Bloody Books: BLOOD OF THE EVERCHOSEN – RICHARD STRACHAN
In his first offering from Black Library, Richard Strachan takes on what is advertised and labelled as a Warcry Catacombs tie-in. What he accomplishes with Blood of the Everchosen though is a ground-view of life from the mortals who follow the Powers of Chaos, in a manner that sets the mark for future descriptions of Mortal Realms life.
We follow a child born in the desolate Eightpoints during a raging storm, a birth that is entwined with the life of Archaon himself. The boys father races against desperate odds to bring them both to safety, though at some unknowable signal the lost and the damned begin to uncoil and search for the fugitives. Some seek to kill the child, others wish to protect him. all wish to gain the eye of Archaon for their efforts.
The race is on, and the point of view switches characters and warbands to form a greater whole that never looses sight of the tension. Each quest or challenge faced add to a greater understanding of how mortals dwell in the shadow of the Ruinous Powers. The boy in question's eventual fate is left purposefully murky but that is the end to which each warband follow must find the means.
Each group is driven by their and devotions, and a fanatical belief in what they do is the correct choice, the only choice in fact. Each has a motive to follow this search until it's end battling between themselves and the elements of the Bloodwind Spoil in very different manners. Those who fall are left behind and those who can go on must face a grinding mill of warfare, a battle of attrition against the landscape.
Strachan brings character and life into each group, filling the moments between action with backstory and inter-personal relationships, bringing them out of the broad stereotypes of the tabletop and making something more intriguing, with enough of a taste of mystery to draw the eye. Each has an unique identity and perspectives that change with the switching of the chapters. Each is memorable, relatable but not exactly likeable, being as they are the hands and feet of the downfall of society.
It is with the work done with the characters, giving them depth and development that is comes as a surprise at how violent and bloody the book is. Death is around every corner, and the stakes are high, and as such there is no plot armour here. Lords can be killed as easily as the low. This bleakness and futility brings forth just how lethal the Eightpoints are. There is gauging for the success of a warrior's life when he is screaming at uncaring gods. On top of all this, the prose is evocative language that flows into the brain. It is more measured than a more usual Black Library fare, but it creates a bleakly beautiful read and levels of world-building that is a joy to experience.