Ahriman: Undying

Ahriman #5

by John French

A Thousand Sons Novel

The greatest sorcerer of the Thousand Sons has finally found the relic he's been searching for – the Key of Infinity. But is it too late for him to use it?

READ IT BECAUSE

One of the most enduring character arcs in all of Warhammer 40,000 approaches the verge of closure... but nothing is ever that simple. Ahriman has achieved much and gathered incredible power – will he be able to realise that it's come at the cost of everything he once fought for?

THE STORY

Ahriman languishes on the threshold of space and time, adrift in a sub-realm of unknowable dimension and aspect. He has found it at long last: the ancient device known to the necrons as the Key of Infinity. This should be his moment of triumph – but he is not the Ahriman he used to be. Betrayed and lost, he is a solitary sorcerer, bereft of allies, standing amongst the smashed and ruined ephemera of his grand designs.

With his dreams as dust and his Legion consumed by the fires of the Pyrodomon, Ahriman must fight his way across the shattered remnants of his past if he is to have any hope of saving his future.

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction

350 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 27, 2024

About the author

John French is a writer and freelance game designer from Nottingham, England. His novels include the Ahriman series from Black Library, and The Lord of Nightmares trilogy for Fantasy Flight. The rest of his work can be seen scattered through a number of other books, including the New York Times bestselling anthology Age of Darkness. When he is not thinking of ways that dark and corrupting beings could destroy reality and space, John enjoys talking about why it would be a good idea... that and drinking good wine.

Reviews

[Matt TB · Rating 4 out of 5]

I shall start by saying Ahriman- Exile, Sorcerer and Unchanged are some of my fav books ever.

Eternal and now Undying just don’t seem to have hit that same wow factor for me.

This is a great read, (i wish I’d re read Eternal before starting this though) and brings heaps of the mysterious magnificent indescribable ways of war that the Thousand Sons do best, but the actual story and plot of it seemed a little less good to the earlier books.

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You sure?

I’m not overly keen on wibbly wobbly timey wimey plots. Seems a little cheap. But in the same breath I couldn’t see any other way to resolve the problem of this book!

[Joshua La Forge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each book in the Ahriman series has been very fun, if also a bit unsatisfying. This one deals with even more time loop shenanigans than the last one did and mostly removes Ahriman from the main events of the book.

In his place is the frail and nervous Ctesias, which is actually a welcome perspective. He is vulnerable and always feels as though he is on the back foot while trying to fight back an open rebellion of sorcerers, a cadre of demons, and a host of vengeful Necrons with no allies other than a loathsome and dangerous blank and a pyrokinetic apprentice gifted to him as a white elephant.

I enjoyed it, but much like the last few novels, it ends with nothing much at all changing for the lore.

I would have really enjoyed if the second rubric had gone differently, such as instead of summoning the Pyrodomon, it truly did reverse the Rubric but slowly, so brothers of the Thousand Sons were returning one-at-a-time, as themselves, and the antagonists were the ones who had come back vengeful and ambitious.

Instead, it's as though nothing had happened at all, so despite all of the fun characters, creative action scenes, and high-stakes negotiations, the end of the last few books has left me cold.

[André · Rating 3 out of 5]

Als Abschluss einer fünf Bücher umfassenden Serie ziemlich banal.

Die Geschichte um Sethek ist viel interessanter als die Haupthandlung und die Verstrickungen, die die Ausgestoßenen nach und nach auflösen.

[A LAURENT · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un récit déroutant avec une chronologie sens dessus dessous qui donne le vertige. Difficile au début puis on se fait aspirer et enfin on savoure. Un bon moyen d'entrevoir les plis du warp, et ce par le très intéressant point de vue d'Ahriman.

[Ridel · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I really liked the time shenanigans the first time, and thought the author did a great job portraying demigod-level powers, upon reflection, the ending is just too unsatisfying for it to get a perfect rating. Close. But not quite there.

[Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A full circle finish that fans from the beginning of this series will really appreciate

Im a big fan of John French, I really like his style of descriptive writing and his version of 40k fits in nicely with my own. Now in order to read this you must of read the previous novel recently as this book picks up very confusingly with many time distortion like effects, such as a the beginning is in fact not the beginning and so on and so on. In fact the first few chapters are very confusing, to help alleviate this somewhat make sure to pay attention to the chapter headings.

I can see why fans of 40k would not get on with this type of storytelling, to be honest it does not really move the wider plot of 40k forward but I believe the author was not trying to do that, in fact the intention here is to drive the purpose of Ahriman and his exiles into a otherworldly fantastical plot that is both really creative and equally fascinating, particularly if your a fan of warp shenanigans and psychic powers.

I thought the handling of the Necron's was done well, they are told from the point of view of the Necron lord Setekth (i.e. im not a fan of Necron points of view however here the author tells the actions of the Necron's fluently enough to depict their vast power and failings), however the real threat the Pyrodomon a wonderfully realised version of the second rubric which is this fantastic cosmology force of power that even Ahriman cant face alone without help.

Speaking of help the main character of this book has to be Ctesias the demonologist an old wizened figure holding together a bunch of exiles who want nothing more than answers. I honestly really enjoyed this character a lot more than I thought I would and I think readers will enjoy this frosty old figure more so than previous books. Don't be fooled this is very much Ahriman story, its just told from varying points of view. A skill that I believe this author handles very deftly.

Overall an excellent read that opens a door to potential other possible stories, but also proves that Ahriman's journey could be a never ending cycle of lost causes that could lead to many more galactic disaster's.

Go on John French open another door for Ahriman to walk through I dare you....

[Hugo Mercier · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arhiman se lance dans une quête désespéré pour faire annuler la malédiction de sa légion. Là où l’on a tendance à voir le Space marine ( et plus encore le Space marine du chaos) comme des humains génétiquement modifiées ayant perdu toute humanité, c’est bien un drame humain qui se joue dans ce roman, jusqu’où serions nous prêt à aller pour sauver ceux que nous considérons comme des frères ?

[Sunlogix · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nothing mattered, this whole book series is a waste of time.

[Kenny Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time is always running out amrite.

[Kyle McDonnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book, with #4, are very much “enjoy the journey” reads.

[Narek Ohanyan · Rating 5 out of 5]

"If you can see all the ways that the game can play out, then why play at all?"
"Because only by playing does it become real."

[Alexandre · Rating 3 out of 5]

I haven't read this, I just don't want to deal with the rest of this serie, life is too short.

[Jackson Handley · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is tough. First and foremost it's not a pleasant read, it's winding and retreads ground and nothing matters.

This is all very clearly intentional though. The reader and the solitaire are the only ones who can truly know or learn anything.

Time manipulation is not my favourite thing. I appreciate that it's not treated as a be/all, end/all solution here. 40k has no magic solve the universe lever to pull.

Despite the frustration I felt at times, I'd recommend this to anyone who loves Ahriman. John French truly understands that Ahzek's narrative is "The Spiral Cage."

[Gwynevere Groß · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mein allererstes Warhammer Buch. Vielleicht eher dumm von mir mit dem fünften Teil einer Serie zu beginnen, aber ich habe nicht gewusst, dass es überhaupt eine Ahriman Serie gab, als ich angefangen habe.