An Age of Sigmar story set in the Realm of Ghur, Nick Horth’s novel Callis & Toll: The Silver Shard is a direct sequel to the short but very enjoyable City of Secrets, and explores Witch Hunter Hanniver Toll’s single-minded pursuit of ex-High Arbiter Ortam Vermyre. Leaving Excelsis behind, Toll and ex-Freeguild soldier Armand Callis pursue their enemy across the land, sea and air as Vermyre seeks out a long-lost artefact with the power to inflict untold damage on the Mortal Realms. It’s a journey that forces them to call upon all their skill and determination, and allies, just to survive.
Unlike City of Secrets, this is a full-length novel, so there’s scope for a bigger plot and exploration of a wider range of places this time around. In fact, it takes in an impressive variety of locations, complete with wild and wonderful (and usually lethal) creatures and different peoples, for the returning cast – Callis and Toll, Vermyre and aelven corsair Zenthe – plus a new face or two, to deal with. Where City of Secrets was very much a story about Excelsis and its people, here we spend much more time out in the wilds of Ghur, in an almost Indiana Jones-esque adventure through jungles, stormy seas and long-abandoned cities in search of the titular Silver Shard. All the while Vermyre is one step ahead, laying traps and searching for a power that might save him from what he’s become.
What this book isn’t, is an in-depth character study – it adds a little extra depth to Callis and Toll, most notably Toll as we see the effect of his increasingly self-destructive obsession with Vermyre, but that’s not really the focus of the story. Callis and Toll are entertaining and engaging characters, and likewise it’s interesting to spend more time with Zenthe and meet aelven explorer Shev, but this is a fun adventure story rather than an attempt to really get under the characters’ skin. It’s pacy and action-packed, full of forward momentum that keeps the pages turning, and with characters who can swashbuckle their way through pretty much everything the Mortal Realms can throw at them.
That’s not a bad thing, either – away from the grand scale of epic battlefields, it’s hugely satisfying to go on this sort of globe-trotting adventure with a few plucky characters in pursuit of a charismatic and devious enemy. It’s a book that continues the trend in Age of Sigmar fiction for exploring the Mortal Realms and mortal characters, and in doing so demonstrates once again just how much scope there is in the setting. While there’s plenty of danger and bloodshed, it’s not the darkest of books, but if you’re after something pacy and fun, which does a great job of showing off some of the spectacular sights and inhabitants of the Mortal Realms – floating mountains, hidden cities, monstrous sea beasts and so on – then this should be high up on your list.
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Click here to buy Callis & Toll: The Silver Shard or here for the audiobook.