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Warhammer Age of Sigmar
The Vulture Lord
A Zothar Athrabis Novel
Zothar is an Ossiarch Bonereaper who rules over a city in Shyish. He struck a bargain with Nagash to preserve the soul of his dead son, choosing a new host from the victor of the Games – a festival that takes place once each decade. When Zothar breaks tradition and raises Lycus, the current champion, as his own son, his actions incite a bloody rebellion amongst the citizens.
READ IT BECAUSE
It’s a fascinating look at what passes for normal life in the realm of Shyish, where the living and the dead walk side by side, and everyday existence is filled with danger, adventure, and no shortage of bizarre and mystical creatures.
THE STORY
In a forgotten corner of Shyish, the city of Lament prepares for the most important festival in its calendar, the Games – a series of events that will seal the fate of their victor.
Following the tragic death of his son many centuries ago, the cruel Vulture Lord, King Zothar Athrabis, made a terrible bargain with Nagash to preserve his child’s soul. Now, once every 10 years, the new champion of the Games must become host to the boy’s tormented spirit, while the old vessel is condemned to death. Most citizens of Lament deem this a great honour, but when the city’s newly crowned champion, Lycus, is taken by the king to raise as his own, his family question their sacrifice.
As the years pass and a new decade looms ever closer – and with it Lycus’ grisly fate – the Prince of Athrabis is caught between his duty to his new father and the prospect of escaping death to return to his old life. As fierce, bloody rebellion ensues, and Lycus is exposed to violent truths, he must decide once and for all where his loyalties lie.
Zothar is an Ossiarch Bonereaper who rules over a city in Shyish. He struck a bargain with Nagash to preserve the soul of his dead son, choosing a new host from the victor of the Games – a festival that takes place once each decade. When Zothar breaks tradition and raises Lycus, the current champion, as his own son, his actions incite a bloody rebellion amongst the citizens.
READ IT BECAUSE
It’s a fascinating look at what passes for normal life in the realm of Shyish, where the living and the dead walk side by side, and everyday existence is filled with danger, adventure, and no shortage of bizarre and mystical creatures.
THE STORY
In a forgotten corner of Shyish, the city of Lament prepares for the most important festival in its calendar, the Games – a series of events that will seal the fate of their victor.
Following the tragic death of his son many centuries ago, the cruel Vulture Lord, King Zothar Athrabis, made a terrible bargain with Nagash to preserve his child’s soul. Now, once every 10 years, the new champion of the Games must become host to the boy’s tormented spirit, while the old vessel is condemned to death. Most citizens of Lament deem this a great honour, but when the city’s newly crowned champion, Lycus, is taken by the king to raise as his own, his family question their sacrifice.
As the years pass and a new decade looms ever closer – and with it Lycus’ grisly fate – the Prince of Athrabis is caught between his duty to his new father and the prospect of escaping death to return to his old life. As fierce, bloody rebellion ensues, and Lycus is exposed to violent truths, he must decide once and for all where his loyalties lie.
- GenresFantasy
320 pages, Paperback
First published June 23, 2022
12 people are currently reading
86 people want to read
About the author
Richard Strachan
42 books25 followersRichard Strachan lives in Edinburgh, UK. He has had stories published in magazines like Interzone, The Lonely Crowd, Gutter and New Writing Scotland, and writes for Games Workshop's Black Library imprint.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 27, 2022
Just for clarity, I didn't have the paperback version because I'm not a time traveler, Goodreads just doesn't have another edition listed for me to select. This novel came to my attention just the other week after reading the article on Warhammer Community; more than anything I was caught by the cover art and thought this was one I really wanted to read. Timing just happened to work out for me, so here I am.
I'm not a huge fan of first-person stories, but an interesting style choice is that only one of our protagonists is told in this method, and though I thought the back and forth between first-person and third sections might cause a little whiplash, it actually flows pretty seamlessly. The story itself is fascinating. hanging strong on the grief of families and the resulting issues. Zothar is a sympathetic character, hard to believe when one is talking about a skeletal overlord who has struck such a rotten deal, but underneath all those layers is a father dealing with the grief of loss, and never devolves into the mustache twirling villains all too common in Warhammer novels. Lycus is likewise tragic, a young boy only wishing to be his best and stuck with the horrible fate it puts upon him. And poor Selene, having her entire life framed around such a grim set of events.
An excellent read, and though it may not be the best introductory point, it is a novel I'd be willing to recommend to even those who aren't already immersed in the setting and lore, a solid story down to the bones.
I'm not a huge fan of first-person stories, but an interesting style choice is that only one of our protagonists is told in this method, and though I thought the back and forth between first-person and third sections might cause a little whiplash, it actually flows pretty seamlessly. The story itself is fascinating. hanging strong on the grief of families and the resulting issues. Zothar is a sympathetic character, hard to believe when one is talking about a skeletal overlord who has struck such a rotten deal, but underneath all those layers is a father dealing with the grief of loss, and never devolves into the mustache twirling villains all too common in Warhammer novels. Lycus is likewise tragic, a young boy only wishing to be his best and stuck with the horrible fate it puts upon him. And poor Selene, having her entire life framed around such a grim set of events.
An excellent read, and though it may not be the best introductory point, it is a novel I'd be willing to recommend to even those who aren't already immersed in the setting and lore, a solid story down to the bones.
August 16, 2022
This book claims to be about the Ossiarch Bone reapers, but it really isn't. Don't get me wrong, the OBR are in it, but not for the most part. They mostly exist to move the plot forward, and to play the part of the big bad villains. The author tried to make me care about the humans in this story, but he failed. All the human characters are irrelevant and unrelatable.
January 13, 2024
I am speechless. This writer, Mr. Strachan… I’ll read anything he writes. The Age of Sigmar setting allows for a lot of creativity and it shows here. I would have even been happier if this book was stretched to a trilogy. OMG. So bittersweet. The David Gemmell writing award has to go to Mr. Strachan.
July 19, 2025
This was a nice novel delving into a smaller scale bit of the AOS realms. No one jumps through any realm gates, no Order factions show up (other than some talk of Sigmar), Destruction is mentioned a couple of times, and Chaos is just a generic horde to prove a point. A Death faction and its mortal inhabitants are the focus of this book. An Ossiarch King with a tragic backstory spends a millennium forcing a city to reincarnate his son every ten years through what is essentially the hunger games. Teens and preteens die so that the winner can hold the soul of his lost son for ten years, while the losers become untouchables. In return, the king keeps the city safe with endless wars that they never even see.
Most of the narrative is from the point of view of our human characters and I generally found them compelling. The boy who wins dives into the world of the undead and struggles with the duality of his soul and allegiances. The one who loses festers in his hate as he lives in the gutter and plots his vengeance. A mother cares for her fading husband as she mourns the loss of her son to the games and contemplates how to save him in the brutal world dominated by undead hordes. And finally, a young girl delves into faith and the promise of a new life that is offered to those who embrace Sigmar.
The Ossiarch characters are a bit more one note. The skeleton general and scholar fulfill their roles but offer little unexplored. Zothar himself is more interesting as he struggles with the constant memories of both the death of his son and the unholy pact he made with a god of death to bring the boy back.
Overall, the book was generally enjoyable. If the Ossiarch characters were mostly a bit skeletal, the human characters at least fleshed out life under the thumb of the bone tithe. While I would have appreciated a some bigger risks and expansion of the Ossiarch themselves...it wasn't another book about Stormcast fighting Khorne worshippers.
Most of the narrative is from the point of view of our human characters and I generally found them compelling. The boy who wins dives into the world of the undead and struggles with the duality of his soul and allegiances. The one who loses festers in his hate as he lives in the gutter and plots his vengeance. A mother cares for her fading husband as she mourns the loss of her son to the games and contemplates how to save him in the brutal world dominated by undead hordes. And finally, a young girl delves into faith and the promise of a new life that is offered to those who embrace Sigmar.
The Ossiarch characters are a bit more one note. The skeleton general and scholar fulfill their roles but offer little unexplored. Zothar himself is more interesting as he struggles with the constant memories of both the death of his son and the unholy pact he made with a god of death to bring the boy back.
Overall, the book was generally enjoyable. If the Ossiarch characters were mostly a bit skeletal, the human characters at least fleshed out life under the thumb of the bone tithe. While I would have appreciated a some bigger risks and expansion of the Ossiarch themselves...it wasn't another book about Stormcast fighting Khorne worshippers.
January 3, 2024
A decent story of mortals living in the realm of death. I felt it was well written and the audiobook was well done.
However, this wasn’t the story I had hoped for. I was expecting a story focusing on the Ossiarchs themselves. Instead it was a story following the common black library philosophy of only showing the perspective of a handful of human characters around a primary lore character instead of a story of their own. The Bonereapers were relegated to the background with barely any interaction with the protagonists. The title character Zothar was barely in it, relegated instead to be the primary antagonist with only a few lines of dialogue.
Overall the book was fine, but if you want an Ossiarch Bonereaper story this might not be it.
However, this wasn’t the story I had hoped for. I was expecting a story focusing on the Ossiarchs themselves. Instead it was a story following the common black library philosophy of only showing the perspective of a handful of human characters around a primary lore character instead of a story of their own. The Bonereapers were relegated to the background with barely any interaction with the protagonists. The title character Zothar was barely in it, relegated instead to be the primary antagonist with only a few lines of dialogue.
Overall the book was fine, but if you want an Ossiarch Bonereaper story this might not be it.
September 9, 2022
An interesting and unusual take on the Mortal Realms; The Vulture Lord brings a grim darkness to Shyish.
The world building and character development, is, as always from Richard, excellent.
The human characters were diverse and interesting, while King Zothar was all to relatable.
A highly enjoyable novel, with a different approach that some readers may find less exciting than other AoS novels. Well worth the read just for the world building, and for Richard’s detail and depth.
The world building and character development, is, as always from Richard, excellent.
The human characters were diverse and interesting, while King Zothar was all to relatable.
A highly enjoyable novel, with a different approach that some readers may find less exciting than other AoS novels. Well worth the read just for the world building, and for Richard’s detail and depth.
February 22, 2023
A book with elements of the Hunger Games and the legend of Theseus and the Minotaur woven together with undead legions and set in the world of Age of Sigmar? Sounds like an unusual combination but it made for an intriguing read...
"Centuries ago, the son of the Vulture King perished in the Games held by the city of Lament, in the Realm of Shyish. Every decade, the Vulture King, reborn as an undead monstrosity, demands the games be held and the victor will be host to his son's soul for a decade, per the bargain he made with Nagash. When the winner of the most recent games, Lycus, faces the end of his tenure as a soul host, and his life, where does his loyalty lie? With the people he once knew and cared for but would have consigned him to second class poverty had he failed, or the undead warlord who sees him only as a vessel for another but has gifted him power and martial skill beyond his imagination?"
A more thoughtful and slow paced book than most Age of Sigmar fare, but still enough of an engaging read to keep me turning the pages...
"Centuries ago, the son of the Vulture King perished in the Games held by the city of Lament, in the Realm of Shyish. Every decade, the Vulture King, reborn as an undead monstrosity, demands the games be held and the victor will be host to his son's soul for a decade, per the bargain he made with Nagash. When the winner of the most recent games, Lycus, faces the end of his tenure as a soul host, and his life, where does his loyalty lie? With the people he once knew and cared for but would have consigned him to second class poverty had he failed, or the undead warlord who sees him only as a vessel for another but has gifted him power and martial skill beyond his imagination?"
A more thoughtful and slow paced book than most Age of Sigmar fare, but still enough of an engaging read to keep me turning the pages...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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October 30, 2022Fun to see some unknown region in the Mortal Realms with some original characters. The Bonereaper half of the book was pretty cool, but the human part was very boring and felt more like filler.
Watch the full review here: https://youtu.be/sBdy6LKeQ48
Watch the full review here: https://youtu.be/sBdy6LKeQ48
April 27, 2024
Story for stories sake
Decent enough book that had an interesting tale to tell and added a spark of humanity to the Ossiarch that I didn't know existed. It does make you hope for the best that's for sure
Decent enough book that had an interesting tale to tell and added a spark of humanity to the Ossiarch that I didn't know existed. It does make you hope for the best that's for sure
August 21, 2022
Predictable story, but fun nonetheless. I think the pacing was very good. Definitely for AOS fans. If you like stories set in Shyish, you will like this one.
December 6, 2025
I you wondered how Bonereaper’s “society” looks from inside, that’s book for you.
December 27, 2022
I really enjoyed this book. It was great to see the Ossiarch Bonereapers fleshed out more. Often you see them as unrelenting tides of the dead just moving around killing things (which indeed is part of what they are) but this story really shows what it means to be undead and still retain parts of your soul and personality. King Zothar is simultaneously implacable and tragic, I really felt for the character. I enjoyed seeing the slow rebellion of Lament take place and how in such dire situations people can turn to other Gods for aid. Every moment of this story I enjoyed, it's not your typical age of sigmar fantasy brawl. Highly recommended to lovers of Age of Sigmar and those who have never read a black library novel in their lives.
September 2, 2022
Having written the OBR so well in End of Enlightenment I had great hopes that in this novel R Strachan would continue to flesh out the skeletal legions of Shyish. The author met and exceeded my expectations with a 'villain' sadly relatable, a good amount of Warhammer grimdark, a not- entirely predictable ending and some solid world building in the realm of Nagash.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews