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Darkblade #4-5
The Chronicles of Malus Darkblade Volume Two
The Chronicles of Malus Darkblade: Volume Two provides epic fantasy action from two of the Black Library's leading authors, Dan Abnett and Mike Lee. Includes the books Warpsword and Lord of Ruin. In addition it contains two short stories never published before on Malus Darkblade.
674 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
June 2, 2013
Deliciously evil & full of carnage. To the reviewers who say its too much & repetitive. Well guess what IT'S Warhammer!! It's about the Druchi. There whole existence is carnage. When you read fantasy like Warhammer you just have to immerse yourself in the world. It's supposed to be over the top. & Malus is the shit.
December 10, 2021
3rd read-through. I really enjoy this series.
Warpsword: Marks a shift in focus from the grand finally of previous book. We mostly get to see Malus in battle with himself and the daemon, acting on their behalf while a city erupts into chaos and anarchy around him. Much of the book concerns crowded streets and corridors with fast paced fighting which, while often thrilling, loses its novelty quickly and suffers from detailing split-second actions in drawn out manners. The canonical lore on this one is especially iffy, but it is well detailed and solid within the confines of the series. The short displays of the titular Warpsword of Khaine are horrifying.
Lord of Ruin: A back-and-forth between the final scenes and the acquisition of the final artifact a few months before make for a nice unfolding of events. The conflict between daemon and possessed has risen to its highest levels and concludes in an actual show-down. There is a considerable diversity in locations as the two remaining great cities (Naggarond and Grhond) get visited. Once again, especially with Grhond, the lore is far from canon, and isn’t even particularly convincing. While Malekith is portrayed rather solemn and inactive, Morathi has always been a favorite of mine and her brief moments are icily tense. While Lee obviously was far more experienced and in full control of the narrative, I feel like this one places Malus too much in a power vacuum with him getting handed full authority and control over vast armies and single handed combat turn-arounds; we’d have to believe the Druchii kingdom to generally operate on the brink of chaos for this kind of ineffectual cohesion and leadership. While the open battle description on the raiding campaign are well done, I am more of a fan of the low-level, grimy close combat where the grand scale of things is blurred out by the chaos; something Lee seems to generally happily gravitate towards once battle-lines meet. All in all a good ending with much possibility for continuation, though I’m doubtful we’ll see it.
Warpsword: Marks a shift in focus from the grand finally of previous book. We mostly get to see Malus in battle with himself and the daemon, acting on their behalf while a city erupts into chaos and anarchy around him. Much of the book concerns crowded streets and corridors with fast paced fighting which, while often thrilling, loses its novelty quickly and suffers from detailing split-second actions in drawn out manners. The canonical lore on this one is especially iffy, but it is well detailed and solid within the confines of the series. The short displays of the titular Warpsword of Khaine are horrifying.
Lord of Ruin: A back-and-forth between the final scenes and the acquisition of the final artifact a few months before make for a nice unfolding of events. The conflict between daemon and possessed has risen to its highest levels and concludes in an actual show-down. There is a considerable diversity in locations as the two remaining great cities (Naggarond and Grhond) get visited. Once again, especially with Grhond, the lore is far from canon, and isn’t even particularly convincing. While Malekith is portrayed rather solemn and inactive, Morathi has always been a favorite of mine and her brief moments are icily tense. While Lee obviously was far more experienced and in full control of the narrative, I feel like this one places Malus too much in a power vacuum with him getting handed full authority and control over vast armies and single handed combat turn-arounds; we’d have to believe the Druchii kingdom to generally operate on the brink of chaos for this kind of ineffectual cohesion and leadership. While the open battle description on the raiding campaign are well done, I am more of a fan of the low-level, grimy close combat where the grand scale of things is blurred out by the chaos; something Lee seems to generally happily gravitate towards once battle-lines meet. All in all a good ending with much possibility for continuation, though I’m doubtful we’ll see it.
August 19, 2019
If you enjoyed the first volume, you'll enjoy this.
November 21, 2012
Even better than the previous novels.
Can anything seriously outdo Lord of Ruin?
Awesome story.
Can anything seriously outdo Lord of Ruin?
Awesome story.
September 15, 2018
the dark elf saga ends with this second volume. malus darkblade lost his soul and spent a year trying to reclaim it. atrocities of darkest evil tones of blood and countless dead were the result of his path. the land suffered because of his quest and stubborn will to become a legacy. intrigue cruelty and maddening sorcery followed him and despite his many flaws malus survived although most of his friends and foes didn't. the books focus too much on bloodshed and violent battles which end up being copies of one another but the story is interesting and despite hating the protagonist the quest is compelling and you want to keep reading. what else should you want from a dark fantasy book? only its sequel of course
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March 29, 2025Volume Two picks up the shattered pieces and sharpens them. If Volume One was a descent, this is the freefall—with even more twisted bargains, unrelenting bloodshed, and the bitter weight of consequences. Malus grows more monstrous, yet somehow more fascinating, as the daemon’s influence deepens and the stakes rise from personal survival to outright damnation.
The plot threads from earlier books begin to converge in deeply satisfying (and horrifying) ways. The pacing remains relentless, and the world continues to bleed atmosphere. This is not a redemption arc—it’s a doom spiral, and it’s brilliantly executed.
Dark fantasy at its most merciless.
The plot threads from earlier books begin to converge in deeply satisfying (and horrifying) ways. The pacing remains relentless, and the world continues to bleed atmosphere. This is not a redemption arc—it’s a doom spiral, and it’s brilliantly executed.
Dark fantasy at its most merciless.
October 18, 2023
Really enjoyed this, in a sense in this book we now have a different perspective of the world aka the religious city Har Ganeth and the sorcery/power that Urial and Yasmir have.
Not going to lie I do prefer the first one due to it being more gripping than this one. Whilst I do like this one the constant war scenes do get a little tedious after a while.
Loved the battle scenes due to the different enemies. Oceanic daemon and barbarians and minotaurs. There's also witches and cultists too. When I finished this I was happy with the ending and almost cried at it.
Not going to lie I do prefer the first one due to it being more gripping than this one. Whilst I do like this one the constant war scenes do get a little tedious after a while.
Loved the battle scenes due to the different enemies. Oceanic daemon and barbarians and minotaurs. There's also witches and cultists too. When I finished this I was happy with the ending and almost cried at it.
February 20, 2023
The first books in the volume are fantastic. The final book skips forward in time, doesn't close off the story of how it happened and jumps straight to the end times. As with virtually all of the end times story's it feels rushed, makes little sense and overall is a let down. Hopefully with the success and popularity of total war warhammer Games Workshop realise the mistake they made with the entire end times setting
December 24, 2024
The last part few books of the series and just as amazing as the first 3! I couldn’t put it down and again the story, characters and action were great. Again, if you love the elves of the warhammer world you need to read this.
December 20, 2019
Another solid Warhammer Fantasy omnibus and the conclusion to the story of Malus Darkblade. If you enjoyed the first three novels, you must read the final two compiled here.
March 17, 2013
Have you ever seen the picture with the fish in the birds mouth with the fishes fins wrapped around the birds neck, entitled "Never Give Up"? Well that's Malus Darkblade in that birds mouth and never give up he does.
October 6, 2011
Thought it was a great book
Auther describes everything real well
Auther describes everything real well
March 27, 2012
Fckn genius
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews