Bloody Books Review: Gothgul Hollow

*Note: After much consideration, I have decided not to place any spoilers in this review. If you would be interested in a more spoiler-filled article, let us know!”

A dark and forbidding setting. A darkly Gothic environment dripping with atmosphere. A deadly secret that holds power of life and death of those who dwell in Gothgul Hollow*.

Gothgul Hollow is a love letter to a certain type of Warhammer, the proto-setting of Drachenfels, or Orfeo the Poet. The setting alone bleeds the eurogoth sensations of 2nd and 3rd Ed Warhammer Fantasy Battle, without ever veering in parody or outright plagiarism. Much can be said of the writing style of Anna Stephens, who manages to capture the soul of Kim Newman but very much keeping to her own voice.

And what a voice it is.

As we pan the camera back over the chapters we discover a mystery of a “beast” that hunts and kills the inhabitants of The Hollow As that story gathers steam and enters a steady tread, we become aware of a second story, a tale of disconnect between father and daughter, which intertwines into multiple false leads and strange avenues before setting a course that leads to an ending I wish I had seen coming, and led me to wishing to charge around in a human-sized hamster ball with excitement for what is to come.

Within the tale we are introduced to Edrea Gothgul, daughter to Aaric Gothgul, the hero of the Bonesplinter War, the Seige of a Thousand Nights and other battles of stature. Edrea and Aaric are at the front and foremost of this tale, with a layered relationship of anger, mistrust and bitterness mixed in with paternal love and a desperate need for each to meet the other halfway to form understanding. Edrea wishes to understand the details surrounding her mother, Hephziba's death, a powerful user of magic, as her own necromantic powers grow. Aaric for his part wishes to protect his daughter, and refuses to see the power she can wield and how successful she can and could be. This relationship gets the centre stage for a lot of the book, as secrets are peeled away and details are filled in as the truth of the Beast, and the subsequent hauntings of The Hollow become the driving force the pushes them to truly begin to understand one another, though there's a long way to go before that particular gulf can be closed. Once the hauntings begin, for example, Edrea becomes obsessed with discovering the identity of the spirit, mirroring the flashbacks of her mother who displayed similar levels of obsession into her craft. Aaric pleads with her, but we can see in him the strength of will his daughter displays, and his need to protect.

Alongside are a Sigmarite war-priest: Tiberius Grim and an sharpshooter for hire: Ranar Skoldofr. Tiberius serves as a cementing of Aaric's story, and a guide to his daughter, describing items in more detail and opening paths that would have otherwise been left dark. Ranar on the other hand is a more productive member who experiences the hauntings first hand and acts in a way as eyes into the supernatural and magical parts of the story.

What begins as apparently a “monster hunt” unfolds like blood soaked origami, twisting its shape chapter after chapter, becoming something less like the AoS books of heroics and gods, and more like an classic ghost story before shifting into a very different beast indeed**.

This goes into the list of Dark Harvest, City of Secrets and Dominion as being a great read in it's own right, a wonderful exploration of living in the Mortal Realms and as a Age of Sigmar novel. However, I do have to make a point of mentioning a large and immovable point. The ending, whilst a moment of absolute joy for me, is all set up. This book lives and dies by what happens next, as so much is pinned to the final chapter. But, what a final chapter it is. By this offering, I do have all faith in Anna Stephens to not only stick the landing, but also to perform some stomach-spinning stunt-work along the way.

*It must be Tuesday in Shyish.

**Pun intended?