It’s Chaos versus Chaos in The Last Gift by Josh Reynolds, the tenth short story in Black Library’s 2015 Advent Calendar series. Ompallious Zeyros, champion of Tzeentch and strong contender for most bonkers name of the year, leads his followers against the plague-ridden defenders of a Nurgle fortress as he hunts down an old friend. Once as close as brothers, he and the scarcely less impressively named Ephraim Bollos took different paths and embraced opposing powers, and finally they come together for a final showdown
Never one to shy away from loud statements, Reynolds writes in technicolour here, throwing in all manner of daemons and pestilential nastiness as he pits the two contrasting forces against each other. Subtle it is not, but there’s plenty more here than just blood and guts as he paints an interesting picture of two men’s conflict as the friction between Tzeentch and Nurgle in microcosm. This sort of story, especially in a new setting like Age of Sigmar, is vulnerable to a lack of connection between the reader and the characters, but there’s enough sharp dialogue and teasing backstory here amidst the carnage to lend the story sufficient weight to stand on its own and really work.
Click here to go to the main Black Library Advent Calendar post and see the other reviews.
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