“Hour of Shadows” by CL Werner (Black Library)

The Storm of Magic comes to Athel Loren

For thousands of years, the Golden Pool has been a source of malignant energy within the forest of Athel Loren. The wood elf spellweaver Ywain, secretly entrusted with the stewardship of this magical fulcrum, prophesises the coming of a terrible enemy to the ancient realm – even now, the undead hordes of the Black Seer Huskk Gnawbone approach. As the elves marshal their forces against him, the power of the pool grows and an eternal evil rises to corrupt even the very forest itself.

It is always a pleasure to read Werner’s work. He manages to evoke the dark and gothic nature of the Warhammer world brilliantly (perhaps peerlessly). In this novella, he brings the twisted, horrific Skaven to life on the page, their machinations and cowardice perfectly rendered in such a short space.

“Dragonmage” by Chris Wraight (Black Library)

Skies Filled with Dragons

Magic is stirring across the world. A storm is coming. On Ulthuan, the Phoenix King of the high elves nears death and competition for his position has erupted into open war. Lord Rathien of Caledor seeks to awaken the dragons from their long sleep and use their strength to ensure his ascent to the Phoenix Throne. Meanwhile, Prince Valaris of Ellyrion, aided by a powerful but naïve mage, wants to harness the power of the storm of magic to defeat his rival and achieve his goal. As their forces clash, greater powers manipulate events to their own purposes, leading the two elf nobles into a conflict that threatens to destroy them both… and the world with them.

Dragonmage is the second of three novellas from Black Library’s Storm of Magic series, about expansive and chaotic magic. This novella is the story of two elven heroes vying for supremacy in the race to become the next Phoenix King, going to great lengths to swing the contest in their favour, using any and all means to gain the upper hand. Which means some moments of extremely poor judgement. And a lot of dragons.

“Razumov’s Tomb” by Darius Hinks (Black Library)

The winds of magic blow strong in the Warhammer world

As the Chaos moon of Morrslieb veers wildly off course, the Old World is wracked by a series of bizarre plagues. From a lofty spire of the Celestial College, the Empire's Grand Astromancer, Caspar Vyborg, scours the heavens for an explanation, seeking guidance in the stars. But as the Empire sinks further into madness and violence, his order is forced to search stranger places than the night sky – the investigation leads them to the grave of a long-dead sorcerer named Razumov and an ancient, half-remembered prophecy. Caspar decides that his only hope is to complete the dark rituals that killed Razumov centuries earlier, but as Morrslieb waxes full and ferocious magical storms begin to tear the very fabric of reality, Caspar learns the true, terrible nature of Razumov's tomb.

The first of three novellas set in the Warhammer world during magically-charged times, Razumov’s Tomb offers up an entertaining, twisted mystery, and was rather entertaining.

Black Library “Storm of Magic” (e)Novellas

With the release of the new game expansion, Storm of Magic, Black Library has commissioned three novellas based on magic in the Warhammer world written by three of their best fantasy authors. Below are the details of the three stories, all three of which I will review as they become available – the first, by Darius Hinks, will probably be reviewed next week.