A rare Necromunda story set almost entirely uphive, Denny Flowers’ A Question of Taste is a tale of civilised dispute between Guilders over contracts and business relationships. Having just overseen the implementation of the Mercator Lux’s latest contract to supply solar power to an underhive factorum, Tempes Sol returns uphive for a dinner meeting with the representatives of two other Guilds. As they dine on delicacies of sufficient sophistication to almost mask the flavour of corpse starch, Sol attempts to turn the conversation towards business, though the agents of Guilds Pallidus and Temperium appear to have him at a disadvantage.
There’s a different feel here to your standard Necromunda story, but it still retains the overall tone of the setting with the usual feuding and casual disregard for human life just displayed from a different angle..in this case via a dinner party. It’s cleverly written, full of pointed dialogue as the three Guilders take sly little digs at each other, with an increasing sense of tension as Sol’s position within the dynamic between the Guilders becomes painfully evident. While it largely eschews violence there’s still plenty of conflict here, and it nicely illustrates the power/privilege inequality inherent in the setting. If you’re interested in the bigger picture of Necromunda, this is very much worth getting hold of.
Note: this also has an interesting connection to another of Flowers’ stories – Salvation’s Crucible – which is currently only available in the Black Library Events Anthology 2019/20.
This was released as part of the 2019 Black Library Advent Calendar – click here to see the main page for the Advent Calendar, with links to all of the reviews.
