Gates of Azyr

Something a little different this week. I got a copy of Gates of Azyr by Chris Wraight this past weekend, and have read it twice since, so I figured Id give you my brief view.

To start off, it really is pretty limited in scope. It is basically the two forces (Khorne Goretide and Stormcast Eternals, The Hammers of Sigmar) sweeping in and having a messy brawl. What happens before this, or after, isnt really covered much. Of course, this keeps the page count down, and makes for a quick read.

Pretty hefty on the action, as expected. Characters are surprisingly fleshed out, especially the Goretide. Traditional Khorne-marked characters are almost without exception depicted as near mindless berserkers, only hunting for the next skull to remove from neck, but the three main characters here seem to defy this stereotype. Threx Skullbrand is the closest to "traditional", but even he manages to keep hold of his personality.

On the Stormcast Eternal side, the heroes dont seem quite as fleshed out, but that might be more because no one really knows what to expect from this new faction. They all have their voices, and over a longer book will probably really shine. In particular, Im looking forward to more about Ionus Cryptborn. We get a limited idea of what the Reforging is (Basically: painful), that they come from all over, and while they are highly trained, the force is still *new*, not truly tested yet.

As a teaser taste to the Realmgate Wars, this was an interesting start and I am looking forward to more tales in the Mortal Realms.