The Dead Kingdom

Cado Ezechiar #2

by John French

A Cado Ezechiar Novel

The Hollow King's hunt for vengeance brings him to Lethis, the capital city of the Realm of Death, as he finds himself caught in a war of deception.

READ IT BECAUSE
Follow the legendary Soulblight Gravelords vampire Cado Ezechiar as he continues his hunt for vengeance. How will the Hollow King cope when he finds himself stuck between Neferata, the Mortarch of Blood, and Mannfrred, the Mortarch of Night?

THE STORY
Cado Ezechiar, the Hollow King, once watched as his kingdom burned and his family were butchered. His endless hunt for the Chaos cult responsible – the mysterious Burning Hand – has led him all over Shyish, and now finally brings him to Lethis, capital city of the Realm of Death. But as he closes in on his quarry, and the shadowy metropolis that harbours them, old debts emerge from the gloom.

Pressed back into the service of Neferata, Cado is sent to the kingdom of Calyx, where the queen’s thralls are mired in conflict with Mannfred Von Carstein. There, he finds himself caught up in a war of deception, and soon faces a terrible choice: leave Calyx and its people to drown in the crimson tides of war, or defy the Queen of Blood.

Genres: Fantasy, Vampires, Audiobook

324 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 27, 2024

About the author

John French is a writer and freelance game designer from Nottingham, England. His novels include the Ahriman series from Black Library, and The Lord of Nightmares trilogy for Fantasy Flight. The rest of his work can be seen scattered through a number of other books, including the New York Times bestselling anthology Age of Darkness. When he is not thinking of ways that dark and corrupting beings could destroy reality and space, John enjoys talking about why it would be a good idea... that and drinking good wine.

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad follow-up to The Hollow King, although I think the plot was stronger in the prior book. I enjoyed getting to know more about Cado's past. Plus we have the introduction of Aurelias, Sissendra, and Neferata. Of the three I like Neferata the most. She's only in a couple chapters but she steals the scene each time and it was so much fun. I won't say much more to save my friend from spoilers : ) But suffice to say I look forward to the continuing adventures of the Hollow King!

[Tim Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This installment is an improvement over the previous one, but I still found myself wanting to enjoy it more than I actually did. It’s a relatively quick, decent read, but the political scheming feels shallow and predictable, lacking the depth and complexity that could have made it more engaging.

The side characters don’t get enough development, so they end up feeling forgettable and underwhelming. The only standout characters are Cado, Aurelias (with his little demon!), and Neferata, who bring some much-needed depth and intrigue to the story.

Overall, while it’s not a bad book, it didn’t fully live up to its potential and I found myself frequently bored of reading the endless battle scenes.

3 stars.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cado is awesome! He reminds me of a certain dark elf from the Forgotten Realms. This was a great fun read. I hope he has a long series!

[Skywatcher Adept · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book in 10 years of Age of Sigmar. This may even be French's best book to date.
So intricate. So many layers of astounding things.

The key to the success that binds everything together is not Cado Ezechiar but Neferata's majordomo: Aurelias of Stygxx - my new favourite AoS character. Probably one of the best Warhammer villains ever.
Witty, subtle, elegant, diplomatic and a poet at heart.
He has a very funny way of giving commands that sound like he is only a humble servant.
He says "lead on mistress" or "after you my worthy lords" and means "go there now" (and everybody obeys his commands).

The book reaches its heights when Aurelias or Neferata are onscreen with all their gentle courtly terror. The Dead Kingdom is weaker when there are only Cado & endless tedium of typical AoS Shyish necromancer battles & duels for us to see.

But ultimately it is a book about power. How Sissendra is subdued by Cado, how Cado is subdued by the Queen of Blood and how Neferata herself is subdued by Nagash. "Power is everything" as Aurelius says in the book - and he too is only an "exalted thrall" of Neferata after all.

[Nerd_Rage_Dad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good entry into the series, well paced with lots of twists it just didn’t have the same punch as the first book but not by much. It maybe felt like it was more of a set up for book 3 rather than the first book which was self contained.

[Ezra Ingram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another absolute banger from John French. The banter? The levels of the plot? The characters? The everything!!!

[Eric Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice suspense and mystery mixed in with the undead fantasy. Excellent sequel and I can’t wait for the next in the series.

[Robert Bridgewater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good follow up to the first story.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this series, such a fun exploration of Warhammer through the eyes of the Vampire.

[Bart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good continuation of previous tome, waiting for another one.