What do you think?
Rate this book
Path of the Eldar #1-3
Path of the Eldar
The eldar of the craftworlds devote their lives to the pursuit of perfection, following a series of paths which will their actions and decide their fates. Three friends – Korlandril, Thirianna and Aradryan – part company to walk their chosen paths – Warrior, Seer and Outcast – little realising how the actions of one will affect the others, and indeed their world. As Aradryan’s choices bring the wrath of the Imperium down upon Alaitoc, it falls to Korlandril and Thirianna to defend their home – if they can avoid becoming stuck on their paths and being lost forever.
Read it because
An unparalleled insight into Craftworld society and warfare as we see a cataclysmic war against the Imperium from the perspectives of an Aspect Warrior, a Warlock and a Ranger.
768 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 4, 2014
75 people are currently reading
264 people want to read
About the author
Gav Thorpe
377 books576 followersGav spent 14 years as a developer for Games Workshop, and started writing novels and short stories in the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 when the Black Library imprint was launched in 1997.
He continues to write for Black Library, and his first 'homegrown' novel series The Crown of the Blood has been released via Angry Robot.
Currently living in Nottingham, Gav shares his home with his loving and very understanding partner - Kez, and their beautiful little boy - Sammy.
He continues to write for Black Library, and his first 'homegrown' novel series The Crown of the Blood has been released via Angry Robot.
Currently living in Nottingham, Gav shares his home with his loving and very understanding partner - Kez, and their beautiful little boy - Sammy.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
October 7, 2015
I wrote a long review and it got eaten by my browser. Basically it is a series of events written from three characters viewpoints. Make sure to read until the end, the last short story (Dark Son) was amazing and featured -imho- the most interesting character of the bunch. Read it if you want background info on Eldar, otherwise, don't.
So here is the short form:
Path of the Warrior: Korlandril, quite pompous, gets really fucking angry and deals with it by getting on the path of the warrior and that does things to him. Sad things.
Path of the Seer: Thirianna is unable to get over herself and messes up things while becoming a seer, when she's not changing clothes for the tenth time that day. Also she has some issues with her dad and is the nexus of all this mess.
Path of the Outcast: Aradryan takes a ride on the wild side of life. On the very, very wild, holyfuckwhatdidyoudo side of life, while leeching of the various eldar women that take him along. Also features Harlequins doing cool stuff and Commoraghans being edgy.
Also, holy shit, Eldar fashion is like hippies on LSD walked into a disco closet and grabbed random things with their eyes closed.
So here is the short form:
Path of the Warrior: Korlandril, quite pompous, gets really fucking angry and deals with it by getting on the path of the warrior and that does things to him. Sad things.
Path of the Seer: Thirianna is unable to get over herself and messes up things while becoming a seer, when she's not changing clothes for the tenth time that day. Also she has some issues with her dad and is the nexus of all this mess.
Path of the Outcast: Aradryan takes a ride on the wild side of life. On the very, very wild, holyfuckwhatdidyoudo side of life, while leeching of the various eldar women that take him along. Also features Harlequins doing cool stuff and Commoraghans being edgy.
Also, holy shit, Eldar fashion is like hippies on LSD walked into a disco closet and grabbed random things with their eyes closed.
April 21, 2014
I loved Path of the Eldar.
I've been meaning to read the trilogy for a while, so when I say it as an all in one I decided I had to - and I'm so glad I read in the order printed in this edition.
The interplay of the story lines is exceptionally well done. I loved scenes when read a book later through another's view yet with the same dialogue & movements. Confusing first time, but excellent. The manner in which Gav did the Eldar language was fascinating. The flow of linguistics with gestures and psychic messages worked beautifully to make me feel drawn into the Eldar mind. The manner of speech of both the Exarchs and the Harlequins also really helped fix their mannerisms in my mind. All of this helped make Tom Holt's quote on the back of the book ("Thorpe writes strong, uncluttered narrative, and his characters actually sound like real people") ring very much true. At first I was uncertain of what he meant by "real people", but he's right. I found them to be more real than characters in so much other literature, and I felt this helped me flow with them through their paths and narrative. An exceptionally beautiful piece of writing.
Couldn't put it down and it's going in the pile of books to reread (which at the moment is just Tolkien, Arthur Conan Doyle, & Douglas Adams) Furthermore I don't normally read a great deal of Black Library books, so I will have to add some more to the reading list!
I've been meaning to read the trilogy for a while, so when I say it as an all in one I decided I had to - and I'm so glad I read in the order printed in this edition.
The interplay of the story lines is exceptionally well done. I loved scenes when read a book later through another's view yet with the same dialogue & movements. Confusing first time, but excellent. The manner in which Gav did the Eldar language was fascinating. The flow of linguistics with gestures and psychic messages worked beautifully to make me feel drawn into the Eldar mind. The manner of speech of both the Exarchs and the Harlequins also really helped fix their mannerisms in my mind. All of this helped make Tom Holt's quote on the back of the book ("Thorpe writes strong, uncluttered narrative, and his characters actually sound like real people") ring very much true. At first I was uncertain of what he meant by "real people", but he's right. I found them to be more real than characters in so much other literature, and I felt this helped me flow with them through their paths and narrative. An exceptionally beautiful piece of writing.
Couldn't put it down and it's going in the pile of books to reread (which at the moment is just Tolkien, Arthur Conan Doyle, & Douglas Adams) Furthermore I don't normally read a great deal of Black Library books, so I will have to add some more to the reading list!
March 22, 2016
Path of the Warrior:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Path of the Seer:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Path of the Outcast:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Curse of Shaa-dom:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Rewards of Tolerance:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Dark Son:
This short was perhaps the best piece of fiction in the entire omnibus. We get a look at the best character in the first book, and oh Slaanesh, it doesn't disappoint. Getting to see into Bechareth's past and thoughts was amazing. That story by itself was worth picking up the omnibus!
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Path of the Seer:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Path of the Outcast:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Curse of Shaa-dom:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
The Rewards of Tolerance:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Dark Son:
This short was perhaps the best piece of fiction in the entire omnibus. We get a look at the best character in the first book, and oh Slaanesh, it doesn't disappoint. Getting to see into Bechareth's past and thoughts was amazing. That story by itself was worth picking up the omnibus!
March 5, 2024
The biggest shout out belongs to the openings of each chapter. It’s like watching episodes of Star Wars Clone Wars where the beginning of each show displays a proverb or some such and then proceeds, except here it’s the eldar’s myths, philosophies, history and the path. Having read all three I noticed that the first chapter has the same name ‘friendship’ while the rest are unique to the respective path that you’re reading. Brilliant. Awesome. And a nice touch to keep all three books unified and unique.
Been a while to have finally finished this damned omnibus. Gav’s prose is rich and sometimes strange, but a credit to the process of entering the mind of an alien race. Truly an impossible task as any attempt would be too utterly human. It’s important to read the introduction as he explains a bit about what’s going on here. Kudos not only for the attempt, he went so far as to tie three threads into the cord of this book.
My forays into Warhammer 40k are always a pleasure. It’s not always exciting, the books can feel too long, but damned if I do not regret the reading one bit. The writing, in my experience, has always been phenomenal. The world of Warhammer 40k is so god-damned brilliant it feels a pity that it never rightfully gets the spotlight it deserves (maybe that’s a good thing). I love the gritty, dark feel that can be hard to find elsewhere. These novels in particular are much more on the light side; however the guilt, the fall aspect of the novel lingers like a mist.
Novels like this are best at capturing moments in time, feelings in the wind, shifting events, the fate of the few and the fate of the many. I’m not so sure these were character novels, although we certainly follow the big three – Korlandril, Thirianna and Aradryan. It’s funny, having finished, I feel differently about all three novels yet overall I still feel the same about each character as I did after the first book. It’s more about the path than the character, and it’s more about all the eldar we come into contact with rather than any particular group.
My only gripe is that book 2 repeats too much of book 1 to feel fresh. It helps that I took such a long break otherwise I’m not sure how I’d have handled it. That’s the biggest gripe. The novel has a lot more going for it, especially if you’re a fan of the eldar.
“My memories of Alaitoc were fonder than the reality…Or perhaps the reality has changed to one of which I am less fond.” ~Page 279
Path of the Warrior
Path of the Seer
Path of the Outcast
The Curse of Shaa-dom
The Rewards of Tolerance
Here's a review for Dark Son which I can't seem to find on Goodreads.
Been a while to have finally finished this damned omnibus. Gav’s prose is rich and sometimes strange, but a credit to the process of entering the mind of an alien race. Truly an impossible task as any attempt would be too utterly human. It’s important to read the introduction as he explains a bit about what’s going on here. Kudos not only for the attempt, he went so far as to tie three threads into the cord of this book.
My forays into Warhammer 40k are always a pleasure. It’s not always exciting, the books can feel too long, but damned if I do not regret the reading one bit. The writing, in my experience, has always been phenomenal. The world of Warhammer 40k is so god-damned brilliant it feels a pity that it never rightfully gets the spotlight it deserves (maybe that’s a good thing). I love the gritty, dark feel that can be hard to find elsewhere. These novels in particular are much more on the light side; however the guilt, the fall aspect of the novel lingers like a mist.
Novels like this are best at capturing moments in time, feelings in the wind, shifting events, the fate of the few and the fate of the many. I’m not so sure these were character novels, although we certainly follow the big three – Korlandril, Thirianna and Aradryan. It’s funny, having finished, I feel differently about all three novels yet overall I still feel the same about each character as I did after the first book. It’s more about the path than the character, and it’s more about all the eldar we come into contact with rather than any particular group.
My only gripe is that book 2 repeats too much of book 1 to feel fresh. It helps that I took such a long break otherwise I’m not sure how I’d have handled it. That’s the biggest gripe. The novel has a lot more going for it, especially if you’re a fan of the eldar.
“My memories of Alaitoc were fonder than the reality…Or perhaps the reality has changed to one of which I am less fond.” ~Page 279
Path of the Warrior
Path of the Seer
Path of the Outcast
The Curse of Shaa-dom
The Rewards of Tolerance
Here's a review for Dark Son which I can't seem to find on Goodreads.
October 19, 2020
Korlandril, Thirianna, and Aradryan, friends since they were children living on Alaitoc, a craftworld orbiting a red sun, discover another path inside of them and part ways to find their new path in life.
I love Warhammer 40k and I have an affinity for the Eldar. I saw this omnibus on sale at my local Games Workshop store and I had to get it. Korlandril's story was very entertaining to read and to finally get an idea of Eldar life and society. Path of the Warrior was by far my favorite out of the three.
I love Warhammer 40k and I have an affinity for the Eldar. I saw this omnibus on sale at my local Games Workshop store and I had to get it. Korlandril's story was very entertaining to read and to finally get an idea of Eldar life and society. Path of the Warrior was by far my favorite out of the three.
January 22, 2025
Quite boring.
January 10, 2023
I really enjoyed this book. It was very interesting to go through the same events, but through different points of view.
If you like the Eldar and understand that they are pompous, arrogant, and self-absorbed, you will like the characters in this book. The short stories at the end are excellent and should not be skipped.
The last book had the best characters!
If you like the Eldar and understand that they are pompous, arrogant, and self-absorbed, you will like the characters in this book. The short stories at the end are excellent and should not be skipped.
The last book had the best characters!
October 2, 2014
Normally in an omnibus, I like to review each novel separately; I'm not going to be doing that in this case since the author has written three novels that all describe the same basic events from three point of views.
This is an interesting idea, but I unfortunately I don't think it quite works. The first book is pretty interesting, but the second and third suffer from already knowing what's going to happen. It doesn't help that the main characters of all three books are kind of obnoxious - the first book's hero is a self-obsessed creep, the second book's hero is a arrogant know it all, and the third book's hero is basically the villain of the piece, a truly loathsome dickbag I was hoping would get some kind of comeuppance for his frankly vile actions (admittedly, this reaction really kicked in once he started capturing ship crews to be used as slaves). The book isn't terrible; there is a lot of interesting Eldar background material, and for once they aren't being used as punching bags to show how cool and strong someone else is, but I can still only really recommend this to W40k nerds. (Or, if you're curious, I guess get it out of the library long enough to just read the first included novel; you won't miss much.)
This is an interesting idea, but I unfortunately I don't think it quite works. The first book is pretty interesting, but the second and third suffer from already knowing what's going to happen. It doesn't help that the main characters of all three books are kind of obnoxious - the first book's hero is a self-obsessed creep, the second book's hero is a arrogant know it all, and the third book's hero is basically the villain of the piece, a truly loathsome dickbag I was hoping would get some kind of comeuppance for his frankly vile actions (admittedly, this reaction really kicked in once he started capturing ship crews to be used as slaves). The book isn't terrible; there is a lot of interesting Eldar background material, and for once they aren't being used as punching bags to show how cool and strong someone else is, but I can still only really recommend this to W40k nerds. (Or, if you're curious, I guess get it out of the library long enough to just read the first included novel; you won't miss much.)
April 17, 2014
Well what can I say, this book pulled itself back from the brink.
Book 1 started off brilliantly, setting the scene and then capturing my attention from the get-go. Sadly it ended abruptly and left me rather annoyed and with a feeling like 'gav thorpe must have over run his word limit'
Book two pulled me out of this abyss and got me going again but ill admit it did start to waffle a little especially when thirianna was 'following threads' by ene of book 2 i was ready to sack it.
But book 3.... Oh my well done Gav thorpe!! You saved it with this episode. I loved the strength and weakness shown in aradryan's character ultimately leading to the events in the omnibus. I seriously could not put this story down from part 3 onwards and when it ended I had a smile on my face.
Book 1 started off brilliantly, setting the scene and then capturing my attention from the get-go. Sadly it ended abruptly and left me rather annoyed and with a feeling like 'gav thorpe must have over run his word limit'
Book two pulled me out of this abyss and got me going again but ill admit it did start to waffle a little especially when thirianna was 'following threads' by ene of book 2 i was ready to sack it.
But book 3.... Oh my well done Gav thorpe!! You saved it with this episode. I loved the strength and weakness shown in aradryan's character ultimately leading to the events in the omnibus. I seriously could not put this story down from part 3 onwards and when it ended I had a smile on my face.
Read
July 25, 2015The main character is probably the most deaf, dumb, and blind Eldar there is. While that makes him a good vehicle to describe every detail of the Eldar, he sure is annoying to read about. Despite their gifts, abilities, and tech, you can see why the Eldar are doomed. A beautiful candle that burned bright, but now flickers.
AS the story transitions from the first character, I enjoy it more, but as I get into the third character, I am annoyed all over again. The Game manual of the Eldar had me excited to learn more, and I did with this book, and my excitement has been quelled. At the end were some short stories of other characters, filling in gaps, and there i began to truly enjoy it again. My feeling on this work are deeply mixed.
AS the story transitions from the first character, I enjoy it more, but as I get into the third character, I am annoyed all over again. The Game manual of the Eldar had me excited to learn more, and I did with this book, and my excitement has been quelled. At the end were some short stories of other characters, filling in gaps, and there i began to truly enjoy it again. My feeling on this work are deeply mixed.
July 27, 2015
This is a "different" kind of story to the usual Imperial 40k in which the writer, Gav Thorpe, succeeded splendidly. Not only the story take place from a different view of the universe but also through an "alien's" senses.
The Eldar has many different Paths that make them stronger in some aspects, and, for an Eldar, after one Path is done it's time for the next one. To the reader this done by starting up a new part in Eldar Omnibus.
I recommend this novel but perhaps not as a first one to read of 40k literature, unless you're a diehard Eldar fan.
The Eldar has many different Paths that make them stronger in some aspects, and, for an Eldar, after one Path is done it's time for the next one. To the reader this done by starting up a new part in Eldar Omnibus.
I recommend this novel but perhaps not as a first one to read of 40k literature, unless you're a diehard Eldar fan.
November 6, 2019
Dieses Buch versammelt alle drei Bände von Thorpes Pfad-Trilogie. Das ergibt zusammen über 900 Seiten. Dennoch kann ich es nur empfehlen, die Bücher entweder so, oder einzeln zeitnah aufeinander zu lesen.
Da alle drei Titel praktisch dieselbe Geschichte aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven erzählt und auf diese Weise zusammenhängen, könnte man bei zu grossem Abstand viele wichtige Kleinigkeiten verpassen.
Und das wäre echt schade, da es sich um empfehlenswerte Werke aus dem Warhammer 40K-Universum handelt.
Da alle drei Titel praktisch dieselbe Geschichte aus unterschiedlichen Perspektiven erzählt und auf diese Weise zusammenhängen, könnte man bei zu grossem Abstand viele wichtige Kleinigkeiten verpassen.
Und das wäre echt schade, da es sich um empfehlenswerte Werke aus dem Warhammer 40K-Universum handelt.
September 2, 2016
absolutely love this collection. The concept of the three seperate protagonists telling the same story from their own perspectives in their own respective book, is brilliantly done and seeing the cause and affect of the characters choices is very rewarding.
April 18, 2016
Good stuff, but speed read the first few chapters unless you enjoy overly sentimental and sensitive man-child problems.
April 18, 2016
Good stuff.
April 4, 2017
Would be 4 starts if it wasn't for the boring intro's in the second and third books. The way the Avatar of Khaine is described is goosebump city!!!! so good
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews