The Strange Demise of Titus Endor

Eisenhorn #Short

by Dan Abnett

Former contemporary of the legendary Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn, Titus Endor always thought he was destined for greatness. However, after a bout of unfortunate events and even more unfortunate decisions, Titus finds himself at the backwater edge of the galaxy, tracking an elusive heretic that will bring about his strange demise, a very strange demise indeed...

Read it because
It's one of the darkest and creepiest tales from the Eisenhorn archives, focusing on a character who appeared in the Eisenhorn trilogy and taking him down a dangerous path to a truly horrifying conclusion.

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction

33 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 1, 2013

Reviews

[Robert McCarroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was literally one of the first pieces of 40K literature I ever read. I bought the first year of Hammer and Bolter and this was either one of the first yarns, or very close to the first. I knew nothing about the characters in particular, and had a general grasp of the setting from other sources. The behind the lines yarn hooked my interest and led me to keep reading. It was a tragedy, but a well-crafted tragedy that I chose to come back and read again later. Which is why I was so consternated to hear the Black Library Editors outright state that their overall editorial direction was full speed ahead away from stories like this. Had it not been from one of their stable stars, they would have rejected the story outright. That is the greater tragedy in my opinion - how many great stories were rejected because they wandered away from the front lines.

[nooker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Weird and sad

[Lachlan · Rating 5 out of 5]

my favourite 40k short story so far, well written not much else to say gj dan abnett im proud of you

[Bo Kamphues · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh this was far better than I had anticipated! I wished we had gotten a longer version of Endor’s story, because it was so tragic and we got to see such a different side from the inquisitorial endings. Let’s hope for an episode in the TV show 🤞🏻

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought provoking melancholia was not on my 40K bingo card.

What an interesting thought provoking story. It is very hard to write about this without giving bits away, so I'll hide that below. For those going in blind, this is an atypical, quite sad 40K tale about a man perhaps coming to terms with his failings throughout his career and facing his own mortality. It is well written and will fester in your brain long after wondering what the hell has gone on.

The ending to this is very much open to interpretation. Once you accept that you have an unreliable narrator for the whole book, pretty much anything is on the table. Is he at the end stages of cognitive decline? Have the parasitic worms taken his brain? Is he experiencing an end of life experience? Impossible to tell. What I did love is that his experiences seem to serve as a disjointed highlights reel of his life. The focus often shifting to ruminations of his failing to our main man Eisendude, seen towards the end of Malleus. The whole piece is a wonderful little representation of what someone with cognitive decline could experience and it is all the more harrowing for it once the reader is slowly let into what is actually going on.

I think Abnett has done a wonderful job with this one and would advise this to be read after Malleus for the correct context. I'm really loving these short story interludes.

[Michael Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

An Eisenhorn short story that doesn’t actually feature Eisenhorn, this is a bleak, unsettling story and a reminder that the horrors of the 41st millennium come in all sorts of forms. Alone in a drab city hunting an elusive quarry who always seems just out of reach, Endor wonders what happened to his friend Eisenhorn, even as he follows up clues which point to sinister omens and old ghosts.

It's a strange story, but beautifully constructed and told, partly a procedural story but weaving in just enough oddities and strange connections to suggest that something isn’t quite as it seems. It’s quiet, creepy, character-driven and almost horrifyingly compelling…but happy, it ain’t.

Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/05/...

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short novel set in a sci-fi future famous for its outlandish threats, Strange Demise tells a different kind of story. Featuring some familiar faces from Abnett's Eisenhorn trilogy, we follow the eponymous Titus Endor as he works to uncover a sinister plot enveloping him.

Evocative and painful, this will be a difficult read for many and those most affected may uncover the nature of the conspiracy before Endor himself. In a notoriously grim-dark setting the denouement simultaneous subverts and exceeds expectations. A forlorn, melancholic and thoughtful vignette.

[Gareth · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bleak, weird tale this one, with quite a few twists and turns. The characterisation of Titus Endor continues on from the previous short story, as a somewhat arrogant and not nice person, but the tale itself is quite fascinating right to the end.

[Jack Creagh-Flynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sad story of decline. A story of when one's best years are behind them, but they don't know how far down they have sunk. One's own faults unrecognised, either because they're arrogant, or because they're truly incapable of perceiving themself. A short poignant narrative.

[Ryan Wirsing · Rating 4 out of 5]

A deeply sad and depressing short story set in between books 2 and 3 of the WH40k Eisenhorn books. Even in a grimdark future full of evil aliens, dark magic and literal manifestations of chaos gods, sometimes a simple disease is what kills you.

[Sai Teja · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rather different sort of tale, following a strange, winding path. You question what is real, and what isn't, what is the truth, what is a lie, same as ol' Titus does. An interesting view into his mind.

[Lyandros · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a sad, but compelling read.

Really shows you how losing your mind can be the scariest thing possible. Not knowing what’s real and what’s fake.

I hope Eisenhorn mentions what has become of his, once, best friend, in the final book.

[Skooma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Печальная история о человеке, чья жизнь окончилась, но он никак не мог этого понять. Меланхолично-нуарная атмосфера пробирает до костей, как зимний ветер, а сам рассказ ощущается чуть ли не лучше, чем уже прочитанные романы основного цикла про Айзенхорна.

[John Greenwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliantly surreal short story following Titus Endor as he searches for an elusive criminal.

[Swagat · Rating 5 out of 5]

A psychological thriller set in WH40k with Inquisitor Titus Endor as the protagonist.

[Ulzeta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite fun.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a touching portrayal of dementia. Really makes me appreciate the variety of the stories writers are allowed to tell in the Warhammer settings.

[Jim Pickone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn, Dementia is a bitch.

[Will McMillan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one or the best short stories I’ve ever read. Weird, eerie, and spectacular

[Matthew Schiller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably my favorite story in 40k. Atmospheric and moody, it definitely broke the mold of what a 40k story can be. Would love to see more in this vein.

[Chris Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, albeit depressing short story providing closure to one of the notable side characters from Dan Abnett’s Eisenhorn trilogy. Worth a read after finishing Hereticus.

[Joseph · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read for the day. I hadn't read anything from Dan Abnett in a while so I thought I would download this to get a quick fix. This was a great read, even though it was a short story. It's set in the Warhammer universe of Inquisitors and even though it references characters I haven't read, the story was still compelling. Anyone who is familiar with a Warhammer may think that it's nothing but blood and guts but Titus Endor was a character, at least in this tale, who's reality has been warped. Abnett weaved a psychological tale where you weren't sure of what was real and what was in Endor's mind. The title of the story certainly fits the conclusion.

[DarkChaplain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll just be ticking this off. Read it multiple times as far back as October 2010, when it was free in the first issue of Hammer & Bolter.
Black Library even gave sfx.co.uk permission to publish the story online, for promotion. It is still readily available:
http://www.sfx.co.uk/2011/07/21/short...

While the story itself is stellar, I am not a fan of this re-release at all. It smells too much like double-dipping - one of the many instances of the last months.

[Calyx · Rating 5 out of 5]

For someone who has read whole Eisenhorn and Ravenor releases currently available, this was something nice, not as intense as Ravenor as easy as when i started reading series. It is a short story, but not something done for cashing in, for any fan of Inquisitor series by Dan Abnett its a must read, if not for the story then maybe just for closure, even if its overrated.

[Austin Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

supa dope beans y'all