'Grimblades' – Nick Kyme (Black Library)

Every week seems to be 'one of those weeks' at the moment, nature of the job and all that ;o) And when that's the case, my reading tends to naturally gravitate towards books with a much larger quotient of men and women hitting monsters with various pieces of sharp iron. 'Whatever gets you through the day' really ;o) This week has very definitely been 'one of those weeks' and if you're looking a read that's full of 'man vs. monster' action, you can't go wrong at all with any one of a number of books from the 'Black Library'. I chose to pay the Old World another visit with Nick Kyme's 'Grimblades'...

Orcs and Goblins have invaded the Empire, bringing death and ruin. The feckless emperor, Dieter IV, responds by fleeing to the sanctuaryof Altdorf. While the other Elector Counts bicker about the crisis, one man takes decisive action – Prince Wilhelm of Reikland. The Prince assembles an army of brave knights and foot soldiers. Amongst them, the Grimblades, halberdiers and veterans of many hard-fought campaigns. Together they march across the war-ravaged land to confront the savage beasts and their foul Goblin warlord, Grom the Paunch. While man and greenskin line up for an epic confrontation, a treacherous plot unfolds to assassinate the would-be saviour of the Empire. Wilhelm's life hangs in the balance and with it, the freedom of all men.

Sometimes I feel like there's a tiny part of me that can see a little way into the future and plans my reading accordingly. It was certainly the case this week as 'Grimblades' turned out to be just the book I needed. It is absolutely crammed full of high stakes action as ordinary men find themselves all that stands between their Empire and a ravening Orc/Goblin horde that rolls over most things without even noticing. The stakes are appropriately high then and nothing less will do than standing firm against the horde and fighting to the last man. It's wall to wall warfare then, literally, but Kyme takes that action all over the Empire and gives us tactical context that adds real structure to the campaign. Nothing happens without a sound reason and when things do kick off, Kyme makes sure that you feel the impact of the Orc charge and the panicked adrenaline of being in a fight where death could come from anywhere. You know, all that good stuff you need to make a battle worth reading. Kyme has it nailed, reading his battle scenes is a real treat and it's so easy to just keep turning those pages.

Part of that is down the extremely well drawn characters that Kyme brings to the page. We're talking 'Black Company' levels of camaraderie (those fireside moments are gold) and being vicious bastards with their backs to the wall. You'll hate certain characters but I defy you to read 'Grimblades' and not have at least one person that you want to make it through. Good luck with that by the way... ;o)

On top of that, we're not just talking constant warfare here (although it is pretty regular). The core group of characters find themselves not just at the mercy of the battlefield but at the mercy of superiors who have their own agendas to advance. There is a lot of skullduggery here that doesn't let all the battles get monotonous as well as making for a compelling mystery in its own right.

Whichever way the plot went, battlefield carnage or mystery, there was always something there to keep me reading and I'm very grateful to a book that got me through a large chunk of this week with very little fuss and bother. If you enjoy military fantasy and fancy a short, sharp dose of something brutal, see if you can track down a copy of 'Grimblades'; it's worth hunting down.