Bloody Books Review: Scourge Of Fate

We enter this first full AoS novel by Robbie MacNiven’ is one Chaos-based delving into the journey one man will undertake to join the Knights of Ruin, Archeon’s Chosen warriors of The Varanguard. The man is Vanrik, a powerful warlord in his own right, and one of two aspirants in competition against to gain a place among the Fifth Circle of the Varanguard. Both are given the quest to kill a great hero of Order, to undo a prophecy and stop a threat to the Varanspire itself.

AoS novels have mostly been focused on the Order side of the coin, so being able to follow a chaotic character and gain a perspective of the Mortal Realms from those eyes. We are treated to absolute Chaos as well, whilst Undivided rather than a follower of a specific God, Vanik is dedicated to his path, and will throw his weight behind the callous cruelty he displays. He sacrifices his followers and his enemies in equal abandon, and is intrestingly, a difficult character to like. But…to like him would be to miss the point entirely.

The story itself is simple, moving through challenges set to Vanik, leading to the larger battles in the second half of the book. The pace can be uneven at times, but it is a lean read, racing through it’s narrative and throwing some interesting settings and explorations of Chaos in the Mortal Realms, from the Eightpoints, to the Varanspire and into Chamon.

There is something of the turn-of-the-millenium Warhammer Fantasy Battle here, channelling that era of Grimdark Chaos, leading into a massive battle that takes just under the last third of the book, one that manages to not overstay it’s welcome.

A highly enjoyable read, but with a point on contention. The audiobook version sounds like it was read by the narracter of the old Warcraft 2 intro and reduces the enjoyment for me at least.