Josh Reynolds’ Eight Lamentations: Spear of Shadows is the first in a planned Age of Sigmar trilogy about the search for eight powerful weapons scattered across the Mortal Realms. In the city of Excelsis, the crippled god Grungni gathers together adventurers from different Realms to seek out one of the eight, the Spear of Shadows, before it falls into the wrong hands. Grungni isn’t the only power seeking the spear, however – the Khornate forgemasters who first forged the eight weapons compete against each other, while both Archaon and Neferata send their own champions even as the skaven of Clan Rictus join the hunt for it.
There are lots of characters in play here, from Grungni’s chosen adventurers – gunmaster Volker (who’s essentially the main protagonist), mercenary Zana, knight Roggen and dour Fyreslayer Lugash – to vampire Adhema (recognisable from Nagash: The Undying King) and Chaos champions Ahazian Kel and Yuhdak (The Road of Blades and Fury of Gork respectively). That doesn’t even include the skaven, or other characters we meet along the way. Thankfully while the story focuses mostly on Volker, Ahazian and Yuhdak, it allows all of the characters both time and purpose, while the connections that some of them have to Josh’s other stories add a little extra depth for anyone who’s been following all along.
With not a Stormcast in sight it’s great to see so many different types of character, drawn from across the breadth of factions and archetypes available in Age of Sigmar. Impressively, even most of the nominal antagonists feel relatable – at least engaging, if not necessarily sympathetic – while the skaven as always add an extra element of humour to proceedings. It’s not just characters who might be familiar, either – the plot moves from Excelsis out to the crawling city of Shu’gohl, both of which have been visited before, and then on to various other intriguing locations. Much like City of Secrets it’s really satisfying to explore more of the Mortal Realms and take in some of the day-to-day workings of Age of Sigmar, filling in details in background while the plot proceeds.
Plot-wise there’s nothing here which tries to be clever. Instead it offers the simple pleasure of an action-packed adventure story pitting relatable human (ok, mortal) characters against powerful enemies on a god-given mission with far-reaching consequences. The Mortal Realms feel fresh and full of potential, while the narrative style – swapping grand battles for smaller scale events without sacrificing the stakes – makes for a nice change from the more military-heavy style of some other stories. Ultimately it’s just great fun, with loads to enjoy, and demonstrates once again that Age of Sigmar offers massive scope for stories every bit as memorable as the Old World.
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