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Warhammer Age of Sigmar
Grombrindal: Ancestor's Burden
A Warhammer Age of Sigmar Anthology
In every duardin’s soul there burns the legend of the Wanderer known as Grombrindal, the mysterious whitebeard appearing since time immemorial to guide his people through their darkest hours – though few can attest to seeing him in the flesh.
READ IT BECAUSE
It's a tour of the breadth and depth of duardin culture in the Mortal Realms, all centered around the heroic deeds of Grombrindal, the semi-mythical whitebeard who is always ready to save the day.
THE STORY
When the ancient sky-city of Barak-Thryng comes under attack by the Gloomspite Gitz on their quest to reach the Bad Moon, it is an opportunity for the city’s defenders to prove their mettle. But there are darker, more dangerous forces pulling the strings behind this attack, for the Weaver of Fates has set his gaze upon the city.
It is into this powder keg that Grombrindal appears. And he is followed by the Oathbreakers, desperate for the whitebeard’s help in lifting an ancient curse afflicting one of their number, a curse Grombrindal had promised to lift – the Ancestor’s Burden.
CONTENTS
Rat-Tail (short story)
High Airs (short story)
Durkar's Wake (short story)
King Osgek's Prize (short story)
No God's Land (short story)
Bitter Oaths (short story)
The Maker's Promise (short novel)
In every duardin’s soul there burns the legend of the Wanderer known as Grombrindal, the mysterious whitebeard appearing since time immemorial to guide his people through their darkest hours – though few can attest to seeing him in the flesh.
READ IT BECAUSE
It's a tour of the breadth and depth of duardin culture in the Mortal Realms, all centered around the heroic deeds of Grombrindal, the semi-mythical whitebeard who is always ready to save the day.
THE STORY
When the ancient sky-city of Barak-Thryng comes under attack by the Gloomspite Gitz on their quest to reach the Bad Moon, it is an opportunity for the city’s defenders to prove their mettle. But there are darker, more dangerous forces pulling the strings behind this attack, for the Weaver of Fates has set his gaze upon the city.
It is into this powder keg that Grombrindal appears. And he is followed by the Oathbreakers, desperate for the whitebeard’s help in lifting an ancient curse afflicting one of their number, a curse Grombrindal had promised to lift – the Ancestor’s Burden.
CONTENTS
Rat-Tail (short story)
High Airs (short story)
Durkar's Wake (short story)
King Osgek's Prize (short story)
No God's Land (short story)
Bitter Oaths (short story)
The Maker's Promise (short novel)
394 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 1, 2025
About the author
Chris Thursten
12 books12 followersChris Thursten is a writer and video game developer. He lives in Bristol, UK.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 14, 2026
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The short stories were a fun exercise in set-up and world building and the novella was a satisfying conclusion to the narrative. Might not be everyone’s cup of tea. But if you are into warhammer/AoS dwarves you will really enjoy reading this book.
April 3, 2026
I have finished the novel, but somehow there's 200 more pages which is apparently another novel.
To be frank the entire book was already a confusing mess with the author jumping around in time, not making the characters' races obvious for chapters, only making you realize that "oh, this guy was a human, not a dwarf" much later. The language is also not very reader friendly, especially for those who does not have English as their native language. Think I'll pass on the second half for now, as the first story had a conclusion, and I'm not sure why this needed to be one book as GW loves releasing multiple story book series.
edit: I ended up finishing the remaining part too, and still feel disappointed. The appearance of the stormcasts feels like a copout ending, even if it was basically the conclusion of Justec's story. I feel that it was very unfocused overall. Larn, Ardellain, Justec, Myrrdi, Sivarn, Grombrindal, Kairos, the grot leader, the stormcast woman, Margew, Teffi, her father and grandmother, Justec, they all had storylines, several paragraphs from their POV. To be frank I enjoyed Justec's storyline the most, I've heard how the ghoul kings are delusional madmen, but it was nice to read an actual story about them, and as his curse was the main motivation for the Oathbreakers' return, I feel like that the entire novel was conceptualized on this storyline too.
To be frank the entire book was already a confusing mess with the author jumping around in time, not making the characters' races obvious for chapters, only making you realize that "oh, this guy was a human, not a dwarf" much later. The language is also not very reader friendly, especially for those who does not have English as their native language. Think I'll pass on the second half for now, as the first story had a conclusion, and I'm not sure why this needed to be one book as GW loves releasing multiple story book series.
edit: I ended up finishing the remaining part too, and still feel disappointed. The appearance of the stormcasts feels like a copout ending, even if it was basically the conclusion of Justec's story. I feel that it was very unfocused overall. Larn, Ardellain, Justec, Myrrdi, Sivarn, Grombrindal, Kairos, the grot leader, the stormcast woman, Margew, Teffi, her father and grandmother, Justec, they all had storylines, several paragraphs from their POV. To be frank I enjoyed Justec's storyline the most, I've heard how the ghoul kings are delusional madmen, but it was nice to read an actual story about them, and as his curse was the main motivation for the Oathbreakers' return, I feel like that the entire novel was conceptualized on this storyline too.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews