From 61a4852770ef5ed384fef3b591d6e82fbea86cda Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Julio Biason Date: Tue, 21 Jan 2020 12:15:24 -0300 Subject: [PATCH] Book review: The Flight of the Eisenstein --- .../books/the-flight-of-the-eisenstein.md | 56 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 56 insertions(+) create mode 100644 content/reviews/books/the-flight-of-the-eisenstein.md diff --git a/content/reviews/books/the-flight-of-the-eisenstein.md b/content/reviews/books/the-flight-of-the-eisenstein.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..01091b4 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/reviews/books/the-flight-of-the-eisenstein.md @@ -0,0 +1,56 @@ ++++ +title = "The Flight of the Eisenstein - James Swallow" +date = 2020-01-17 + +[taxonomies] +tags = ["books", "reviews", "horus heresy", "warhammer 40000", "sci", "james swallow"] ++++ + +[GoodReads Summary](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/80155.The_Flight_of_the_Eisenstein): +Having witnessed the events on Istvaan III, Deathguard Captain Garro seizes a +ship and heads to Terra to warn the Emperor of Horus's treachery. But the +fleeing Eisenstein is damaged by enemy fire, and becomes stranded in the warp. +Can Garro and his men survive the depredations of Chaos and get his warning to +Terra in time? + + + +{{ stars(stars=1) }} + + How do you tell a following story that takes over from another one, one that + feels somewhat complete, one that, even when discussing several events, have + at least one that goes to conclusion? One solution is to continue the story + from the point the previous one completed, but one could try to push the + story further by picking one of those events and showing another point of + view of something readers already know how it will end, being careful to not + build any suspense on what will happen, 'cause the reader knows what it will + end and you end up with just a bunch of text that it is just boring as heck + to read. + +Another thing one should take care is to not build long sentences that just +keeps going on and on that add very little except burn the reader time, like +pointing out that long sentences burn the reader time, instead of going +straight to the point, avoiding running around the point, with no care about +that amount of information per sentence you're adding. + +And, still, you get all those here. + +Indeed, from one of the several events that happened in "Galaxy in Flames", +the author picked on of the things that happens in the sidelines (which get +some spotlight, in the end) and try to build a whole story out of it, kind +like "Shadow of the Giant" is built on the side-story of Ender's Game. But +while Shadow of the Giant, while still entangled with Ender's Game, have very +small touching points, about 60% is exactly what happened in "Galaxy in +Flames". Worse, with so much touching surface, the author decided to create on +suspense on what will happen to the nominal ship: Will it survive the attack +from Horus forces? Will they manage to get away? OF COURSE IT WILL, Galaxy in +Flames told us that they escape, so why are you making a huge fuss about the +amount of damage they are taking, like they won't be able to take away? + +And there is also the long sentences that provide very little information with +a huge amount of words, which completely break the speed of the story. Think +about the longest, most boring line, with the most duplicate information, in +the middle of a battle. How would you feel about the battle speed? + +Honestly, it's not that "Horus Heresy" is a masterpiece of literature, but the +series could surely survive without this book.