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The Fall of Llael #1
In Thunder Forged: Iron Kingdoms Chronicles
The Iron Kingdoms are at war—a war fought with machine guns and magic, knights of valor, and earth-shaking titans of steam and steel. And now that war may hinge entirely on nothing more than a sheaf of papers.
An alchemical formula, stolen by an ally they thought they could trust, could cost the brave soldiers of Cygnar everything. Their only hope: a cunning spy, a knight out of her element, and a frighteningly small unit of the best that Cygnar has to offer.
Arrayed against them is not only a single, devious enemy, but the combined intelligence apparatus—and possibly the full military might—of the most brutal martial power Cygnar has ever known.
An alchemical formula, stolen by an ally they thought they could trust, could cost the brave soldiers of Cygnar everything. Their only hope: a cunning spy, a knight out of her element, and a frighteningly small unit of the best that Cygnar has to offer.
Arrayed against them is not only a single, devious enemy, but the combined intelligence apparatus—and possibly the full military might—of the most brutal martial power Cygnar has ever known.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
13 people are currently reading
222 people want to read
About the author
Ari Marmell
101 books436 followersWhen Ari Marmell has free time left over between feeding cats and posting on social media, he writes a little bit. His work includes novels, short stories, role-playing games, and video games, all of which he enjoyed in lieu of school work when growing up. He’s the author of the Mick Oberon gangland/urban fantasy series, the Widdershins YA fantasy series, and many others, with publishers such as Del Rey, Titan Books, Pyr Books, Wizards of the Coast, and now Omnium Gatherum.
Ari currently resides in Austin, Texas. He lives in a clutter that has a moderate amount of apartment in it, along with George—his wife—and the aforementioned cats, who probably want something.
Ari currently resides in Austin, Texas. He lives in a clutter that has a moderate amount of apartment in it, along with George—his wife—and the aforementioned cats, who probably want something.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
July 8, 2013
the book was a good but a few military things bothered me.
- In the book a Sergeant commands what would be considered a Platoon or even an undersize company. every time they mentioned her rank I mentally changed it to lieutenant to stop the twitch in my eye.
- One of the Characters in the novel i felt was really lost and had no place in the plan overall but i could be wrong.
- I absolutely loved the Unorthodox Engagement unit. I really wish Privateer Press will release a tier list for them.
- The end with one particular character screams sequel to me (which i will be sure to read)
- In the book a Sergeant commands what would be considered a Platoon or even an undersize company. every time they mentioned her rank I mentally changed it to lieutenant to stop the twitch in my eye.
- One of the Characters in the novel i felt was really lost and had no place in the plan overall but i could be wrong.
- I absolutely loved the Unorthodox Engagement unit. I really wish Privateer Press will release a tier list for them.
- The end with one particular character screams sequel to me (which i will be sure to read)
February 18, 2015
This was surprisingly good, for something based on a wargame. Some good characters, a bit of rollocking action, a reasonable plot that only fell apart in a couple of places if you looked too close (Wait; some of our heroes will sneak painlessly into the city under siege, while the rest of our heroes go... to exactly the same place, via trials and tribulations? That seems... odd.)
It felt like some sort of point was being made by the fact that all three main PoV characters, along with one of the two main villains, were female. Nothing wrong with that - and I honestly think that if the author had gone to the same effort of depicting a largely egalitarian society, and then made all the main characters male, it would have been just as slightly odd. And in fact I think the author did a good job of differentiating the hero from the leader from the spy as separate individuals, instead of just that cardboard archetype of the "woman warrior" you get in so many fantasy novels. No, I have no problem with the characters being female, and I wouldn't even have had any problem with the author using that to make a point; the only reason I even mention it is that something about the way it was presented made it _feel_ like the author was making a point... which then never quite materialised. (For the record; I like it better without it being some sort of moral, so it's just the presentation that came across a little off. Can't really even quite put my finger on why, so maybe it's just me.)
Doesn't look like the author has done any more of these (shame, I would have liked to follow-up on one or two of the characters) so I'll have to check out his other stuff.
It felt like some sort of point was being made by the fact that all three main PoV characters, along with one of the two main villains, were female. Nothing wrong with that - and I honestly think that if the author had gone to the same effort of depicting a largely egalitarian society, and then made all the main characters male, it would have been just as slightly odd. And in fact I think the author did a good job of differentiating the hero from the leader from the spy as separate individuals, instead of just that cardboard archetype of the "woman warrior" you get in so many fantasy novels. No, I have no problem with the characters being female, and I wouldn't even have had any problem with the author using that to make a point; the only reason I even mention it is that something about the way it was presented made it _feel_ like the author was making a point... which then never quite materialised. (For the record; I like it better without it being some sort of moral, so it's just the presentation that came across a little off. Can't really even quite put my finger on why, so maybe it's just me.)
Doesn't look like the author has done any more of these (shame, I would have liked to follow-up on one or two of the characters) so I'll have to check out his other stuff.
June 17, 2013
*** Free review copy provided by Pyr
Ari Marmell always provides an entertaining summertime read packed with tons of action. Last summer, I enjoyed reading his Widdershins Adventure fantasy series.
I really didn’t know very much about the Iron Kingdoms gaming system or the the Iron Kingdoms’ milieu. Essentially the “Iron Kingdoms” are at war and are contesting over military plans.
Steampunk elements are mixed with fantasy …
"Nearly ten foot in height, they were only vaguely humanoid. From an almost spherical torso protruded a narrow waist, piston-driven legs, and spindly arms, one grasping an oversized harpoon, the other a massive scatter-gun. From their backs, protruding smokestacks blackened the surrounding air. An almost demonic visage, wrought in the iron of the thing’s ‘chest,’ glowed with the fury of internal fires."
If you are unfamiliar with the Iron Kingdoms, do yourself a favor and check out the descriptions at the back of the book before starting "In Thunder Forged." There is also a section covering the Morrowan calendar. Each chapter begins with a date which will mean nothing to you if you don’t consult the calendar. Bring your own bookmark, because the chapters are not numbered.
All in all, "In Thunder Forged" was a pleasant diversion on a hot summer day. I give it 3 1/2 stars out of 5 .
Ari Marmell always provides an entertaining summertime read packed with tons of action. Last summer, I enjoyed reading his Widdershins Adventure fantasy series.
I really didn’t know very much about the Iron Kingdoms gaming system or the the Iron Kingdoms’ milieu. Essentially the “Iron Kingdoms” are at war and are contesting over military plans.
Steampunk elements are mixed with fantasy …
"Nearly ten foot in height, they were only vaguely humanoid. From an almost spherical torso protruded a narrow waist, piston-driven legs, and spindly arms, one grasping an oversized harpoon, the other a massive scatter-gun. From their backs, protruding smokestacks blackened the surrounding air. An almost demonic visage, wrought in the iron of the thing’s ‘chest,’ glowed with the fury of internal fires."
If you are unfamiliar with the Iron Kingdoms, do yourself a favor and check out the descriptions at the back of the book before starting "In Thunder Forged." There is also a section covering the Morrowan calendar. Each chapter begins with a date which will mean nothing to you if you don’t consult the calendar. Bring your own bookmark, because the chapters are not numbered.
All in all, "In Thunder Forged" was a pleasant diversion on a hot summer day. I give it 3 1/2 stars out of 5 .
September 11, 2013
I really wanted to like this book. I really, truly wanted to. I love the Iron Kingdoms as a setting, and the description on the back gave me a tasty little chunk of plot to bite down on. Sadly everything between the pages was bland, and what's worse, it was boring.
That's enough for some people, but I wrote a much more in-depth review as to what I believe is wrong with the text at the link below. Check it out if you're of a mind.
Good Books, Bad Books
That's enough for some people, but I wrote a much more in-depth review as to what I believe is wrong with the text at the link below. Check it out if you're of a mind.
Good Books, Bad Books
June 15, 2013
This is great fun as an espionage military adventure story set in a high fantasy world with steampunk technology enhanced by sorcery. It's actually based on an RPG but you don't have to know anything about the game to enjoy the book.
http://opionator.wordpress.com/2013/0...
http://opionator.wordpress.com/2013/0...
August 29, 2013
I read this book expecting to read a story just like most others, countries go to war... Good guys and bad guys... Good guys get an advantage, good guys won the war... So on. In a way, this was that, however, it had depth. There were twists that I never could have imagined. This book was amazing in every way, shape, and form. I loved this book and will continue to read the series.
June 18, 2013
A solid read. Marmell does a great job fleshing out the Iron Kingdoms, I just wish he had freedom to use better known characters and add to the universe. I definitely enjoyed the new characters though, and hope to see more of them either in future books or the tabletop game.
July 26, 2013
I usually hate books based on games so I didn't hold out much hope. Never have I been so happy to be wrong. Great characters,great story,great read .I can only hope the rest of the Iron Kingdoms books are half as good. Extra points go to it because it was about my favorite faction CYGNAR.
August 5, 2013
A good start to the line. It was like Steam powered Sharpe.
August 16, 2014
I wish they would release the book the announced as next in the series. . .
November 26, 2016
I enjoyed this fantasy about two kingdoms at war, with noble soldiers and spies battling each other. The defenders of the country being invaded were valiant and likeable, one of the invader's spies was fascinating and close to invincible, the traitor was properly villainous, there was a war mage and robot soldiers, and it was altogether a good time (despite the tragedies and bloodshed).
August 25, 2017
An Exciting Tale
This is an excellent book for anybody with even a passing interest in the Iron Kingdoms or looking for a reasonably short action book set to an intimate and yet epic setting. I highly recommend it.
This is an excellent book for anybody with even a passing interest in the Iron Kingdoms or looking for a reasonably short action book set to an intimate and yet epic setting. I highly recommend it.
Read
March 16, 20229%
June 8, 2024
DNF
I like this author but the setting just didn't interest me
I like this author but the setting just didn't interest me
July 11, 2016
Bookworm Speaks!
In Thunder Forged: Iron Kingdoms Chronicles (The Fall of Llael)
by Ari Marmell
****
Acquired: Barnes and Noble Booksellers
Series: The Fall of Llael
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Pyr (June 4, 2013)
Language: English
****
The Story: The first novel based upon the award-winning WARMACHINE® steam-powered fantasy wargame and the world of the Iron Kingdoms® Role Playing Game is an action-packed steam-tech fantasy that combines elements of epic wartime adventure with thrilling cloak-and-dagger espionage.
The Iron Kingdoms are at war--a war fought with machine guns and magic, knights of valor, and earth shaking titans of steam and steel. And now that war may hinge entirely on nothing more than a sheaf of papers.
An alchemical formula, stolen by an ally they thought they could trust, could cost the brave soldiers of Cygnar everything. Their only hope: a cunning spy, a knight out of her element, and a frighteningly small unit of the best that Cygnar has to offer.
Arrayed against them is not only a single, devious enemy, but the combined intelligence apparatus--and possibly the full military might--of the most brutal martial power Cygnar has ever known.
The Review: While Bookworm had not heard of the Warmachine RPG franchise until the purchase of this book. It really was the setting that convinced him to purchase this book and give it a read.
The setting showed a lot of promise: a world at war, swords and blunderbusses, alchemy and magic, and the biggest appeal of all: giant, mechanical mechs. It all looked amazing!
Unfortunately, this big promise falls flat during the execution.
The centerpiece of this whole universe appears to be the Warjacks, the bipedal war machines animated through magic. They even appear on the franchise logo. While they definitely appear frequently, they appear to take place mostly in the background, leaving most of the focus on the human characters.
Some would make the reasonable argument that is the right way to write such a book. All too often…science fiction and fantasy get so bogged down in the minutiae of how their world works that the most important aspect of any story, the characters and plot, get brushed to the side.
That is exactly what happens in this book but still…Its like Chekov’s gun. You put a giant robot on the cover, so we need a giant robot battle! The fulfillment of such went by in an anticlimactic manner.
What we got instead just appeared to be another medieval-esque espionage.
That is the ultimate main flaw of this book: It doesn’t feel different. While possessing more fantasy elements than others, this book does fall under the category of steampunk and while Bookworm has read and enjoyed a lot of steampunk, he can’t help but notice that a lot of it is the same. While this book may not take place in Victorian England, it does take place in Industrial Revolution Europe and Europe has been done to death in regards to speculative fiction.
The Spy Thriller angle doesn’t flow very well either. As its been said…we’ve seen a lot of this before. Assassinations, double crossings, and betrayals, all very, very familiar. It honestly gets a little boring in between the action scenes. The assassin character while to the books credit is a strong female, is so bland that honestly Bookworm had trouble remembering anything about her.
More cynical readers could go as far to say that the whole text is just a cash grab by the gaming company to be produced cheaply in order to hook more readers. Bookworm likes to think there is more heart to it than that.
It is a shame that the second book got cancelled though. It would have been nice to see where this was all leading up too.
This book has plenty of good qualities though. The fact that its main character is a woman already sets it apart from a great majority of popular fiction which has been the domain of the Y chromosome for decades.
From a pure action standpoint the war may be a bit of a letdown but the truth is that, what the reader sees is a realistic depiction of war. The titanic clashes of arms are only part of it, a great part of war is the chess matches. Where several players make smaller moves as part of a much larger game. Its back and forth, over and around and can be very dramatic.
The world that is built has its interesting facets. How the warjacks are built would be something Bookworm would really like to know. Bookworm would also like to see two gunmages face off in later volumes.
Final Verdict: As an introduction to a gaming franchise, there are worse ways to pull it off than ‘In Thunder Forged.’ It is an interesting book that shows us this new world, but despite all the richness of the setting, it may not bring enough new stuff to be all that interesting.
Three Cogs out of Five
thecultureworm.blogspot.com
In Thunder Forged: Iron Kingdoms Chronicles (The Fall of Llael)
by Ari Marmell
****
Acquired: Barnes and Noble Booksellers
Series: The Fall of Llael
Paperback: 320 pages
Publisher: Pyr (June 4, 2013)
Language: English
****
The Story: The first novel based upon the award-winning WARMACHINE® steam-powered fantasy wargame and the world of the Iron Kingdoms® Role Playing Game is an action-packed steam-tech fantasy that combines elements of epic wartime adventure with thrilling cloak-and-dagger espionage.
The Iron Kingdoms are at war--a war fought with machine guns and magic, knights of valor, and earth shaking titans of steam and steel. And now that war may hinge entirely on nothing more than a sheaf of papers.
An alchemical formula, stolen by an ally they thought they could trust, could cost the brave soldiers of Cygnar everything. Their only hope: a cunning spy, a knight out of her element, and a frighteningly small unit of the best that Cygnar has to offer.
Arrayed against them is not only a single, devious enemy, but the combined intelligence apparatus--and possibly the full military might--of the most brutal martial power Cygnar has ever known.
The Review: While Bookworm had not heard of the Warmachine RPG franchise until the purchase of this book. It really was the setting that convinced him to purchase this book and give it a read.
The setting showed a lot of promise: a world at war, swords and blunderbusses, alchemy and magic, and the biggest appeal of all: giant, mechanical mechs. It all looked amazing!
Unfortunately, this big promise falls flat during the execution.
The centerpiece of this whole universe appears to be the Warjacks, the bipedal war machines animated through magic. They even appear on the franchise logo. While they definitely appear frequently, they appear to take place mostly in the background, leaving most of the focus on the human characters.
Some would make the reasonable argument that is the right way to write such a book. All too often…science fiction and fantasy get so bogged down in the minutiae of how their world works that the most important aspect of any story, the characters and plot, get brushed to the side.
That is exactly what happens in this book but still…Its like Chekov’s gun. You put a giant robot on the cover, so we need a giant robot battle! The fulfillment of such went by in an anticlimactic manner.
What we got instead just appeared to be another medieval-esque espionage.
That is the ultimate main flaw of this book: It doesn’t feel different. While possessing more fantasy elements than others, this book does fall under the category of steampunk and while Bookworm has read and enjoyed a lot of steampunk, he can’t help but notice that a lot of it is the same. While this book may not take place in Victorian England, it does take place in Industrial Revolution Europe and Europe has been done to death in regards to speculative fiction.
The Spy Thriller angle doesn’t flow very well either. As its been said…we’ve seen a lot of this before. Assassinations, double crossings, and betrayals, all very, very familiar. It honestly gets a little boring in between the action scenes. The assassin character while to the books credit is a strong female, is so bland that honestly Bookworm had trouble remembering anything about her.
More cynical readers could go as far to say that the whole text is just a cash grab by the gaming company to be produced cheaply in order to hook more readers. Bookworm likes to think there is more heart to it than that.
It is a shame that the second book got cancelled though. It would have been nice to see where this was all leading up too.
This book has plenty of good qualities though. The fact that its main character is a woman already sets it apart from a great majority of popular fiction which has been the domain of the Y chromosome for decades.
From a pure action standpoint the war may be a bit of a letdown but the truth is that, what the reader sees is a realistic depiction of war. The titanic clashes of arms are only part of it, a great part of war is the chess matches. Where several players make smaller moves as part of a much larger game. Its back and forth, over and around and can be very dramatic.
The world that is built has its interesting facets. How the warjacks are built would be something Bookworm would really like to know. Bookworm would also like to see two gunmages face off in later volumes.
Final Verdict: As an introduction to a gaming franchise, there are worse ways to pull it off than ‘In Thunder Forged.’ It is an interesting book that shows us this new world, but despite all the richness of the setting, it may not bring enough new stuff to be all that interesting.
Three Cogs out of Five
thecultureworm.blogspot.com
December 30, 2013
Ari Marmell disproves the rule that all books based on games are horrible. The War Machines: Iron Kingdoms only provides the background for an exciting tale of spying and fighting. In Thunder Forged (trade from Pyr) is an exciting adventure.Dignity is a spy from Cygnar in allied Llael hunting for a stolen alchemichal formula and avoiding Khador spies. The city is under attack from Khador, and to help Dignity escape one she has found the formula, the Cygnarians send a Knight, Katherine Laddermore whose lance shoots electric bolts, and a squad of warjacks commanded by Sergeant Berwynne pulled off the front. The squad loses half their men fighting their way to the city of Leryn and the knight has one of her squires murdered in his bead. That’s only the prelude because the forumla is in the hands of an alchemist who wants both sides to bid for the formula and both side cheat. Review published in the Philadelphia Weekly Press
August 16, 2014
3.5 stars
To: Military Subcommittee, Colonial Council, Kingdom of Fantasy Literature
Month of Summer Solstice, in the Year of the Brazilian World Cup
Re: Codename In Thunder Forged, After Action Report
Honorable Council:
Herewith my report on the targeted objective, codename In Thunder Forged. In reviewing reports for this mission I noted that your intelligence analysts theorized that In Thunder Forged may have been based on a video game, specifically, the game WARMACHINE. Our Preliminary Engagement Troops (PETs) immediately encountered espionage, loud and colorful explosions, unlimited magic that worked for no known reason, Pacific-Rim-like warbots and a stream of expository dialogue, confirming the analysts’ theory. However, the PETs had no trouble crossing the perimeter and moving among the locals, who were quite ... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
To: Military Subcommittee, Colonial Council, Kingdom of Fantasy Literature
Month of Summer Solstice, in the Year of the Brazilian World Cup
Re: Codename In Thunder Forged, After Action Report
Honorable Council:
Herewith my report on the targeted objective, codename In Thunder Forged. In reviewing reports for this mission I noted that your intelligence analysts theorized that In Thunder Forged may have been based on a video game, specifically, the game WARMACHINE. Our Preliminary Engagement Troops (PETs) immediately encountered espionage, loud and colorful explosions, unlimited magic that worked for no known reason, Pacific-Rim-like warbots and a stream of expository dialogue, confirming the analysts’ theory. However, the PETs had no trouble crossing the perimeter and moving among the locals, who were quite ... Read More: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
March 23, 2014
This was my first Warmachine novel (I have read some of the setting's short stories and novellas) and I was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, while the story was not bad, it did not have a lot of what I expect from Warmachine- Warjacks mainly. I recognized now that it was more of a spy story than a war story, but even with this I wish there was a little more character development and elaboration on some of the occupational classes depicted (the Gun Mage character had some development while Trenchers and Long Gunner, for example, really had nothing describe to distinguish them from each other if you are not already familiar with the game setting). Overall, I still liked the book and will most likely see what happens in its sequel.
August 16, 2013
A nice little surprise, this. I didn't have high hopes but I was curious about the world that Privateer Press had created and thought "Why not? If it's terrible then I don't have to keep going." But dare I say it, I was intrigued and then gripped by the story and the characters. It's a fun piece of entertainment, written with considerable skill and direction. It's very much a PG-13 tale of war, so the good guys are good and the bad guys are bad but it's not the end of the world if everything is drawn in such broad strokes. Basically it was an enjoyable piece of steampunk adventure which was more than I was expecting and it's quality means I will be seeking out other titles in the series.
May 9, 2016
Gostei muito do livro. Ele apresenta várias classes, principalmente Cygnaram, mas fala um pouco sobre as forças de Khamdor. Acho que é impossível não gostar do Anterthon, realmente queria saber mais sobre ele. Muito recomendado para quem quer conhecer mais sobre esse universo bacana do Warmachine.
did-not-finish
July 1, 2015I tried...I really, really tried...
September 6, 2013
Pretty good, but only check out if you are already an Iron Kingdoms fan.
November 14, 2013
This was a rather fun novel. Interesting setting and characters. Recommended. Review soon.
January 28, 2014
My first of Marmel'ls books. Pretty cool. Like a noir movie. Will read the next one and some others of his now.
December 12, 2016
I'm pretty sure I read this?
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews