Sacrosanct & Other Stories

Warhammer Age of Sigmar

by David Annandale, David Guymer, Guy Haley

Great fiction from the Mortal Realms

Enjoy a collection of tales from the Mortal Realms, covering a host of races and factions and providing a taste of the flavour of the Age of Sigmar – including a brand new novella by C L Werner.

READ IT BECAUSE
New to Warhammer Age of Sigmar fiction? This is a great way to get to grips with the worlds. Just want some fantastic stories by some of Black Library's top authors? Got you covered there too.

DESCRIPTION
Within this book you will find Sacrosanct, a fantastic new novella from C L Werner…

A restless menace threatens the town of Wyrmditt. Stirred from his grave by fell magic, Sabrodt, the Shrouded King, seeks dominion over the kingdom he failed to claim in life. So great is the terror inflicted upon the lands by Sabrodt and his nighthaunts that Sigmar, God-King, sends a retinue of his warriors most skilled in the art of Azyrite magic to liberate the town. The Stormcast Eternals of the Sacrosanct Chamber are warrior-wizards, imbued with arcane knowledge and the power to wield the energies of the storm in battle. Leading the retinue is Knight-Incantor Arnhault, a formidable mage who has studied the histories of Sabrodt's kingdom. But the fight against the Shrouded King will challenge Arnhault's mettle like none other – especially when he discovers that the Undead knows more about his past than he does.

Also within this book is a host of awesome short stories giving you a flavour of the many warring armies that exist with the worlds of Warhammer Age of Sigmar.

CONTENTS
The Dance of the Skulls by David Annandale
Great Red by David Guymer
The Sands of Grief & The Volturung Road by Guy Haley
Callis & Toll: The Old Ways by Nick Horth
A Dirge of Dust and Steel, Auction of Blood & The Prisoner of the Black Sun by Josh Reynolds
Wrathspring by Andy Clark
Sacrosanct, Shiprats & The Witch Takers by C L Werner

Genres: Fantasy, Audiobook, Short Stories, Fiction

528 pages, Paperback

First published October 27, 2018

Reviews

[Jason Ray Carney · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read two anthologies of Age of Sigmar short stories: Sacrosanct and Other Stories, and Hammerhal and Other Stories. The stories in Hammerhal were written from 2016 to 2017, while the stories in Sacrosanct were published from 2017 to 2020. The development and evolution of the Age of Sigmar lore is apparent in these two anthologies. Although there were several stories in Hammerhal that I enjoyed (that anthology still worth reading), Sacrosanct is a superior anthology, with many great stories that I could comment on.


C.L. Werner's novella "Sacrosanct" is an intriguing story featuring the Hammers of Sigmar, the first host of the Stormcast Eternals, and explores the relationship between Stormcast Eternals and how their previous mortal lives haunt their reforging. Werner made me see how cool the Stormcast Eternals actually are. The opening passage of this story, when the Hammers of Sigmar arrive in Shyish, is so memorable. Werner's other stories, "Shiprats" and "Witch Takers," are also great. "Shiprats" explores an airship of the Kharadron Overlords, and "The Witch Takers" explores the Order of Azyr (the Age of Sigmar Inquisition). "Witch Takers" captures some of Werner's great Matthias Thulmann atmospherics.

Josh Reynolds has several great stories in this anthology. His "Dirge in Dust and Steel" explores the forays into Shyish by the Hosts of Sigmar and introduces an intriguing new Duardin society and death deity. "Prisoner of the Black Sun" by Reynolds reintroduces a fun character from the Old World (no spoilers). Guy Haley's "The Volturung Road" was also great, more of a novella than a short story. It is ambitious in scope, telling the story of a Duardin lodge in Ghyran and their attempt to establish a new hold.

This anthology got me excited about Age of Sigmar lore. It's fun to see this world from its beginning, and it's great to see it becoming more fully realized. I was a little skeptical of Age of Sigmar in 2016. Now I'm in.

[Edgar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tough one to rate, is a small collection of smaller stories, there are a couple that are quite nice to get a feeling on what the universe is about, the ones by Guy Haley are particularly good I will say.

[Liz (Quirky Cat) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of Sacrosanct & Other Stories in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Sacrosanct & Other Stories is one of the latest Warhammer short story anthology to come out of Black Library. This time the focus is on Age of Sigmar, and the tales are just as dark and mysterious as one might imagine.

This collection is absolutely perfect for anybody new (or curious) about Age of Sigmar, and really is designed to help readers get a feel for the world and general plots. So it makes for an ideal introduction, in my book.

Included in this collection: Sacrosanct by C. L. Werner (the namesake of the anthology, and thus the longest story included), A Dirge of Dust and Steel by Josh Reynolds, Callis & Toll: The Old Ways by Nick Horth, The Dance of the Skulls by David Annandale, Auction of Blood by Josh Reynolds, The Sands of Grief by Guy Haley, The Witch Takes by C.L. Werner, The Prisoner of the Black Sun by Josh Reynolds, Great Red by David Guymer, Wrathspring by Gav Thorpe, and The Volturung Road by Guy Haley. Each story will be reviewed in further detail down below.

Sacrosanct by C. L. Werner
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
As the longest story in this collection, Sacrosanct is obviously the most in-depth story, portraying the Stormcast and all their trials and glory. It's an action-adventure tale that is perfect for people looking for those classic elements seen more commonly in the grand epics of Warhammer.
“Arnhault knew what it meant, the terrible regularity of those impacts. They were the footfalls of some horrendously immense creature.”

A Dirge of Dust and Steel by Josh Reynolds
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Set in Shyish, the Hallowed Knights are giving everything they have to the battle, while also seeking to reform alliances and better the odds of the war. In short, this is another short story that captures the epic nature of Sigmar. I'm a fan of Josh Reynolds' writing though, so maybe I'm a bit biased for how much I enjoyed this tale?
“It was not an army. A horde, at best. A movable feast of frenzied indulgence.”

Callis & Toll: The Old Ways by Nick Horth
Rating: ★ ★ ★
Callis and Toll are agents of the Order of the Azyr, and this tale covers one of their (probably) many investigations. It was interesting, though I'll admit that I struggled to pay attention to it all. Maybe because I didn't fully picture their lives or careers? I'm not entirely sure.
“It was useless. He could barely see more than a few metres ahead.”

The Dance of the Skulls by David Annandale
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Okay, so I should probably be up front and mention that David Annandale is one of my favorite Warhammer authors (for the moment, I expect I'll find more favorites as I continue to read). The Dance of the Skulls introduces Neferata, Nagash's Mortarch of Blood, and the politics and horror that come with her world. It was truly a fascinating read.
“I do not trust the nature of this honour.”

Auction of Blood by Josh Reynolds
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
The story of Neferata continues in Auction of Blood, as one of her servants is tasked with a mission to retrieve a specific item from an auction. A task easier said than done, as this short quickly reveals. It's dark, fascinating, and twisted. My favorite combination.
“As the evening wore on, he traversed the tangled rookery with no sign of feat, despite the hostile eyes he felt watching him from the darkened doorways and the cracks in boarded-over windows.”

The Sands of Grief by Guy Haley
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Following the tales of Neferata, now it's time to learn a bit more about Prince Maesa. This is a prince who will go to any length to save his love, including messing with ancient and dangerous artifacts. This was another solid read from this collection, and had a much more somber tone than the rest. It was lovelorn and beautiful, in ways that I didn't anticipate.
“Throck and Grimmson were comical opposites.”

The Witch Takes by C.L. Werner
Rating: ★ ★ ★
Witch Hunters, the Order of Azyr, Dark Gods, and Sigmar, all in one story! Despite my buildup there, this was an interesting, but mostly okay story. It was worth the read, though it didn't leave the same impact for me as many of the others did. Perhaps that doesn't make for a fair comparison.
“In the midst of the panic, an ugly pit yawned.”

The Prisoner of the Black Sun by Josh Reynolds
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
The Realm of Death? Okay, that sounds pretty terrifying, in a world that is already full of horrors that I would be just as happy to never meet. Thank you very much. But seriously, this was another fascinating tale. While it did creep me out at times, I would have happily read much more of it.
“The Three-Eyed King crushed the ranks of my servants.”

Great Red by David Guymer
Rating: ★ ★ ★
Great Red is set in the Sea of Bones, and following the Hallowed Knights once again. They've off on another journey once again with the goal of bringing in more allies for their glorious battles. It felt like a bit of the same-old, same-old again, but it did manage to drop a few surprises along the way.
“Wind-whipped totems of feathers, leaves, and bits of bone swirled around his maroon armor, partially obscuring the depictions of stars, storms, and wild beasts in gold.”

Wrathspring by Gav Thorpe
Rating: ★ ★ ★
You just know that whenever the Plague God comes into the mix, things are going to get pretty...messy. So naturally, this was a fairly dark tale, and yet it felt like it was lacking something. Impact, maybe? Which feels a bit odd to say, if I'm being completely honest.
“Lord Diraceth! The ratmen, they come at last. They come for the lamentiri!”

The Volturung Road by Guy Haley
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Prophecies have a way of changing the world, for good or for ill. They can rally, or they can incite great evil. Which will it be, in The Volturung Road? Honestly, this one may legit be my favorite from the entire anthology, which is saying something. It was epic and grand, naturally, but it also brought in so many human elements, giving me all the reason in the world to care about what happened next.
“Hideous, pallid things thrashed as Vulkite Bezerkers buried their aces in rubbery flesh.”

Check out more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Martti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another one from the Black Library 2020 Humble Bundle. https://www.humblebundle.com/books/vo...

Short story collection from the Warhammer Fantasy half in the Mortal Realms - the Age of Sigmar. There is a red triangle on the cover - "start here". I guess this is supposed to be an intro book into the Age of Sigmar, introducting the belligerents to the reader. At the end of each story there is a advertisment of a next book to read on the specific topic in case it didn't quite make you want to burn the paper it's written on.

God Sigmar's mightiest warriors are called Stormcast Eternals, with blue and golden color palette. I guess they are the fantasy version of Ultramarines, to satisfy the market for those who specifically hate scifi and only enjoy a fantasy setting? I guess it's a result of some "clever" market research.

Stormcast Eternals are supersoldiers resurrected in the city of Sigmaron, in the Anvil of Apotheosis. Not all survive the "reforging", not even the god Sigmar is all-powerful, it seems. Their damaged spirits are bound into the statues that line the Avenue of Saints where they scream, trapped in stone. Or more plausably in the originally named strong material, "sigmarite".

Anyway, their every swipe of the hammer kills instantly all undead or servants of chaos, but somehow they still seem to have "problems" vanquishing their enemies. A bit of a contradiction if you ask me. Why haven't they already conquered everything if they're almost immortal? Anyway, this narrative dripping of "heroism" is so dull that I cannot even be bothered ...

You get couple of stories of these golden masked angels of order, then some undead Nagash followers and also the Indiana Jones van Helsing type "witch-detectives" Callis and Toll. I of course didn't know anything about the intro-book and read everything in the "wrong" order, but it doesn't really matter anyway. It's such a random set of stories all around that nothing sadly affects anything else. But I guess this short story collection will save you time by giving a short overview of different topics available in the massive Black Library fantasy section.

Frankly, I wouldn't recommend wasting your time with this mediocre fantasy when you have such masterpieces as Lord of the Rings, Witcher, Malazan Book of the Fallen, etc. In essence Warhammer is like a cheap and a bit dull remix of the usual suspects when you think of fantasy literature - forced into existence by bags of money from the vaults of Games Workshop.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a sucker for Warhammer fiction. While I greatly prefer the science fiction variant - Warhammer 40K - I was never averse to sampling Warhammer fantasy even if, by and large, the stories in the fantasy Warhammer realm never matched the quality of 40K. Still, it was Warhammer - i.e., brutal, at times nightmarish, stories of war - and that is good enough for me!

This book proved to be something of a shock for me because while it was Warhammer, I noticed that the setting seemed off to me. The "Old World" with which I was familiar - basically an alternative history of medieval/renaissance Europe where demons and monsters roam the land - was no longer present. Instead, I found that the settings for most of the stories involved post-apocalyptic "realms" that seemed quite removed from the alternative Europe that I was familiar with. Likewise, some races had undergone a complete revision - such as dwarves becoming duardin - while entirely news forces had taken the field, such as Sigmar's "Reforged," immortal super-knights that have more in common with Space Marines from 40K than they did with the more human knights of the former "Old World." What the heck happened?!

After doing some digging, I discovered that in the years during which I had checked out of Warhammer fantasy, Games Workshop, partly due to legal issues and partly due to the old Warhammer fantasy line sputtering in sales, decided to scrap the whole thing and start over. This new setting assumes that, at long last, Chaos had conquered the Old World! But while they might have won the battle, they didn't win the war as Sigmar, along with the good races that managed to survive the apocalypse, have set upon a campaign to reconquer all that was lost to Chaos. Hence, that post-apocalyptic vibe I sensed right from the first story.

At first, I didn't care for this new setting. It was all so different from what I remembered from the novels and tales I had read in past years, that it took some getting used to. However, after persisting with the stories in this book, I came to appreciate the refreshing novelty of this "Age of Sigmar." It may be different from the more conventional fantasy of the Old World, but it nonetheless remains Warhammer with all that implies (dark forces, epic battles, and so forth). And that remained good enough for me!

[Tepintzin · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sampler anthology meant for a person to get a taste of the various peoples and armies of the Age of Sigmar world. As such, I really enjoyed some of the stories and was "meh" on others.

I want to like the Stormcast, and the first story "Sacrosanct" is really good. While I feel the tragedy of these warriors who lose more of themselves each time they die and are reforged, I'm still not taking to them the way I did Space Marines when I first encountered them in "Horus Rising".

Neferata is badass. My jury is still out on Mannfred, but the vampire factions seems byzantine and interesting.

I love the Sylvaneth and their models are gorgeous, but the story "Wrathspring" bored me.

For me, the high point of the book was "The Volturung Road" which introduces us to Ulgathern-Grimnir and his fellow duardin (dwarven) people as they realize they have to flee the the mountain they have occupied for a century. I like seeing dwarves because they are a really underappreciated fantasy race and it's nice to see them done well and with depth.

My only gripe is that it needed more female characters. There is an array of them, but only Neferata got her own story. There is a pair of married witch hunters, so that gave a male and female lead in their eponymous story. Ulgathern has a woman to whom he is betrothed, but she's kind of a prop. The story even has them making a big deal of "protecting the women" which seems weird when it's been established that duardin women are muscular and strong as the men.

[Bogdan Balostin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first time to explore the universe of Warhammer Age of Sigmar is (was) through this collection of short stories. And I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised. Almost all the stories were worth reading, except three, which, unsurprisingly, are set (and published) during the inception of this Universe, when the Realmgate Wars series was released.

I've been hearing a lot about the Realmgate Wars because they are the first books released for Age of Sigmar, and I'm so glad I've read this collection of stories. They convinced me AoS has a fantastic potential for character development, as well as mystery and lore, as long as you avoid everything related to the Realmgate Wars. (mind you, I don't play the miniature game, so I don't care about recreating game campaigns in literary form)

So, Great Red, The Prisoner of Black Sun, and Wrathspring are the stories that can be easily skipped. They are just battles campaigns between entities we know nothing about, for reasons we don't understand, with characters we don't really care about. Also, the eponymous story, Sacrosanct was not my favorite, as it's too long for what it offered, but compared to the Realmgate Wars stories, is at another level.

The rest of the stories are brilliant, some more than others, of course, depending on your personal preferences for various fantasy tropes or characters. That is 9 stories out of 12 that were really fun even as a total beginner to Warhammer AoS. All in all, a very good rating for an anthology.

[Isabelle Zazaboum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jusqu’à présent je n’avais lu que des romans de Warhammer 40K qui sont pure science-fiction et j’ai pensé que des nouvelles de différents auteurs étaient une bonne façon de découvrir l’univers de fantasy de Warhammer, Age of Sigmar. Et cela s’est avéré une bonne idée pour plonger dans les Royaumes Mortels !

Avec 10 romans courts ou nouvelles nous partons dans des aventures de pure magie avec une éventail des armées en guerre contre le Chaos !

Certains ne sont que spectres et ectoplasmes d’humains, d’autres des créatures fantastiques tels les Aelfes, des fyreslayers combattants duardins et tant d'autres ! Quant aux forces de l’ombre et du chaos ils sont atroces et puants !

Jusqu’à présent je ne connaissais que Tolkien pour avoir poussé aussi loin la désolation et la magie ! Gav Thorpe a imaginé un superbe combat de la nature contre le mal, usant des arbres, de la terre, des roches et dirigée par Alarielle, la Reine Eternelle des sylvaneths, j’ai adoré cette nouvelle sylvestre !

Pour les amateurs de fantasy, ces livres ouvrent un choix énorme et j’en suis très ravie !

#Sacrosaintautresrécits #NetGalleyFrance

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kurzgeschichten sind ja immer so ein Thema. Entweder man hasst sie oder man liebt sie. Ich bevorzuge auch eher ganze Bücher, aber dieser Titel hier war mir schon von Anfang an sehr sympathisch.

Hier geben sich einige der bekanntesten Warhammer-Autoren die Klinke in die Hand und tragen erneut mit ihren Geschichten zum Warhammer-Universum bei. Das Buch wird als guter Einstieg in die Age Of Sigmar-Reihe beschrieben und dem kann ich nur zustimmen. Es ist schwierig einen Anfang im Warhammer-Universum zu finden, da es so gigantisch ist. Ich empfehle, es einfach mal zu versuchen. Aber diese Geschichtensammlung bietet einen gelungenen Einblick in das, was Age Of Sigmar ausmacht.

Manche der Geschichten bauen sogar aufeinander auf, was einen zusätzlichen Reiz darstellt. Man lernt verschiedene Völker und ihre Art zu leben kennen, reist durch verschiedene Gebiete und bekommt auch ein Bild davon, was Sigmar in dieser Welt bedeutet.

Wer sich also mal an Warhammer Ago Of Sigmar versuchen will, kann gut mit diesem Werk loslegen.

[Mórrígan · Rating 2 out of 5]

None of the multi part stories are particularly good, they're very contrived. A couple of the shorter stories were nice glimpses into the world, one had a nice twist at the end. I guess my problem with a lot of it is it reads like teenage boy writing "And then this guy after seemingly being bested in battle musters the power to annihilate him spurting blood everywhere". Rinse and repeat this and you have the conclusion to quite a few of the stories. Not much in the way of interesting twists or settings.

The Slaanesh story was disappointing needed more crazed sex daemons, disappointingly tame. Less Deus Ex Machina. More characterization, interesting world building, and exploration of the different cultures of the factions needed.

A disappointing first read into the Age of Sigmar books.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of short stories set in AoS that serves as introductions to the various book series. As such it is an excellent first step into AoS lit for intrigued newcomers. As for the stories themselves, half of them pretty good/fun pulps, the other half not so much. Splitting it to 3 stars.

[Liam · Rating 1 out of 5]

A 528 page advertisement, likely intended to be a buffet from which to sample, if the buffet consisted of only stale bread crusts. The exception being "The Volturung Road", which I found to be an entertaining and engaging read.

[Leonardo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I felt the title a little misleading. If you go into this as I did expecting an anthology of stories to center around the magical goings-on in the Mortal Realms as I did, you will be disappointed. The title story is good, and the best one is the Callis and Toll short story.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really solid anthology that’s like a tour around the Mortal Realms. Some stories were better than others but overall I enjoyed the flavor and found some authors and avenues to further explore.

[Andrés G. saravia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining but nothing more

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some belters, some bilge.. we really don't need any SCE stories where of them realises he's gone back to where he was from originally..

[Max Van houts · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories were epic and good, some were more boring and a slog. The first story and the story about the sylvaneth were great. Some characters stood out, like the witch hunter.

[Andrei · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't really enjoy the stories, except for The Volturung Road.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened via Audible

[Frentrop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great intro into the warhammer lore.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I preferred the Old World Setting before the Age Of Sigmar reset. The Stormcast Eternals are too much like Imperial Space Marines for my liking.

[Simon Tester · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent dive into all the different factions Warhammer: Age of Sigmar has to offer. The suggested reading after each story is a great idea and I look forward to reading many more.

[Luke Costin · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5

[Cody Eastlick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good collection of shorts, especially liked The Volturung Road, hearing a story from The Fyreslayers rekindled (pun intended) my interest in the duardin. Good stuff!

[Paweł · Rating 3 out of 5]

Without stormcasts would’ve been better ( they’re so boring)

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid selection of Age of Sigmar short stories, some uplifting, some soul crushing, just like you expect from the bleak Warhammer settings. Check it out.