'The Path to Glory' – Evan Dicken (Black Library)


I can't believe that I stayed away from Black Library's 'Age of Sigmar' books because it wasn't the 'Old World' anymore... I know, it's a bit of an intense reaction but I loved the Old World and was really sad to see it go (looking to seeing its return but that's another story...), I didn't want to pick up new books that looked as if they'd been written so that we could have 'fantasy Space Marines' as well as the regular sci-fi far future ones. Shows what I know...

Since I've been reading the 'Age of Sigmar' short stories, it's become clear, very quickly, that although the geography change, the approach to storytelling hasn't. Strong heroes fighting the good fight against overwhelming evil with the occasional twist in the tale, that's all I'm after sometimes. It has also become clear, very quickly, that Evan Dicken is the writer to search out if you want particularly good 'Age of Sigmar' fiction. Seriously, read my reviews for 'Fangs of the Rustwood' & 'The Red Hours' and you will see what I mean. It was payday not so long ago (although at the same time, it feels like a lifetime ago now...) So I treated myself to another short story of Dicken's for a read. Come, let me tell you about 'The Path to Glory'...

The Age of Myth is over. After centuries of peace, the forces of Chaos have returned to the Mortal Realms, and Order is being overrun. Sigmar has retreated to Azyr, and those left behind make their stand in the face of the numberless hordes of the Dark Gods. In the ruins of the Lantic Empire, a few brave heroes lead their shattered armies in the defence of their once-mighty realm. With their empress dead, a captain, a sorcerer and the new emperor must make a stand and try to save their people.

'The Path of Glory' is one of those stories that opens itself up a little bit more as you get deeper in. As with most Warhammer fiction, the battle is the main focus but Dicken clearly knows that a story needs a lot more than just a big old scrap, to really grab the attention, so he obliges and 'Path to Glory' is all the better for it.

'The Path to Glory' is a very different story to 'The Red Hours' in that it is about a pitched battle and that takes up large chunks of the tale. There isn't a lot of room for much else and so we see Dicken working round the edges of the tale to show us the human cost of war, what it can do to the soul as well as the more obvious physical costs. The end result is a tale that perhaps isn't as balanced as it wants to be (but to be fair, Warhammer is all about the battles so these moments will always take priority) but does give us a view that is more than about just swordfights and magic. Don't get me wrong, these are dealt with very well but like I said, there's more to warfare than that.

What I think Dicken does really well in 'The Path to Glory' is to show us that when you're right in the middle of the battle, it is really hard (almost impossible in fact) to see the larger picture, even when loyalist corpses disappearing, in a whiff of ozone, make it clear to the reader that something much bigger is happening. All Sulla, Kaslon and Livius can see (from where they're stood) is that they have been betrayed and left for dead. It's an easy mistake to make under pressure and Dicken draws out the inevitable journey, from that realisation, in just the right way. We can see what's coming but we follow our 'heroes' anyway as it happens so gradually, and we've already invested a lot in these characters, that it's so easy to just keep reading.

There is an ending to 'The Path to Glory' but there's also a feeling that there is still a lot of story to be told here. I liked that approach as it hints at a much wider world and greater depth to the characters. I wouldn't have minded seeing more of Sulla, Kaslon and Livius but sometimes it's good not to be told everything and to leave things a little open-ended. Just like our own world.

'The Path of Glory' is another solid entry in the annals of the 'Age of Sigmar' then and a reminder that Evan Dicken continues to be a writer to look out for in this setting. I'll continue to do just that.

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