Nagash: The Undying King

Warhammer Age of Sigmar

by Joshua Reynolds

A Warhammer Age of Sigmar novel

In the Realm of Death, the Rictus clans face their most relentless enemy ever, and even the intervention of two of the Great Necromancer’s Mortarchs might not be enough to turn back the lumbering minions of the Plague God. Where is Nagash, the Undying King, when the people of Shyish need him most?

READ IT BECAUSE
It's a look at day to day life in the Realm of Death – and even there, the winds of Chaos sweep across the lands and bring ruin. And Josh Reynolds writing Nagash's servants is never less than entertaining…

THE STORY
Since the dark days of the Great Awakening, the scattered remnants of humanity have clung to a bleak existence, surviving howsoever they can, no matter what the cost. Tamra, a voivode of the Rictus clans, fights one last, desperate battle for the survival of her tribe, the Drak. Now her people face their most relentless enemy ever – the lumbering minions of the Plague God. Where is their lord Nagash, the Undying King, when his people need him most? As the gods and their servants vie for power in the Mortal Realms, Tamra is drawn into a deadly game between life and death, as beings long thought gone start to exert their powers once again.

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy

175 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 25, 2017

About the author

Josh Reynolds’ work has previously appeared in such anthologies as Historical Lovecraft from Innsmouth Free Press and Horror for the Holidays from Miskatonic River Press, and his novel, Knight of the Blazing Sun, is currently available from Black Library. He can be found at: http://joshuamreynolds.wordpress.com

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Reviews

[Michael Dodd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Harking back to some of Josh Reynolds’ earlier Undead-focused Warhammer stories, this is an Age of Sigmar novel set in the Mortal Realms long before the actual Age of Sigmar. It looks at the Rictus clans of Shyish, Nagash-worshipping human tribes being driven out of their lands by the inexorable forces of Nurgle. Tamra ven Drak leads what remains of her clan north in search of survival, following two of Nagash’s Mortarchs whose plans she finds herself increasingly bound up in.

Overall it's a strong, satisfying story that’s as dark and black-humoured as you’d expect from Reynolds, and which continues his trend of exploring newly-revealed parts of the Mortal Realms to great effect. With a few clever links to Reynolds’ The Hunt for Nagash audio dramas, and masses of intriguing backstory for the setting, this is a must for any Death fans…and pretty much any Age of Sigmar fans.

Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/01/...

[Martti · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a Warhammer "new fantasy" (Age of Sigmar) novel about a battle before the Age of Sigmar. Maybe we can call it a biography of the undead god. A "battle report" type of a novel.

The belligerents are the Plague horde of Chaos-god Nurgle attacking human tribe called Rictus clans who worship Nagash, the Undead God. It is written as a long monotonous march of alive horde into the arms of the Undying King. Not really a spoiler alert, but a warning of terribly boring narrative - the undead raises the dead and hence reinforces his ranks, because what is dead can never die. Maybe the learning is that Chaos doesn't care about such down to earth concepts as planning and strategy. Or maybe it's a great battle, because it frames the "bad" undead as saviours of some humans.


My little reference to learn the lingo:

Nagash - once a man, ruler of an ancient not-Egypt who commissioned the building of a black pyramid and started playing around with Necromancy and after some dying and resurrection is now Death incarnate, the supreme Undead, one of the Great Gods (like Sigmar).

Nehekhara - not-Egypt of Warhammer, the home of Nagash. Human civilization necromanced into the undead kingdom. They really haven't spared any creativity on this one. There are "Vampire Counts", Queen Neferata, Vlad von Carstein, land of Araby under Sheiks and Emirs...

Deathlord - one of the 13 ghost-rulers of Underworld.

And the reference from previous WH fantasy novels I read.

Azyr - a Celestial Realm, home planet of Sigmar, one of eight so called "Mortal Realms" and the only "clean" one without the corruption of Chaos.

Ghyran - the Realm of Life. In the beginning of Age of Sigmar was almost overrun by forces of Nurgle, but I guess this novel means Sylvaneth and Stormcast Eternals are taking in back for the Order.

Stormcast Eternals - Sigmar's resurrected (human) heroes of the Order, wearing the space marine like armor of the fantasy flavor made of "sigmarite" and apparently they have wings and can fly. They should be renamed the Chaos Cleaning Company of angels. Kind of mindless zealots. They are immortal, because they are "reforged under the anvil". Effectively God-King Sigmar resurrects them.

Knight-Zephyros - the occupation title of the main character Neave Blacktalon. An assassin in the Stormcast Eternals Inc. Sigmar gives them "marks" to kill.

Stormhost - autonomous armies of Stormcast Eternals with their own heraldry to be painted with utmost delicacy

Hammers of Sigmar - golden-blue armored Stormhost of Stormcast Eternals, the fantasy space marines?

Hammerhal - the city of Order. Near the city there's a jungle where the events take place in the book. And also it seems to be one of the settings for the new Warhammer Quest dungeon crawling boardgames "Shadows Over Hammerhal" https://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardga...

Nurgle - oldest of the four Gods of Chaos. He also has annoying amount of titles - the Plague Lord, the Lord of Pestilence, the Fly Lord, and the Urfather is the Chaos God of Disease, Decay, Destruction, and Death by Rebirth.

Sylvaneth - conscious plants and trees of the Realm of Life - Ghyran. From dryads to treelords. Their battalions are called "wargroves".

Beastmen - various "bad" chaos mutants, usually beasts with animal heads and human bodies. Like minotaurs named "bullgors". Think trollocs of Wheel of Time or other generic fantasy monsters.

Duardin - dwarves in Warhammer. They seem to be collecting rune tattoos that glow when they are in effect.

Grimnir - one of the Nordic Odin's name in Warhammer is one of the dwarven "ancestor gods". So if you want to invoke something dwarfish, then your character should at some point probably exclaim "Grimnir's Beard!"

Fyreslayers - followers of Grimnir, a dwarven warrior cult, mercenaries.

Skaven - race of mutant rat-men who lurk in the Under-Empire, because it's under the something that is above it. Pestilence to the surface-dwellers. In this book they swarm a castle named Unbak Lodge. I understand the "dark" powers in Warhammer are called Chaos. So I guess this are the "faceless evil hordes".

Tzeentch - Chaos God of Magic, Change, Evolution, Destiny, Lies, and Trickery. If a spellcaster fails to control the fickle Winds of Magic he might be dragged screaming into the Realms of Chaos.

[Heinz Reinhardt · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel (really more of a long novella) is set millennia(?) before the main Age of Sigmar storyline, when the forces of Chaos destroy the various realms of the gods and subsume them into a multi-realm Chaos Imperium.
While it was entertaining in parts, it was honestly too short to really convey the sense of history and urgency over possible loss necessary to really connect you to the realm of Shyish and it's people. The novellas greatest failing, however, was one that is typical of so many AoS stories I have read so far:
The overemphasis on the action, the epic battles, and numerous skirmishes tend to all blend together. And because there are so damned many of them, with not enough space given to really flesh out the characters involved, it's extremely hard to get into the story. And it's a shame, as Josh is a very good writer and often knocks it out of the park.
Perhaps it's a case of series fatigue or maybe because high fantasy just really isn't my thing, but whatever the reason may be, this one didn't grab me nearly as much as The Spear of Shadows, or the Iron Dragon by Clint.
Like I said, however, there was some good stuff in here, atmospherically it was outstanding, and the visuals were excellent. It just had too much action, which needed about a hundred more pages of depth to really draw me into it.
2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.

[Chris C · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first visit to Warhammer novels in over a decade, thought I'd give this one a shot!

A comment I saw in other reviews definitely rang very true - This is a novel that has Nagash in it, not really a Nagash novel - the main characters are more "normal" rather than the god-like perspective I would have expected from the big guy in the title. That said, I found the characters believable, doing what they think is the right thing to do in a war-themed world. Both sides of the conflict are given interesting development and motivations that genuinely made me interested in their stories rather than just waiting for combat to erupt.

I was also very pleased that the novel didn't overly dwell on the Warhammer lore, it didn't try to explain the entire story of the world and the factions in this short read - I'm very out of touch with the lore but that didn't stop me enjoying the novel, neither did I feel like I was reading a wikipedia article with story sprinkled in.

Will definitely read more Warhammer novels in future and will be investigating what else the author has written!

[Joel Jenkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reynolds has the unenviable task of making a story that involves a conflict between two evil gods (Nagash Lord of the Undead and Nergal god of Decay) compelling when there is no good guy to root for. Early on one character says "The scum rises to the top and we must be that scum" and I thought perhaps that was the theme of the book.

However, amidst the machinations of numerous evil characters, Reynolds introduces a Death Mage named Tamra who is a sympathetic character. Early on, the town under her protection is overrun by the forces of Nergal, and in an effort to protect the survivors she throws her lot in with the Vampire Princess Neferata and the forces of Nagash.

The real theme, however, is Don't Defy the Gods, and the Shakespearian tragic ending of this book gives it some real resonance. I listened to this book and the narrator, Emma Gregory, also does a fantastic job.

[Sarah Beecher · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic little book that manages to cover a lot in very few pages. You get a very good insight into Nagash himself, although not in the most obvious of ways. That the story picks up following his defeat at the hands of Archaon gives us a weakened, vulnerable Nagash, where his coming to terms with everything lends a refreshingly different perspective on his nature.

Yet despite his relative weakness you also get this overwhelming sense of the shadow he casts over everything and everyone in his realm. From his Mortarchs through to the humblest of creatures. Both Arkhan the Black and Neferata show up and are beautifully written, with all the respective wisdom and manipulations you’d come to expect. Neferata in particular is brilliant, one of the few characters in any Warhammer novel that genuinely seems to be enjoying themselves regardless of the circumstance.

The antagonists are likewise characterised wonderfully. The Order of the Fly and its adherence to Nurgle and knightly honour juxtapose delightfully with one another, where its hard at times to even identify them as the nominal villains given their cordial, good-humoured nature. I especially enjoyed how they mange their cartography, very inventive.

Yet at its heart you have Tamra Ven-Drak, whose arc is as cruel as it is inevitable. She lends the book its warmth, its sentiment, its hope, which makes her suffering and ultimate fate all the harder to bear. Yet, this feels entirely the point, a perfect example of what it means to serve Nagash, and how vast the chasm can be between mortal and god.

[Michelle Nelms · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Black Library does an amazing job with their audiobooks, and this is no exception.

The story is titled after Nagash but follows a woman named Tamara. She is the leader of her clan and she and her people are devoted to Nagash. They pledge to serve him and their people in life and in death.

Their world is attacked by followers of Nurgle, Lord of Decay. It makes for an interesting struggle between the concepts of death and rot.

Tamara is one of many who struggle to defend their world from possible doom while there are questions about whether Nagash is even still alive to aid them. Tamara becomes close with Nagash's inner circle and will do anything to serve Nagash and keep her people safe.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating look into the minds of very unique characters preparing for the final battle of an ongoing military campaign in the realm of Shyish. The focus on different characters, their goals and motivations instead of constant fighting sets this Warhammer book apart.
The fact that the main roles were taken by two of my favorite factions, the Maggotkin of Nurgle and the Soulblight Gravelords, made it even more enjoyable.
Only downside: You need to have at least some basic knowledge about the armies of Age of Sigmar and their respective units. Many characters are referred to by their unit names without further explanation, which I imagine would be fairly confusing to a reader unfamiliar with the lore.

[Wren · Rating 5 out of 5]

CAUTION HERE MAY BE SPOILERS!!!

I've only read a few AoS Warhammer novels so I'm not an expert on what the "rules" are for this universe or what's going on in general. But I have read a bunch of Josh Reynolds novels and this book has Nagash in it so that sucked me in straight away. First I'm just going to lay it out and say that I have very little to zero idea what is going on in the Warhammer universe since the End Times novels.

Let me explain.

From what I gather these AoS novels are set in a universe where the gods or god-like figures aren't up there in the god realm moving pieces back and forth in an ever waging war for the world. But there are...different worlds? Or realms? And the gods are less these ephemeral beings who couldn't really give a shit but are actually down here helping out and interacting with people. I like it. It's awesome!

I just wish I had a better grasp on what's going on. Guess I'd better finish the Realm Gate Wars series?

The Good Stuff

- Well Nagash is in this book and despite what happened in the End Times novels he hasn't changed at all 😂 why did I think he would be humbled by the events? He's still scheming away and if anything he kind of got what he's always wanted, he's worshipped as a god, and he has a world of his own to rule over as he sees fit.

- This book has some real heavy hitters in turn of characters who in my opinion don't get enough screen time in the other books. I'm talking Neferatta, Arkhan The Black and Mannfred. It's great to see where these guys ended up after the End Times and its good to see they haven't changed either 🤣

- Neferatta called Arkhan 'Old Bones' which made me laugh

- The twist at the end shows that Nagash is still an ass, still a Villian. Still the same evil son of a bitch who killed his brother and took his throne.

Honestly reading any of these Age Of Sigmar books reminds me of a young 16 year old me picking up his first Warhammer book in a library. Reading it and enjoying the book but wondering about what the whole series is about. It's history, the gods, the villains etc. Although I don't really understand how this new series works I know that ill get the hang of it once I read more of them. And once again Josh Reynolds shows that he is a master of writing Warhammer novels. Also, go read his novel Spear Of Shadows.

[Ross Coulbeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

For someone who is still new to AoS lore, like me, this is an excellent introduction to Nagash and the various Forces of Death. It seems like a fitting book to read before the Soul Wars, which will be next on my list.

It would be easy for a story in the realm of death to be quite bland. I mean, everything is dead, right? But the main character is likeable and the various other forces we hear from all have their own character depth. Even the forces of Nurgle, a faction I have very little interest in at all, have some interesting characters.

Overall a solid book that I would recommend to anyone with even a passing interest in the forces of death in Age of Sigmar.

[Christian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life vs. Death, Nurgle vs. Nagash, battle in this novel. Nurgle’s forces push the survivors of the broken Rictus Clans into a frozen watery grave as the clan and its leaders appeal to Nagash for salvation. The characterizations are very interesting and I came away with an appreciation for the members of the Order of the Fly and the tension among human and daemons. The battle sequences are rousing and the entire plot is fast paced. This novel makes me want to play the Death Faction in Age of Sigmar.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

***1/2: set back in the Age Of Chaos, after Nagash’s humiliating defeat at the hands of Archaon. While Nagash’s recuperates, Nurgle invades Shyish, leaving Arkhan & Neferata to foil the plague god’s schemes.

Josh Reynolds is a good writer; this novella had a very straight-forward yet satisfying plot. In the character work is where the story shines: Arkhan, Neferata, Tamra, Adhema are all excellent characters with defined personalities whose exploits are engaging. Tamra’s bargain with Neferata to save Clan Rictus made me want to keep reading.

[Chris · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is too violent and gory for young adults or children and too vapidly pretentious for adults. There is some adeqiate descriptive writing but I feel like as someone who loves BOTH Warhammer and English literature this couldn't really be positivel classified as either, certainly sacrificing the latter for those solely interested in the former. I wanted to like this but found it very hard to want to finish. Maybe I am just picky.

[Long Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite satisfy. My very first audio Warhammer book.

Nice depiction of Shyish and people there. Also this book helps people deeply understand the characteristic of Neferata and Arkhan - the mortarchs of Nagash and especially Nagash himself.
How sore and bitter he is when defeated by Archaon. The way he blamed Sigmar for everything made me feel funny.

[William Castello · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic entry in the Age of Sigmar mythos. Really gives a great overview of the Soul Wars set up and the overall feel. Loved the descriptions and mood of the story. Recommended to read before Soul Wars...

[Bruno Rukavina · Rating 4 out of 5]

To me the book was good, but I felt that the first couple of chapters were kind of boring. Like the second chapter was confusing to me and I needed quite some time to connect all the dots (I am new to AoS and Old World).

[George Lowe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love anything nagash always a killer novel.
I have diarrhorea. Definitely recommended.

[AtomicRed · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very, "for the fans" book about AoS' favorite titular spooky skeleman but still very enlightening and written to the characters being used in a very meta but still developing way.

[Max Van houts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Must read for all fans of Death factions

[Barthel Loren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've made a video review:
https://youtu.be/Sfzha0tZPP0

[Robert John Haynie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible read, one of the best Warhammer books I've ever read.

[William Underhill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took a while for me to get invested into this book - but I'm glad powered through ! Great book to learn more about the AOS lore

[Joe Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was fine. Nothing great but an entertaining enough read of a battle between the Undying and Chaos

[Luke Costin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun romp that is definitely helped by it's relatively short length.

[Mitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

The breath-taking ending earned that extra star.

[fruit brutalist · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, so hilarious to have Nurgle cultists, of all people, roll up to your country and go “Damn, bitch, you live like this??”

[Ben L · Rating 4 out of 5]

A much better account of Maggotkin forces.

[Bart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for any Nagash’es fans out there. Nevertheless “Nagash is all and all are one in Nagash”.

[E.B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josh Reynolds is and was the best thing that ever happened to Black Library, and I will go down with this, and also that this-even including the absolutely phenomenal Fabius Bile trilogy and Lukas the Trickster-is his best book.

It has *everything*. Homoerotic tension! Horrifying gods of death! A fascinating evil-versus-evil conflict where both sides are sympathetic and great! The Order of the Fly, who I love dearly! Vampires! Zombies! Breakups! Neferata, who is the best! Nurgle stuff!