Beasts

Black Library Advent Calendar 2021

by John French

A Cado Ezechiar Short Story

Speak his name in whispers, the vampire called the Hollow King.

The tragic hero, Cado Ezechiar is a wanderer seeking those who have done him ill.

When he is ambushed and betrayed by a mysterious figure, Cado finds himself in the depths of an underground world and hunted by a monstrous beast. But there is more at work here than a simple trap, and it will take all of the Hollow King's abilities to survive and unravel the truth.

READ IT BECAUSE
This is a tale of cat-and-mouse, Mortal Realms style, from a true Black Library heavyweight.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Vampires

ebook

First published December 12, 2021

About the author

John French is a writer and freelance game designer from Nottingham, England. His novels include the Ahriman series from Black Library, and The Lord of Nightmares trilogy for Fantasy Flight. The rest of his work can be seen scattered through a number of other books, including the New York Times bestselling anthology Age of Darkness. When he is not thinking of ways that dark and corrupting beings could destroy reality and space, John enjoys talking about why it would be a good idea... that and drinking good wine.

Reviews

[Stefan · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5*, maybe. Quite short, but an interesting introduction to the character. Looking forward to reading more.

[Nerd_Rage_Dad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This actually the first of the Hollow king stories and short story one of three and leads straight into tower of empty mirrors.

This is super short and doesn’t have a lot in it but it does have Fighting a troggoth in a cave full of poison mushrooms not sure what else you need. The action is well written but this definitely needs to be read as part of the Road of the hollow king rather than a stand alone.

[Danny Saines · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is French’s first AOS story and it is full of atmosphere and intrigue, leaving plenty of unanswered questions, for future development. This more gritty take on the Mortal Realms, as well as, following a different type of main character really works for me. I immediately ordered the White Dwarf that includes a second story about Cado and look forward to future stories about him.

[Andrew Alvis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty standard AoS tale but enjoyable nonetheless. I wonder where it will lead in relation to future Cado Ezechiar stories...

[Eric Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for what it was. Nice short story.