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The Realmgate Wars #8
Bladestorm
Thostos Bladestorm and the Celestial Vindicators battle the forces of Chaos in the Realm of Beasts and grapple with the truth of the Stormcasts' immortality.
Thostos Bladestorm, Lord-Celestant of the Celestial Vindicators, has not been the same since his Reforging. Once a noble warrior whose zeal was tempered by compassion, now he is cold and unforgiving, hungry only for battle. But there is little time for his fellow Stormcasts to come to terms with his transformation, as the Bladestorm and Argellonites Warrior Chambers are sent by Sigmar to the Realm of Beasts to capture a vital realmgate. During their quest they face myriad threats, from traitorous tribesmen to the vast hordes of Drekka Breakbones’ Ironjawz. All wonder how Thostos will react to these perils – will they see once again that great and righteous leader, or is he lost to them forever?
It delves into the psychology of the Stormcasts and the effects of Reforging, as well as showing off a new region of Ghur, the dangerous Realm of Beasts and its denizens – including the mighty Ironjawz.
This novel collects together the seven parts of the Bladestorm story, previously released as digital Quick Reads.
Thostos Bladestorm, Lord-Celestant of the Celestial Vindicators, has not been the same since his Reforging. Once a noble warrior whose zeal was tempered by compassion, now he is cold and unforgiving, hungry only for battle. But there is little time for his fellow Stormcasts to come to terms with his transformation, as the Bladestorm and Argellonites Warrior Chambers are sent by Sigmar to the Realm of Beasts to capture a vital realmgate. During their quest they face myriad threats, from traitorous tribesmen to the vast hordes of Drekka Breakbones’ Ironjawz. All wonder how Thostos will react to these perils – will they see once again that great and righteous leader, or is he lost to them forever?
It delves into the psychology of the Stormcasts and the effects of Reforging, as well as showing off a new region of Ghur, the dangerous Realm of Beasts and its denizens – including the mighty Ironjawz.
This novel collects together the seven parts of the Bladestorm story, previously released as digital Quick Reads.
- GenresFantasyAnthologies
Hardcover
First published June 11, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 18, 2016
The Stormcast Eternals fight the Skaven and Chaos. And they win! The end. It ain't Shakespeare but it did pass the time and make me want to buy models.
April 7, 2018
A fairly good outing with the Realmgate Wars series, though this one tended to be a bit formulaic.
The plot of taking a Chaos held fortress because it has a realmgate, all the while fighting Skaven on your way there, running into a band of sketchy tribes people running from Chaos (always Khorne or Nurgle devotees), was a tad done to death by this point in the series.
The bit of a swerve was then having to defend the realmgate against a horde of daemons who pour forth from it, and then the fortress itself comes under siege from a massive Ork, er, I mean Orruks, warband.
Not enough variation from the rest of the series to stand out, but that's an issue of not properly thought through lore (not thought through long and hard enough, in my view) and a bit of a rush to get a series to print to support the tabletop.
That said, Matt Westbrook did a very good job with what he had to work with background and lore wise.
Thostos Bladestorm, one of the main heroes of the whole series, is handled splendidly here. And I like how his personality issue is finally resolved. That was well done. Matt also did a great job humanizing the Stormcast. No other author has made them down to earth before, and yet Matt had me actually chuckling at the humor he infused in the story.
There was also a hint of actually thinking through the tactics of the battles, kind of rare in more recent BL publications.
All in all, while the plot was formulaic, the execution of the story more than made up for it.
If Matt were to write more of the Celestial Vindicators, I would read.
Not great, but good.
The plot of taking a Chaos held fortress because it has a realmgate, all the while fighting Skaven on your way there, running into a band of sketchy tribes people running from Chaos (always Khorne or Nurgle devotees), was a tad done to death by this point in the series.
The bit of a swerve was then having to defend the realmgate against a horde of daemons who pour forth from it, and then the fortress itself comes under siege from a massive Ork, er, I mean Orruks, warband.
Not enough variation from the rest of the series to stand out, but that's an issue of not properly thought through lore (not thought through long and hard enough, in my view) and a bit of a rush to get a series to print to support the tabletop.
That said, Matt Westbrook did a very good job with what he had to work with background and lore wise.
Thostos Bladestorm, one of the main heroes of the whole series, is handled splendidly here. And I like how his personality issue is finally resolved. That was well done. Matt also did a great job humanizing the Stormcast. No other author has made them down to earth before, and yet Matt had me actually chuckling at the humor he infused in the story.
There was also a hint of actually thinking through the tactics of the battles, kind of rare in more recent BL publications.
All in all, while the plot was formulaic, the execution of the story more than made up for it.
If Matt were to write more of the Celestial Vindicators, I would read.
Not great, but good.
November 5, 2019
It took me almost 4 months of effort and will to go through all the boring battles... I ended up just glancing over the final ones. Even with those many battles, this book would have felt way better with a main enemy character, but instead it includes several of them that don’t really give any problems back. The last one for example, dies in the same battle it is introduced... I don’t see the point of creating a character for that.
The arcs of the two main Stormcast Eternal characters, Lord-Celestants Thostos Bladestorm and Mykos Argellon were probably the best in the whole series so far, which saves this review from being just 1 star.
The arcs of the two main Stormcast Eternal characters, Lord-Celestants Thostos Bladestorm and Mykos Argellon were probably the best in the whole series so far, which saves this review from being just 1 star.
October 6, 2017
Book eight of Black Library’s Realmgate Wars series for Age of Sigmar, this is the continuation of Thostos Bladestorm’s story picking up where we last saw the Lord Celestant in Ghal Maraz, a changed man after his reforging.
For the most part you can forget that this was written in serial form, and just enjoy a concise, tight story that works on pretty much every level.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2017/09/...
For the most part you can forget that this was written in serial form, and just enjoy a concise, tight story that works on pretty much every level.
Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2017/09/...
May 29, 2019
A good entry in the Realmgate Wars saga. I enjoyed the look at the Celestial Vindicators and seeing what the true cost of the reforging of the immortal Stormcast inflicts upon these brave warriors.
January 29, 2023
This was fine. The plot and characters were good, but the writing is just uninspiring and forgettable. It entertained me for the moment, but I don’t think I’ll ever think about this book again.
November 21, 2016
Very good. I'll be looking out for more from this author in the future. A very promising start to what I hope will be a long career with Black Library.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews