After a token (and probably somewhat lazy) search I could not find anything recent of this sort, so I figured I might as well start a new one! A while back I was given a book token, and after some deliberation I settled on Black Library’s The Realmgate Wars Volume 1. It was a good meaty tome, containing 11 stories, so it was sure to keep me going for a while (I generally don’t buy books unless they are big enough or have good rereadability factor - in theory this would have both). It also consisted of the narrative beginning of Age of Sigmar, at least in terms of novels. I soon got started on it and quickly whittled my way through it. Overall I thought it was a good read - unlike many forumites here I have no great aversion to the Stormcast Eternals, so I was able to deal with the fact the stories are mostly based around them. I think much of my enjoyment as well stems from being able to picture all the models that are depicted in it, for example the Lord Castellant is one of my favourite models full stop, so it was always enjoyable when they were featured. For a lot of the stories I think that’s the appeal - they are perfectly good, but probably reliant on you being an Age of Sigmar fan to truly enjoy. That’s not the case with all of them though- there are quite a few that go far beyond that. But whatever the case I enjoyed them enough to get myself Volume 2, which I am currently reading at the moment. With the context out of the way, now for the purpose of the thread. I don’t know if anyone’s tried something similar in the past, but this thread is basically for the discussion of Age of Sigmar’s fiction aspect, both the actual books and probably also more generic parts of the lore. I’m sure I can’t be the only one with an interest in AoS’s fluff - even if nobody else has read the books, the core book and Battletomes have plenty of lore in them as well. I’m no book critic, so don’t expect any real in depth analysis, but I can at least give my opinions and share experiences and knowledge gained from reading the books themselves. Right, that’s probably enough waffling from me! May the discussions begin!
Just to sort of get things started, here are the stories that have stuck out for me so far, and brief descriptions of why (I can go into more detail later). Black Rift (Volume 1) This is probably the best book of Volume 1. It’s a single novel in itself, and stand-alone, so in that sense it has an advantage of telling a more complete story. The things that marks it out though is it’s villains - out of all the stories I’ve read so far, these ones are probably the best. They are far more engaging than in the other stories, where the focus is mainly on the heroes. Instead they are given possibly equal focus, and the story definitely benefits from it. Funnily enough they are actually Khorne as well - not what I’d assumed would make the most interesting of characters! Bonus points for having the most badass death sequence too. I’m not normally a Khorne person, but even I have to admit Hroth Shieldbreaker’s death is pretty badass. Warbeast (Volume 2) Of all the stories I’ve read so far, this one has to be the best. Unsurprising really, as it is the one to win a David Gemmel Legend award. The thing that marks it out is the depths it goes into with its characters; where other stories are mostly based around battles, this one explore its main characters (Stormcasts, big surprise) in much more detail, far more than any other. It also puts them in situations outside of just fighting battles and explore what it means to go through what they do, doing a very good job of humanising them while it does it. If there was one book here I would recommend, both generally and to people otherwise uninterested in Warhammer, it would probably be this one. Under the Black Thumb (Volume 2) This one is significant not so much due to story, but due to the presence of a long neglected group in fiction - this is one of the few stories that feature the Seraphon! Overall there isn’t much else to say about it - it’s told from the perspective of Nurgle’s forces and it’s only a short story, so they don’t get much focus, but I guess we have to take what we can get. There is a fairly funny moment when the Skaven realise what’s happening and are (literally) pissing themselves. There’s also a great moment when one of them realises a Realmgate has been altered and muses on hownthat would be difficult even for a god. Cue Lord Kroak coming in and annihilating everything! I’ll post some more about some of the other good ones once discussions get going!