I would go with the regular hardback first. You can get the story down then appreciate the art in the First Edition in context with the narrative. I read Asurmen, and it was alright. I read it in about a day. It detailed the Fall better and the Phoenix Lords, but I felt like it was flat compared to the Path of the Eldar series. It jumped around between characters without enough space to really characterize them. The wraithknight crew was cool but ultimately unneeded considering how many pages they took up. I think more time could have been spent on the moral implications of war and death from the Eldar perspective. A lot of the plot points seemed to not be fully developed or realized. For a book about Asurmen, I felt myself wanting a little more about him. Not necessarily in the insatiable way after reading a good book. I wanted more of the backstory and a little more of him interacting with more Eldar. It did make me want the model for my army since I know more about him though. I like that Asurmen is portrayed as an avenger but not very similar to an exarch. Exarchs crave violence and show off a lot of the Khaine-hate, but Asurmen is very cool and disciplined in a way that really fits the Phoenix Lords in my head. I'm not sure how this would function as an intro to Eldar literature. It seems built on a lot of knowledge already possessed by the reader. I think this would be good for someone who has a decent grasp on the Eldar and their society but want something more in depth or more information on the Fall.
Would it be better to read the Path Series first? I know only what I have read from the Wiki and ELDAR - Rise and Fall of an Empire | WARHAMMER 40,000 Lore / History videos. And I couldn't find a awful lot about the Old Ones and their Gods, except they were in a war that killed off the first and the second trapped inside the Warp.
You could go either way since you know stuff about them already. I prefer the Path series because it's a little more colorful, and it focuses on my favorite aspect warriors, the Striking Scorpions
How do you fans feel Path of the Warrior stacks up with its sister novels? As in if you were to rank them 1-3. Thou Eldar are not my faction of choice I am still interested in understanding them, but tbh PoW lost me early on (unlike Path of the Renegade) and I have yet to return. Might another make a better intro to the Craftworlders?
I haven't finished Path of the Seer and haven't started Path of the Outcast. You kind of have to push through Korlandril's dumb drama and get to more scorpion stuff
Honestly... I read MOST of Path of the Warrior save for the last 10 pages or so. The book was just... I couldn't force myself to pick it up again and I have no desire to finish it. Path of the Seer however I found to be quite wonderful at the time. Granted I wasn't as well read on my lore then, my opinion may be different now. (It helps that you don't really have to put up with the love triangle in Seer because Thirianna just shoves it away.)
I may have physically sighed when that part of the story started being a thing. Korlandril is cool because is a Striking Scorpion. Otherwise, he's really annoying. His war mask is the best thing that happens to his character because it makes him shut up
Meh, i really found thirianna way more a pain in the ass to read, really couldnt stand stand her. But to each his own i guess.
