Temple of Silence

Ven Denst #2

by Richard Strachan

A Warhammer Age of Sigmar Novel

The intrepid Galen and Doralia ven Denst continue their adventures in this new novel. The father and daughter return from a taxing mission, seeking solace in the mysterious Temple of Silence, only to find it houses a dark secret.

READ IT BECAUSE
Drawn into a terrible conspiracy and beset by enemies on all sides, Galen and Doralia are forced to fight not only the fell beasts stalking the forest, but merciless rulers who will stop at nothing to cling to power. See how the ven Densts cope with their toughest challenge yet.

THE STORY
Moonhallow harbours a dreadful secret, and it keeps the populace in a perpetual state of anxiety – not that the town's ruthless arbiter is prepared to do anything about it.

Across the great forest to Moonhallow's east, Galen and Doralia Ven Denst return from a gruelling mission for the Order of Azyr, seeking shelter in the mysterious Temple of Silence. However, the two witch hunters won't get much in the way of a warm welcome from the strange priests that reside there as the temple has its own secret, the ramifications of which are inextricably tied to the fate of Moonhallow. When night falls, terrors whose truths are too dangerous to speak come from the trees.

Genres: Fantasy

318 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 2, 2023

About the author

Richard Strachan lives in Edinburgh, UK. He has had stories published in magazines like Interzone, The Lonely Crowd, Gutter and New Writing Scotland, and writes for Games Workshop's Black Library imprint.

Reviews

[Sarah Beecher · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid tale of a community ill at ease and a pair of Witch Hunters determined to uncover its secrets. A story of forbidden love and sacrifice, Temple of Silence is a personal drama at its heart, where people’s desires and motivations drive the plot and underpin the sordid history at the root of the narrative.

It’s not particularly complex and some of the characters are a bit Disney villain, yet it was gratifying to have a story largely built around a tragedy of its own making. No grand invasion, no generic big bad come of murder everyone, just people trying to make a life for themselves and all the hot mess that comes with being mortal and fallible.

Doralia and Galen remain a fun pair, with enough ideological differences to make their interactions engaging beyond the typical banter. Sometimes I feel enough isn’t made of where they don’t see eye to eye, but that it exists and remains a potential flash point for the future remains a source of optimism should we see future novels.

As it is, Temple of Silence is another impressive outing, focusing more on the characters rather than getting bogged down in action for action’s sake. It does what the better Age of Sigmar novels do, getting under the skin of mortal realms’ inhabitants and giving them nuance and depth, with a nice twist at the end to get the blood tingling.

[Matthew Wake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard Strachan has become quite a prolific writer for Black Library, and his novels rarely disappoint.

The second novel length story for Doralia and Galen Van Denst is less personal than the first, but just as dark and menacing.
It’s always great to get stories that focus on the less powerful denizens of the Mortal Realms, even if they are Witch Hunters.
Doralia and Galen travel upon a town and temple of Sigmar by happenstance, and soon seek to unravel a dark and mysterious pact between the people of the town and a powerful vampire.

While it wasn’t as strong as the first story, these characters are so interesting and fun, the action is engaging, the characters all feel fleshed out and the setting is unique. Richard always delivers on his world building. A great read for anyone interested in horror, AoS or fantasy in general.

[Jacob Bennike · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m torn on this book. On one hand I think it’s well written and a good story, on the other hand it feels alike the author may have been a little too restricted by the fact that it’s written to sell models. The one thing I think it disappoints in is that it never really dives into the mysteries it teases. If you like the horror side of AoS or simply like the Van Dents then I think you will enjoy it. I know I did, but it’s not the greatest AoS novel.

[Alberto · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me ha gustado mucho revisitar a los personajes de los Ven Denst. En particular, este libro es bastante entretenido. En absoluto trascendental, creo, pero no me puedo quitar de la mente algunas de las imágenes que me dejó. Creo que eso es bueno, aunque son algo perturbadoras. El final es… un poco más predecible de lo que nos han acostumbrado en black library pero igual está bueno.

[Adrian J Ratcliffe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily one of the best 5 black library books I've ever read.

[Gary Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Usual rip-roaring Black Library Mortal Realm action.

[Corey Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great mysterious romp. I loved the body horror and idea behind the temple. Recommended if you've read the first book in the series!

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was another fun read. I hope this is a series and not just a trilogy. The team needs to start meeting some important characters!