A Couple of 'Age of Sigmar' Quick Reads...

This week's reading is actually going far better than it has any right to but today, I'm taking you back to roughly a week ago where I popped a couple of 'Age of Sigmar' short stories onto the Kindle App and decided to brave the commute to work. They're the ideal 'commute read', short enough to finish over a round trip (or less) and filled with enough swords and bloodshed that there's no danger of me falling asleep and missing my stop.

Another short post today because I'll be honest, I need all the brainpower I can muster in order to work out how to keep the kids occupied today. There are only so many second hand bookshops I can take them round before the youngest one hulks out on me. In the meantime...

'The Road of Blades' – Josh Reynolds

Those who tread the Road of Blades do so seeking glory in the eyes of the Dark Gods, or so Ahazian Kel believes. He is the last of his tribe, a Deathbringer, a fearless warrior whose path leads him to the dreaded Soulmaw, a forge-citadel and bastion of Khorne's Skullgrinders, a place between realms. To breach such a fortress... the rewards could be beyond imagining, the power to determine your own destiny, but Ahazian must endure every trial of Chaos and prove he is worthy before he can become exalted.

I always thought that the followers of Khorne were all about the frenzy and collecting of skulls, shows what I know... You'll be hard pressed to find a more devout follower of Khorne than Ahazian Kel but he's a man with a plan, at the same time, which automatically makes him more interesting to follow and lends his trials a much more interesting context. The ending is never really in any doubt but then you find out that's kind of the whole point and if you're me, you find yourself wishing that you'd kept your copy of 'Spear of Shadows'. Oh well, I'll have to go and find another copy.

'Bear Eater' – David Guymer

On the hunt for the vampire Mannfred, Hamilcar Bear-Eater and a handful of Astral Templars cross the Sea of Bones to find a civilization untouched by Chaos, and attempt to bring them back into the light of Sigmar. But Jercho is a curious land and a secret lurks at the heart of this wealthy, seemingly blessed realm. When all the Mortal Realms have been cast to flame, and ravaged by Chaos, how is it that these sun worshippers remained inviolate?

Now that I seem to be growing my own Stormcast Eternal army, I figured that now would be as good a time as any to start reading more stories about these 'definitely not fantasy Space Marines'. You'll see more of that over the next few weeks but for now, the adventures of Hamilcar Bear-Eater are a good place to start with an intriguing mystery being poked and prodded by an engaging group of Stormcast Eternals. I was expecting dour Space Marine types but again, shows what I know. These warriors are as noble as you like but their dialogue really saves the story from getting 'too noble' if you know what I mean, especially Hamilcar who is single-minded in his purpose but also comes across as just being happy to be there and fight if he gets a chance. Which he does, of course, because it's an 'Age of Sigmar' story; and when that finally happens... Wow...

And that's another couple of Warhammer short stories read ;o) I'm still not a hundred percent behind the pricing model (for an e-copy of a short story) but the quality of the storytelling does go a long towards balancing that out. In the case of these two stories, I'd recommend you give them a go, definitely.