The Chronicles of Malus Darkblade: Volume Two

Before diving into how wonderful this book is, I'll begin by listing the contents.  The book starts off with a foreword by Dan Abnett, then hits the core of the omnibus with the novels Warpsword and Lord of Ruin. This is followed up by an afterward by Mike Lee, and then a reprint of the graphic story DarkBlade, written by Dan Abnett and illustrated by Kev Hopgood, which was the basis for the entire series.  Each novel in the Chronicles of Malus Darkblade series is based off of one of the episodes from the story.

You can see my thoughts on each of the novels in their individual reviews:

Warpsword


Lord of Ruin

DarkBlade by Dan Abnett: The original story is rather spare.  Told in a series of very brief encounters, we get to see Malus Darkblade attacking each of the final "champions" on his path to getting each artifact.  While this leads to a very action-packed few pages, it is almost entirely devoid of characteriztion.  Abnett & Lee worked from a very bare frame to create such vastly scoped and well thought out novels.  The graphic story isn't great, but it is a nice historical piece of a sort, showing the beginnings of the saga.

All in all, The Chronicles of Malus Darkblade: Volume Two was a wonderful fantasy saga.  The omnibus, despite its great size, reads rather quickly, in part because it is so hard to put down the story.  I have rarely had as much fun reading a fantasy as I did with this one.  If you are a fan of fantasy, Warhammer, Dan Abnett, Mike Lee, Black Library in general, or anything similar, check this book out!

9/10

Lord of Ruin by Dan Abnett & Mike Lee

After tackling Warpsword, the first novel in The Chronicles of Malus Darkblade: Volume Two, I dove straight into the second novel in the omnibus, and the fifth in the series, Lord of Ruin.

Following Darkblade's adventures in the previous novel trying to capture the Warpsword of Khaine, this novel begins at the end of Darkblade's journey, and then through a series of flashbacks tells the story of how Malus Darkblade gathers the final artifact and confronts Tz'arkan, the demon who is holding his spirit prisoner.  Can Darkblade hold off an invading army of Chaos creatures led by his evil sister, survive an encounter with Malekith, the Witch King, and still manage to get the final item and make it back to the demon's cave in time?

The plot of the story begins a little slow, as the stage is set, but once the ball gets rolling, there is no stopping it.  Lord of Ruin packs as much story as possible into its pages, filling them with action, adventure, moments of horror, a touch of humor, and a lot of gusto.  Malus Darkblade becomes even more of a fully-developed, well-envisioned character that feels as human as a dark elf could.  The plot is sufficiently over-the-top and action-packed to make this a wonderful thrill ride, moving from the more individual warring of Warpsword to broad scale, all out war.

Abnett & Lee upped the ante with this novel.  It was a brilliant action saga, that managed to both wrap up the main storyline from this first story arc, as well as set up the next arc that I hope comes far sooner rather than later.

9/10

Warpsword by Dan Abnett & Mike Lee

I am a huge fan of Warhammer 40,000 fiction.  I think it is brilliantly done, combining a deep philosophical/religious undertone with fast-paced action, a moody, gothic environment, and great storytelling.  As I have gradually shifted to adding a little more fantasy to my reading plate lately, I had been meaning to get into some of the fantasy side of Black Library's buffet, with Warhammer.  Particularly after reading Andy Remic's Kell's Legend, which is cut from a similar mold, I thought that the time was right.  And then it just never happened.  I have no idea why, but my tastes diverged from that region a bit.  Yet, when I picked up the December releases from Black Library, the time finally was right.  The Chronicles of Malus Darkblade: Volume Two, the second omnibus of the novels following the saga of the titular character, Malus Darkblade, seemed like a good place to start.

The Chronicles of Malus Darkblade: Volume One (which contains the novels The Daemon's Curse, Bloodstorm, and Reaper of Souls, as well as the short story "The Blood Price") set the stage, introducing Malus Darkblade, a dark elf who becomes possessed by the demon Tz'arkan, and must search out the five artifacts that were used to bound the demon in place.  If h fails, Tz'arkan will hold his soul for eternity.  While these stories look like a lot of fun, and I want to pick up a copy of the omnibus one day, they aren't necessary to enjoy The Chronicles of Malus Darkblade: Volume Two.

The Chronicles of Malus Darkblade: Volume Two begins with the novel Warpsword.  Having recovered three of the five artifacts, Darkblade sets out for Har Ganeth, home city o the god Khaine.  Here is the resting place of the Warpsword of Khaine, the fourth item needed.  However, Darkblade's half-brother, Urial, wants to lay claim to the sword himself, and he is in far better position to do so.  What begins as a quest of espionage becomes outright was as Darkblade's plans go awry, the artifact may be more (or less) that it appears, and old enemies return.

If Warpsword is any indication of what Warhammer has to offer, then I can't wait to dive into more.  The novel was fast-paced, extremely full of action, and a clever plot that even managed to pull off some dry humor.  The character Malus Darkblade is very well thought out.  He has far more dark in him than good, but he still manages to be a character you cheer for.  His story was full of plot twists, and you could almost feel his exhaustion as he waded through fight after fight and injury after injury.  Abnett & Lee make a solid team, mixing the moody atmosphere with an exciting tale.  The story occasionally felt like it lagged a bit, but that was a rare occurrence indeed, and was made up for every time with an over-the-top action epic the following chapter.

The chracters are great, the setting is excellent for the story, and the plot was wonderful.  The most fun I have had reading a fantasy novel in some time.

8/10