Mood:
a-okNow Playing: Bob Grant
Topic: Mark of Chaos Review
I just finished reading Mark of Chaos, by Anthony Reynolds. This book is the novelization tie-in with the Namco game that flopped some time ago. It was sitting on my shelf for awhile and I decided to finally read it. Over all, not bad. Not great, but not bad.
The story is about a captain of Ostermark, Stefan Von Kessel, who finds himself fighting the perfidious forces of Chaos from both within the kingdom as well as from without. The enemy from within is a treacherous foe that is spreading plague in the name of the Chaos god Nurgle. His enemy from without is the Norsican Chaos warlord Hroth, along with his wizard ally Subodal. The book doesn’t disappoint on the action front as there a lot of big battles. The final battle, which involves a siege of Talabheim, was truly epic and quite enjoyable, if reminiscent of the siege of Minis Tirith. I was also pleasantly surprised at how well Reynolds made Hroth into something more than a cardboard villain. The narrative ride with Hroth was often just as engaging as the ride with Von Kessel.
My only real complaint with the story was the somewhat anti-climatic ending. The final battle ended rather abruptly in my opinion. Worse, instead of providing a final chapter where the surviving characters get to emote a little and reflect on what they just experienced, the novel ends with a detached ‘where are they now’ epilogue that chronicles the lives of the main characters in the years after the war. That’s a strangely detached, and thoroughly unsatisfying, way to end any story.
This was my first Warhammer fantasy novel and my overall reaction is the same as I had with my introduction to the Warhammer fantasy game: I found it nowhere near as compelling as 40K. Sure, there are some similar elements, such as the deamonic forces of Chaos, but overall it comes across as just another Tolkien-esque / Dungeons & Dragons tribute with the requisite dose of Warhammer brutality. Again, not bad but not great.
It also lacks the emotional intensity of 40K. For example, in Warhammer fantasy, the forces of Order worship the ancient warlord Sigmar. And while everyone invokes his name and protection in battle, it doesn’t approach the fervent religiosity that is found in 40K with the Emperor. Likewise, the hatred for Chaos is nowhere near as fanatical as found in 40K. Sure, everyone wants to exterminate the heretics, but you get the impression that if Chaos lost interest and wandered away, the forces of the Empire in Warhammar fantasy would just let them go and get on with their lives. Can anyone imagine Space Marines doing the same? Never!
Anyway, it’s not a bad book. And while I will be visiting Warhammer fantasy again, it will never be a burning passion as with 40K.
Next up: Neuromancer by William Gibson. I’m only ten pages in, but I already am impressed with his use of language:
“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.”
"By day, the bars down Ninsei were shuttered and featureless, the neon dead, the holograms inert, waiting, under the poisoned silver sky.”
Nice technique!
