010, the first title of this series (Path of the Warrior) was released. It followed the character of Korlandril. However, this time Thirianna is followed. As I read, I found it very interesting to see Thirianna interact with her two male friends, Korlandril and Aradryan. Through her eyes, I saw Korlandril's character in a slightly different way. I also saw Aradryan in all his selfish glory. Consider yourself warned that this story has a cliff-hanger ending. Aradryan will continue the battle in the third title, Path of the Outcast.

For me the interweaving of the three books has made this something different to normal Balck Library work and whilst the action is good and well paced it would only warrent three stars. The fact Thorpe has gone that extra mile to link everything together has for me made this a solid four stars out of five.




Available from:

http://www.blacklibrary.com/
Gav Thorpe
softback • ISBN 9781849700801

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