‘Memories of Blood and Sand’ & ‘The Waste, The Worm and The Witch’ – Gary Kloster (Black Library)

Today has been all about work, Christmas Shopping and trying to find out what Amazon did with one of my daughter’s Christmas presents (they certainly didn’t deliver it like they said they did, but anyway…) Some of these things were more successful than the others, I won’t say which…

What there wasn’t a lot of time for was reading and that was the one thing I probably could have done with the most (just two more days until I’m on leave…) Luckily for me, I enjoyed ‘Ash and Anger’ so much (link to my review) that I went out, yesterday, and grabbed another two of Kloster’s ‘Age of Sigmar’ short reads as a little insurance against a day like today. And seeing as today really has been one of those days, I took every opportunity I could to have a quick read. Quick thoughts follow…

‘Memories of Blood and Sand’

 A warrior struggles to battle a rogue mage and his own history.

When the Black Talons are tasked to assassinate a rogue mage in control of a powerful magical artefact, Rostus Oxenhammer, the Laughing Giant, is confronted with memories of his traumatic mortal past.

I do enjoy a slightly misleading blurb and this one definitely falls into that category, I won’t say any more than that as ‘Memories’ is a story that’s worth experiencing for yourself. There are some stunning fight sequences here but perhaps more importantly than that, there’s also a lesson about picking your battles and when you shouldn’t fight. And seeing as it’s a Stormcast Eternal teaching us this lesson… I like the thought that has been put into Rostus, a warrior who clearly got his eventual reward by being a little more than just good at fighting. I know I said this about Nyssa Volari as well but I wouldn’t mind seeing a little more of Rostus and the rest of the Black Talons. I like the fact that the warriors of Sigmar seem to be about adjusting their approach rather than being hidebound by their honour…

‘The Waste, The Worm and The Witch’

Not all is as it seems in the Mortal Realms.

Nyssa Volari, in a desperate attempt to free herself from her guilt, visits a hedge witch. However, in order to get the help she's looking for, she must first complete a deadly quest.

This was the story that I came for and it didn’t disappoint. ‘The Waste’ is not the action packed tale that ‘Ash and Anger’ was but has just as much going for it as Nyssa really starts to come into her own as a character, and is presumably being set up to continue adventuring with the ghost of her mother. Nyssa is in turmoil and this time, it’s something that she can’t just fight her way out of; she has to face some hard truths and adapt, if she can. And what the witch does made me chuckle so a win on all levels. If you enjoyed 'Ash and Anger' then you'll definitely get something out of 'The Waste, The Worm and The Witch'. I've still got my fingers crossed for a longer work featuring Nyssa, I'd pick it up.

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