Fabius Bile: The Omnibus

by Joshua Reynolds

Explore the story of the sinister Fabius Bile in this fantastic value omnibus.

Fabius Bile is known by many Primogenitor, Clonelord, Manflayer. Once a loyal son of the Emperor’s Children, now he loathes and is loathed by his brothers. Feared by man and monster, Fabius possesses a knowledge of genetic manipulation second to none, and the will to use it to twist flesh and sculpt nightmares.



Now a traitor amongst traitors, Fabius pursues his dark craft across the galaxy, from the Eye of Terror to the tomb world of Solemnace to the Dark City of Commorragh itself, leaving a trail of monstrous abominations in his wake.



This omnibus edition collects together the novels Primogenitor, Clonelord and Manflayer.

Genres: 40k, Science Fiction, Fiction

800 pages, Paperback

Published August 30, 2022

About the author

Josh Reynolds’ work has previously appeared in such anthologies as Historical Lovecraft from Innsmouth Free Press and Horror for the Holidays from Miskatonic River Press, and his novel, Knight of the Blazing Sun, is currently available from Black Library. He can be found at: http://joshuamreynolds.wordpress.com

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Reviews

[Luke Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Let the galaxy burn. From its ashes would rise a new future. One created by him.'

Josh Reynolds has wrought a masterpiece of both Warhammer 40,000 fiction and science fiction in general with his Fabius Bile trilogy, fleshing out one of the most malevolent characters of the 41st millenium, making him more than a mad scientist caricature, fleshing him out, giving him nuance and depth, making him human, relatable, almost sympathetic at times and it is always a pleasure to reread his work. This omnibus, comprising the three main novels (Primogenitor, Clonelord and Manflayer) and a trio of short stories (Prodigal, A Memory of Tharsis and Light of A Crystal Sun) detail Fabius's journey to create and perfect his New Men, the future of humanity, for an eternally hostile galaxy, and to protect them and prevent his multitude of enemies from derailing his plans to give his creations a glorious future...

As far as I'm concerned, these books are some of the best Black Library has published and a must-read for fans of Warhammer 40,000, Chaos Space Marines, mad scientists channelling Frankenstein, or fans of science fiction and darkly compelling antiheroes...

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is nothing more hideous than a villain whose motives are both understandable and somewhat supportable. Even so, we must equal parts pity and envy a man with such firm sight of cause set against a universe of enemies.

[Kara Dennison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabius Bile is, even by the standards of modern Warhammer 40K, a complicated person. Once the chief Apothecary, he has now taken it upon himself to remake humanity, ushering in a new age of Man. But as he pave the way for homo novus, he leaves other atrocities in his wake: twisting flesh and bone to create bizarre mutants, remaking figures from his own life, and preserving himself for as long as possible so he can preserve his grim work.

In this collection of three books and three short stories, we follow Bile as forces greater than himself (a thing he refuses to acknowledge) attempt to weave him into their plans. Daemons attempt to bend him to their will, including his gene-father and the woman he would dare to call "daughter." Harlequins attempt to guide him and his allies into their proper roles in the great story of the universe. And by the end, Bile will have to face down his own mortality... just not in the way he expected.

I admit that my knowledge of Warhammer does not expand into 40K, but lack of knowledge has never scared me off a Josh Reynolds joint. These books are dense with both lore and gore, and someone better versed in the setting will likely find all sorts of familiar things to enjoy. Appropriately, the visuals are disgustingly vivid, to the point that Melusine's demonic presence feels almost like a respite amidst vivisection and barely-aware human experiments. But even with the lack of knowledge, and occasionally feeling like I was neck-deep in information I'd never fully parse, I love this extended character study of Fabius Bile. He's a hideous man with something akin to good intentions buried deep down, and it's refreshing to see a character like this presented warts and all, rather than artificially glorified by the author. He's a fascinating, Frankensteinian figure, and if anything this book makes me want to know more about the eras of 40K in which he had a hand.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the Warhammer 40k sci-fi universe there aren't really "good guys". Even if there were though, Fabius Bile falls firmly in the bad guy category.

Primogenitor. Gene Father. Clonelord. Manflayer. Fabius has been known by all of these names. As Chief Apothecary it was Fabius' responsibility to tend to the wounded. But as his legion fell to the whispering temptations of the chaos gods Fabius was beside them the whole time, his experiments growing ever more twisted and depraved.

This trilogy gives you a really deep look into the mind of one of the most interesting characters in the setting. Although he looks like a mad scientist at first, the more you read the more you begin to realise that Fabius is just doing what he thinks is right for humanity. Everyone thinks him a monster, but he's willing to become a monster for his ideals.

From the creation of his new species, to secret cloning experiments, attempts to steal ancient alien knowledge, and massive space battles, the stories in this trilogy have a great variety and such a wide range of settings.

There's plenty of action, body-horror and gritty sci-fi gore. For anyone who doesn't care about the good guys, I'd highly recommend this as an interesting entry point into the world of Warhammer 40k.

[Chris Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the genuinely funnier 40k series I've read. Good/snappy dialogue, though I didn't care for that pithiness being extended to the Drukhari characters. Just my opinion. Artsy, self-indulgent Chaos marines are just more fun sometimes than their stoic, eternally heroic loyalist counterparts, you know?

Fabius Bile is pretty "antihero"y in this one, which I have conflicted feelings about. He's a monstrously unethical medical practitioner, which is...a really evil thing to be and part of me doesn't like being made to root/feel for him in any capacity.

Some of the supporting characters are really cool. I particularly enjoyed Arian Zorzi and Savona. Ramos and his Noise bros are also rad as hell.

I also felt that some of the coolest things happened "off-screen" and would have liked a deep dive on those events.

[Tarash_bulba · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the first book is good (Primogenitor), there is a drop in quality and pace in the second book (Clonelord) which is then quite improved in the last novel (Manflayer) but with a very very rushed ending which was quite unsatisfying.
Also, the battles seemed very repetitive and a bit boring between all 3 books and, with minor differences, it went usually like this : gather host of warriors, go attack/investigate/defend a place, get ass kicked, barely escape (usually through some last minute intervention), rinse and repeat.

[Alec Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good ol Bill, not realizing he's the most damned man in the room. I like how Bile is characterized; too arrogant to realize his own actions bring him closer to being exactly what he hates.

Black Library books don't need to be high art, they just need to be a fun ride. I think the Bile trilogy challenges itself to also be worthy of asking some interesting questions of one of Emperor's Cildren's oldest character.

[Matthew Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fabius Bile is an interesting character in the Warhammer 40k universe because he pushes back against so much of the setting in his own unique way. The omnibus of three books allows you to see his full arch and guarantees that you'll never read a character like him in the 40k settinga gain. The books do, however, require you to have a pretty strong grasp of major characters and events before reading. These books definitely do not stand alone for a reader who is uniformed on 40k lore.

[jacob naim · Rating 4 out of 5]

8.5/10

Suffered from the same issue many WH books suffer from - being the rushed feeling of the final battle or ending. Otherwise, does a great job of being a consistently engaging character that straddles the line of being understandable but at the same time chaotic and incomprehensible.

[Ryan Grinas · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the very best books (series) I’ve ever read. Vivid characters and imagery, grand settings, memorable dialogue, immersive plots and supremely written. Joshua Reynolds is a master at his craft and the Fabius Bile novels are his magnum opus.
Outstanding!

[Garrett Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first two were REALLY REALLY GOOD, but Manflayer absolutely dropped the ball

[Tipton Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ending was a 10/10

[Mitch · Rating 5 out of 5]

A true saga. I was sucked in from book one. Characters are rich and the narrative stretches centuries in the ways that only demigods lives can.

[Nargis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Five stars because I’ll likely read it again. Fabius has got to be one of the most intriguing characters in the whole of the 40K setting.

[jzthompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was going to read something non Warhammer for a change but why not. Fabius Bile looks a bit like older Tony Blair for some reason.