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Warhammer Age of Sigmar
Kragnos Avatar of Destruction
A Warhammer Age of Sigmar Novel
Excelsis, City of Secrets, stands proud in the Realm of Beasts. From its walls, Sigmar's followers push ever outward into the Ghurish Heartlands – but something ancient is about to awaken, and test the forces of Order like never before.
READ IT BECAUSE
Discover the struggles of Order as they attempt to assert their dominance in the wild plains of Ghur, which threatens to be claimed by the atavistic might of Kragnos and his followers.
THE STORY
The Realm of Beasts has ever been a place of savagery and destruction, defiant in the face of Sigmar's feeble attempts at liberation. But now, deep within the mountains of the Ghurish Heartlands, something ancient stirs. A god long-trapped is about to awaken, and the drumbeat of war calls. Ferocious Ironjawz, gluttonous Ogors and towering gargants all set their sights on the human interlopers, determined to cast down their keeps.
It is into this maelstrom that generals Ellistor Seraphine Lisandr and Casius Braun march, sent forth from proud Excelsis to conquer new lands. It is a near suicidal task, made ever worse by the growing rift between Azyrite and Reclaimed. But Sigmar demands sacrifice, and the forces of Order are about to be tested like ever before.
Excelsis, City of Secrets, stands proud in the Realm of Beasts. From its walls, Sigmar's followers push ever outward into the Ghurish Heartlands – but something ancient is about to awaken, and test the forces of Order like never before.
READ IT BECAUSE
Discover the struggles of Order as they attempt to assert their dominance in the wild plains of Ghur, which threatens to be claimed by the atavistic might of Kragnos and his followers.
THE STORY
The Realm of Beasts has ever been a place of savagery and destruction, defiant in the face of Sigmar's feeble attempts at liberation. But now, deep within the mountains of the Ghurish Heartlands, something ancient stirs. A god long-trapped is about to awaken, and the drumbeat of war calls. Ferocious Ironjawz, gluttonous Ogors and towering gargants all set their sights on the human interlopers, determined to cast down their keeps.
It is into this maelstrom that generals Ellistor Seraphine Lisandr and Casius Braun march, sent forth from proud Excelsis to conquer new lands. It is a near suicidal task, made ever worse by the growing rift between Azyrite and Reclaimed. But Sigmar demands sacrifice, and the forces of Order are about to be tested like ever before.
- GenresFantasy
363 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 26, 2022
8 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
David Guymer
173 books176 followersDavid Guymer is a freelance author, PhD in molecular microbiology (which still comes in more handy than you might think), and tabletop warlord based in the Yorkshire East Riding. He has written for Black Library, Marvel, Aconyte Books, Asmodee, Mantic Games, Cubicle 7, Creative Assembly, and Mongoose Publishing.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 7, 2022
Games Workshop have a tendency at times to market and name a book in manner that misleads. We say it with the Olyander: Lady of Sorrows novel*, with the 8th Ed Genestealer Cults novel, with the Return Of Nagash, to name a few. We return to this trope with Kragnos: Avatar Of Destruction.
While the book bears his name, the God of Rage himself is a distant threat for the first half, an earthquake on another continent, a thunderstorm half heard. Kragnos’ gradual appearance works very well, but once on the board, he appears less elemental fury and like a righteous king, which we will get into later on. There's a lot to into here as everything in these pages is wondrously Warhammer.
The main thrust of the book is, surprisingly, a tale of unrequited love between the Freeguild / Mercenary Leader Braun and the Celestial General Lisandr, which leads to some deft touches of character development as Braun leads his band of warriors (Known as The Twelve, a righteous number in the mythology of Sigmar) through the ever-present insanity that is the Wilds of Ghur***. The Realm itself is as much of a character as the humans, throwing both the crazed flora and fauna as well as some fantastic takes of society in the wildest of wilds. Comparing the more fragile, death dwellers of Shyish against the hardy, muscle-bound civilised barbarians of Ghur is a master-stroke, showing that there are very deep differences between the Realms.
Read the full review: https://www.thefluffenhammer.com/arti...
While the book bears his name, the God of Rage himself is a distant threat for the first half, an earthquake on another continent, a thunderstorm half heard. Kragnos’ gradual appearance works very well, but once on the board, he appears less elemental fury and like a righteous king, which we will get into later on. There's a lot to into here as everything in these pages is wondrously Warhammer.
The main thrust of the book is, surprisingly, a tale of unrequited love between the Freeguild / Mercenary Leader Braun and the Celestial General Lisandr, which leads to some deft touches of character development as Braun leads his band of warriors (Known as The Twelve, a righteous number in the mythology of Sigmar) through the ever-present insanity that is the Wilds of Ghur***. The Realm itself is as much of a character as the humans, throwing both the crazed flora and fauna as well as some fantastic takes of society in the wildest of wilds. Comparing the more fragile, death dwellers of Shyish against the hardy, muscle-bound civilised barbarians of Ghur is a master-stroke, showing that there are very deep differences between the Realms.
Read the full review: https://www.thefluffenhammer.com/arti...
June 3, 2023
Quite enjoyed this, nice pacing.
Characters were interesting although the handful that had similar names I think I lost track of who was who just another knight by the end!
Characters were interesting although the handful that had similar names I think I lost track of who was who just another knight by the end!
March 31, 2022
La complejidad de la historia al principio y al final me dejó bastante aturdido. En el intermedio la disfruté muchísimo. Probablemente es porque soy nuevo en el universo AoS y eran demasiados términos y situaciones nuevas de las que aprender en cada párrafo... en cada oración a veces. Era como leer un libro técnico e ir a buscar en wikipedia cada término para irle entendiendo jajaja
Y... a pesar del trabajo extra que conllevó, me llevo un buen sabor de boca. Me gustó muchísimo. Probablemente disfrute más de los libros de AoS cuando esté más familiarizado con los términos y personajes.
Y... a pesar del trabajo extra que conllevó, me llevo un buen sabor de boca. Me gustó muchísimo. Probablemente disfrute más de los libros de AoS cuando esté más familiarizado con los términos y personajes.
March 7, 2023
A really fun series of character pieces into the Realm of Ghur in a way that truly feels like it takes place in a "Realm of Beasts"
The Good
- The various Order Factions were spectacularly represented, with Magic-tech artillery teams, Hauty Demigryph riders and the hordes of the Akarri Hounds. Very well employed descriptions of the variety of the Cities of Sigmar and the few Stromcasts we got
- Finally an AoS book where Ogors and Orruks got to have some major speaking roles!
- Kragnos is a big asshole, exactly what you'd expect from his lore!
The Not as Good
- For a book about Kragnos, he feels more shoehorned in at the end, with far more focus on the Sigmarite Characters trying to survive him. Unfortunately this seems quite common with Destruction faction characters, who are more something that happens to Order factions, rather than fully realized characters themselves. Similarly, Boss Rukka, a major character in the narrative, seems to have his chapters thrown through a bit more quickly.
- The sense of scale feels way off. Distances that seem miles and miles across get crossed in a matter of hours and the timelines for construction/preparation of defenses also seems to go by in the narrative far too quickly to make sense.
The Good
- The various Order Factions were spectacularly represented, with Magic-tech artillery teams, Hauty Demigryph riders and the hordes of the Akarri Hounds. Very well employed descriptions of the variety of the Cities of Sigmar and the few Stromcasts we got
- Finally an AoS book where Ogors and Orruks got to have some major speaking roles!
- Kragnos is a big asshole, exactly what you'd expect from his lore!
The Not as Good
- For a book about Kragnos, he feels more shoehorned in at the end, with far more focus on the Sigmarite Characters trying to survive him. Unfortunately this seems quite common with Destruction faction characters, who are more something that happens to Order factions, rather than fully realized characters themselves. Similarly, Boss Rukka, a major character in the narrative, seems to have his chapters thrown through a bit more quickly.
- The sense of scale feels way off. Distances that seem miles and miles across get crossed in a matter of hours and the timelines for construction/preparation of defenses also seems to go by in the narrative far too quickly to make sense.
August 24, 2024
The Book is probably better if you're interested in the AoS lore. If you just want a cool story, go to an another book.
I think it could be 300 pages long and not 360, because after page about 250 it was rough finishing it and there wasn't much momentum. That's probably because after page 250 you basically know exactly how it will all end.
Inside the book there are a lot of characters. Some good and some bad. Mostly they're pretty bland though. Only 1 of the characters I actually did like, and that was a side character.
There were some good descriptions of customs of the ghurites, but unfortunately the rest of the descriptions were tons of lore locations.
The author was giving us names of lore locations and of stormcasts' army ranks, etc..., but without really knowing the lore of AoS I didn't really understand any of them. It was just name dropping stuff without really explaining it.
So overall pretty mid book. I've also got to say that I don't think everything was really ended in this book - rather I feel that it's a setup for a sequel. So don't read this expecting the story will resolve all plot points.
I think it could be 300 pages long and not 360, because after page about 250 it was rough finishing it and there wasn't much momentum. That's probably because after page 250 you basically know exactly how it will all end.
Inside the book there are a lot of characters. Some good and some bad. Mostly they're pretty bland though. Only 1 of the characters I actually did like, and that was a side character.
There were some good descriptions of customs of the ghurites, but unfortunately the rest of the descriptions were tons of lore locations.
The author was giving us names of lore locations and of stormcasts' army ranks, etc..., but without really knowing the lore of AoS I didn't really understand any of them. It was just name dropping stuff without really explaining it.
So overall pretty mid book. I've also got to say that I don't think everything was really ended in this book - rather I feel that it's a setup for a sequel. So don't read this expecting the story will resolve all plot points.
March 4, 2022
I know this is about Kragnos but for me all the other characters were what made this am absolute pleasure to listen, grint and unrequited love for a celestial was so funny, Braun and his habit of eating defeated opponents, the grots, the spiders, the iron jawz, there is just so much fun in this book, I really hope BL ask David Guymer to write a sequel. Also Andrew James Spooners narration was outstanding 😀
Read
April 11, 2022Kragnos!!!
June 24, 2024
This was not good. A poor attempt to relate an obvious BOC moster into the destruction line with a poorly written story.
April 19, 2025
This was genuinely a fantastic book! I adored it, I adored numerous if the characters within it, and I absolutely loved Kragnos!
The ending was surprising because I honestly expected them to pull the cheesy 'they somehow kill the giant, almighty deity', but they didn't! David Guymer, you wonderful author, you!
EDIT - I do want to say that the only let down, to me, was how little Kragnos was actually in it. I want a sequel focusing more on him, NOW.
The ending was surprising because I honestly expected them to pull the cheesy 'they somehow kill the giant, almighty deity', but they didn't! David Guymer, you wonderful author, you!
EDIT - I do want to say that the only let down, to me, was how little Kragnos was actually in it. I want a sequel focusing more on him, NOW.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 15, 2022
So if you’re picking up this book for Kragnos you’re going to be disappointed. He doesn’t show up until you’re a third into the book and even after his reveal he doesn’t carry the story. The story is about everyone around him. It was just a bit disappointing because I really wanted this book to flesh out his character more. Which is why my favorite part was Kragnos reminiscing about his past. However it was very brief.
SPOILER ALERT
Don’t read this if you wanna go in blind. This book takes place right before the siege of Excelsis from broken realms. You see Kragnos right out imprisonment head towards a newly proclaimed city of city of sigmar with a army of destruction at his back. The POV switches from some key players in the city to other leader of destruction coming to see “The Trampler” in his glory and hopefully be noticed by him.
SPOILER OVER
Notable faction in this book
City of sigmar
Gitz of all clans
Ourks
Ogors
Gargants
Mega Gargants
Stormcast eternals
SPOILER ALERT
Don’t read this if you wanna go in blind. This book takes place right before the siege of Excelsis from broken realms. You see Kragnos right out imprisonment head towards a newly proclaimed city of city of sigmar with a army of destruction at his back. The POV switches from some key players in the city to other leader of destruction coming to see “The Trampler” in his glory and hopefully be noticed by him.
SPOILER OVER
Notable faction in this book
City of sigmar
Gitz of all clans
Ourks
Ogors
Gargants
Mega Gargants
Stormcast eternals
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews