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The Realmgate Wars #1
War Storm
Across the Mortal Realms, a storm rages. Sigmar announces his return as his Stormcast Eternals strike a vengeful blow against the hordes of Chaos. Lord-Celestant Vandus Hammerhand has claimed one of the Gates of Azyr – he now makes for the dreaded Gate of Wrath in the fire-blackened Brimstone Peninsula of Aqshy, and a reckoning with the Chaos Lord Korghos Khul. His fellow Lord-Celestants fight just as hard to break the dominion of Chaos; the Stormhosts’ grand crusade brings war to the Ghyrtract Fen, where Gardus of the Hallowed Knights strives to take back the Gates of Dawn. Meanwhile, in the mystical Hanging Valleys of Anvrok, Thostos Bladestorm leads his men against a towering fortress which conceals a prize beyond measure.
Get your first look at the Realms of Life and Metal, and a whole load of new heroes and villains! See what different Stormhosts are like (we're fond of the Celestial Vindicators. They are angry. Very, very angry) as they get their hammers dirty amongst the creepiness of diseased forests and abandoned (and haunted!) cities.
This volume contains the stories 'Borne by the Storm' by Nick Kyme, 'Storm of Blades' by Guy Haley and 'The Gates of Dawn' by Josh Reynolds.
Beautifully presented with bespoke artwork on an embossed, soft-touch matte finish hardcover, brass-edged pages and metallic inking, this 240-page tome is sure to take pride of place on the shelf of any bookcase.
The A5 hardback cover folds out to provide a panoramic view of a battle between the forces of Chaos and Sigmar’s heroic Stormhosts. This is the first in a new series of Black Library exclusive editions of the Realmgate Wars novels.
Get your first look at the Realms of Life and Metal, and a whole load of new heroes and villains! See what different Stormhosts are like (we're fond of the Celestial Vindicators. They are angry. Very, very angry) as they get their hammers dirty amongst the creepiness of diseased forests and abandoned (and haunted!) cities.
This volume contains the stories 'Borne by the Storm' by Nick Kyme, 'Storm of Blades' by Guy Haley and 'The Gates of Dawn' by Josh Reynolds.
Beautifully presented with bespoke artwork on an embossed, soft-touch matte finish hardcover, brass-edged pages and metallic inking, this 240-page tome is sure to take pride of place on the shelf of any bookcase.
The A5 hardback cover folds out to provide a panoramic view of a battle between the forces of Chaos and Sigmar’s heroic Stormhosts. This is the first in a new series of Black Library exclusive editions of the Realmgate Wars novels.
Hardcover
First published August 8, 2015
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About the author
Nick Kyme
280 books161 followersNick Kyme (b. 1977) writes mostly for Black Library. His credits include the popular Salamanders series and several audio dramas.
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October 1, 2015
Despite what GW/Black Library advertise War Storm as, this is an anthology collecting three novellas rather than a full novel.
As such, I will be reviewing the novellas individually, as I finish them.
Borne by the Storm by Nick Kyme
This first novella follows on directly from The Gates of Azyr, which I reviewed already. It continues the conflict between Lord-Celestant Vandus Hammerhand of the Stormcast Eternals and Mighty Lord of Khorne Korghos Khul, who got separated in the melee in The Gates of Azyr.
While the novella celebrated a victory for Sigmar's goldenboys, Khul survived and continues to pursue his goal of topping off the pyramid erected in tribute to the Blood God with the skull of an immortal - preferably that of his nemesis, Vandus Hammerhand.
For the most part, Khul is at the top of things I liked about this novella. Yes, he is a fairly stereotypical Khorne Lord who goes as far as to butcher dozens of his followers, only supported by his Flesh Hound, to bring forth a few daemons, but at least he has ambition and his grudge against Vandus is clear.
He even shows a bit of humor in his duel with Lord-Celestant Jactos Goldenmane, by humbling the foolish glory-hound.
By the end of the novella, I was actively rooting for Korghos Khul to ascend to daemonhood and wipe the Stormcast Eternals from the Realm of Aqshy.
Vandus Hammerhand, meanwhile, attempts to stop Khul from finishing his Pyramid and destroying the corrupted Realmgate in Khul's domain. Of course, he does so by assaulting Khul's home turf, despite his visions of it being his skull that would complete the Chaos Lord's quest for power and ensure his ultimate victory. He also splits from Ionus Cryptborn, his "Lord-Relictor", along with a good part of his Stormhost, to do so.
To be frank, I cannot stand Vandus. At all. He is adored by his peers for being the first and brightest of the Eternals, but really, all he is is a buffoon with little tactical foresight. Seeking out his nemesis while severely under strength was a silly thing to do, for one. Even in the second chapter, however, he gets so caught up in battle against Khul's dregs that he gets separated from his main force.
Parting ways with Cryptborn, however, is even worse: That's the one guy who can heal his fallen Stormcasts and cast storm magic on his enemies.
Thankfully, for plot reasons, Ionus and co return somewhat last-minute to join the final battle and save the day.
Nevertheless, fellow Lord-Celestant Jactos Goldenmane (who I despised) is jealous of Vandus' status as first of the hosts. Sadly, this also turns him into a bumbling fool who would trumpet his victory just to be caught in a pincer attack and needing rescue by Vandus. The resulting heavy losses to his Chamber of Eternals did not stop him from assaulting Khul first, ahead of Vandus, though, resulting in him getting his plated bum handed to him by the Chaos Lord.
Why? Because instead of finishing the fight, he has to go on tirades about his greatness and Khul's evil deeds requiring punishment. I'd describe it as reverse Bond villain syndrome.
Instead of saving Vandus and defeating Khul, he all but assures the warlord's victory.
Now, in my review of The Gates of Azyr I stated that I'd have liked more development of Ionus Cryptborn. I got it here.
Sadly, I was severely underwhelmed by what was delivered.
Where in Chris Wraight's novella, Cryptborn had a certain amount of elevated power and mystery about him, in Borne by the Storm, he feels like an unstable fanatic constantly haunted by (what I assume to be) Nagash. The story made me wonder if the "Nag" in Nagash actually refers to annoying somebody - in this case Ionus. Because that is all he did: Remind Ionus over and over that he is in the Lord of Death's debt, at the most inconvenient times.
Ionus is shown shouting "Sigmar" and either begging for mercy or declaring his defiance of Nagash over and over throughout his scenes. Especially his chantings to Sigmar whenever he casts a spell became sillier by the moment, and had me grown. I was thoroughly disappointed with Cryptborn's depiction here.
The final confrontation between Khul and Vandus is heralded by a direct challenge from the Eternal. And to be honest, this is yet another instance where Korghos proves to be the better character - and is right on the money:
It is the culmination of a feeling I had for most of the novella:
While Vandus Hammerhand was certainly chosen by Sigmar, he is a poor leader, a bland character and does not seem to be worthy of the honor he holds. Korghos Khul, meanwhile, has earned his nigh-ascension to Daemon Prince of Khorne.
The predictable outcome of the duel can once again be attributed not to the skills of Sigmar's Stormcast, but Sigmar's timely intervention.
Still, the ultimate result of the battle is lacking in this second Vandus vs Khul novella as well, making me expect to see them both again in the future.
It felt increasingly odd how often the chosen of Sigmar needed to call upon his godly help to win a few battles. Magic is one thing when it is, like in WHFB's Old World, a manifestation of elemental powers flowing through the world via the Winds of Magic. But made clear to be the direct influence and power of a living god within the setting, who is sitting at home in Azyr waiting for his chosen to get cornered for the xth time today, it makes you wonder why such an all-powerful being didn't create better soldiers in the first place.
Borne by the Storm kept me up at night. Not because I was impressed with it, but because it boggled my mind how a cast as incompetent as these Stormcast Eternals could be Sigmar's mighty weapon against Chaos. Who would trust the fate of all the realms to these incapable fools?
But besides all these issues with the characters, I can at least appreciate that Kyme decided not to make this a non-stop action piece. Yes, there is still far too much of it in here, to the point where I had to read individual battles twice because I kept spacing out, but at least it is shaken up by scenes developing Korghos a little bit, and describing the environment.
It isn't much, but at least it wasn't one dull battle making up 80% of the story.
I'd rate Borne by the Storm on par with The Gates of Azyr at 2 Stars. It delivered parts that its predecessor lacked entirely, but fails at making me care for any of the Stormcasts.
It wasn't a good start to the anthology, considering I have two more novellas featuring the goldenboys left to read following it.
Storm of Blades by Guy Haley
This novella, to my relief, was actually fairly good. Yes, it was still about Stormcast Eternals (though thankfully a different Stormhost and Chamber than the dull horde of Vandus Hammerhand), but Guy Haley actually managed to make me give a damn about them.
Not just that, but this Age of Sigmar story had actual buildup before engaging in any sort of action. The first major battle only took place in chapter seven of twelve! This was a real surprise to me, and, thankfully, left plenty of room for Haley to play to his strengths of world building and character development.
Unlike the story arc involving Vandus Hammerhand, this novella sees the Stormcast Eternals, led by Thostos Bladestorm of the Celestial Vindicators (the turquiose ones), enter the Realm of Chamon, otherwise known as the realm of metal and home to the Duardin (Lawyerspeak for Dwarves). And unlike the dull, barren realm of Aqshy, Chamon is actually interesting!.
I ended up opening The Realmgate Wars: Quest For Ghal Maraz for its map of the realm, to better visualize its odd Silver River, Argent Falls and the Silver Wyrm Argentine. The spoiler below contains that artwork, as it will do a good job explaining why I felt intrigued by it, and saves me adding too much to this already far too lengthy review.
Now for a huge bummer: There are no dwarves in this novella. There are notes about their civilization before Chaos came to Chamon, but while the Vindicators were tasked with finding them and reaffirming old alliances, they are only successful in finding entrance to the old dwarven Realmgate, the Silverway, before the followers of Tzeentch (Hurrah for a distinct lack of Khorne in this story!) arrive to mess with them.
The Chaos Sorcerer in charge, named Ephryx, is presented early on and built up throughout the novella. He is an intriguingly crafty and clever fellow, as should be expected from those in Tzeentch's favor. He is being mentored by Kairos Fateweaver himself, the Oracle of Tzeentch - who appears twice in the novella, and is a joy to read.
Haley plays wonderfully with the dual-nature of Kairos (having two heads with vastly different perception, and all that) and creates intrigue where Wraight and Kyme only had slaughter to deliver.
Ephryx's Eldritch Fortress is described in solid detail, and it is clear that there is more to it and Ephryx than meets the eye - which provides the welcome twist at the end of the novella (which I shan't spoil here). But Ephryx is not the only big bad in the Chaos camp here; Lord Maerac of Manticorea (yes, he rides a Manticore) provides a welcome counterbalance to Ephryx's mad schemes in the later parts of the book - both in and out of battle.
But what about the Celestial Vindicators? They were depicted more human, relatable and engaging than in any of the previous stories.
The very first chapter of the novella introduces the man who would become Thostos Bladestorm. This gives the Lord-Celestant a tragic history and a solid foundation: We actually see his last moments and his oath of vengeance, rather than just hear about it in passing. I cared about Caeran of Wolf Keep from the start, whereas I have yet to give a damn about Vendell Blackfist.
Vengeance is the core theme of the Vindicators - every one of them was plucked away by Sigmar when they begged him for the strength to reap vengeance upon Chaos. They all share the same hatred, the same sense of loss, and thus understand one another's motivation perfectly.
They are eager for battle, but not enough so that they would forget their duties or become berserkers upon the battlefield. While a lot of the major Stormcast characters complain about the lack of action (while I was cheering for that exact reason), they do not appear insubordinate or overly pushy, and Thostos has no trouble keeping them in line.
In fact, I was surprised at how calm Thostos himself was, even going as far as to philosophize about the nature of Chaos, their tasks and whether the followers of Tzeentch even had a choice anymore, or if they were simply born into mania. This sort of reflection made Thostos an infinitely more compelling character to read about, and the ending all the more bitter.
He proved to be a far better tactician and leader than Vandus Hammerhand - instead of assaulting the enemy stronghold, he called for reinforcements from the other Vindicator Chambers.
A big feature of this novella is also the appearance of Sigmar Heldenhammer himself. He commands the Celestial Vindicators in person, sending them to Chamon and delivering a speech that actually made me think that this could, indeed, be the same God-King I have known for years, rather than the self-indulgent fool he appears from the background material. If this is the tone they are going for with Sigmar, I am happy.
The story ends with a semi-cliffhanger, and since The Realmgate Wars: Ghal Maraz has already been released, it is clear that Thostos' story is already being continued. I am actually looking forward to what Haley has in stock for the Vindicators, Ephryx, Fateweaver and the rest.
My only regrets are the lack of dwarves (as mandated by the source material), the feeling that much of this novella was supposed to set-up the sequel, and the rather abrupt ending. There was also a late instance of barely explained Sigmar-magic I'd have liked to know more about. Other than that, I enjoyed the more relatable depiction of the uniform supersoldiers and the way the world building was handled.
Storm of Blades would receive a solid Four Star rating from me, and I am optimistic for the sequel.
The Gates of Dawn by Josh Reynolds
The final novella in War Storm returns to Age of Sigmar's prefered format: A single, large-scale engagement dominates the story, with a few chapters looking at the Realm of Azyr thrown in. Unlike the previous two stories, The Gates of Dawn features two different Stormhosts, the Hallowed Knights and the Astral Templars, and focuses on the friendship between Lord-Celestants Gardus the Steel Soul and Zephacleas the Beast-Bane.
On top of that, this novella introduces the most delightful Great Unclean One, Bolathrax, daemon of Nurgle, that I have ever had the pleasure to read. Frankly, his dialogue throughout the book was greatly amusing and very much to the spirit of Grandfather Nurgle. His taunts against Gardus and his Eternals were probably the best part of the story, although I enjoyed it overall, despite the heavy fighting.
Be that as it may, I liked the way Josh managed to depict the relationships between the different Stormhosts. That is something that was sorely missing (despite everybody being amazed by golden boy Vandus, for some reason), and it added welcome perspective and friendly rivalry. It also made the Stormcast Eternals appear more human and relatable, by giving them relationships and activities when they aren't at war fighting Chaos.
Lord-Celestant Gardus ended up being a decent character, though not without his lapses in leadership due to old trauma and insecurity. I found it easy to relate to him, though, and he worked for me as a protagonist, especially when interacting with his Primes and later Zephacleas. I am glad there is more of him already written in Ghal Maraz.
The big battle at the Gates of Dawn itself was about what you'd expect when a few elite warriors are being swamped by more and more daemons of pestilence, including a whole host of Greater Daemons, Bolathrax's Rotguard. Sadly, those were basically mute, and the big bad himself had to stay out of the thick of it for the most part to keep summoning reinforcements, so his role wasn't as big as I'd have liked.
The Rotguard felt reasonably powerful and like a big hurdle to overcome, but by the end I was somewhat surprised at how comparatively easy they made it for the Stormcasts - with them still being alive and what not.
Still, the action was competently written and Josh Reynolds had ample opportunity to write dialogue between various characters - an area he absolutely shines at. Now if only I could get the Hallowed Knights' "Only the Faithful" motto out of my head again, I'd be happy. I'm hesitant to say that Reynolds might have overused the phrase throughout the novella, as I felt it was very fitting and tied the Stormhost together rather well, but it was definitely repeated a lot throughout.
I'd rate The Gates of Dawn at four stars like Storm of Blades, though I still prefer Guy Haley's contribution to War Storm. It simply did more as far as world building went, whereas this story got bogged down by Nurgle's corruption and had to rely on chapters outside of the realm of Ghyran, back home in Azyr, to distance itself from the relentless action.
As somebody who values engaging dialogue highly, however, I definitely enjoyed this story.
Full Verdict:
The Realmgate Wars: War Storm is an anthology full of pyrrhic victories for the Stormcast Eternals. If anything, it makes it clear that Sigmar's chosen warriors are not an unstoppable force of lightning, no matter what GW's advertising team would have people believe. Unlike The Gates of Azyr, it managed to make me care for the Stormcast Eternals and the reconquest of the realms.
This is mostly due to Guy Haley's contribution showing the reader that the realms aren't all wastelands and unsalvagable mini realms of chaos.
Its one big misstep was not showing anything alive besides the Chaos forces throughout 95% of the book. Only at the very end of Josh Reynolds' novella do we finally get a glimpse at the survivors of a realm overrun by Chaos, but I can't possibly consider that enough. It doesn't even meet the bare minimum of what I'd like to see: A world worth fighting for, with its own quirks and cultures, and actual civilizations, not just abandoned ruins.
Another big faux pas was putting Nick Kyme's story, Borne by the Storm, up front. It was so full of odd moments and silly characters (even as far as fantasy marines go), it almost made me drop the book altogether. The following two stories gave me characters to root for which weren't the bad guys (although both Haley and Reynolds delivered very compelling antagonists in Ephryx, Kairos, Grelch and Bolathrax).
They gave me a speck of hope that, maybe in the future, once the Realmgate Wars series is ending, Age of Sigmar's eight realms could become home to more creative, inventive stories about heroes and adventurers, rather than fully-armored supermen and enraged bloodreavers. Maybe one day, if GW's management and design time decide to allow for it.
As it is, though, War Storm wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. It ended up decent enough to make me want to read The Realmgate Wars: Ghal Maraz, which continues the two good novellas from this collection, and seemingly ditches Vandus. I am uncertain if this anthology was as good as it needed to be to keep people interested in continuing the series, though.
Overall, as a complete book, I rate War Storm at three stars. Even though I enjoyed the latter stories for the most part, I am not comfortable giving a mixed bag like this, which lacks the creative genius you'd come to expect from the individual authors by now, more than that. It is an average collection with plenty of downsides, but also a few strong points.
It certainly exceeded my expectations, but then, I am still highly cynical about this reset/continuation of Warhammer Fantasy, so make of my expectations what you will.
As such, I will be reviewing the novellas individually, as I finish them.
Borne by the Storm by Nick Kyme
This first novella follows on directly from The Gates of Azyr, which I reviewed already. It continues the conflict between Lord-Celestant Vandus Hammerhand of the Stormcast Eternals and Mighty Lord of Khorne Korghos Khul, who got separated in the melee in The Gates of Azyr.
While the novella celebrated a victory for Sigmar's goldenboys, Khul survived and continues to pursue his goal of topping off the pyramid erected in tribute to the Blood God with the skull of an immortal - preferably that of his nemesis, Vandus Hammerhand.
For the most part, Khul is at the top of things I liked about this novella. Yes, he is a fairly stereotypical Khorne Lord who goes as far as to butcher dozens of his followers, only supported by his Flesh Hound, to bring forth a few daemons, but at least he has ambition and his grudge against Vandus is clear.
He even shows a bit of humor in his duel with Lord-Celestant Jactos Goldenmane, by humbling the foolish glory-hound.
By the end of the novella, I was actively rooting for Korghos Khul to ascend to daemonhood and wipe the Stormcast Eternals from the Realm of Aqshy.
Vandus Hammerhand, meanwhile, attempts to stop Khul from finishing his Pyramid and destroying the corrupted Realmgate in Khul's domain. Of course, he does so by assaulting Khul's home turf, despite his visions of it being his skull that would complete the Chaos Lord's quest for power and ensure his ultimate victory. He also splits from Ionus Cryptborn, his "Lord-Relictor", along with a good part of his Stormhost, to do so.
To be frank, I cannot stand Vandus. At all. He is adored by his peers for being the first and brightest of the Eternals, but really, all he is is a buffoon with little tactical foresight. Seeking out his nemesis while severely under strength was a silly thing to do, for one. Even in the second chapter, however, he gets so caught up in battle against Khul's dregs that he gets separated from his main force.
Parting ways with Cryptborn, however, is even worse: That's the one guy who can heal his fallen Stormcasts and cast storm magic on his enemies.
Thankfully, for plot reasons, Ionus and co return somewhat last-minute to join the final battle and save the day.
Nevertheless, fellow Lord-Celestant Jactos Goldenmane (who I despised) is jealous of Vandus' status as first of the hosts. Sadly, this also turns him into a bumbling fool who would trumpet his victory just to be caught in a pincer attack and needing rescue by Vandus. The resulting heavy losses to his Chamber of Eternals did not stop him from assaulting Khul first, ahead of Vandus, though, resulting in him getting his plated bum handed to him by the Chaos Lord.
Why? Because instead of finishing the fight, he has to go on tirades about his greatness and Khul's evil deeds requiring punishment. I'd describe it as reverse Bond villain syndrome.
Instead of saving Vandus and defeating Khul, he all but assures the warlord's victory.
Now, in my review of The Gates of Azyr I stated that I'd have liked more development of Ionus Cryptborn. I got it here.
Sadly, I was severely underwhelmed by what was delivered.
Where in Chris Wraight's novella, Cryptborn had a certain amount of elevated power and mystery about him, in Borne by the Storm, he feels like an unstable fanatic constantly haunted by (what I assume to be) Nagash. The story made me wonder if the "Nag" in Nagash actually refers to annoying somebody - in this case Ionus. Because that is all he did: Remind Ionus over and over that he is in the Lord of Death's debt, at the most inconvenient times.
Ionus is shown shouting "Sigmar" and either begging for mercy or declaring his defiance of Nagash over and over throughout his scenes. Especially his chantings to Sigmar whenever he casts a spell became sillier by the moment, and had me grown. I was thoroughly disappointed with Cryptborn's depiction here.
The final confrontation between Khul and Vandus is heralded by a direct challenge from the Eternal. And to be honest, this is yet another instance where Korghos proves to be the better character - and is right on the money:
‘You have no true understanding of what it means to be chosen,’ Khul whispered through clenched teeth. ‘Of my sacrifice.’
It is the culmination of a feeling I had for most of the novella:
While Vandus Hammerhand was certainly chosen by Sigmar, he is a poor leader, a bland character and does not seem to be worthy of the honor he holds. Korghos Khul, meanwhile, has earned his nigh-ascension to Daemon Prince of Khorne.
The predictable outcome of the duel can once again be attributed not to the skills of Sigmar's Stormcast, but Sigmar's timely intervention.
Still, the ultimate result of the battle is lacking in this second Vandus vs Khul novella as well, making me expect to see them both again in the future.
It felt increasingly odd how often the chosen of Sigmar needed to call upon his godly help to win a few battles. Magic is one thing when it is, like in WHFB's Old World, a manifestation of elemental powers flowing through the world via the Winds of Magic. But made clear to be the direct influence and power of a living god within the setting, who is sitting at home in Azyr waiting for his chosen to get cornered for the xth time today, it makes you wonder why such an all-powerful being didn't create better soldiers in the first place.
Borne by the Storm kept me up at night. Not because I was impressed with it, but because it boggled my mind how a cast as incompetent as these Stormcast Eternals could be Sigmar's mighty weapon against Chaos. Who would trust the fate of all the realms to these incapable fools?
But besides all these issues with the characters, I can at least appreciate that Kyme decided not to make this a non-stop action piece. Yes, there is still far too much of it in here, to the point where I had to read individual battles twice because I kept spacing out, but at least it is shaken up by scenes developing Korghos a little bit, and describing the environment.
It isn't much, but at least it wasn't one dull battle making up 80% of the story.
I'd rate Borne by the Storm on par with The Gates of Azyr at 2 Stars. It delivered parts that its predecessor lacked entirely, but fails at making me care for any of the Stormcasts.
It wasn't a good start to the anthology, considering I have two more novellas featuring the goldenboys left to read following it.
Storm of Blades by Guy Haley
This novella, to my relief, was actually fairly good. Yes, it was still about Stormcast Eternals (though thankfully a different Stormhost and Chamber than the dull horde of Vandus Hammerhand), but Guy Haley actually managed to make me give a damn about them.
Not just that, but this Age of Sigmar story had actual buildup before engaging in any sort of action. The first major battle only took place in chapter seven of twelve! This was a real surprise to me, and, thankfully, left plenty of room for Haley to play to his strengths of world building and character development.
Unlike the story arc involving Vandus Hammerhand, this novella sees the Stormcast Eternals, led by Thostos Bladestorm of the Celestial Vindicators (the turquiose ones), enter the Realm of Chamon, otherwise known as the realm of metal and home to the Duardin (Lawyerspeak for Dwarves). And unlike the dull, barren realm of Aqshy, Chamon is actually interesting!.
I ended up opening The Realmgate Wars: Quest For Ghal Maraz for its map of the realm, to better visualize its odd Silver River, Argent Falls and the Silver Wyrm Argentine. The spoiler below contains that artwork, as it will do a good job explaining why I felt intrigued by it, and saves me adding too much to this already far too lengthy review.
Now for a huge bummer: There are no dwarves in this novella. There are notes about their civilization before Chaos came to Chamon, but while the Vindicators were tasked with finding them and reaffirming old alliances, they are only successful in finding entrance to the old dwarven Realmgate, the Silverway, before the followers of Tzeentch (Hurrah for a distinct lack of Khorne in this story!) arrive to mess with them.
The Chaos Sorcerer in charge, named Ephryx, is presented early on and built up throughout the novella. He is an intriguingly crafty and clever fellow, as should be expected from those in Tzeentch's favor. He is being mentored by Kairos Fateweaver himself, the Oracle of Tzeentch - who appears twice in the novella, and is a joy to read.
Haley plays wonderfully with the dual-nature of Kairos (having two heads with vastly different perception, and all that) and creates intrigue where Wraight and Kyme only had slaughter to deliver.
Ephryx's Eldritch Fortress is described in solid detail, and it is clear that there is more to it and Ephryx than meets the eye - which provides the welcome twist at the end of the novella (which I shan't spoil here). But Ephryx is not the only big bad in the Chaos camp here; Lord Maerac of Manticorea (yes, he rides a Manticore) provides a welcome counterbalance to Ephryx's mad schemes in the later parts of the book - both in and out of battle.
But what about the Celestial Vindicators? They were depicted more human, relatable and engaging than in any of the previous stories.
The very first chapter of the novella introduces the man who would become Thostos Bladestorm. This gives the Lord-Celestant a tragic history and a solid foundation: We actually see his last moments and his oath of vengeance, rather than just hear about it in passing. I cared about Caeran of Wolf Keep from the start, whereas I have yet to give a damn about Vendell Blackfist.
Vengeance is the core theme of the Vindicators - every one of them was plucked away by Sigmar when they begged him for the strength to reap vengeance upon Chaos. They all share the same hatred, the same sense of loss, and thus understand one another's motivation perfectly.
They are eager for battle, but not enough so that they would forget their duties or become berserkers upon the battlefield. While a lot of the major Stormcast characters complain about the lack of action (while I was cheering for that exact reason), they do not appear insubordinate or overly pushy, and Thostos has no trouble keeping them in line.
In fact, I was surprised at how calm Thostos himself was, even going as far as to philosophize about the nature of Chaos, their tasks and whether the followers of Tzeentch even had a choice anymore, or if they were simply born into mania. This sort of reflection made Thostos an infinitely more compelling character to read about, and the ending all the more bitter.
He proved to be a far better tactician and leader than Vandus Hammerhand - instead of assaulting the enemy stronghold, he called for reinforcements from the other Vindicator Chambers.
A big feature of this novella is also the appearance of Sigmar Heldenhammer himself. He commands the Celestial Vindicators in person, sending them to Chamon and delivering a speech that actually made me think that this could, indeed, be the same God-King I have known for years, rather than the self-indulgent fool he appears from the background material. If this is the tone they are going for with Sigmar, I am happy.
The story ends with a semi-cliffhanger, and since The Realmgate Wars: Ghal Maraz has already been released, it is clear that Thostos' story is already being continued. I am actually looking forward to what Haley has in stock for the Vindicators, Ephryx, Fateweaver and the rest.
My only regrets are the lack of dwarves (as mandated by the source material), the feeling that much of this novella was supposed to set-up the sequel, and the rather abrupt ending. There was also a late instance of barely explained Sigmar-magic I'd have liked to know more about. Other than that, I enjoyed the more relatable depiction of the uniform supersoldiers and the way the world building was handled.
Storm of Blades would receive a solid Four Star rating from me, and I am optimistic for the sequel.
The Gates of Dawn by Josh Reynolds
The final novella in War Storm returns to Age of Sigmar's prefered format: A single, large-scale engagement dominates the story, with a few chapters looking at the Realm of Azyr thrown in. Unlike the previous two stories, The Gates of Dawn features two different Stormhosts, the Hallowed Knights and the Astral Templars, and focuses on the friendship between Lord-Celestants Gardus the Steel Soul and Zephacleas the Beast-Bane.
On top of that, this novella introduces the most delightful Great Unclean One, Bolathrax, daemon of Nurgle, that I have ever had the pleasure to read. Frankly, his dialogue throughout the book was greatly amusing and very much to the spirit of Grandfather Nurgle. His taunts against Gardus and his Eternals were probably the best part of the story, although I enjoyed it overall, despite the heavy fighting.
‘Oh no, no, no, my friends. This will simply not do. The game has barely begun, and already you celebrate victory? No, this will not do at all,’ a hideous phlegm-roughened voice chortled. It echoed from everywhere and nowhere, slithering across the minds and ears of every man present. It rose from the mud, and pulsed from the festering vines that clung to everything. Gardus raised his hammer and his men fell instantly into formation, shields raised, weapons ready. Something was coming and they needed to be ready to meet it.
Be that as it may, I liked the way Josh managed to depict the relationships between the different Stormhosts. That is something that was sorely missing (despite everybody being amazed by golden boy Vandus, for some reason), and it added welcome perspective and friendly rivalry. It also made the Stormcast Eternals appear more human and relatable, by giving them relationships and activities when they aren't at war fighting Chaos.
Lord-Celestant Gardus ended up being a decent character, though not without his lapses in leadership due to old trauma and insecurity. I found it easy to relate to him, though, and he worked for me as a protagonist, especially when interacting with his Primes and later Zephacleas. I am glad there is more of him already written in Ghal Maraz.
The big battle at the Gates of Dawn itself was about what you'd expect when a few elite warriors are being swamped by more and more daemons of pestilence, including a whole host of Greater Daemons, Bolathrax's Rotguard. Sadly, those were basically mute, and the big bad himself had to stay out of the thick of it for the most part to keep summoning reinforcements, so his role wasn't as big as I'd have liked.
The Rotguard felt reasonably powerful and like a big hurdle to overcome, but by the end I was somewhat surprised at how comparatively easy they made it for the Stormcasts - with them still being alive and what not.
Still, the action was competently written and Josh Reynolds had ample opportunity to write dialogue between various characters - an area he absolutely shines at. Now if only I could get the Hallowed Knights' "Only the Faithful" motto out of my head again, I'd be happy. I'm hesitant to say that Reynolds might have overused the phrase throughout the novella, as I felt it was very fitting and tied the Stormhost together rather well, but it was definitely repeated a lot throughout.
I'd rate The Gates of Dawn at four stars like Storm of Blades, though I still prefer Guy Haley's contribution to War Storm. It simply did more as far as world building went, whereas this story got bogged down by Nurgle's corruption and had to rely on chapters outside of the realm of Ghyran, back home in Azyr, to distance itself from the relentless action.
As somebody who values engaging dialogue highly, however, I definitely enjoyed this story.
Full Verdict:
The Realmgate Wars: War Storm is an anthology full of pyrrhic victories for the Stormcast Eternals. If anything, it makes it clear that Sigmar's chosen warriors are not an unstoppable force of lightning, no matter what GW's advertising team would have people believe. Unlike The Gates of Azyr, it managed to make me care for the Stormcast Eternals and the reconquest of the realms.
This is mostly due to Guy Haley's contribution showing the reader that the realms aren't all wastelands and unsalvagable mini realms of chaos.
Its one big misstep was not showing anything alive besides the Chaos forces throughout 95% of the book. Only at the very end of Josh Reynolds' novella do we finally get a glimpse at the survivors of a realm overrun by Chaos, but I can't possibly consider that enough. It doesn't even meet the bare minimum of what I'd like to see: A world worth fighting for, with its own quirks and cultures, and actual civilizations, not just abandoned ruins.
Another big faux pas was putting Nick Kyme's story, Borne by the Storm, up front. It was so full of odd moments and silly characters (even as far as fantasy marines go), it almost made me drop the book altogether. The following two stories gave me characters to root for which weren't the bad guys (although both Haley and Reynolds delivered very compelling antagonists in Ephryx, Kairos, Grelch and Bolathrax).
They gave me a speck of hope that, maybe in the future, once the Realmgate Wars series is ending, Age of Sigmar's eight realms could become home to more creative, inventive stories about heroes and adventurers, rather than fully-armored supermen and enraged bloodreavers. Maybe one day, if GW's management and design time decide to allow for it.
As it is, though, War Storm wasn't as bad as I expected it to be. It ended up decent enough to make me want to read The Realmgate Wars: Ghal Maraz, which continues the two good novellas from this collection, and seemingly ditches Vandus. I am uncertain if this anthology was as good as it needed to be to keep people interested in continuing the series, though.
Overall, as a complete book, I rate War Storm at three stars. Even though I enjoyed the latter stories for the most part, I am not comfortable giving a mixed bag like this, which lacks the creative genius you'd come to expect from the individual authors by now, more than that. It is an average collection with plenty of downsides, but also a few strong points.
It certainly exceeded my expectations, but then, I am still highly cynical about this reset/continuation of Warhammer Fantasy, so make of my expectations what you will.
July 23, 2016
This collection is the first Age of Sigmar that I've read (or in this case listened to) not because I have to, but because I wanted to, and because I want to catch up. I'm happy to report that I enjoyed all three stories, with a special mention to Guy Haley's Storm of Blades for being the undisputed champion of all Age of Sigmar stories that I've read so far. If you've read nothing else in this setting, then read this, it might just win you over
September 24, 2015
Almost five stars. I think that it would have been five, if the Tzeentch story was last. The Nurgle one was brutal, but a bit too monotonous, worse than the Khorne story at the beginning. The Tzeentch one was real gem, however.
July 3, 2023
This wasn't my favorite Age of Sigmar anthology but it was interesting to explore the early lore. All of the stories (novellas) in this anthology focus on the Stormcast Eternals. They are mostly long descriptions of battle. There is little by way of plot. Essentially this showcases the various evil factions fighting the Stormcast Eternals. I'm glad I read it. It fills out the early era of the Age of Sigmar, just after the end of the Age of Chaos. But it is very schematic and basic.
July 22, 2025
Takes more than big battles to write a good book. Fight choreography was a bit hard to keep track of and someone please take away these authors thesaurus! Nobody knows what the obscure name of the decorative bit on the top of a staff is called! Spent half the time googling what words meant!
October 27, 2020
'Borne by the Storm' by Nick Kyme - 1*
'Storm of Blades' by Guy Haley - 3*
'The Gates of Dawn' by Josh Reynolds - 3*
'Storm of Blades' by Guy Haley - 3*
'The Gates of Dawn' by Josh Reynolds - 3*
February 16, 2021
Really enjoyed this book. 3 different stories from 3 different realms definitely made the stories feel quick and exciting, plus always love the Sylvaneth
February 12, 2024
Pretty uneven.
Borne by the Storm (novella) by Nick Kyme - meh. Too much bro chest-bumping for me.
Storm of Blades (novella) by Guy Haley - ridiculously fun because of the Chaos creatures (here, a two-headed bitchy Tzeentch bird creature). Everybody is obviously having fun writing the Chaos entities.
The Gates of Dawn (novella) by Josh Reynolds. - more meh, but slowly pushing us along ....
Borne by the Storm (novella) by Nick Kyme - meh. Too much bro chest-bumping for me.
Storm of Blades (novella) by Guy Haley - ridiculously fun because of the Chaos creatures (here, a two-headed bitchy Tzeentch bird creature). Everybody is obviously having fun writing the Chaos entities.
The Gates of Dawn (novella) by Josh Reynolds. - more meh, but slowly pushing us along ....
April 25, 2020
War Storm is a reasonably decent collection, and one that definitely improves as things move forward. Moving on…
Borne by the Storm – Nick Kyme (3 stars)
This is effectively The Gates of Azyr Part II with a couple more supporting characters thrown in. Enough others have read and reviewed this that there’s probably nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said. This is another mostly-action piece, albeit where there is some more stake and context to the narrative. Gates's main hook was “at last, the SEs arrive to begin the recapture the Mortal Realms, liberate the oppressed, bring hope after centuries of darkness and horror, and give those Chaos bullyboys a right good kicking”. So they warm up a Realmgate and blat a pretty good-sized Khornate warband, and find a few helpless civvies that they presumably send back through the gate to Sigmaron.
Borne’s main hook is more interesting – “your ancient nemesis who destroyed your people and your life yet lives, and if you don’t put paid to his grody senior year architecture project, he’s probably going to kill you, imprison your soul, and snuff out the frail beginnings of the hope you’ve waited so long to kindle.” We get more of Vandus Hammerhand, Ionus Cryptborn, and Korghos Khul, so your enjoyment hinges a lot on what you think of these guys - after the one other short story you’ve had to get to know them.
Vandus is clearly the Captain America of the Stormcast Eternals, but he has the lamentable disadvantage of a much smaller history and context than the types of heroes in whose mold he is cast (see what I did there?) Unfortunately, most of his heroism, devotion to duty, and grit is still generally informed rather than demonstrated. We still know little about his past as Vendel Blackfist, and there’s no other deeds that he has done other than thumping Korghos Khul in the previous story. We haven’t seen him rescue anyone, rebuild a city, protect the innocent, nothing. He still hasn’t accomplished much (some of this is due to the fact that Sigmar’s Glorious Campaign of Liberation started in an empty waste devoid of anything but enemies with essentially no culture left). By the end of Borne he has proved that he has courage and at least some tactical acumen, as he’s outlasted the boneheaded Jactos Goldenmane, gone 2-0 with his archnemesis, and trusted Sigmar to keep his word and reforge him when the Gate of Wrath goes up in smoke, but the reader has to assume that what Sigmar sees in him to make him so “chosen” will have to be revealed in time. He doesn’t take any steps back, but it’s going to take him a long time to fit the stature BL is telling us he has.
Ionus is getting more haunted, and that’s mostly it. I can’t really figure out why Vandus (or any SE commander) would ever leave a Lord-Relictor behind, as they’re such capable battlefield surgeons/mechanics that they can return completely disabled SEs to the fight. Seems like the kind of force multiplier no one would ever want to be without. Ionus’ grudge with Nagash (who I understand is still lying low at this point) grows a bit, but mostly he has inconvenient fugue episodes when his troops need him paying attention. He still shows more ability as a general than Vandus or Korghos in this one, I think. When you have Sigmar willing to chuck lightning bolts across dimensions like a young Zeus hopped up on Four Loko, you need to put that asset to work. And so he does.
Korghos has an easier job of establishing himself further, mostly because he’s not functionally immortal, and creating evil and infamy is always way easier and faster than heroism and trust. Master Yoda taught us all that back in 1980. He’s also shown that he’s not a fool, and there’s some of the essential conflict between his sense of honor and courage and his constant desire to conquer and kill that makes Khornate characters interesting. Most all the others have trended toward simple maniac butchers, and those are fairly dull, working only as a threat to characters you do care about.
Things like the SEs are hard to write, as are their Space Marine inspirations, since as presented they should walk through most challenges without scuffing the finish on their armor, but that doesn’t make for compelling storytelling, so you end up with Sigmar’s immortal dimension-hopping supersoldiers that he’s spent half a millennium prepping quickly getting chopped down more easily than they should. I get that this is the Mortal Realms and not the Old World, and Everything Is Bigger Here, but still. Supermen are hard to write, so you either have to use them sparingly, or put more relatable things next to them for proper context. Presumably that has happened in later AoS fiction.
Rated the same as Gates. Not great, but not bad. Onward.
Storm of Blades - Guy Haley (4 stars)
A major step up, and it mostly goes down to “Show, don’t tell.” A quick opening sequence shows us who Lord-Celestant Thostos Bladestorm of the Celestial Vindicators was before he was turned into a magic-powered Sigmarine, and as such, it actually makes us care. The former Prince Caeran immediately has far more raison d’etre than Vandus Hammerhand, because we actually saw what happened rather than just having the narrator tell us over and over again.
Characters here are much better. Ephryx the Ninth Disciple, Kairos Fateweaver, Thing, Thostos himself, Maerac of Manticorea – all have actual personalities. The Tzeentchian (hey, a new Chaos God!) followers endlessly scheme and bicker, the archdaemon Kairos is the most accurate portrayal of a Lord of Change that I have read, and Thing is always good for a laugh in his lamentably short (aha) scene. They have multiple purposes, and aren’t the cardboard cutouts we’ve seen before.
But it’s Thostos himself that I’m most impressed with, showing a far more philosophical turn of mind than any other Stormcast so far, especially when the “exists to take revenge” thing could quickly turn him and his Stormhost into the Order-version of Khornate berserkers. Thostos ponders that an eternity of war and revenge, even to those literally made for it, cannot fully satisfy. A man may be remade, but he is still a man, at least for now, until the Reforgings incrementally take away all that made him a man, which the setting never tires of reminding us. Even more impressive is his musing on the face of a dead enemy, who clearly gave himself mind, body, and soul to the Ruinous Powers, and still wondering how much choice there really is when there is no other master to cling to. Thostos is still a Celestial Vindicator, and still wants to bring down the hammer of his master on the despoilers of Creation – he hates them for their cruelty and will hound them until the ending of the worlds – but he still is capable of thought and nuance, and just because he thinks, he is not a traitor to his purpose. A capable warrior, devoted to his god, and a thinker. My kind of champion.
A much better showing, this, in nearly every respect. Chamon and the Hanging Valleys feel much more a place worth fighting over than the Brimstone Peninsula, with their awe-inspiring weirdness and signs that there was a better life here once. Good fights, good imagery. The thought that the power of Nagash is something even the famously magically incautious Tzeentchians would back away from is an intriguing new wrinkle. The hunt for the Dwarves intrigues me. The thought that Sigmar can rescue even captured souls from Chaos (at least their magic in the Mortal Realms) puts a whole new spin on some long-standing constants of Warhammer metaphysics. And we’ve found the legendary Ghal Maraz? Things are happening! Characters are interesting! I found a story I want to hear more about!
…oops, we all got blasted by death magic and had to go back to the save point. At least we got to see what the Reforgings that were giving Vandus the willies a story before are like.
I better get to see someone actually pick up the Skull-splitter and give it back to the Big S. You know he’ll get it back – I just want to see it.
Encouraged. Let’s march on.
The Gates of Dawn –Josh Reynolds (4 stars)
So far, the Hallowed Knights are my favorite Stormhost. Their purity, resistance to Chaos’ effects, and their inimical nature towards its corruption much more closely fits my personal image of them as avenging angels sent by the foremost destroyer of Chaos.
This is another good one, bringing out another of the Four Chaos Gods – the “glopsome” (what a word, ugh) Grandfather Nurgle. Good characterization here, with the manner of speech of the Nurglish champions being much more rural and informal, as opposed to the inevitable Received Pronunciation of the Stormhosts. The only one of the Chaos hosts who seem like they enjoy a joke for its own sake, which you would think would be a Slaanesh thing, but there you are. Bolathrax actually has a personality, following in the tradition of Kairos Fateweaver, but still has the superiority complex that would follow with being an Arch-daemon of Chaos. He has an aura of palpable menace, which might almost be as scary as his revelation that a…Great Unclean One can run? Uh-oh…
The Realm of Life is a big improvement as a setting from the Brimstone Peninsula, as it actually gives us a background we can care about, and of course, if you think the children of Nurgle are the only scary things lurking in the woods...
The Steel Soul, Gardus-who-was-Garradan, has of course become a bit of a breakout character, is the other contender for my favorite Stormcast so far. As much of a philosopher as Thostos Bladestorm, and burdened with the sort of pre-Forging PTSD that Vandus Hammerhand is supposed to have but hasn’t executed very well, and…a former healer? Now that’s cool. We’ve had a lot of former vocational warriors showing up as named characters in the Stormhosts, but Gardus stands out as one who took up arms because he had no other choice to save those under his charge. A man of peace with healing hands that took up arms to do what was right. And he has grown into his martial way of life. Garradan was beleaguered, but the Steel Soul is a terrible foe, fearless and fell-handed. He has the same self-sacrificial streak as his two Lords-Celestant predecessors-in-literature, but unlike Vandus and Thostos, Gardus ventures alone into the seat of the Plague God’s power, defies him…and returns again to the Mortal Realms. And it is his faith that brings him out. Now that’s a proper paladin. “Only the faithful” indeed. Good stuff. Nice to see the deeply religious character survive for once.
And, by the by, that brief flash of the Big Boil himself leering down out of the skies of the Plague Garden is probably the most effective and efficient illustration I have ever seen of the sheer scale and terror of the Chaos Gods – the best since Bill King’s hair-raising description of the power and scale of the High-elven deity Asuryan back in “Blood of Aenarion” set in my beloved Old World (RIP, but not really, I guess).
Also, watching Gardus and Zephecleas and their officers pulp a couple other Great Unclean Ones gives an idea of just how tough the Stormcasts actually are, or at least the high-powered ones. Remember, even Gotrek Gurnisson, the most legendary splatter-of-foes-who-didn’t-actually-become-a-god, needed both the Axe of Grimnir and the nearly-as -powerful Hammer of Karag Dum to take down a Bloodthirster of Khorne, and it nearly killed him, and it was reckoned his greatest challenge until he literally squared up with Grimnir the Slayer God himself.
Stormcast Eternals are tough. We’d have a better idea how tough, if they were ever sent into battle against things a little more on the scale of normal humans, but this is the Mortal Realms, after all.
I know Gardus and his Hallowed Knights get two whole novels to star in, and I’m excited.
Borne by the Storm – Nick Kyme (3 stars)
This is effectively The Gates of Azyr Part II with a couple more supporting characters thrown in. Enough others have read and reviewed this that there’s probably nothing I can say that hasn’t already been said. This is another mostly-action piece, albeit where there is some more stake and context to the narrative. Gates's main hook was “at last, the SEs arrive to begin the recapture the Mortal Realms, liberate the oppressed, bring hope after centuries of darkness and horror, and give those Chaos bullyboys a right good kicking”. So they warm up a Realmgate and blat a pretty good-sized Khornate warband, and find a few helpless civvies that they presumably send back through the gate to Sigmaron.
Borne’s main hook is more interesting – “your ancient nemesis who destroyed your people and your life yet lives, and if you don’t put paid to his grody senior year architecture project, he’s probably going to kill you, imprison your soul, and snuff out the frail beginnings of the hope you’ve waited so long to kindle.” We get more of Vandus Hammerhand, Ionus Cryptborn, and Korghos Khul, so your enjoyment hinges a lot on what you think of these guys - after the one other short story you’ve had to get to know them.
Vandus is clearly the Captain America of the Stormcast Eternals, but he has the lamentable disadvantage of a much smaller history and context than the types of heroes in whose mold he is cast (see what I did there?) Unfortunately, most of his heroism, devotion to duty, and grit is still generally informed rather than demonstrated. We still know little about his past as Vendel Blackfist, and there’s no other deeds that he has done other than thumping Korghos Khul in the previous story. We haven’t seen him rescue anyone, rebuild a city, protect the innocent, nothing. He still hasn’t accomplished much (some of this is due to the fact that Sigmar’s Glorious Campaign of Liberation started in an empty waste devoid of anything but enemies with essentially no culture left). By the end of Borne he has proved that he has courage and at least some tactical acumen, as he’s outlasted the boneheaded Jactos Goldenmane, gone 2-0 with his archnemesis, and trusted Sigmar to keep his word and reforge him when the Gate of Wrath goes up in smoke, but the reader has to assume that what Sigmar sees in him to make him so “chosen” will have to be revealed in time. He doesn’t take any steps back, but it’s going to take him a long time to fit the stature BL is telling us he has.
Ionus is getting more haunted, and that’s mostly it. I can’t really figure out why Vandus (or any SE commander) would ever leave a Lord-Relictor behind, as they’re such capable battlefield surgeons/mechanics that they can return completely disabled SEs to the fight. Seems like the kind of force multiplier no one would ever want to be without. Ionus’ grudge with Nagash (who I understand is still lying low at this point) grows a bit, but mostly he has inconvenient fugue episodes when his troops need him paying attention. He still shows more ability as a general than Vandus or Korghos in this one, I think. When you have Sigmar willing to chuck lightning bolts across dimensions like a young Zeus hopped up on Four Loko, you need to put that asset to work. And so he does.
Korghos has an easier job of establishing himself further, mostly because he’s not functionally immortal, and creating evil and infamy is always way easier and faster than heroism and trust. Master Yoda taught us all that back in 1980. He’s also shown that he’s not a fool, and there’s some of the essential conflict between his sense of honor and courage and his constant desire to conquer and kill that makes Khornate characters interesting. Most all the others have trended toward simple maniac butchers, and those are fairly dull, working only as a threat to characters you do care about.
Things like the SEs are hard to write, as are their Space Marine inspirations, since as presented they should walk through most challenges without scuffing the finish on their armor, but that doesn’t make for compelling storytelling, so you end up with Sigmar’s immortal dimension-hopping supersoldiers that he’s spent half a millennium prepping quickly getting chopped down more easily than they should. I get that this is the Mortal Realms and not the Old World, and Everything Is Bigger Here, but still. Supermen are hard to write, so you either have to use them sparingly, or put more relatable things next to them for proper context. Presumably that has happened in later AoS fiction.
Rated the same as Gates. Not great, but not bad. Onward.
Storm of Blades - Guy Haley (4 stars)
A major step up, and it mostly goes down to “Show, don’t tell.” A quick opening sequence shows us who Lord-Celestant Thostos Bladestorm of the Celestial Vindicators was before he was turned into a magic-powered Sigmarine, and as such, it actually makes us care. The former Prince Caeran immediately has far more raison d’etre than Vandus Hammerhand, because we actually saw what happened rather than just having the narrator tell us over and over again.
Characters here are much better. Ephryx the Ninth Disciple, Kairos Fateweaver, Thing, Thostos himself, Maerac of Manticorea – all have actual personalities. The Tzeentchian (hey, a new Chaos God!) followers endlessly scheme and bicker, the archdaemon Kairos is the most accurate portrayal of a Lord of Change that I have read, and Thing is always good for a laugh in his lamentably short (aha) scene. They have multiple purposes, and aren’t the cardboard cutouts we’ve seen before.
But it’s Thostos himself that I’m most impressed with, showing a far more philosophical turn of mind than any other Stormcast so far, especially when the “exists to take revenge” thing could quickly turn him and his Stormhost into the Order-version of Khornate berserkers. Thostos ponders that an eternity of war and revenge, even to those literally made for it, cannot fully satisfy. A man may be remade, but he is still a man, at least for now, until the Reforgings incrementally take away all that made him a man, which the setting never tires of reminding us. Even more impressive is his musing on the face of a dead enemy, who clearly gave himself mind, body, and soul to the Ruinous Powers, and still wondering how much choice there really is when there is no other master to cling to. Thostos is still a Celestial Vindicator, and still wants to bring down the hammer of his master on the despoilers of Creation – he hates them for their cruelty and will hound them until the ending of the worlds – but he still is capable of thought and nuance, and just because he thinks, he is not a traitor to his purpose. A capable warrior, devoted to his god, and a thinker. My kind of champion.
A much better showing, this, in nearly every respect. Chamon and the Hanging Valleys feel much more a place worth fighting over than the Brimstone Peninsula, with their awe-inspiring weirdness and signs that there was a better life here once. Good fights, good imagery. The thought that the power of Nagash is something even the famously magically incautious Tzeentchians would back away from is an intriguing new wrinkle. The hunt for the Dwarves intrigues me. The thought that Sigmar can rescue even captured souls from Chaos (at least their magic in the Mortal Realms) puts a whole new spin on some long-standing constants of Warhammer metaphysics. And we’ve found the legendary Ghal Maraz? Things are happening! Characters are interesting! I found a story I want to hear more about!
…oops, we all got blasted by death magic and had to go back to the save point. At least we got to see what the Reforgings that were giving Vandus the willies a story before are like.
I better get to see someone actually pick up the Skull-splitter and give it back to the Big S. You know he’ll get it back – I just want to see it.
Encouraged. Let’s march on.
The Gates of Dawn –Josh Reynolds (4 stars)
So far, the Hallowed Knights are my favorite Stormhost. Their purity, resistance to Chaos’ effects, and their inimical nature towards its corruption much more closely fits my personal image of them as avenging angels sent by the foremost destroyer of Chaos.
This is another good one, bringing out another of the Four Chaos Gods – the “glopsome” (what a word, ugh) Grandfather Nurgle. Good characterization here, with the manner of speech of the Nurglish champions being much more rural and informal, as opposed to the inevitable Received Pronunciation of the Stormhosts. The only one of the Chaos hosts who seem like they enjoy a joke for its own sake, which you would think would be a Slaanesh thing, but there you are. Bolathrax actually has a personality, following in the tradition of Kairos Fateweaver, but still has the superiority complex that would follow with being an Arch-daemon of Chaos. He has an aura of palpable menace, which might almost be as scary as his revelation that a…Great Unclean One can run? Uh-oh…
The Realm of Life is a big improvement as a setting from the Brimstone Peninsula, as it actually gives us a background we can care about, and of course, if you think the children of Nurgle are the only scary things lurking in the woods...
The Steel Soul, Gardus-who-was-Garradan, has of course become a bit of a breakout character, is the other contender for my favorite Stormcast so far. As much of a philosopher as Thostos Bladestorm, and burdened with the sort of pre-Forging PTSD that Vandus Hammerhand is supposed to have but hasn’t executed very well, and…a former healer? Now that’s cool. We’ve had a lot of former vocational warriors showing up as named characters in the Stormhosts, but Gardus stands out as one who took up arms because he had no other choice to save those under his charge. A man of peace with healing hands that took up arms to do what was right. And he has grown into his martial way of life. Garradan was beleaguered, but the Steel Soul is a terrible foe, fearless and fell-handed. He has the same self-sacrificial streak as his two Lords-Celestant predecessors-in-literature, but unlike Vandus and Thostos, Gardus ventures alone into the seat of the Plague God’s power, defies him…and returns again to the Mortal Realms. And it is his faith that brings him out. Now that’s a proper paladin. “Only the faithful” indeed. Good stuff. Nice to see the deeply religious character survive for once.
And, by the by, that brief flash of the Big Boil himself leering down out of the skies of the Plague Garden is probably the most effective and efficient illustration I have ever seen of the sheer scale and terror of the Chaos Gods – the best since Bill King’s hair-raising description of the power and scale of the High-elven deity Asuryan back in “Blood of Aenarion” set in my beloved Old World (RIP, but not really, I guess).
Also, watching Gardus and Zephecleas and their officers pulp a couple other Great Unclean Ones gives an idea of just how tough the Stormcasts actually are, or at least the high-powered ones. Remember, even Gotrek Gurnisson, the most legendary splatter-of-foes-who-didn’t-actually-become-a-god, needed both the Axe of Grimnir and the nearly-as -powerful Hammer of Karag Dum to take down a Bloodthirster of Khorne, and it nearly killed him, and it was reckoned his greatest challenge until he literally squared up with Grimnir the Slayer God himself.
Stormcast Eternals are tough. We’d have a better idea how tough, if they were ever sent into battle against things a little more on the scale of normal humans, but this is the Mortal Realms, after all.
I know Gardus and his Hallowed Knights get two whole novels to star in, and I’m excited.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 17, 2021
Awful book. So many grammatical errors. No character development.
October 28, 2018
A collection of three novellas -- while different, they may be too similar to each other to really shine. Primarily, epic battle scene fatigue will likely set in.
Story 1: Borne by the Storm
Direct sequel to "The Gates of Azyr". In ways, the former story stayed more engaging. On the other hand, this one still had good character moments. The reflections of a Chaos warlord were interesting, and the development of individual Eternals was good. The conceit that battle triggers their memories is a convenient way to give snippets of backstory to give battles stakes.
Story 2: Storm of Blades
Lots of potential for weird fantasy goodness here. Shades of Berserk, Conan, and Moorcock. Unfortunately, the good bits are cut short. The interactions between followers of Tzeentch are the best part. The homunculus razzing its master about interior design was hilarious.
There was potential with the Stormcast raid on the fortress tower and all the strangeness that could happen there, but that part is pretty brief. Overall, I liked it, but wish it spent more time doing the interesting things that are distinct from the type of ground the previous story covered extensively (large scale battles, a general struggling with his past life).
Story 3: The Gate of Dawn
This was my favorite of the three. It keeps moving, and right off the bat gives as much of the character of Nurgle and his followers as we got for the other Chaos gods in the previous stories, and it doesn't stop there. The action is written very differently, and I particularly liked the style. The change not only helped it feel fresh, but it managed to be engaging and keep dialogue going between the combatants. Despite the really good descriptions, I do feel like the establishing of where the action was and the character of that Realm was a bit weak (or just brief enough that I missed it). I particularly look forward to the continuation of this story arc.
Story 1: Borne by the Storm
Direct sequel to "The Gates of Azyr". In ways, the former story stayed more engaging. On the other hand, this one still had good character moments. The reflections of a Chaos warlord were interesting, and the development of individual Eternals was good. The conceit that battle triggers their memories is a convenient way to give snippets of backstory to give battles stakes.
Story 2: Storm of Blades
Lots of potential for weird fantasy goodness here. Shades of Berserk, Conan, and Moorcock. Unfortunately, the good bits are cut short. The interactions between followers of Tzeentch are the best part. The homunculus razzing its master about interior design was hilarious.
There was potential with the Stormcast raid on the fortress tower and all the strangeness that could happen there, but that part is pretty brief. Overall, I liked it, but wish it spent more time doing the interesting things that are distinct from the type of ground the previous story covered extensively (large scale battles, a general struggling with his past life).
Story 3: The Gate of Dawn
This was my favorite of the three. It keeps moving, and right off the bat gives as much of the character of Nurgle and his followers as we got for the other Chaos gods in the previous stories, and it doesn't stop there. The action is written very differently, and I particularly liked the style. The change not only helped it feel fresh, but it managed to be engaging and keep dialogue going between the combatants. Despite the really good descriptions, I do feel like the establishing of where the action was and the character of that Realm was a bit weak (or just brief enough that I missed it). I particularly look forward to the continuation of this story arc.
May 30, 2017
Gutted for this book. This is 3 novellas which tell the stories of three armies of Stormcast Eternals (nigh immortal 'good' knights) who are claiming realms (worlds connected by portals) back from the servants of the chaos gods (the bad guys).
The Stormcast are men and women saved by the god Sigmar from death. They are converted into knights that can't be killed. When they die they are 'reforged' and brought back, but each time they lose more of themselves.
I really didn't like the protagonists. The past life bits had hints of something interesting but the characters were just boring and conceptually dull.
The antagonists in the second and third stories had the potential to be interesting, but they didn't get enough time to do anything and the stories were largely battles without much story.
If you really like Age of Sigmar give them a go, otherwise give them a wide birth.
The Stormcast are men and women saved by the god Sigmar from death. They are converted into knights that can't be killed. When they die they are 'reforged' and brought back, but each time they lose more of themselves.
I really didn't like the protagonists. The past life bits had hints of something interesting but the characters were just boring and conceptually dull.
The antagonists in the second and third stories had the potential to be interesting, but they didn't get enough time to do anything and the stories were largely battles without much story.
If you really like Age of Sigmar give them a go, otherwise give them a wide birth.
February 28, 2022
This first book in the 'Realmgate Wars' series of Age of Sigmar novels is really three novella length stories by different authors put together to tell the story of Sigmar’s invasion of the Realms of Aqshy, Chamon, and Ghyran.
The first story, 'Borne by the Storm' by Nick Kyme, continues the story of Vandus Hammerhand, which began in The Gates of Azyr, as he attempts to break the hold that Korghos Khul has over the Brimstone Peninsula, while trying to avoid fulfilling a terrible prophecy. This is a good story that nicely explores the backstory of a number of Stormcast characters, while also giving the murderous Khul some interesting character moments as well. The action in the story is well written and exciting to read, especially the final battle around the Red Pyramid and the Gate of Wrath that ends with Vandus’ first death.
The second story, 'Bladestorm' by Guy Haley, move the action to Chamon, the Ream of Metal, where the Celestial Vindicators take the fight to the forces of Tzeentch. This is probably my favourite story from the book, with the begin of the story, about Lord-Celestant Thostos Bladestorm’s life before becoming a Stormcast, and the end that shows just how Stormcasts are Reforged, being particualy noteworthy. The story also has some nice action and character moments for the Tzeentchian sorcerer Ephryx and Thastor.
The third and final story in this book, 'The Gates of Dawn' by Josh Reynolds, sees Lord-Celestant Gardus Steel Soul’s Chamber of Hallowed Knights attempt to secure a Realmgate held by the forces of Nurgle. I have quite liked Gardus Steel Soul since I first read about him in other sources from later in the timeline, and I enjoyed reading about how his story began in this story. The action is reasonably good but I do feel that the forces of Nurgle weren’t depicted quite as well as they could have been.
This book was a good start for the Realmgate Wars, nicely setting things up for the conflicts ahead.
The first story, 'Borne by the Storm' by Nick Kyme, continues the story of Vandus Hammerhand, which began in The Gates of Azyr, as he attempts to break the hold that Korghos Khul has over the Brimstone Peninsula, while trying to avoid fulfilling a terrible prophecy. This is a good story that nicely explores the backstory of a number of Stormcast characters, while also giving the murderous Khul some interesting character moments as well. The action in the story is well written and exciting to read, especially the final battle around the Red Pyramid and the Gate of Wrath that ends with Vandus’ first death.
The second story, 'Bladestorm' by Guy Haley, move the action to Chamon, the Ream of Metal, where the Celestial Vindicators take the fight to the forces of Tzeentch. This is probably my favourite story from the book, with the begin of the story, about Lord-Celestant Thostos Bladestorm’s life before becoming a Stormcast, and the end that shows just how Stormcasts are Reforged, being particualy noteworthy. The story also has some nice action and character moments for the Tzeentchian sorcerer Ephryx and Thastor.
The third and final story in this book, 'The Gates of Dawn' by Josh Reynolds, sees Lord-Celestant Gardus Steel Soul’s Chamber of Hallowed Knights attempt to secure a Realmgate held by the forces of Nurgle. I have quite liked Gardus Steel Soul since I first read about him in other sources from later in the timeline, and I enjoyed reading about how his story began in this story. The action is reasonably good but I do feel that the forces of Nurgle weren’t depicted quite as well as they could have been.
This book was a good start for the Realmgate Wars, nicely setting things up for the conflicts ahead.
April 1, 2016
This is an anthology with 3 stories, the first one, "Borne of the Storm" by Nick Kyme, picks up immediately from the events of the first book, Gates of Azyr. The story still has some issues from the first one, namely bland characters, but I feel it's not so bad this time around. The main hero, Vandus Hammerhand, isn't so much of a pushover this time around, which is nice. I find it ironic that his dragon mount, Calanax, has more character and is more lively than the rider! The villain, Korgos Khull, was a rather interesting villain, if anything for his obsession of trying to gain an immortal skull to complete is demented quest into demonhood. The contrast between the two characters is interesting, especially during the expected rematch between Khull and Hammerhand; my favorite exchange from that moment was when Khull said, " you have no true understanding of what it means to be chosen...Of my sacrifice". The twist leading up to that moment also surprised me. Overall, not a bad story as it wrapped up and made up for the blandness of the first novel, though I could've easily seen this short story tacked onto "Gates of Azyr".
The second story, "Storm of Blades" by Guy Haley, shifts gears from the realm of Aqshy and heads to Chamon, the realm of Metal and land of the Dwar-- err.. Duardin. This was a really great story, and I definitely enjoyed the prologue which gave background to the character Thostos Bladestorm, such as who he was before the reign of Chaos. One thing I've been dissapointed with AoS is how not much attention is given to "rebuilding" the realms after the End Times, all those events are talked about in past tense and in the "Age of Myths"; I'm pleased when I get to hear about the state of things before the Age of Sigmar and how mortals fought and lived beforehand.
Anyways, Thostos is chosen by Sigmar at his death to join the Stormhost of the Celestial Vindicators (I'd never thought the color teal could be so cool!) The ones who make up this host are ones who swore vengeance against Chaos with their dying breath, and were rewarded with an eternity of fighting to extract their vengeance. These guys remind me a lot of the Black Templars from 40K, a very "crusader" mentality. The host is very angsty and quick to fight, yet they've been tasked to find the elusive and hidden Duardin(which is joked about in the story). We also get a glimpse of Azyrheim and see Sigmar himself a few times this story.
The villains of the story are relatively likable, however, in the audiobook, the voice of the sorcerer Ephryx is very high pitched, shrilled and annoying! Despite that, you can see he's a sniveling and scheming little bastard. Ephryx is being mentored by Kairos Fateweaver, a gigantic two-headed bird demon and Oracle to the Chaos god Tzneetch, the Changer of Ways. One of it's head's can see into the future and the other into the past, one tells lies and the other tells truths. Hearing Kairos' banter was very amusing and gave complexity to the character, I'm eager to hear more about him in the future.
What I most liked was how there was a nice buildup to the expected fight when the Stormhost would assail Ephryx's magical fortress, not just several pages of "battle porn". It made the fight much more enjoyable and the death of Thostos Bladestorm have more impact. However, given their names as Stormcast ETERNALS, they come back, but are different. Thostos' memories aren't the same, yet he still harbors guilt from the events of his previous life. I do like how we're left at a cliffhanger, the macguffin of the story was that Ephryx has Ghal Maraz, Sigmar's choice hammer, buried underneath the castle, which came out at the last moment to save the day. It looks like we'll see the newly reforged Thostos leading his host to retrieve the magical hammer.
And the last story, "Gates of Dawn" by Josh Reynolds, is also a favorite of mine. I'll admit I'm partial to the Stormhost of the Hallowed Knights; my first foray into the Age of Sigmar lore was the 4 part audiodrama series with the Bullhearts chamber questing to find a meeting with Nagash. I admit hearing, "ONLY THE FAITHFUL" with one voice was weird to me! Anyways...
Another shift of scenery, to the realm of Life, Ghyran. In this story, we have several stormhosts working together, showing that there's camaraderie amongst Simgar's forces. It was nice seeing the Stormcast Eternals in this more human aspect, as opposed to mindless fighting machines. This book certainly doesn't hold back either, the Eternals aren't as invincible as they seem! Nurgle's rot demons give the Stormhost a lot of trouble(with several even passing out due to their foul stench).
On the topic of Nurgle's demons, the villian Lord Bolathrax, a Great Unclean One of Nurgle(think of a giant, bloated corpse with it's guts spilling out. It's nasty) is one of those villains you love to hate! The audibook does a great job of making him DISGUSTING and his dialogue of teasing and taunting his enemies is amusing and enjoyable. Towards the end we're introduced to two new races, the Skaven and Dryads. The Dryads come by to wreck face among the Skaven and drive Nurgle's forces back. I've seen the models and they look cool, I hope their backstory is just as interesting. The Skaven are evil rat people, who worship their own Chaos god, the Horned Rat.
Similar to "Storm of Blades", the story ends on a sad note, as the Lord Celestant of the Hallowed Knights, Lord Gardus, makes a sacrifice to change the tides of battle-- he willingly jumps into the Gate of Dawn, leading to Nurgle's domain in the Realm of Chaos, to lure Lord Bolathrax away from the battle. Intense! The story ends with Gardus running endlessly through Nurgle's rot, chanting "only the faithful" to preserve his sanity, while being chased by Bolathrax.
The last two stories make up for the subpar one that begins the anthology, and I'm eager to see how the events play out in the next book, "The Quest for Ghal Maraz". For the audiobook, Johnathan Keeble does an amazing voicework and even makes the more dull stories enjoyable with his reading voice.
The second story, "Storm of Blades" by Guy Haley, shifts gears from the realm of Aqshy and heads to Chamon, the realm of Metal and land of the Dwar-- err.. Duardin. This was a really great story, and I definitely enjoyed the prologue which gave background to the character Thostos Bladestorm, such as who he was before the reign of Chaos. One thing I've been dissapointed with AoS is how not much attention is given to "rebuilding" the realms after the End Times, all those events are talked about in past tense and in the "Age of Myths"; I'm pleased when I get to hear about the state of things before the Age of Sigmar and how mortals fought and lived beforehand.
Anyways, Thostos is chosen by Sigmar at his death to join the Stormhost of the Celestial Vindicators (I'd never thought the color teal could be so cool!) The ones who make up this host are ones who swore vengeance against Chaos with their dying breath, and were rewarded with an eternity of fighting to extract their vengeance. These guys remind me a lot of the Black Templars from 40K, a very "crusader" mentality. The host is very angsty and quick to fight, yet they've been tasked to find the elusive and hidden Duardin(which is joked about in the story). We also get a glimpse of Azyrheim and see Sigmar himself a few times this story.
The villains of the story are relatively likable, however, in the audiobook, the voice of the sorcerer Ephryx is very high pitched, shrilled and annoying! Despite that, you can see he's a sniveling and scheming little bastard. Ephryx is being mentored by Kairos Fateweaver, a gigantic two-headed bird demon and Oracle to the Chaos god Tzneetch, the Changer of Ways. One of it's head's can see into the future and the other into the past, one tells lies and the other tells truths. Hearing Kairos' banter was very amusing and gave complexity to the character, I'm eager to hear more about him in the future.
What I most liked was how there was a nice buildup to the expected fight when the Stormhost would assail Ephryx's magical fortress, not just several pages of "battle porn". It made the fight much more enjoyable and the death of Thostos Bladestorm have more impact. However, given their names as Stormcast ETERNALS, they come back, but are different. Thostos' memories aren't the same, yet he still harbors guilt from the events of his previous life. I do like how we're left at a cliffhanger, the macguffin of the story was that Ephryx has Ghal Maraz, Sigmar's choice hammer, buried underneath the castle, which came out at the last moment to save the day. It looks like we'll see the newly reforged Thostos leading his host to retrieve the magical hammer.
And the last story, "Gates of Dawn" by Josh Reynolds, is also a favorite of mine. I'll admit I'm partial to the Stormhost of the Hallowed Knights; my first foray into the Age of Sigmar lore was the 4 part audiodrama series with the Bullhearts chamber questing to find a meeting with Nagash. I admit hearing, "ONLY THE FAITHFUL" with one voice was weird to me! Anyways...
Another shift of scenery, to the realm of Life, Ghyran. In this story, we have several stormhosts working together, showing that there's camaraderie amongst Simgar's forces. It was nice seeing the Stormcast Eternals in this more human aspect, as opposed to mindless fighting machines. This book certainly doesn't hold back either, the Eternals aren't as invincible as they seem! Nurgle's rot demons give the Stormhost a lot of trouble(with several even passing out due to their foul stench).
On the topic of Nurgle's demons, the villian Lord Bolathrax, a Great Unclean One of Nurgle(think of a giant, bloated corpse with it's guts spilling out. It's nasty) is one of those villains you love to hate! The audibook does a great job of making him DISGUSTING and his dialogue of teasing and taunting his enemies is amusing and enjoyable. Towards the end we're introduced to two new races, the Skaven and Dryads. The Dryads come by to wreck face among the Skaven and drive Nurgle's forces back. I've seen the models and they look cool, I hope their backstory is just as interesting. The Skaven are evil rat people, who worship their own Chaos god, the Horned Rat.
Similar to "Storm of Blades", the story ends on a sad note, as the Lord Celestant of the Hallowed Knights, Lord Gardus, makes a sacrifice to change the tides of battle-- he willingly jumps into the Gate of Dawn, leading to Nurgle's domain in the Realm of Chaos, to lure Lord Bolathrax away from the battle. Intense! The story ends with Gardus running endlessly through Nurgle's rot, chanting "only the faithful" to preserve his sanity, while being chased by Bolathrax.
The last two stories make up for the subpar one that begins the anthology, and I'm eager to see how the events play out in the next book, "The Quest for Ghal Maraz". For the audiobook, Johnathan Keeble does an amazing voicework and even makes the more dull stories enjoyable with his reading voice.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 17, 2019
Based on the sourcebook fluff, I am deeply engrossed with the lore of Age of Sigmar. I was hoping this book would be a good introductory novel to truly bring that story and world to life. As a Warhammer book, I did expect that it would be filled with epic battles. For the first few minutes, I was impressed with the narrator's dramatic, booming voice, and the descriptive battle scenes. But, 3+ hours in, I was still just listening to an ongoing series of battle sequences. There was no real character development, or even story development, with heavy use of game unit names & terminology. It was more like listening to a Warhammer battle report podcast. I will stick to the sourcebook fluff.
January 13, 2019
The first story is quite dull. It's reasonable to recognise that Age of Sigmar launched with Stormcasts and Khorne at the fore but, honestly, they're both pretty one dimensional factions.
The second and third stories are the better offerings. The settings are more engaging and the appearance of greater daemons of both Tzeentch and Nurgle is a nice variety.
Unlike a lot of Black Library "fiction", these stories do seem a bit less concerned with name-checking new units and extolling their virtues.
The second and third stories are the better offerings. The settings are more engaging and the appearance of greater daemons of both Tzeentch and Nurgle is a nice variety.
Unlike a lot of Black Library "fiction", these stories do seem a bit less concerned with name-checking new units and extolling their virtues.
January 17, 2019
The first of the three novellas here was a direct followup to the Gates of Azyr, and a little bit too straightforward and dull. But the novellas devoted to the fights against Tzeentch and Nurgle were much more vivid and interesting, and kept me flipping the pages, even if they each had their own flaws. It’s still the same stuff though, Sigmarines arrive on lightning, fight overwhelming Chaos hordes and wait for reinforcements until they win, usually due to a leader performing some martyrous act. One hopes for more variation in the Age of Sigmar.
July 30, 2019
This is an odd book. It's a collection of three separate plots that all have the same general theme - Sigmar's invasion of the lands long lost to his enemies. The themes given are pretty well presented, but other than different flavors of bad guy the stories are pretty much the same idea. Good guys invade, bad guys fight back, bad guys almost win and then lose terribly. Decent read, but probably not worth paying money for.
January 11, 2020
This is three stories set in the Warhammer Age of Sigmar universe. The Stormcast eternals fight the forces of Khorne, Tzeentch, and Nurgle. The authors show us a little more of the cons of being a Stormcast Eternal. When they die their souls are recycled and they are born again. This leads to a sort of dissociative PTSD. The rest of the book is people smashing other people with hammers and swords. It reads fast and is entertaining.
June 18, 2018
I enjoyed this a great deal, I didn’t bother reading Nick Kyme’s story as I really can’t stand his writing. (That is the reason I knocked a star, it probably rank lower if I actually read it) Reynolds and Haley’s writing was great. A perfect introduction for me at least to AOS. I’ll look forward to picking more up in the future.
May 20, 2020
This book consists of 3 novellas. Each story is simply about one battle that lasts essentially 10 chapters. It was a little much to get through since there was no real plots besides get to the gates and kill everything in the way. Definitely a mindless read for only the devoted warhammer fans, casual fantasy readers should go elsewhere.
April 18, 2021
This book actually consists of 3 novellas - Borne by the Storm, Storm of Blades, and the Gates of Dawn. Of the 3, the Gates of Dawn is the only one I really enjoyed. The other two were bland and not that interesting, and even the last one wasn't excellent, just decent enough. Sadly, not enough to salvage this book for me.
June 1, 2020
DNF at 52%
LOVE the lore, LOVE the powerful images it conjours, LOVE the scope but there's no character here. There's nothing to cling on to. It's just esoteric name-dropping of brand items. Impenetrable for those not eye-ball deep in the game.
LOVE the lore, LOVE the powerful images it conjours, LOVE the scope but there's no character here. There's nothing to cling on to. It's just esoteric name-dropping of brand items. Impenetrable for those not eye-ball deep in the game.
January 24, 2018
A very good start to the series.
June 8, 2018
This slaked my thirst for gritty fantasy and Warhammer lore, but it truly is a mediocre book.
July 25, 2018
lots of war. like nothing else
March 28, 2019
A sweet book, containing 3 long-ish short stories that follow the Stormcast as they battle against the Ruinous Powers.
December 22, 2020
I got bored of the over the top violence and action. The character development was there it just felt like a B rated action movie and I lost interest in the story.
January 26, 2024
Borne by the Storm: Fun action pack read.
Storm of the Blades: great precursor to Ghal Maraz
The Gates of Dawn: full of action and shows thay even the Stormcast do not always win in Triumph.
Storm of the Blades: great precursor to Ghal Maraz
The Gates of Dawn: full of action and shows thay even the Stormcast do not always win in Triumph.
September 30, 2024
Not bad, jumped around a little and I would have liked the book to describe both the stormcast and the chaos armies a little more indepth but the battles were great
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