The third Shadespire-set Black Library audio drama, Guy Haley’s The Autumn Prince is the bravest and best yet. A narrator-less tale driven by strong dialogue and an excellent central performance from John Banks, it sees aelven Prince Maesa drawn to Shadespire in search of dark secrets to help him solve an even darker problem. Guided by the bound spite Shattercap and driven by determination that only an ancient soul can possess, Maesa seeks out the trapped spirit of one of Shadespire’s old lords to bargain for the knowledge he desires.
Making full use of the medium with a small selection of strong, well-voiced characters and typically evocative SFX, this never suffers for the lack of a narrator, instead allowing Maesa and Shattercap to drive the plot clearly forwards. There’s an interesting dynamic between those two, with some of Maesa’s backstory gradually revealed as we progress, and their dialogue providing both narrative forward motion and the best exploration of Shadespire’s history yet. It’s great to see a non-Stormcast story, offering something different in both plot and characters, and by telling this story in audio we get a genuinely immersive experience that beautifully captures the essence of what Shadespire is about.