‘On the Shoulders of Giants’ – Adrian Tchaikovsky (Black Library)

 

Page Count: 126 Pages

If you were to look up the word ‘prolific’ in the dictionary, there would be a picture of Adrian Tchaikovsky next to it, presumably of him writing a book. Now, that may not be quite true (although it has been a while since I looked up the word ‘prolific’ in the dictionary…) but there’s no doubt that Tchaikovsky is one of the harder working genre authors at the moment. His output is not to be sniffed at :o)

It was a bit of a treat then to see Tchaikovsky carve out his own little spot in the Warhammer 40K universe but, as a fantasy fan first and foremost, it was even more of a treat to see him finally set foot in the Mortal Realms. Especially as I’ve always seen him as an author who is more than willing to deep dive into a Race/Species and really look at what makes them tick. And there isn’t that much to work with when it comes to Ogors, is there…? It took me a little while to get round to it (no surprises there…) but I finally read ‘On the Shoulders of Giants’ last night, let me tell you about it.

To take the Coin Malleus is to pledge ones life, limbs and death to the Dawnbringer Crusades. Fusil-Major Rosforth knows this better than most. Following an almost career-ending inury, he now rides into battle atop Slobda – Ogor, maneater and fierce, unlikely friend. Their bond is simple: Rosforth shoots, Slobda eats.

But something gnaws at the Realm of Ghyran. The skaven have come in their millions, and Rosforth and Slobda must somehow lead a despondent band of survivors to safety, relentlessly pursued by plague-infected tides of devious, ravenous vermin.

‘On the Shoulders of Giants’ takes a little while to get going and it feels like perhaps Tchaikovsky initially took the wrong route into the story, trying to get a feel for Slobda as a character rather than as an Ogor (and all that entails). There is a lot going on under the seemingly simple outlook of the Ogor, something that Tchaikovsky looks at later on, but they are never going to be the best conversationalists, that’s kind of the whole point. There isn’t a lot then for Tchaikovsky to bring out then, at least initially, not until he course corrects and builds on Slobda’s character by focusing on what it means to be an Ogor in the middle of a large group of humans. And reading the last couple of sentences back, I’m now wondering if that was Tchaikovsky’s plan the whole time. That will teach me to pay a little more attention to what I’m reading :o)

The result is a surprisingly thoughtful exploration of what it means to be different in a world where you are judged on what you can offer, to the larger group, and ‘different’ is more often than not seen as dangerous. You have to make yourself useful quickly or risk being left behind and Tchaikovsky looks at the differing ways in which Rosforth and Slobda do this, as well as how it has brought them together. There is a lot of prejudice in humans, both Rosforth and Slobda must tread a fine line between constantly proving their worth and occasionally, taking a stand against their own and having to fight for their place in the Crusade. It all makes for a fascinating relationship between the two and they both have the capacity to really surprise you.

It also doesn’t hurt the plot that this all takes place in ‘The Realm of Life’, where the only way to live is to make sure that you’re the last one standing in a constant fight… against flora and fauna. Add the Skaven to the mix and all of a sudden, you have a plot that is constantly on the move and asking big questions of our two heroes. When things kick off, it is incredibly easy to keep turning those pages; I really needed to know what happened next.

‘On the Shoulders of Giants’ opens the ‘Age of Sigmar’ collection of the same name and it’s the only entry I’ve read, so I can’t comment on the collection as a whole. What I can say though is despite a slow start (or a gradual unveiling of Slobda, depends on where you’re sat I guess), Tchaikovsky opens proceedings in fine style and really sets the bar for the stories to follow. I’ll let you know how those work out ‘as and when’ ;o)