Book Review 192 // Gloomspite by Andy Clark

I am attempting some more Age of Sigmar stories this summer. My reason is that I want to start collecting a small force. I will probably never play, but I want something a little different to paint, and with me dipping my toes into Slaine, I have developed a fantasy urge. I have narrowed that down to a couple of races, one of which is the theme of this book. So let's dive in.

Title: Warhammer Age of Sigmar -Gloomspite

Author: Andy Clark

Publisher: Black Library

Fluff: The Bad Moon looms over the city of Dracothium, and Watch Captain Helena Morthan knows it bodes ill for the town. Can she and grieving warrior Hendrick Saul defeat the plans of the Gloomspite Loonking and save their people?

In the dark corners of the Mortal Realms, the mysterious Gloomspite Gitz go to war, following the trail of their abominable deity. Nowhere is beyond the sight of the Bad Moon, not even those places under Sigmar's protection, like the city of Draconium, sweltering beneath the scalding rain of Aqshy. In this boiling pot of tension, the regent prays to Sigmar for guidance while Captain Helena Morthan puts out fires: blades drawn in the streets, heretical doomsayers preaching the end of days, and insects eating watchmen alive.

When the grieving warrior Hendrick and his warband arrive at the gates with a prophetic warning, Captain Morthan sees a way to save her people. But with Skragrott the Loonking plotting underneath Draconium, and the Bad Moon looming in the sky above, will there be a city left to save?

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REVIEW

Okay. That was a fun story. I straight up enjoyed this one from start to finish. It was well written, with a creepy nursery rhyme opening every act of the story. This helped set the scene perfectly and raised the creeped-out level by no end as you are left guessing how or what the rhyme is hinting at.

The story's primary focus is based on adventurers for hire, a roving band of characters who wouldn't be out of place in a D & D adventure. Following the death of their leader and his death throw warning, the group heads to Draconium to issue a warning of a dire threat heading towards the city. Beyond saying it involves grots would ruin the surprise, so I will stay quiet on that.

In unsurprising Black Library style, everything starts going wrong. Events start going from bad to worst, and soon the city is in utter chaos. There is fighting in the streets and the palace, and it would seem even nature is against them. There is so much happening in the story, yet I was confused at no point.

This was a joy to read. More so than any other tale I have read of late. The characters were at no point safe and could be killed off quickly, which had you fearing for their action and heartbroken at their losses. No epic deed heroes here and definitely no over-the-top epic boss fights. Instead, we get gritty, grim, dangerous, run-in fears adventure, and I loved it!

I highly recommend this title. Just go buy it!

Audio Review 36 // Prophet's of Waaagh! by Guy Haley

Got a fun audiobook this week. Prophets of Waaagh! by Guy Haley. A story from the point of view of the Orks and Grots.

Dumped on a nowhere world by the opening of the Cicatrix Maledictum, the Red Sunz Mek mob are struggling to survive. When a call to Waaagh! rings out across the planet, the chance at survival, as well as some shooty-fun, beckons. But all is not what it seems. Only an ork with real orky know-wots can hope to overcome the False Waaagh…!

Written by Guy Haley

CONTENTS

The End of Daze

Bozgat's Big Adventure

The Waaagh! Faker

At just over one hour long, I was surprised to find out it was three separate stories. The three tales follow the adventures of Uggrim, Snikgob, Bozgat, and Frikk. 

The opening story, The End of Daze, introduces us to a band of meks. They are having issues getting their stomper "Fat Mog" going and to make matters worst their weirdboy, Talker has gone on a solo wander. A good quick intro to the boyz but it seems to not reference why they crashed or the fact that they are linked to another book by Guy Haley. Overall good opening, needed more time.

Bozgrat's Big Adventure, sees Bozgrat and Frikks searching for the missing Weirdboy, Talker. As they search the desert, they discover a crashed ship once in control by the Blood Axe klan. As Bozgat investigates he discovers that the Grots had killed the Boyz off and are starting a Grot revolution! A fun nod to the old GorkaMorka game and the voice acting was amazing on this story. Hugely enjoyable and Grots rules.

The third and final tale, The Waaagh! Faker, is heavier on the action as we finally have a lot of fighting going on. We have the Red Sunz vs Bad Moons vs Mechanicus (the Red Guys) vs Astartes (Tinboys). In this mix, we also have some Imperial psyker tricks happening, as the Mechanicus and Astartes attempt to set a trap for the growing ork force. It was a solid tale with some comedy thrown in. I do feel the Space Marines are not needed. The Mechanicus would have been enough of an opponent for the orks, but it is 40k so I guess we need some of the poster boys.

 

Overall a fun solid audio drama. I understand at only an hour, time was tight and parts felt rushed, but this deserved more time, maybe 45 minutes apart to just flesh out things. I hope more of the Red Sunz happens in my future. The story is worth the listen purely for the voice acting.

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Book Review 123 // The Purging of Kadillus by Gav Thorpe

I am continuing the break from the Horus Heresy series for a little while longer. I am going to attempt to read a few Dark Angel novels, in hopes of finally inspiring myself to finally start a Space Marine army. So with the plan set let us dive into the first novel; The Purging of Kadillus by Gav Thorpe.

The Dark Angels battle the might of an ork Waaaagh!, led by the feared warboss Ghazghkull Thraka.Faced with an ork invasion of Piscina IV, the 3rd Company of the Dark Angels believes the threat to be minimal. As enemy numbers continue to increase, their commander, Captain Belial, insists that his Company is strong enough to resist. But Scout-Sergeant Naaman knows just how dangerous this foe can be, and when a renewed greenskin offensive takes the Dark Angels by surprise, the orks swarm towards Kadillus Harbour. Little do the Dark Angels know of the technological power available to the Xenos, and the true scale of the threat they face. Belial, Naaman and their fellow Astartes fight a desperate siege at Kadillus, knowing that they must hold out until Imperial reinforcements arrive or the planet will be lost.

411 pages of fun reading. We get to read the recreation of a second edition Warhammer 40k campaign that happened in White Dwarf another lifetime ago. For this novel, we see the Dark Angels assisted by the Piscina Defence Force, face off against two of the biggest Ork Warbosses of the Age - Ghazghkull and Nazdreg. The story's chapters are built around key characters and the aspect of the war they are engaged in. The Orks having landed in force on the planet, have managed to take key locations like the harbour and powerplants. The only issue is no one knows how they got here or where their ship is located.

Most of the book focuses on Naaman the senior Scout Sergeant of the 10th Company. We join him and his squad as they attempt to discover the origin of the Ork invasion force. It is during this time that Naaman discovers that the orks are using a teleporta system to get troops down onto the planet. It's during their attempt to escape that they are outmaneuvered and killed to a scout, with only Naaman surviving to return the news to command.

From here on in it becomes more of a straight-up battle, full-on action every chapter from here on in. We get last stand shoot-outs, main characters killed and Deathwing terminator assault actions. This is a solid read, with some interesting side tales, especially the way they interact with standard soldiers. This has definitely sparked my interest in Marines and has actually lead to the purchase of the Codex, so watch this space.

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Kindle Edition: The Purging of Kadillus

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