Eye of Terror

Warhammer 40,000

by Barrington J. Bayley

As the Imperium's war-fleets launch a mission into the heart of Chaos, rogue trader Maynard Rugolo searches for wealth and power on the fringe worlds of the distant realm, until he encounters the devastating powers of Chaos.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, 40k, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy

288 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 31, 1999

About the author

Barrington J. Bayley published work principally under his own name but also using the pseudonyms ofAlan Aumbry, Michael Barrington (with Michael Moorcock), John Diamond and P.F. Woods.

Bayley was born in Birmingham and educated in Newport, Shropshire. He worked in a number of jobs before joining the Royal Air Force in 1955; his first published story, "Combat's End", had seen print the year before in UK-only publication Vargo Statten Magazine.

During the 1960s, Bayley's short stories featured regularly in New Worlds magazine and later in its successor, the paperback anthologies of the same name. He became friends with New Worlds editor Michael Moorcock, who largely instigated science fiction's New Wave movement. Bayley himself was part of the movement.

Bayley's first book, Star Virus, was followed by more than a dozen other novels; his downbeat, gloomy approach to novel writing has been cited as influential on the works of M. John Harrison, Brian Stableford and Bruce Sterling.

Reviews

[Michael T Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not giving this four or five stars, but this is definitely one of the most FUN 40K books I've read so far, if nothing else.

Especially in the early days of 40K fiction, it seems many of the authors weren't QUITE sure how much of a satire the universe was, and how seriously it should be taken (the answer is, of course, 100% seriously, in order that the ridiculous satire of it be obvious). This resulted in many strange, almost experimental books such as this. It's been a few years, so bear with me, but we have basically three main plots, only two of which I remember.

Plot one is a Space Marine who's survived in space for a long, loooooong time. He was fighting some aliens & the only survivor at the end of the fight, his ship destroyed, so he just floated & many of the glands that are implanted during the SM transformation kept him alive. He "cocooned" pre-Heresy, in fact, and when the Chaos Space Marine who finds him & resuscitates him realizes this, he tells him, "Oh, yeah, we kicked the Emperor out long ago. Chaos rules now, bro!" Such a fun way to point out the Chaos/loyalist dichotomy.

Plot two involves a rogue trader and his crew venturing into the Eye of Terror for ... some reason ... and ... encountering things there. A veritable Alice in Wonderland ride of insanity, with crazy things appearing every dozen pages or so. A wild ride showing off (mostly) Tzeentchian Chaos followers, if I remember correctly.

Probably not the best for introducing someone to 40K, and definitely not the best book ever written, BUT if you're interested in going on a ride that won't let you feel safe, and want to be tossed into the world kicking and screaming, you couldn't do much worse.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is one of my all-time favourites. Surprisingly you don't need much knowledge of the Warhammer 40k universe to enjoy this book. The main gist of the story is that the eye of terror is a rip on the fabric of space and time, where all manner of dark and evil demons lurk and you basically get to go in there and see what its like. Its kind of like a Down-the-Rabbit-Hole kind of adventure, but with a sci-fi/nerdy twist. Every time I read this book it makes me have vivd dreams. Every time! The only problem is that its now out of print. Good luck finding a copy.

Just be forewarned, however, that this book is the literary equivalent of reading a star trek novel. The universe in which the story is set is in the 41st millenium after all.

[Mátyás Csipak · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eye of Terror follows several characters' perspectives who for various reasons are venturing into the Eye of Terror. (shocker). First we have the Rogue Trader, Maynard Rugolo and his Navigator companion who are seeking riches, then the subplot of the lost Astartes who is found by a corrupted space marine and is slowly being corrupted to worship the ruinous powers as well, and lastly we have the Lord Militant commanders of Segmentum Obscurus and Pacificus who are planning and carrying out a preemptive strike against Chaos forces.

I found all the character's stories fun to read and of course this book, since it's release has become a very foundational piece of the 40k universe, it has inspired many other stories which are in some way connected to this one.

The thing I really enjoyed about this book is due to it's age, many of the rules of the 40k universe were not yet established, which results in a much more fluid way of telling the story, something that we do not really get in newer realeases.
I'm not giving a rating of 4 stars, because as fun it is to read, this story kind of requires some already established background knowledge of the universe so it may not be too good for first time readers, but otherwise I would really recommend it to the fans of the series.
3.5./5

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not a huge Warhammer 40K fan, but I enjoy the lore enough to read its novels from time to time. This one... meh. It's a book that's really meant for only the most hardcore fan of the game and its backstory, since the author seems to be assuming you'll automatically know everything that's mentioned without needing any additional explanation.

The story itself is pretty much pulp sci-fi, and is relatively enjoyable, but the entire tone is just so humorless and takes itself SO seriously that it's really difficult to enjoy.

If you're incredibly desperate for a 40K novel that you haven't read before, then I guess it's worth checking out. Otherwise, just skip it.

[Ihor Kolesnyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Середняк. Не можна сказати, що повна втрата часу, але й на полиці мабуть не буду тримати.

[Asgrimur Hartmannsson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A reasonably entertaining yarn, almost like "Princess of Mars."
It has way too many characters, to the point that I conflated them, and a few plots. Looks like the author had way too much fun writing this.
It's all about space magic and monsters.
For the entertainment value.

[Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

http://gnomeship.blogspot.com/2017/10...

[ElGoblinVolador · Rating 3 out of 5]

El libro comienza muy bien, de hecho creo que es de los que mejor inicio tiene de WH40k, el problema viene cuando sus protagonistas que te los han descrito perfectamente, de repente se comportan como unos auténticos GILIPOLLAS. Bueno, no es cierto, el GILIPOLLAS (con mayusculas) es Rugolo, el navegante posiblemnte sea el mejor personaje de todo el libro con permiso del Lord Comandante de la Armada Imperial del Segmentus Obscurus, Drang (JODER!! Quiero novelas de este tio!!), que aunque es un secundario, me han dado más ganas de saber cosas de este señor que de cualquiera de los otros dos protagonistas. De hecho en algún momento desee con todas mis ganas que les matasen para que la historia se centrase en otros personajes.
¿Qué tiene de bueno el libro? La forma de desceibirte el universo donde se desarrollan la historia. MUY BIEN narrado y explicado que a veces te hacen estallar la cabeza si te imaginas ese mundo en tu cabeza.
¿Lo recomiendo? Para un lector novel de WH40k rotundamente NO. Puede ser muy tedioso en algunas partes de la historia y que pierda interes. Para alguien que lleve tiempo en WH40k y tenga curiosidad de como era este universo de los 80’s sin lugar a dudas se lo recomendaria pero recordando que no es la historia lo importante, si no las descripciones del propio Caos Y Disformidad que aparecen en el libro

[Ada · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for my NEWT's. A book recommended by a friend. In this case I asked my partner. He got really excited because he really like(d) Warhammer and now he had the chance to teach me more about the world!

It was cute to see him debate with himself which book was the best one to start with.

For that experience alone I'm glad to have read this.

But the story is bonkers. In the beginning I tried to understand what was happening but it was only when I gave up on that that I began to enjoy myself. I have no idea what the actual plot was of this story but I had a good time.

The ending made no sense to me but I can't wait to ask my partner about it. I doubt I will understand it better after his explanation but again, I do love seeing him being passionate about stuff.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the most enthralling of 40k novels. It was quite slow to start and I just ended up losing interest half way through. For perspective, this is a small novel, and it took half of the book for the story to start getting anywhere. Right when I was starting to get more into the two main characters it shifts the perspective to another completely unrelated character that seemed a lot less interesting. Since it was a switch so late in the story and was a character that wasn't mentioned earlier. I just couldn't get myself to care. I ended up skipping those parts but then just ended up losing interest in the book and never finished it.

[Ken Giles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well what can i say about this book. Its a fever dream for sure and rather confusing at times.
But. Its a good story and contains some very important Dark Angles lore that i didn’t expect to be in this book regarding Lion El Johnson!
Well worth a read and worth pushing through the more bizarre parts.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the first books I ever read in the 40k verse, way back when. A great story of down on their luck misfits and high adventure in the Hell-verse of Warhammer 40,000. It is rather short, but still worth it.

[William Sariego · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Eye of Terror is the source of Chaos in the Warhammer 40K universe. The book is aptly titled as it is written in a rather chaotic style, changing points of view from a myriad of characters. It all comes together in the end. Sort of.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s an interesting read for those who are more familiar with the now established 40K canon, and want to see the wilderness years.

An okay read; entertaining at times, and at other times a bit of a slog.

[Lanfear · Rating 3 out of 5]

No está nada mal, podría ser mucho más corto pero hace una buena introducción de los dioses del caos, al menos para mí.

[Luke Lybert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Looking for a trippy read? This book has it all for you. I would have rated this lower but for the craziness that somehow added a level of charm. A must read for Warhammer 40,000 fans.

[Joanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Juras · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great oldschool Warhammer novel. Lot of great worldbuilding (Chaos worlds). Makes your imagination working overtime.

[Chip Hunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

For some reason I just wasn't enthralled by this story as I have been with other WH40K titles I've read. A number of things about this book didn't settle well with me. Deviating from some of the history and standards set up for the WH40K world is somewhat annoying but ultimately a minor complaint. My primary gripe has to do with Bayley's writing style. A number of times I found myself loosing interest and forgetting what I had just read half way through paragraphs. I blame this on the writing, with sentence structure and wording not flowing very smoothly, resulting in a broken feeling. This was somewhat surprising for me because Bayley is a fairly accomplished author. Maybe I had too-high expectations because of that. Regardless, this in addition to the many editorial mistakes, resulted in a much less-enjoyable read.

The story is made up of three separate storylines that all come together at the very end of the book. The primary one follows a rogue trader on his quest to find rare and valuable merchandise in worlds surrounding the Eye of Terror (some sort of gateway into the Warp). Another focuses on a couple of chaos daemons and their plans to attack the Empire. The third follows the somewhat crazy-seeming commander of a naval battlefleet who wishes for glory and plans an invasion of the Warp. These three complex storylines include a number of very interesting characters and places that should have lead to a very interesting read. Unfortunately, it seems Bayley bit off more than he could chew with so many different things going on at the same time that the end result is a confusion of highly unlikely events taking place all the same time and an ending that leaves you off right where you started. Bayley's view of the Emperor and his power contradicts that of other authors. Tech-adepts fixing mechanical problems of warp engines by simply painting archaic symbols and reciting prays to the Emperor just doesn't feel right. Also, his portrayal of the Empire as a rather weak and extremely bleak consortium is unappealing.

Maybe I'm a bit too harsh on this one, but IMHO its not really worth your effort.

[Βασίλειος · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a different 40k. Enter a 41st millennium that is not only grimdark, but absolutely bonkers.

This book is special for a number of reasons:

1) It is only the second publication from Black Library, back when a lot of the lore was not quite established yet. Another thing that wasn't established yet was the level of seriousness of the setting, which is why, even though Black Library's first publication "Gaunt's Ghosts: First and Only" was very serious and dark, this one doesn't take itself too seriously.
2) It is written by Barrington J. Bayley, who, unlike the rest of the Black Library authors, was already a science fiction veteran when he wrote "Eye of Terror" at the age of 62!
3) Unlike with most 40k releases the reader does not need to know anything about the setting. Anyone can read this book without having any previous knowledge of the Warhammer 40.000 universe.

I don't know if it was the original intention of the author, but this book acts as a great introduction to the setting of Warhammer 40.000! Throughout the book we get a brief description of basically every faction of the setting. Admittedly, these information dumps sometimes occur apropos of nothing, however they somehow don't seem silly and forced; which, I guess, is mainly because of the style this book is written in. Indeed, at times it reminded me of "The Hitchhicker's Guide to the Galaxy", at other times it reminded me of indie comic books.

It has one major plot and three secondary plot lines, two of which start only after the middle of the book and until the end seem completely unrelated to the main plot or to each other. In the end they all come together, but to be honest it felt a bit rushed. And that is why, unfortunately, "Eye of Terror" gets only 3 stars.

However don't let that discourage you from reading it, because it is honestly a very fun read!

[Tentatively, Convenience · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm always giving bks 4 star ratings b/c I tend to read things that're somehow important to me. I finished reading Thomas Pynchon's great "Against the Day" & lauded it for having positive anarchist characters. But I'm sick, so I wanted a break from intellect, so I started reading this piece of trash. I can only figure Bayley was desperate for money. This bk is "A Black Library Publication - Games Workshop", a "Warhammer 40,000 Novel". Apparently, these novels share things in common - Space Marines, etc - & authors are requested to write in a certain style. So there must be multiple Space Marine bks by multiple authors. Who is this stuff aimed at? Masturbating adolescent boys w/ fantasies of travelling the galaxies & hacking people up w/ laser-axes?! Beats me (pun intended). That there's actually money for publishing this garbage boggles my mind.

Here's a sentence from page 7: "For here it was, and here alone, that the scientific arts had been preserved for mankind during the long dark ages of anarchy when Earth itself had fallen into barbarism." I mean is this guy SERIOUS?! I had some hope when I read on page 48: "Slowly he seated himself at the control board, carefully removed Rugolo's boot brush, nail clippers and one or two rumpled, grubby small garments from it". That's a funny enuf evocation of domestic disorder in a spaceship. I had some hope.

Let me put it this way: I had pneumonia when I read this: I was weak, exhausted, almost beyond hope; MAYBE Bayley discovered that he has cancer, maybe he wrote this for the money to pay for health care. I mean, I forgive you Barrington & I hope you get better but, please, stop w/ the "dark ages of anarchy" shit, alright?! You shd be smarter than that!

[William Ely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good early Warhammer 40k novel. This one delves into the nature of the Eye of Terror and Chaos in general. It also delves into the tyrannical nature of the Imperium as seen from within.

This book is probably not going to appeal to anyone who is not into the game's lore already. The target audience will get more out of the story. As one of the early novels, the Warhammer 40k lore is not quite cemented properly yet but is well on its way.

Taken by itself outside of the 40k universe, this novel is just an alright military sci-fi novel.

[Phil Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

An older WH40K book from before a lot of the current “rules” of the lore were established. 40K stories are normally better when more humans are involved. Good story with some pacing issues. Traders, chaos, the warp. Recommended.

[Steve]

Warhammer 40K

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pulp scifi. Ok enough, if you like this sort of thing.