'Thunderstrike' – Richard Strachan (Black Library)

You can find 'Thunderstrike' in the collection 'Thunderstrike & Other Stories', the clue is in the name... ;o) You can also find a few of the other 'Age of Sigmar' stories, that I've covered here, in this collection as well and it's only a fiver so, just saying...

But anyway.

It's been another busy couple of days at work and I've been looking for a read that will do all the good stuff but won't be too taxing on what little headspace I've got left at the moment. That's just the way it is at the moment, give a chap a break :o) And don't think that I'm sneering at books that only entertain either. Books like that save my mental health on a regular basis, I owe them a lot and will always fight their cause. All of which eventually led me to the 'Thunderstrike' collection and the titular novella that kicks things off. And it's bloody good. I know I say this a lot but I really need to read more 'Age of Sigmar' books if 'Thunderstrike' is anything to go by. Let me tell you about it.

The city of Excelsis is in mourning. Thousands were slain in the great greenskin siege, the streets of a proud civilisation reduced to bloodied pits. The sheer might of Sigmar’s allies may have won the battle, but the war between Order and Destruction is far from over, and out in the Ghurish wildlands a new evil lurks. When Freeguild captain Holger Beck and his regiment are ambushed on patrol, there is no time to fathom the cunning intellect of their foe – all they learn is terror. Broken and beaten, Beck latches on to a retinue of Thunderstrike Stormcasts led by Knight-Relictor Actinus, a formidable warrior under whose intrepid shadow Beck falls. Together, mortal soldier and divine warrior must strike forth into the dark heart of Ghur to destroy their enemy, before it takes advantage of the weakened city. But their trials have only just begun, and when even the indomitable Thunderstrike’s mettle is tested, what chance is there for a human soul to claw at victory?

'Thunderstrike' is only about a hundred and ten pages long so was just the right length of story for me to get stuck into last night. And all credit to Richard Strachan for the amount of stuff that he manages to fit into such a small space. There is a lot going on here and the phrase 'something for everybody' really has its work cut out.

This is a Black Library book, and 'Age of Sigmar' is a big deal, so you can't escape the feeling that Strachan was told to make sure that his story introduced new army units, told the reader exactly what they could do and so on. There are Annihilators, Vanquishers and all sorts, all of which have a signature move and I'm sure that if you play the game, you'll read the story and be thinking of how you'd marshal these forces. I was thinking this and I don't even play the game (although maybe I should, curse you Games Workshop...)

What I really liked though is that while the story may well be an advert, Strachan made sure that the story came first. The stuff that he puts Actinus and Beck through, they deserve nothing less really and their story is definitely told. It's one part brutal combat (because of course it is), with a rich vein of creepy horror running through it, but it's also an exploration of what makes a hero in this world and that's what I ended up sticking around for because it raised some interesting questions for me (as well as being very cool).

On the one hand you have the Freeguild Captain Holger Beck and his journey is a familiar one although he is really pushed to his utmost limit and maybe that's where true heroism is found? I don't know but his actions were plausible enough to have me nodding in agreement and at the same time heroic enough to make me take a breath and go 'damn....'

On the other hand... There's Actinus, the Thunderstrike warrior who knows that his cause is just and that when he dies, he will be 'reforged' and sent back into combat. But what makes him fight so hard though? Is it 'the cause' or is it the fact that he cannot bear the thought of being reforged again and will fight twice as hard to avoid it...?

Who is the real hero?

'Thunderstrike' was a lot of fun to read and clearly, despite my best intentions, got me pondering all sorts of stuff while I was reading it. Like I said at the top of the post, the collection is only a fiver and I think this story was worth that by itself. I'd go and buy it if I were you.