Isolated and alone, the eldar craftworld Kaelor floats through the darkest reaches of space, playing host to a whole civilization that has lived within its vast structure for countless millennia.

When the youthful eldar warrior Naois finally comes of age, he is unaware of the his role in the grand narrative of Kaelor ... unaware of the dark destiny that lies on his shoulders. Having trained in the ancient Aspect Warrior Temple of the Warp Spiders, he seeks to rebuild the lost power of his once-great family. In apparent fulfilment of a secret prophecy, the young warrior and his infant sister wreak destruction across the craftworld, exacting vengeance on those who brought low their ancestors in the fabled House Wars. Naois and the infant Ela Ashbel bring their enemies to their knees. But can the prophecy that drives Naois be trusted, or are there darker forces at work?

Eldar Prophecy is a story of revenge and fate that explores the mysterious world of the alien eldar -- a once mighty race that is in the twilight of its existence.

(2007)

(cover art: Games Workshop)

Reviews:

5 STARS! WOW! The eldar have found their author!, 2 Feb 2007

Reviewer: Sleepless in NYC "Sleepy" (NYC)
Simply put, this is the most spectacular WH40K book so far written. It is the first to be wholly set on the craftworld (world-ships) of the alien eldar, and it is full of fantastic detail about these enigmatic beings. The story is complex and sophisticated, as befits the eldar themselves. And there is even an awesome appendix that provides some wonderful details about the eldar and their universe, often clarifying background issues that have been confused by GW and BL up until now.

Goto has been set free of the confines of the Space Marines and the Imperium in this novel, and he is glorious. Eldar fans, WH40K fans, and fans of sci-fi in general will find this book inspiring and amazing. Don't expect your standard 40K novel here: this is the first of something completely new. The start of something wonderful.

Read it.
Read it now.

4 STARS! Mixed feelings, but enjoyable, February 20, 2007

Reviewer: A. Andersen (Buskerud, Norway)
(REAL NAME)
I find it hard to decide how much I liked this novel. Imagine the movie Titanic ending right after the scenes with the ship breaking up and sinking and it's likely to be the same feeling as this book presents. The last two chapters feel rushed and leaves alot to be desired, but the tale before that is spectacular and more often than not; quite engrossing. Hopefully, knowing ahead of time that it might be a bit too open-ended, you won't feel as disappointed as I did.

In terms of language, storytelling and imagery this is truly a spectacular journey through the conflicts and political intrigues saturating the craftworld of Kaelor. Paragraphs shift focus freely in first person view and thus the thoughts and views of the different main actors in the story. At first I found this confusing because I'm used to books following one or two people and their train of thoughts in each chapter, but once I got used to it I really appreciated the alternative approaches this give to each scene.

Like real people, the main characters aren't plain good or bad guys, but somewhere inbetween, some more flawed than others and all driven by their own motives and experiences. While still alien to us with their eldar ways and racial traits, this makes them belivable. Seeing events unfold from different perspectives gives you the chance to make up your own mind on who's "right" and "wrong", and what's actually going on. It also promotes reading it again with another understanding of the plot.

Mind, the plot synopsis at the back cover really doesn't do it justice. To me it was confusing and I was under impression the story would be a thriller, a hunt for a sort of serial killer. It should have read something like:
"The eldar craftworld Kaelor floats isolated through the dark reaches of space. With its population torn and polarized by the great House Wars of the past and their Aspect Temples withdrawn to the outer reaches of their world, Kaelor's end of days is near. A prophecy has been set in motion, but is it still time to unite the factions and avert disaster?"

At the end of the book there is a glossary appendix, thankfully. I'm not sure if I'd recommand going through it in detail ahead of the book because some of the terms are purposfully explained later in the story, but I would suggest skimming through any unfamilar word or expression just to be on board, as I'm sure even old Eldar players might find some things unfamilar at Kaelor as opposed to the craftworlds who've not been alone for so long.

Overall I'm happy with having this in my shelf, but the end begs a sequal and I hope it will come so the tale gets a proper conclusion. Not to mention the fact that I'd love to see more of the kaelor eldar and other Aspect Warriors than the Dire Avengers and Warp Spiders.

Extract:

Sneak peak from pp.7-9:

She blinked and the congregation flinched involuntarily.

The flash of sapphire from her radiant eyes shimmered through the darkness, touching the soul of each of the Yuthran sisterhood as they stood in ceremonial attention around the perimeter of the Ring of Alastrinah. The long, red robes of the seers floated like veils of lost innocence, caught in the eddies of a swirl of faerulh – the ethereal soul-wind that breathed out of the very spirit of Kaelor itself.

In the centre of the fluttering, diaphanous circle sat the little abomination. Her head had been freshly shaved, making her peaceful, smooth and uncreased features appear to gleam like a white pearl. Her face was elegantly elliptical, and her youthful cheeks already betrayed the signs of a resolute jaw-line. She looked to all present like a statue of exquisite artistry – worthy of Vhaalum the Silver himself – only her startling blue eyes seemed to radiate life from deep within her, like the light of Isha herself.

Little Ela blinked again. Watching from her position in the circle, Cinnia felt herself catch her own breath and lean forward, as though afraid that even the slight motion of breathing might be enough to extinguish the painfully pristine sapphire light in the sleehr-child’s eyes. For that moment, the seer saw the infant’s gaze as a solitary candle in a infinite darkness.

Cinnia’s red robes rippled faintly with her aborted motion, betraying her concern to anyone who might be watching. But all eyes were trained on the vaugnh – the abomination, as Cinnia called the eerie infant seer under her charge.

The infant’s eyelids closed for a moment and then fluttered open once again, defining starbursts of blue in the shifting nebula of red robes that surrounded her. Despite their disdain for the child, the seers of the Yuthran sisterhood seemed to sigh inaudibly, each of them transfixed by the vision of the little female, who sat in such captivating tranquillity before them. Each of them was caught in the discomforting space between awe, revulsion and fear.

Little Ela appalled them.

Very slowly, the perfect and beautiful face turned, as though independent of its neatly seated body. Its sapphire eyes twinkled like diminishing stars as their gaze swept around the crimson circle, scanning past the faces that had become so familiar over the last several cyaers. Ela looked through them as though the Yuthran were nothing.

(copyright Games Workshop ltd, 2006 -- CS Goto)

Who are the Eldar?

Ancient and mysterious beyond the comprehension of men, the eldar are enigmatic aliens who stalked the stars when mankind's ancestors were first crawling from the primordial seas of Terra. Their magnificent empire spanned the galaxy: their whims decided the fate of worlds and their wrath quenched the fiercest suns. But many millennia ago, these Sons of Asuryan fell prey to sinful pride, decadence and depravity – this was the Fall of the Eldar. From the miraculous potency of their degenerate dreams, a sickening and obscene god was born – the Great Enemy. The psychic implosion of its birth-cries tore out the heart of the eldar empire, leaving a pulsing, bleeding afterbirth of pure Chaos in its place – the Eye of Terror.

And now, in the time of the Imperium of Man, the eldar are all but extinct – the last fragments of a shattered civilization plunged into constant warfare as they flee the ever-lustful reaches of the Great Enemy, struggling to suppress the deathly light of their fiery emotions lest the Enemy find them again. Those who managed to escape before the cataclysmic Fall did so on mighty living vessels called Craftworlds; it is on these world-ships that the last remnants of the eldar civilization drift amongst the stars as a scattered and nomadic race.

Only a few of the wisest eldar Farseers know how many of the great craftworlds escaped from the Fall. One such craftworld, which fled out into the darkest reaches of the galaxy, hiding in glorious isolation from the Great Enemy in the blindness of nowhere, was Kaelor – The Radiant Eye. It drifted far from the touch of civilization, turning in on itself and incubating its own psychoses until the gravity of its intense psychic resonance gradually drew the attention of precisely those eyes from whom it sought to remain hidden. ‘Eldar Prophecy’ is the story of Kaelor.

(from the preamble to 'Eldar Prophecy')