Bad Loon Rising

Warhammer Age of Sigmar

by Andy Clark

A Zograt and Skrog Novel

Zograt was once a puny runt of a grot, but thanks to his brilliant cunning, the blessing of the Bad Moon, and a loyal troggoth, he's now ready to prove himself the greatest Loonboss ever.

READ IT BECAUSE
Follow a rags-to-riches story of a weak and weaselly git who now aspires to be seen as the best Loonboss in all the Mortal Realms! Of course, not everyone's going to let him have things his own way...

THE STORY
Born the weakest runt of his Moonclan tribe, Zograt was only ever one beating away from a nasty end... until the Bad Moon bestowed upon him its blessing. Now the Clammy Hand of destiny is upon him and back-stabbing grots scurry to his cause, afraid of the vengeances their new boss will inflict with his powerful spells.

For every underling he suffocates with noxious fungi, Zograt stages a magnanimous gesture, for he is all too aware of his fragile grip on power. Yet in his heart boils an obsession – to become the most formidable, most respected, most fearsome Loonboss there ever was.

Where better to proclaim his new-found majesty than the gloom-shrouded mountain of Muttering Peak? To lay claim to his throne, Zograt must first evade a sinister coven of wizards that wishes to harness the mountain's power for their own dark designs – but with his razor-sharp mind, unpredictable magic, and the loyal troggoth Skrog at his side, Zograt's ambitions may not be so daft, after all...

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, War

273 pages, Hardcover

First published February 25, 2023

About the author

Andy Clark is a background writer for Games Workshop.

Librarian note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Andy^^^^^Clark

Reviews

[AA_Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

With this being a tale of the rise of a goblin, from runt to boss comparisons with Guy Hayley’s wonderful Skarsnik are inevitable. While it doesn’t quite hit the heights of that book (perhaps through no fault of it’s own, part of the appeal of Hayley’s work is the novelty of the grot PoV at the time of publication), Zograt’s story is still immensely enjoyable and well worth reading. The inherent humour of the Gloomspite Gits is undercut with the horror of their reality and, once again, Clark doesn’t really cater to the squeamish.

The b-plot featuring Simgarite wizards takes a while to get going, but is an interesting study in obsession.

[Matthew Wake · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zograt and Skrog’s first print story, telling the epic tale of a lowly grot and his meteoric rise to the top.
This has to be one of the best Age of Sigmar books in recent times; the lowly Gloomspite Gits getting their much deserved time in the moonlight. Zograt is a not quite antihero who stands up to his oppressors and gains the power of the clammy hand to raise and army bound for a mysterious mountain. Using cunning rather than brute force, he proves himself worthy with the aid of Skrog his mighty troggoth.

This has to be Andy Clark’s best AOS work so far; unique and interesting characters, fast paced story with plenty of action, twists and turns along the way and always fun.

[P Y · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very fun book, and has more depth in its characters and plot than you might imagine from a book about little nasty goblins.

It does a good job of not only following the goblins which would probably get a bit tiresome, and also only using goblin style writing when goblins are actually speaking. I think it would be annoying to have Zograt's thoughts expressed in goblin-speak but it does raise a question of the difference in nuance/complexity of what Zograt thinks Vs what he expresses or is able to express.

The only thing that got tiring for me was that the goblins only had one swear word, zog, which they used a lot.

Fun book, good bugs, intrigue, and nasty little guys coming out on top Vs powerful wizards. Recommend.

[Willy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bad Loon rising is a pretty fun Age of Sigmar book that details the rise of Zograt, a goblin who is blessed by divine intervention. The highlight of the book is definitely the goblins and their interactions. The only negative is that GW’s incessant need to name everything in copyrightable language means that it takes longer to understand what things are. Another negative was the chapters from a human perspective. I don’t really think that they were needed. They weren’t bad, but I came to read about goblins.

[Mike Soane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really fun read! Just what I needed in between some longer fantasy books. I've gotten back into Warhammer so I thought I'd pick up a book alongside. Bad Loon Rising is a relatively short book centered around the runty grot, Zograt, and his rise to power.

Lots of action and fun characters, I loved all of the ladz and their goblin antics. Really recommend for fans of Warhammer or fantasy in general.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andy Clark does it again, only better. If you’re a fan of Warhammer gobbos, then this book is a deadset treat.

In all fairness, if you’re not into Warhammer (or if you don’t have some background of the lore), it might not hold up for you so well… Maybe it’s just the way the Gitz speak: like proper geezers. But it might too; that was one absolute ripper of a final showdown.

I have my fingers crossed for more adventures from these lads to come, for Black Library special editions, and for James Workshop rolling out Zograt and Skrog commemorative minis.

[Daniel McGill · Rating 3 out of 5]

4* Goblin parts 2* Human parts.

The Grot's perspective was as fun and unique as the coven's was generic and boring. I could not wait for the human chapters to be over so I could get back to the parts I was enjoying, just very uneven quality.

Should have focused completely on the Grots with the Humans framed as the monsters / antagonists shown only briefly to give an idea as to what threat they would present in the next clash in much the same way we would get the Grots (or any bad guy race) in a more typical story basically a reversed Gloomspite. Parts read like they may have started it like that but then changed tack and padded out the human sections last minute. Strip the coven's chapters back to barebones and it could have rated another star.

[Sage Lumpkin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andy Clark returns to form in another longer form novel depicting the gitz of the mortal realms - and this time he truely delivers giving us the perspective of one of the lowest of the low in the moonclan. The tale of a unsuspected git in an almost rags-to-riches trope being chosen to lead by the Bad Moon itself along with his own Troggoth best bud - I really couldn't ask for more as a fan of the mushroom indulging green lads of the mortal realms. Even the B plot that involves an intruiging depiction of how mortal spellcasters are handled in universe serves to ground the setting - even if it feels like it draws heavily from contemporary fantasy influences - ends up holding up well and never detracts too much from the story of Zograt - the best little Loonboss that ever was.

[Griffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun getting the goblin perspective that you normally don’t see. Had some great characters, the human B plot was more predictable but not too bad, and balanced the stakes and seriousness of the plot with the occasional bit of goblin humor.

My favorite was the almost Pratchett-like goblin that would always offhand mention wanting a fork whenever the full tribe was in a scene throughout the book, and in the climax battle hearing a random shout about a goblin grabbing a pitchfork and you just knew who it was.

[Joseph Olivarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gloomspite stuff is very good, 9/10, could have used more Skrog, there's a whole lot of grot characters by the end who don't have much too them, but the ones who do get some fleshing out are quite entertaining.

Clark tried his damnedest with the BL-mandated human stuff, 6.5/10, the relationship between the main two human wizards is good enough to keep me entertained, but all the other humans are quite boring, and their overall arc is pretty predictable.

If you aren't primed on the standard Warhammer Greenskin-Cockney accent, the dialogue may be tough for you.

[Mark Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had very low expectations of this book. I was expecting some sort of low- grade fantasy work akin to fan fiction. I was wrong.

This is a great story, full of depth, background and well-rounded characters. The age-old story of the little guy coming good is added to by the fact that, in Zogrot, you have a little guy who is a thoroughly unlikable little shit. However, pitched against the supposedly uber-good Magister Wilhomelda, you can't help but root for him.

Good fun, good characters, good story, sickening imagery and some great descriptions of magical prowess.

[Goran Ozanic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book by Any Clark about AoS gobbos. I loved author's ''Gloomspite'' so when I saw it was him again writing about gitz I had to read it.

First thing I have to say this one didn't give me that horror vibe that I got from ''Gloomspite''. Enjoyed the parts from Zograt's POV immensly, especially those strange 'feelz' he gets about his trogg Skrog. Can't wait for next book about gitz, preferably by this author.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, I enjoyed this book, save one aspect: I did not care for the human storyline. I think more focus on the greenskins (excellent, engaging tale), and less on the lackluster rest would of made this a 5/5 for me. Clark's an excellent writer, and the cockney style Gloomspite Gitz narration is absolutely stellar on the audible version. Still recommended, as others may not mind the duality of adventures within these pages.

[Vincent Knotley · Rating 5 out of 5]

An absolute treat of Gloomspite Git madness, with some surprisingly moving moments from the little green backstabbers, the most exciting fork-centric C plot in generations, and a thought-proving miroring between Zograt and his lads and those who they face, which I can't really go into more without revealing several major plot points.

Would heartily, and grottily, recommend.

[Aimee · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first Warhammer book and I’m really pleasantly surprised. I thought this was well written, fast paced, silly and serious, and a really good entry point into an AoS book as it never felt like a prerequisite to know any background but was just fun if you did. Very fond of Zograt and Skrog and hoping they get a mini together one day!

[Chloe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great funny book, i loved reading it. It's good to have a book from the side of the grotz. I became so attached to the characters, it's just so good and well written. This is my favourite age of sigmar novel i have read by far.

[Joe · Rating 3 out of 5]

More fun than a lot of warhammer books but still falls into the same trope of not standing on it's own as a novel without the reader having some knowledge of the warhammer universe and terminologies. Worth a read of you're already a fan.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fun as hell! The characters are both appalling and intriguing, serious and comedic. The plot is easy to understand and fast paced and the name drop at the end was worthy of a Marvel end credits scene; I hope they meet. I really enjoy these gloomspite grot novels. More please.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

-‘What are you doing, little maggot? Shall we look and see?’
-‘Fing about maggotz is, dey’ll eat ya in da end,’ said Zograt.

My first AOS book and it is an okay rival to Da Red Gobbo series, 'me tinks.

[Sunil S · Rating 5 out of 5]

That was utterly fantastic, and it had me genuinely stressing by the end, wondering if Zograt and Skrog would be okay.

I love them very much. I really, desperately hope that another book about them is made.
please

[Jackson Handley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Andy Clark writes great gobs. Very keen to see more of this.

[Peter Bernhardt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic work, grots are always a favorite that don't get enough focus. Not 5 stars because I wanted it only focused on grots, no worthless humans.

[Alberto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh. Y resulta que los grots son más que ayudantes oprimidos de los orcos. Buen libro para conocerlos un poquito más, y buena historia en general. Me gustó.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just a nice easy read about a horrible little under dog and all his horrible, back stabbing little friends.

[Notarte Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read. Clever characters and a wonderful protagonist

[Deryk Allan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A massive five stars, one of the most entertaining 40k books I've read.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a great palate cleanser, even though you get the feeling it's GW trying to sell minis again.

[fruit brutalist · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lydia Tar vs Goblins.

[Morgan Timerman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute little palette cleanser. Exactly what you’d expect from a Warhammer paperback. Took a little to get into, especially the human side, but finished strong.

[Sebastiaan Vanbesien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tho largely a faction book, I still enjoyed this immensely. It was a fun fast paced read with a clever contrast between da hummies and da gits and grots. And I absolutely adored Skrog me lad!