Peter McLean’s first Black Library story to be set away from the Warhammer 40,000 universe, The Method of Madness – a fairly long short story, almost a novella really – is a Warcry story exploring the Cypher Lords and their subtle ways. In the Bloodwind Spoil of the Eightpoints, the bustling, stinking city of Carngrad is ruled over by a group of powerful warlords who maintain a brutal status quo. Considering himself a civilised man of politics, Thrallmaster Vignus Daneggia of the Cypher Lords sees in Carngrad’s hierarchy an opportunity for a scheme worthy of attracting the attention of Archaon himself.
With a relatively high word count this packs in a lot of story, a sharp and twisty tale which develops as Vignus’ scheme matures and explores a more urban aspect of Chaos-orientated life than usual, amongst the seedy streets of Carngrad. It shares something of a street-level gang warfare feel with McLean’s own War for the Rose Throne series, as Vignus embarks on a ruthless campaign to quickly and efficiently claim territory for his warband before his plans can really begin to flower, although the Thrallmaster’s own involvement is considerably more hands-off than Tomas Piety’s. He’s much more of a spymaster and string-puller than someone who gets stuck into the fighting, utilising magic and alchemy to further his cunning plans.
McLean imbues Vignus with a strong voice, sneeringly aristocratic in his towering ego and utterly deadly in his own way despite his cruel arrogance and the callous way he uses his followers. Set alongside most other characters Vignus and his warband might be difficult to like – certainly to empathise with – but in context of Carngrad and its inhabitants it’s hard not to root for them. As they sow terror and bloodshed throughout the city it’s interesting to see a different style of Chaos story emerge, one which offers insight into the Cypher Lords’ way of war, ideology and rivalries through sophisticated (compared to the usual pitched battles and anti-heroic duels) choices, patient planning and the careful application of psychological terror.
It pulls no punches in depicting the savage power struggle at the heart of Warcry, especially when Vignus’ lieutenant, the merciless mirrorblade Calcis, puts her alchemically-enhanced skills to good use. For all that it does a great job of fleshing out Warcry and the Cypher Lords, there’s little sense of obvious exposition – instead it’s a clever story first and foremost, with the exploration of the setting taking a back seat to interesting characters engaged in a brutally compelling power struggle. While it works nicely as a standalone story, especially with the extended word count, there’s plenty of scope for further development of these characters and exploration of Vignus’ devious schemes – a longer novella or even full novel certainly wouldn’t go amiss. As it stands, however, it’s dark and violent and remarkably satisfying, a characterful story which is well worth checking out for fans of Age of Sigmar, and the forces of Chaos especially.
The Method of Madness is available either as a standalone e-short or within Warcry: The Anthology – for the best value, pick up the anthology with its five other stories.
Check out the main Age of Sigmar reviews page on Track of Words.
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