The Path of the Eldar

A new series of Warhammer 40,000 novels by Gav Thorpe focusing on the Eldar, specifically three individuals from the craftworld Alaitoc. Each book tells the same story, but from the perspective of one of these three. The first, Path of the Warrior, is from the perspective of Korlandril, a dissatisfied artist who takes the Path of the Warrior. The second, Path Of The Seer, is from the perspective of Thirianna, a former warrior who finds herself drawn to a new Path. The third, Path of the Outcast, has not been released but will likely revolve around Aradryan, a loose cannon whose actions precipitate the later events of the previous two books.

A Dark Eldar-based Spin-Off, Path of the Renegade, was released in 2012.

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Tropes used in The Path of the Eldar include:

• A Fate Worse Than Death: For Seers who abuse their power and/or influence sufficiently, it's having the parts of their brains that tie them to the Warp lobotomized. Thirianna's mentor warns her of this when she pulls strings to have her vision of the Imperial attack on Alaitoc taken more seriously, although it's more of a lesson than anything.
• The Atoner: Thiriana becomes this as she tries to come to terms with the horrible things she did as a warrior.
• Becoming the Mask: Korlandril eventually becomes lost in his role as the Striking Scorpion Exarch.
• Cliff Hanger: The first two novels' endings; Path of the Outcast will wrap things up.
• Empathic Weapon:
  • Korlandril's armor.
  • Thirianna's witchblade.
• Love Hurts: One of the minor plot points is the sundering of the friendship/sort-of love triangle between Korlandril, Aradryan, and Thirianna as each takes his/her own Path.
• Mental Fusion: This happens when Korlandril becomes an Exarch, as his mind and personality become a gestalt with those of all the previous Striking Scorpion Exarchs, with the first as the most dominant.
• My God, What Have I Done?: Thiriana experiences this during her Farseer training when she has to break the mask which she used to keep the memories of her time as a warrior at bay and sees her bloodlust and ruthlessness fully.
• Proud Warrior Race: Not the whole race, but as detailed in The Path of the Warrior. Once the war goes on, this is what Aspect Warriors become.
• Rashomon Style: Each novel in the series, while focused on the lives of the individual Eldar and how their Paths change them, revolves around the same series of events, culminating in an invasion of the Craftworld by the Imperium.
• Spock Speak: Typical Eldar dialogue.
• Taken for Granite: Thirianna's mentor's body is starting the crystallization process that is the inevitable fate of Farseers.
• What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Zig Zagged Trope. Thirianna struggles with this during her Farseer training; see The Atoner and My God, What Have I Done? above. She later tries to save a human child during a strike meant to destroy a Chaos artifact, but the child becomes a daemonhost. During the Imperial invasion, she is disgusted by the invaders and has no qualms about killing them.