Bloody Books Review: Overlords Of The Iron Dragon
CL Werner works. He is a blacksmith of words, a coal miner of narrative. His name on the cover of a book will always bring a smile as you know exactly what you are getting. Pulp. Horror. Excitement. He may be overlooked as some of the larger names in Black Library shake the universe in the Horus Heresy, but there is a soft spot for Werner as this era’s Bill King, a solid and dependable writer that will deliver a damn good time. Overlords of the Iron Dragon gives us that damn good time in spades, as it offers a glimpse into what it would be like to voyage with the avaricious, sky-fairing duardin of the Kharadron Overlords.
“Overlords…” does away with the herohammer of early AoS, much like City of Secrets from around the same time, and pivots out of reach of Stormcast and the like, instead focusing on the minutiae of what a Kharadron is. No conquest to be found here, no large armies struggling against each other, but instead a playing with classic fantasy tropes takes place, whereby dwarfs are obsessed with oaths and honour is subverted by the Kharadron into an obsession with contracts and loopholes, basing their morality on a very black letter interpretation of contracts, rules and regulations in a very pleasing manner. It is this subverting that pushes forward the plot at a breakneck pace, through sky and mountain as we unwind the labyrinthine plot that surrounds our Duradin
However, there is a certain thinness to these sky bearing dwarfs, all of which have some sense of motivation but it's quite basic. Skaggi is the greedy money counter, so everything he does is about trying to increase profits. Brokrin is worried about a curse on his fortunes, so he's always really cautious. Drumark loves beer. Whilst they are fun to spend time with, it’s a shame to not have more in terms of character to deepen them somewhat.
When “Iron Dragon” is running on full steam, it conveys as much pulp action as you could possibly want, and towards the end, certainly a sense of dread and horror that reminds you this is a warhammer book, but it does slow at times in order to disucss contract negotiations and the like, and with the thin characters, it becomes difficult to engage with these moments. There were some unresolved plot threads left hanging as the resolution to the story appeared, but its hard to say if they were forgotten or left for a follow-up. Mostly, it feels at times like a fantastic novella that was pushed out to full length, with just not quite enough to fill the running time it has.
All that being said though, it is a fun adventure and a enjoyable experience, just not one that holds water against the higher quality that AoS is known to produce.