‘Dominion’ – Darius Hinks (Black Library)

My little journey to finally finish off that little pile of half finished books continues with ‘Dominion’, a book that should never have been on that pile for as long as it was. As much as I enjoyed ‘Dominion’ whenever I had the chance to pick it up, and I’ll tell you more about that in a second, several other things would inevitably combine to make sure that it would be a while before I got another chance to read. But, like a settler heading off into the wildlands (not a settler mauled to death by the fauna…), I got there in the end and it was a journey well worth taking. Let me tell you about it (quickly though, too much to do and not enough Graeme for it all…)

In the rain-soaked shanty towns of Excelsis, sellsword Niksar Astaboras drunkenly barters his way to a meaningless existence. Little does he care for the war that rages between men and monsters beyond the city walls, despite portents of its encroaching threat. Mortal life in the Realm of Beasts is short enough, and to leave the shelter of civilisation is to surrender to certain death.  

But death is coming to Excelsis. The forces of Destruction are on the move and the realm quakes with each thunderous step. In the wildlands, a sinister new foe overwhelms even the mighty Stormcast Eternals. Yet just as all seems lost, an unexpected champion rises – one to whom Niksar is inextricably linked – ready to lead a crusade into the very heart of darkness. Embroiled in this harrowing journey, Niksar is forced to choose between loyalty and the chance of survival, and in so doing discover his true worth in the greatest battle yet against savagery.

I don’t think I have ever read a bad book from Darius Hinks or if I have, it has been buried under so many good ones that I just forgot. Either way, ‘Dominion’ gets to join the list of good books, written by Darius Hinks, and with good reason, it’s an amazing read.

Niksar and his sister Zagora are engaging right from the start with Niksar’s wheeling and dealing a good counterpoint to the more steadfast Zagora, always looking to do the right thing. Hinks is not afraid to ask hard questions of his characters, he revels in it in fact, and this leads to journeys, for both Niksar and Zagora, that I couldn’t help but follow. Niksar’s plot is the more straightforward but enough work has gone into his character for him to be able to pull it off, I couldn’t help but cheer him on. Niksar wants to do the right thing but has to search for it first. It’s Zagora’s story that’s the more involved as Hinks takes a look at what it really means to have your god actually talk to you and show you the right path to take. It all sounds simple but, what if you can’t hear the whole message and the fate of an entire crusade hangs in the balance? What if you feel like you should make a choice, any choice, if you don’t know what to do? I normally hate prophecies in books (it’s like an excuse not to bother with plot) but again, Hinks isn’t afraid to ask the hard questions and because of this, there’s enough uncertainty around Sigmar’s message to keep things interesting.

Oh yes, and the book feels like it’s one big scrap from start to finish, the best kind of course. I’m talking Stormcast Eternals fighting a more cunning kind of Orruk, than they’ve previously come across, which makes for some surprisingly tense scenes before the fights even happen. When it does finally kick off, it’s proper ‘wide screen, cast of thousands’ action as armies clash and do their level best to fuck each other up (up to and including certain Stormcast exploding upon death, and taking nearby Orruks with them). Hinks does a great job at zooming in and out, showing us the personal cost of war in amongst the thousands of fighters.

You’ve probably guessed that I loved ‘Dominion’… 😉 There’s a lot going on within these covers and Darius Hinks weaves it all together into a story that I had to follow, whenever I got the chance. I’m looking forward to seeing what he comes up with next.