Neferata: Mortarch of Blood – David Annandale

Click here to check out my Rapid Fire interview with David Annandale about Neferata: Mortarch of Blood.

For David Annandale’s first Age of Sigmar novel he’s tackled one of the surviving characters from the World-that-Was, in Neferata: Mortarch of Blood. It’s a two-strand novel, one taking place in the distant past and the other immediately after the events of CL Werner’s Lord of Undeath. In the Age of Myth, Neferata fights to maintain control of her city Nulahmia against an uprising of once-loyal citizens inciting rebellion, while in the Age of Sigmar she works to regain control of Nulahmia after Nagash punished her by granting control of half the city to Arkhan the Black and his servants.

Both strands are about demonstrating the lengths Neferata will go for control of Nulahmia; manipulation from afar is her preferred tool, but she’s not afraid to get her hands dirty and act herself where necessary. It’s set almost entirely within the bounds of Nulahmia, which means we get to spend time exploring the gothic horror of a city built and maintained by Neferata’s will, which is right up Annandale’s authorial street, so to speak. With not a Stormcast in sight the focus is on Nulahmia’s citizens – mortal and (mostly) vampiric – their relationships with Neferata, and with their roles in the strange dynamic within the city. It’s interesting to see how Neferata has built and maintains her power structures, the way even other vampires perceive her and how they hope to overcome her influence.

Neferata herself is a strong presence across both strands, a little more hands-on than you might expect but able to carry the overall story in a believable manner. It does feel like she, much like Mannfred, has lost a little bit of depth in Age of Sigmar, however, and that she doesn’t really have a fully-developed backstory beyond the vampire archetype any more. It would be great to see more of why she’s the way she is and how she got there, for example. It’s inevitable that the constraints of the wider Age of Sigmar narrative would have an impact, and Annandale does a good job of making her work within the context of this story – she’s still a cool character, but old-school Warhammer fans might wish for some of her old self to show through.

Plot-wise it’s a refreshing change of pace from the more battle-led Age of Sigmar novels which came before. There are a few scenes where the focus widens to bigger set-pieces, and (very entertaining) moments of typical Annandale grandeur and bombast, but much of the novel is smaller scale and rather more subtle than some of his recent work, and demonstrates that there’s more to his style than just the grandiose. Indeed, the horror elements in play here – fear, manipulation, oppression, not to mention plenty of vampires and other undead monstrosities – are nicely done, maintaining a suitably grim tone without becoming overbearing.

It’s worth noting that this is definitely a short novel, at 230 pages in the limited edition hardback (which is gorgeous, it should be noted). Happily, the plot rattles along nicely as the two strands are woven together, and remains tight and focused throughout. There’s not much room for expansive diversions into characters or settings, but it’s sufficiently well thought-out that everything is interesting, the overall narrative feels character-appropriate, and there’s lots to enjoy in exploring Nulahmia and its inhabitants. It perhaps lacks a touch of the elusive wow factor (possibly by virtue of its short length), especially for a novel which is only available in limited edition to begin with, but it’s very much worth reading if you’re keen to see more of the Mortal Realms and read something a little different to what’s gone before.

Check out the main Age of Sigmar reviews page on Track of Words.

Click here to buy Neferata: Mortarch of Blood.