Tag Archives: Age of Sigmar

QUICK REVIEW: Auction of Blood – Josh Reynolds

Day Five of 2017’s Black Library Summer of Reading campaign

The book trade is a dangerous business, at least in Josh Reynolds’ Age of Sigmar short story Auction of Blood. Palem Bok, bookseller and spy, is tasked with attending an auction of rare items and acquiring what turns out to be a remarkably dangerous artefact for his mistress, the Mortarch Neferata. Danger abounds in the streets and houses of Greywater Fastness, and in order to complete his mission Bok must exercise all of the caution, judgement and skill a bookseller needs, along with a judicious serving of violence and death.

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QUICK REVIEW: The Hardest Word – David Guymer

Day Two of 2017’s Black Library Summer of Reading campaign

Set in and around the fortress known as The Seven Words, in the Realm of Ghur, David Guymer’s Age of Sigmar short story The Hardest Word is a typically boisterous tale of Hamilcar Bear-Eater of the Astral Templars. When word arrives that his recently-conquered fortress may be under threat from the insidious skaven, Hamilcar bids his warriors to search for the source of the danger, while he offers up an unconventional distraction. Not one for the subtle option, his choice is bold, brash and surprisingly effective.

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The Realmgate Wars: Fury of Gork – Josh Reynolds

After two earlier novellas, The Fury of Gork is Josh Reynolds’ first novel in Black Library’s Realmgate Wars series, and the seventh book in the series overall. In the wilds of the Ghurlands amidst the bones of ancient gargants, armies converge on the Howling Labyrinth, each with their own purpose. Zephacleas Beast-bane’s Astral Templars, tasked with finding the orruk god Gorkamorka, fight alongside Gaius Greel’s Sons of Mallus, who hunt the Tzeentchian sorceress Sharizad. While she searches for what lies within the Howling Labyrinth, Gordrakk – the Fist of Gork – leads his Ironjawz in search of the biggest battle they can find.

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The Realmgate Wars: Warbeast – Gav Thorpe

***On the 15th July 2017, Warbeast won the Legend Award at the Gemmell Awards – a much deserved accolade!***

Book six in Black Library’s ten-strong Realmgate Wars series, Warbeast by Gav Thorpe is the first what you might call ‘full-length’ novel in the series, and Gav’s first Age of Sigmar novel. Taking place in Ghur, the Realm of Beasts, it sees two Chambers of Stormcast Eternals – the Warbeasts of the Celestial Vindicators and the Silverhands of the Knights Excelsior – battling against vast numbers of skaven and Chaos-corrupted tribes to secure a vital realmgate. For Lord-Celestant Arkas Warbeast it’s a very personal mission, as he returns to the lands of his birth, lands he failed to protect as a mortal.

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Warhammer Age of Sigmar – (Storm)Cast List – July 2017

I’ve been making a concerted effort of late to catch up on Black Library’s Age of Sigmar fiction, of late. I’d previously read the first few in the Realmgate Wars series, and all of the short stories that had been released over various Advent Calendar campaigns, but then I’d rather let things slip in favour of 40k and the Horus Heresy. I’m now making good progress with the Realmgate Wars, and looking forward to the books set away from that particular campaign, but there’s something that I’ve been rather struggling with – remembering which Stormcast are which.

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The Realmgate Wars: Wardens of the Everqueen – CL Werner

The fifth book in Black Library’s The Realmgate Wars series, Wardens of the Everqueen by CL Werner is the first actual novel, after four collections of novellas or short stories. Following on from Josh Reynolds’ novellas in War Storm and Ghal Maraz, this continues the story of the Hallowed Knights in the realm of Ghyran, as they fight to protect the Everqueen, Alarielle, from falling into the hands of Nurgle’s champion Torglug the Despised. Embarking on a long and perilous exodus from Ghyran alongside uneasy allies in the sylvaneth, the Hallowed Knights are plagued by Torglug’s forces at every turn.

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The Realmgate Wars: Call of Archaon – Black Library

Book four in Black Library’s Realmgate Wars series for Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, Call of Archaon is a collection of eight short stories by David Annandale, David Guymer, Guy Haley and Rob Sanders, each contributing towards a single wider story arc. Between them they tell the tales of three champions of Chaos, chosen to compete for the honour of joining the Varanguard and to fight beside Archaon himself. Each one the followe of a different Chaos god, they follow their own paths to the inevitable final showdown, manipulated all along by the unseen hand of Archaon’s subject, the Many-Eyed Servant.

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QUICK REVIEW: See No Evil – Rob Sanders (Call of Archaon part 8)

WARNING: this review contains a spoiler if you haven’t read the previous seven instalments of the Call of Archaon arc…

The eighth and final instalment of Black Library’s Call of Archaon miniseries, Rob Sanders’ See No Evil wraps things up with a story set once the dust has settled and Archaon has chosen his new champion. Orphaeo Zuvius, once a champion of Tzeentch and now of Archaon’s Varanguard, joins his fellows at the front of a vengeful force determined to drive the newly-arrived Stormcast Eternals from their beachhead in a land previously conquered by Chaos. With Archaon himself leading from the front, it promises to be an epic battle and a fitting conclusion to this particular story arc.

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QUICK REVIEW: Blood and Plague – David Annandale (Call of Archaon part 7)

The penultimate short story in Black Library’s Call of Archaon miniseries, and David Annandale’s second contribution, Blood and Plague brings the main story arc to a close, focusing on Ushkar Mir and Copsys Bule as they move inexorably towards a climactic final battle under Archaon’s watchful gaze. Each champion believing himself to be the worthiest, they lead their remaining forces into a brutal clash of arms and ideologies, the followers of two very different gods fighting for their patron’s supremacy as much as their own survival. Can one champion emerge triumphant and claim his place by Archaon’s side?

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QUICK REVIEW: In the Lands of the Blind – Rob Sanders (Call of Archaon part 6)

In the Lands of the Blind, Rob Sanders’ second contribution to Black Library’s Call of Archaon Age of Sigmar arc, once again features Tzeentchian champion Orphaeo Zuvius as he continues to seek his fate with Archaon. Battling through the death-filled Great Spoilage to reach the Varanspire itself, he quickly finds that reaching his destination was not the final step on his path. With countless other champions and their warbands laying desperate siege to the vast fortress, Zuvius has his work cut out to even reach the walls, never mind find a way inside and present himself to Archaon for judgement.

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