Darkoath

Warhammer Age of Sigmar

by Chris Thursten

A Gunnar Brand Novel

Gunnar Brand and his people are survivors. Enduring the predations of madmen, monsters, and the gods themselves, the Brands have earned survival through grit and fortitude, each fell deed they perform bringing the blessings of the Dark Gods.

READ IT BECAUSE
Explore the struggles of a Darkoath Chieftain desperately trying to balance the survival of his tribe, his own ambitions, and the will of the Dark Gods.

THE STORY
When calamity befalls their home, Gunnar Brand must step up to lead his tribe, embarking on a grim and perilous exodus through a Realm of Fire ravaged by war.

Haunted by an unfulfilled oath, his duties as chieftain soon conflict with his deep-rooted sense of destiny, and he discovers that the attentions of the Dark Gods are not so easily ignored.

Even now they whisper to him, for they know the road Gunnar Brand travels, and call his exodus by another name: the Path to Glory.

Genres: Fantasy

359 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 8, 2024

About the author

Chris Thursten is a writer and video game developer. He lives in Bristol, UK.

Reviews

[AA_Logan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darkoath is great. It’s wonderfully visceral and feels appropriately chaotic. It’s not just gore, there’s characters with depth and some interesting world-building. It’s the first thing I’ve read by Chris Thursten and I’m absolutely going to check his other work out.


It’s hard not to compare this book to Godeater’s Son, not just because it’s an Age of Sigmar Chaos book, but because it’s an Age of Sigmar book full stop. It’s still a very good book in its own right even if it doesn’t *quite* match it.

[Dominic Trump · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strong opening act buys this book maybe one more star than I should give it? Its a unique perspective for the setting, but it quickly departs from its little corner of the world and joins the main narrative, where I feel it loses a lot of what makes itself interesting? Not sure if they are planning sequels but there are relationships that feel like they are missing a payoff? I'd recommend it to anyone interested already, but probably not in general!

[Patrick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Audiobook review.

This had a strong start and the narrator was fantastic throughout but that is unfortunately all the good I can say here.

Parts of this read like an outline for a book that was never converted into a story. It seemed like it couldn't decide on a character POV or no POV and ended up making some entire chapters seem completely detached from the story. There was way too much exposition, most of which had no relevance to the main story. The pacing was horrible and the story structure was just odd. And to top it off, it never felt like there was a clear plot. I think this definitely would have worked better as a novella. There just was enough to it, or it was just done poorly.

That narrator though... was EPIC.

[Vincent Knotley · Rating 5 out of 5]

As much about the war surrounding the Darkoath tribes rages, Chris Thursten pulls the focus in and onto the wars in between them which rage on just as viciously. A surreptitious blend of relatable and realistic people living in an altogether unrelatable and unrealistic world, the book gives us all a glimpse at just how these people live in the Mortal Realms, the rules they live by, and the causes they die for.

Absolute must-read for anybody planning to roll with a Chaos army in Age of Sigmar, and one I'd highly recommend for anyone with a passing interest in the setting as a whole.

[Aaron Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read that I couldn't put down, and enjoyable view into the world of humans in the Age of Sigmar.
Gunnar Brand is an excellently written and relatable character, who's motivations and decisions are well articulated by the author. The supporting cast all play their own important roles throughout the story, and the frequent changing of the supporting cast helps push forward Gunnar's thoughts and decisions, whilst preventing the cast from becoming stale.
Look forward to seeing Chris Thursten writing more books on this Character!

[Pieter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Certainly not a bad book by any means, but it doesn’t live up to its potential. The book starts off great with an interesting main protagonist, compelling narrative, and phenomenal setting. However, towards the last 1/3 of the book, the narrative lost me. Throughout the whole book, the main character is being built up through prophecies and visions, but the payoff falls super flat. Overall, this is a GOOD book and a GOOD age of Sigmar novel. I recommend you read it if you have an interest in the Slaves to Dakrness faction in AOS, or in AOS as a setting. Otherwise I’d skip

[Jamie Knox · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written, an interesting dive into the lore of the Chaos Tribes, strange ending, but maybe that's for a sequel. Read if you like barbarian tribes struggling for survival between the Skaven ratfolk and the guns of the Cities of Sigmar.

Gunnar Brands Path to Glory has all the gory combat, fearsome beasts, and Gifts from the Dark Gods one could hope for.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook. Good lore introduction to the Darkoath tribes in AoS, the plot is all over the place and feels like several short stories tied together. The audiobook production is superb.

Better read the Warqueen novella published years ago.

[Russell Tassicker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice to see the lives of some of the hordes of marauders living in the AoS universe, and their worship of Chaos is well justified given their circumstances. Fails to set meaningful stakes, unfortunately, and suffers a little from the wider failure of Black Library to build a coherent setting.

[Alberto · Rating 1 out of 5]

Es muy raro… bien escrito pero mal ejecutado. Al menos sirve para conocer a las bandas pactoscuro y cómo funcionan sus tratos con los dioses del caos. Pero fuera de eso, totalmente prescindible.

[Clay Kneip · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh?
Maybe a little too grounded. Doesn't seem to follow its own ethical rules; one guy goes too far for eating the heart of a demon and it condemns him, Gunnar does it and it's fine.

[Dawid · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and unusual take on the setting from the perspective of the Chaos tribes.

Most of the time in Warhammer, Chaos are just "those bad guys". However, as we learn in this novel, it is not as black and white as one might think. "Darkoath" shows the perspective of people who had no choice but to adapt to the harsh reality and start worshipping gods who didn't abandon them like Sigmar did. They are not evil per se, they are just doing what is necessary to survive in the Mortal Realms.

It's a great novel to deepen your lore knowledge if you want to understand the specifics of the conflict between the Sigmarites who came from Azyr and the abandoned who stayed in their native realms. The plot itself could be better, as it lacks a clear goal and feels like a collection of loosely connected stories, but if you're here for the lore, I'd recommend reading Darkoath.

[Micah Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did struggle with book at first. It was my first time reading an Age of Sigmar book. I was too unfamiliar with the setting and the names of different places. Once I had acquainted myself with the overall lore and setting of Age of Sigmar and the 8 realms, I was able to understand where everything was happening. This is a great book for Slaves to Darkness fans, and of course those who love the Darkoath and want to learn more lore.

[Jacob Bennike · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my new favourite Black Library novel thanks to its perfect depiction of chaos followers as something realistic. It helps that the writing and the characters is brilliant and that the story is something which is like a Robert Howard Conan novel, but it’s the “humanising” of the slaves of darkness which really brings it home for me.

It’s a slave of darkness novel, but anyone remotely interested in the AoS lore should do themselves the favour of reading it.