Up first is Reiksguard.
Reikland nobleman Delmar's most fervent wish is to tread in his father's footsteps and join the Reiksguard, the Emperor's personal bodyguard. As he is finally invited into the order by his late father's friend, the honourable knight Griesmeyer, he couldn't be more pleased. However, with the clouds of war hovering over the Empire, Delmar and the rest of the noble-born initiates are forced to learn what it means to be Reiksguard knights in an emptied-out chapter house. As a divide between the initiates from the provinces and those from Reikland itself quickly forms, Delmar hits upon doubts and secrets in the shadows cast by the order's most trusted knights
Part 2 begins having concluded the initiation into the order, and it's off to war we go.
That war, by the way, is something I've not seen done much in the Warhammer novels. Always heard about but never much used as the ground-level basis for conflict in a novel; Kurt Helborg takes his Reiksguard south into the Black Mountains to respond to a plea of help from a southern Dwarf hold, in answer to the ancient oaths of friendship that Sigmar once swore when he allied with the dwarfs.
Usually, in the Warhammer novels, these oaths and treaties are almost literally given lip-service with a passing mention in many a novel but here, in this one, an entire army effectively marches out in support to uphold those ancient treaties, it's in fact the whole basis for the second part of the novel.
I know, I know, it doesn't sound that interesting but I thought it was nice regardless.
I had the feeling that the writing itself, on the whole, was rather more sharp than I was accustomed to from my brush with the Library (or maybe I wasn't exactly feeling it yet, going in, I admit I was reluctant, and with low expectations usually come good surprises). Sure it wasn't Yeovil or King, but I got the feeling that Williams is rather good on his own, with more off the cuff wisdom without even feeling try-hard. There's some clever build up for the aforementioned mystery, but also in the characters, of whom I enjoyed Siebrecht the most. Siebrecht is a genuinely clever provincial initiate who frequently has an interesting insight or two in other characters, though sometimes his cynicism carries him into a wrong direction; nevertheless, there was a raucous bravura to him that I enjoyed (which I find I should mention, because I usually don't enjoy this type of character. Again, Williams was doing something right here). He was almost the polar opposite of Delmar.
In fact, all the characters of the core squad are delivered well and manage at some point or other in the novel, to deliver a good and impactful turn or surprise. Good characters indeed and all with flaws to pull them down.
The novel also occasionally follows the point of view of one Kurt Helborg, who you might be familiar with if you know a thing or two about the Old World. More than that, Karl Franz himself also makes an appearance, though he is kept suitably austere and remote enough to keep him more than just a man.
For those not familiar; I remark upon these two characters because they are the striding colossi that give the novel a clear anchor in the grand narrative of the Old World.
But outside of just these characters, there's a little more anchorage to be found.
And you see, that's kind of a problem...
And here is where I talk bout the ending of the Old World again.
And just like many other Warhammer fantasy novel I've read, it does not adhere to accepted grimdark aesthetic at all and instead follows the heroic fantasy guideline. If not quite a happy all-is-well type of ending, then it adheres to morality and the tales of heroism that young boys are usually weaned on.
Think Gemmell but... no, just think Gemmell: It's ultimately meant to be uplifting even if technically it's got layers of grimdark.
It's exactly why I'm so annoyed about people claiming the end times were always coming for the Old World. Here's yet another novel that doesn't have doom and gloom as its final say. Instead we have good values and heroic self-sacrifice and when the novel ends, though leaving its protagonists battered, there's a definite upward trudge into the light, there's time for reminiscing and hope for the future. Times are tough, sure, but with perseverance the empire of man seems ever destined to win through.
It's then doubly ironic of course that this story takes place in the year 2522, which any experienced Warhammer reader might recognize as the early years of the End Times itself.
In the year 2522 all the Empire of man hears is the drums of war from the north, which fits well enough with the novel as several of the northern provinces have already been lost, Kislev among them, and when the novel begins Middenheim itself is already under siege.
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(But that siege, outside of our sight, is broken and the doomed ending is averted. It's hardly relevant to the events of the novel outside of the fact that it forces the Reiksguard to go south instead of any army that might be more suited to the task.)
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And even though the armies of Chaos are set to sweep down from the north to engulf the cities of man in flames it is actually from Sylvania that the darkness marches forth first and it is the Reiksguard themselves, under Theogonist Volkmar who answer the call of war and march east.
Though these End Times happenings don't directly contradict the events of the novel, they can't exactly co-exist alongside them either as they happen in precisely the same year, which necessarily rules one of them out. (Reiksguard's epilogue takes place in 2523 in Nordland, which strokes even less with the End Times.)
The End Times novels have retroactively become the pillar that holds up the Old World of Warhammer. From the second Games Workshop committed themselves to ending their world, The End Times became the goal and the unavoidable destination of every fiction set in that world. They, as that destination, have become the most important work in the setting and if something does not stroke with them then that work falls outside of the narrative.
It is a shame then, as I quite enjoyed the novel. It's a good thing to just switch off sometimes, don't let flaws or contradictions touch you, and to be able to take a novel out of the grand narrative, comfortably set it apart and enjoy it on its own merit.
Though really, you'd think that having the pick of 2500 years of history, someone would take some care to make sure that none of these novels so easily contradict each other.
I've watched Williams' three Reiksguard videos from the Black Library TV on Youtube because I was interested and they make it quite clear that he knows his stuff. In fact, in video three, it's sad to see that he made such an effort not to contradict any lore or previous stories while setting up his story, only then to retroactively have the End Times steamroll right over it. It's really a shame.
No no. I know he's not to blame for the contradictions here. We all KNOW who is to blame... *does not, in fact, blink*.
Apologies. I really was just having fun with this :)
Just like I was having some genuine fun with the video clips. In fact, why don't I just show you number three?
Always nice to see an author fully dedicate themselves to their craft :)
Literally had me laughing out loud, in a good way.
And as a bonus, here, because this is definitely relevant and I'm not looking for excuses to showcase this really quite awesome dude:
It's not perfect and this one's not hugely funny, but as there's a lot of thought and time put into both the novel and the rather pleasant marketing, I thought I'd just return the favour, both in the read and the subsequent write-up.
So yeah, very enjoyable. I think I might read another one of these this week.
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