Realm of Chaos

Rating:
Summary: Nothing special
Review: The FABULOUS cover art of a black-armoured Chaos warrior really drew me like a magnet to this book. But unfortunately while some of the 12 short stories contained within were okay, I did not find anything that really lived up to the promise of the cover.

"Birth of a Legend" by Gav Thorpe is an okay "first contact" kind of tale between Dwarves and Humans, with an interesting twist at the end for those familiar with their Warhammer history.

"The Hounds of Winter" by Jonathan Green brings together spirits of legend on a spooky night at a remote inn.

"Hatred" by Ben Chessel is about a sinister witch-hunter. I really couldn't find any point to this story.

In "Grunsonn's Marauders" by Andy Jones, editor Jones introduces us to his rollicking band of mercenary adventurers consisting of a Dwarf, an Elf, a Barbarian and a normal human. Not exactly original. (--"Icewind Dale", anyone?) And the whole story in which they go on a quest for a mysterious wizard is just too cutesy and has too much of a pat ending for my tastes.

"The Doorway Between" by Rjurik Davidson deals with two witch-hunters on a mission for a count. Another story I found pretty pointless.

"Mormacar's Lament" by Chris Pramas features Elves and Dark Elves. Not bad, and has a nice twist ending.

"The Blessed Ones" by Rani Kellock is the tale of a university student's brush with some Chaos worshipers. A bit predictable.

"Dark Heart" by Jonathan Green is a story dealing with vampires and a group of mercenaries. It seemed too brief to me and I was hoping for more out of it.

"The Chaos Beneath" by Mark Brendan deals with yet another witch-hunter, this time in the sewers beneath Marienburg.

In "Paradise Lost", Andy Jones once again trots out his cast from "Grunsonn's Marauders". But this time out he manages to get more of a story going here, and I found that I actually quite enjoyed this one. The Marauders get marooned on a desert isle and have a great adventure. Kind of like "Gilligan's Island" meets "Lord of the Rings" meets "The Man Who Would Be King". I'd say it's probably the best story in the book (kind of by default). Quite a fun story.

"Wolf in the Fold" by Ben Chessell deals with a notorious assassin and his final hours. Nothing special and kind of predictable.

"The Faithful Servant" by Gav Thorpe chronicles a post-battle battlefield encounter between representatives of the powers of good and of evil. A classic study in the temptation of Chaos. This one was probably my second favourite in the book, and was much more in the vein of what I was expecting from the other stories in the book. A decent little story.

So overall quite an uneven selection, with stories that I would consider worth reading at a minimum and nothing that I would especially say is a "must read". So I'd say I'd give this book about 2.5 stars, but since I didn't DISlike it I bumped it up to a 3.

For those that haven't read them yet, I would recommend anything in William King's "Trollslayer" series over this book.

Rating:
Summary: Great for the chaos guys
Review: This book is great for those who play chaos armies in the warhammer game and tell tales of the history of chaos to their opponents to frustrate and demoralize them. It's many short stories combined into a single book, and the stories are all unheard of so it is a must for any dedicated chaos player.