Having read a lot of Warhammer 40,000 material lately, it was refreshing to return to the Warhammer fantasy world.

The induction of a recruit to an army, especially an army at war, has all the essential elements present to construct a full story arc that will capture a reader's attention. There is the opportunity to show the protagonist learning, seeing their perspectives change through experience and adversity. That is possibly why this 'new recruit' ambit is so often used. The challenge for the author then becomes one of giving their story its own edge.

Part of the story is told through the words of General Von Grahl, a retired general brought back in a desperate bid to keep the country from falling to the greenskin hordes. His task was to pull together the scattered remnants of the defeated army and mount a last defence.

I think the trap here was to tell too much of the story from Von Grahl's 'testimony', noting that we never learn exactly what that testimony was actually for. By using that approach, an opportunity to really draw the reader into the story was lost. We are told parts of the story rather than having it shown to us.

I believe Scanlon missed out on some other opportunities as well. Our protagonist has enmity towards a quite unsavoury pair of characters, yet that is never really resolved after the duo are apparently lost in battle. Similarly, during the climactic battle, our protagonist is largely on the sidelines, watching. His role in the story's resolution is therefore minimal. While in reality, not every soldier does fight on the immediate front line of a battle, it seemed a waste to have brought Dieter this far only to have him largely inactive at the climax.

Those plot points aside, Scanlon's overall writing flows well. It does not have the same gothic heaviness that we sometimes see in Black Library novels which makes it an easier read. Some of the characterisation of Dieter's companions was quite good. I really liked that of the roguish Holst, who seems to eat, snore, fart, fight and complain in equal measure. I found it easier to relate to that character than that of our actual protagonist, Dieter.

When Dieter was in battle himself, those scenes also flowed well, keeping the reader immersed in a battle without overwhelming them.

I think that the novel deserved to be longer, giving us more of the actual story and character arcs that tended to become lost. Nonetheless it is an easy read to get into and Warhammer fans will get something out of it.

Ross the Repellent