Death & Dishonour edited by Alex Davis, Nick Kyme, and Lindsey Priestley

NOTE: Death & Dishonour was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by The Black Library.


I haven’t managed to dive into as much of Warhammer’s fantasy setting as I would like, having only read the incredible The Chronicles of Malus Darkblade: Volume Two and the rather dismal Forged by Chaos. However, based on the first of those books, I really wanted to take another look. Luckily, Black Library had some exciting new releases that looked right up my alley. Therefore, the next two books will give us looks at Warhammer, first with the original anthology Death & Dishonour, followed by the upcoming Empire Army novel, Call to Arms, by Mitchel Scanlon.

Not having much background in the Warhammer Fantasy setting, this new anthology was perfect, giving me some solid stories, along with introducing me to a couple of very popular characters with ongoing series.

“Red Snow” by Nathan Long: Gotrek and Felix, having signed on to protect a caravan passing through the mountains, are stranded with the rest of the group after an avalanche, and must fight to stop a bloodthirsty monster that is attacking the party. A well-rounded story that was on the “great” side of “good”.

“The Assassin’s Dilemma” by David Earle: Sneeq and his band of skaven (ratmen) are sent on a mission to kill a human weapons engineer, but a wizard threatens Sneeq’s life if he succeeds. An entertaining tale, although not the best of the bunch.

“Rest Eternal” by Anthony Reynolds: Calard, a knight of Bretonnia, struggles with a Wyvern that just doesn’t seem to stay dead. An interesting story, but one I found hard to get into, as the main character was rather repugnant.

“The Miracle at Berlau” by Darius Hinks: This short tale follows a boy and his mentor as they seek answers to their current situation in their past. Not my favorite, but still very well done.

“Noblesse Oblige” by Robert Earl: Florin and Lorenzo, trying to make an easy profit, are tricked into working as assassins for the Lady of the land, but far more is going an than there seems. One of the best stories in the volume, Earl manages to combine his action with dark overtones, yet still work in light-hearted banter and humor.

“The Last Ride of Heiner Rothstein” by Ross O’Brien: A story about the returning of the body of a dead warrior to his homeland, this one started well but the end got muddied and confused, and I must admit I’m not sure I totally got the ending. Too many mixed apparitions, mental illnesses, and magic spells for me.

“Broken Blood” by Paul Kearney: This tale of a war between Man and Chaos becomes one of brother fighting brother in a battle of huge proportions. The story is very well told, and the ending is suitably bleak. Well done.

“The Judgement of Crows” by Chris Wraight: An okay story of a town plagued by the dead. Rather predictable and not overly exciting for my tastes.

“Wolfshead” by C. L. Werner: A satisfying finish to the collection by an author whose work had previously left me less than overwhelmed. Brunner the Bounty Hunter loses the man he had hunted down, and decides that hunting a wolf with a high price on its head is the best answer to making up his lost money. A good story that had a very solid conclusion. I look forward to the Brunner the Bounty Hunter omnibus coming out soon.

Overall, this was a pretty solid anthology. Normally, anthologies are very much a mixed bag for me, with some stories really resonating for me and others falling flat. However, Death & Dishonour was a wonderful exception to that rule, and did an excellent job of presenting a host of stories that work great for both the newcomer to Warhammer Fantasy as well as the old hand looking for the continuing adventures of some of his or her favorite characters.

7/10

Erewhon by Samuel Butler

Continuing my six book series on Victorian genre fiction (following The Coming Race by Edward Bulwer-Lytton) is Erewhon, Samuel Butler’s most famous novel besides his posthumous classic, The Way of All Flesh. While more of a satire than a straight fantasy novel, the traits and tropes are here, and make it another building block of modern genre fiction.


Once again, we follow an unnamed narrator. He travels over a mountain pass in a land that he refuses to provide the location of, and enters into the land of Erewhon (Nowhere spelled backwards, with the w and h switched so it sounds better; the backwards names becomes a reoccurring trend). Here he finds a bizarre culture that seems to be the reverse of “good” Victorian society, and he comes to grips with his newfound surroundings.

While The Coming Race played straight with the usual trends, Butler uses it as a vehicle to make pointed (if rather silly at times, like just naming things backward words) commentary on Victorian England. Butler’s prose is far richer than Bulwer-Lytton’s was, but this can take over the book, leaving huge lacks of plot to lavish details on the society of the Erewhonians. Over-detailed setting kills plot again.

This wasn’t quite what I was looking for, and not what I was in the mood to read now, so it didn’t get finished. Not the books fault, just a victim of circumstance, but this one will take a little more work to get through. Not because it is difficult to understand, just that in fiction it can be hard to sit through a story with no plot. Erewhonian society was interesting, but not enough so to carry the entire novel.

Gran’s Secret by Trevis Powell

NOTE: Gran’s Secret was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by Black Wyrm Books.


Luke Reviews is always on the lookout for new publishers, especially those that are putting out great stuff but are small and don’t get a lot of notice. One such publisher that I found out about was Black Wyrm Books, part of Black Wyrm Games, that is putting out some solid fiction. Even better, it is short. That may sound odd, I suppose, but I’ll explain. The Science Fiction and (especially) Fantasy market today is being assaulted with HUGE tomes that meander and wander and don’t get anywhere too quickly, and become HUGE series of HUGE books, and when I am excited about a number of new books, there is no way that I’m going to go back and read thousands and thousands of pages of backstory. Along comes Black Wyrm, and they have the answer. In short novels/long novellas and short fiction collections, they are working on spreading the genre without the massive word count. I couldn’t wait to jump on board. The first book I received from Black Wyrm is Gran’s Secret, book two of the Were-War Series. While I missed the first volume of the series, it wasn’t vital to my enjoyment of Gran’s Secret.

Following a Were attack on the small town of Cobble (which occurred in the first volume of the series), Gran’s son has died, and her grandson is Cursed by a Were to become a Were himself. Gran sends him off to learn to control his Curse. However, people don’t want to leave well enough alone, and after having to commit a crime to save her grandson, Gran goes on the run to find out what the secret behind all of these attacks is, all while a neighboring kingdom is planning a surprise uprising and is about to be on the warpath.

Gran’s Secret proved to be surprisingly hard to put down. Gran was a wonderfully realized character, and really propelled the story along. As her mysteries are revealed one by one, the story deepens, and the book reaches a satisfying conclusion that leaves plenty for further volumes. Powell wastes no space in telling his story, giving us his tale without loads of unnecessary and dry extras, and keeps the pace quick.

My only displeasure with the book is that 80-90% of it follows the story of Gran, with interjections from the enemy, but at the very end Gran’s grandson become the focal character. While this may fit with the over-arching series, it was an odd change up right at the very end of the book, and I found myself missing Gran’s point-of-view.

Overall, however, Gran’s Secret was a lot of fun to read, and bodes well for both Black Wyrm and Trevis Powell. I very much look forward to more of each. Luckily, I have a couple more Black Wyrm books on my shelf to read soon.

8/10

Molly Fyde and the Land of Light by Hugh Howey

NOTE: Molly Fyde and the Land of Light was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by Hugh Howey.


The Top 15 Books of 2009 here at Luke Reviews included Hugh Howey’s entertaining first novel, Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue. It was a very fun tale, and I was much anticipating the sequel. This feeling increased when I saw that Luke Reviews was going to be getting its first ever cover blurb on Howey’s second book, Molly Fyde and the Land of Light. I was of course very excited, and couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy.

After the cliff-hanger ending of Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue, we are thrown right back into the story, as Molly tries to piece together the surprise appearance of her mother and the search for her father, all while on the run from the Navy. However, things go awry almost instantly, as the Navy attacks and a crew member’s life is in danger. The path leads them to the heart of humanity’s greatest enemy, the planet Drenard, and begins the quest to discover what Molly’s parents are working on, and just who the Bern (from the title of the series, The Bern Saga) are.

After the sweeping adventure of Molly Fyde and the Parsona Rescue, Molly Fyde and the Land of Light is the action epic of the series, with space battles, desert quests, and an explosive escape attempt from a moon overflowing with androids. The close escapes and explosions are provided aplenty. There is very little to find wrong with this novel. It has a different feel than the first, more fast-paced and a bit darker in tone, which suited the story.

The characters continue to work, as well. They don’t stray from their characterization, and their interactions never feel forced or flawed. The aliens are suitably alien, yet still are very relatable. The conclusion is suitably open-ended to facilitate the rest of the series, and far more is left up in the air than last time. With everyone broken into three groups and fighting to reach their goals, the suspense will make it hard for you to wait until the release of Molly Fyde and the Blood of Billions. Give this series a go. It is small press gold.

9/10

Explorer X – Alpha by L. M. Preston

NOTE: Explorer X - Alpha was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by L. M. Preston.


Luke Reviews occasionally looks at YA fiction that fits in the usual genres of choice, but not often. However, when I received the request to review L.M. Preston’s first novel, I really wanted to give it a go. Her goal is to inspire young adults, to show them that they can overcome seemingly insurmountable odds and achieve their dreams. That is a cause I can get behind. Thus, I dove into Explorer X – Alpha with high hopes.

Aadi’s parents sign him up for space camp. He has no interest in going, but at his parents insistence he does. Along with learning how to pilot a ship that will take him to other planets and having a strenuous physical exam, Aadi meets a number of other kids his age, creating friendships and making enemies. However, when the immunization shots prove to be more than they seem, and a freak accident occurs, Aadi and his partner, Eirena, must pull together to save themselves, and return to save their friends.

Explorer X – Alpha occasionally suffers from common problems you see among self-published books; mainly, the occasional awkward dialogue, or a missing character motivation. These rough patches aren’t constant, but they do pop up occasionally.

That said, however, the story itself more than makes up for the occasionally unpolished details. Preston has created a very fun story that the reader will get into rapidly and without problem. The major characters are very fun, and their relationships feel very human. The interactions feel right, and the story keeps up a nice pace. The best part, however, is that Preston has created a story that, while very accessible to the YA age group, is a book that the older crowd can have fun with as well. Parents will enjoy reading this to their kids, or sharing it with them after they got a crack at it. A YA story doesn’t have to overly simplify, and can certainly appeal to all ages, and Preston makes a very good stab at that here.

Explorer X – Alpha is occasionally flawed, but the story is more than worth it, and any perceived problems can be easily moved past. This one is very enjoyable, and a great set up to a series I can’t wait to read more of.

7/10

Rynn’s World by Steve Parker

NOTE: Rynn’s World was a free review copy provided to Luke Reviews by The Black Library.


Space Marine Battles is the new deluxe-styled series from Black Library, the kind people who bring you Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 fiction. The series focuses on pivotal battles in the Warhammer 40,000 universe through a series of stand-alone novels. They are a trade paperback size (the same as Black Library’s omnibus volumes) and include full color map inserts.

The first novel of the series follows the Crimson Fists, who are on their home world of Rynn’s World, celebrating the formation of their Chapter and all of their brothers who fell in the line of duty. However, on the nearby planet of Badlanding, Orks attack and take over the world. The Crimson Fists set out to stop the orks at Badlanding, but the mission fails and the Orks continue on to Rynn’s World. After a disaster that almost wipes out the Fists, they must protect their entire world from the oncoming horde of orks.

This book flopped for me. I was beyond excited for it, and it really let me down. Good reviews of it seem to be popping up frequently, and I don’t get it. One would think that a series titled Space Marine Battles would have just that: Space Marines in combat. While there were Space Marines aplenty, the battles in the first half of the novel were few and far between. After far too much unnecessary time spent doing nothing on Rynn’s World, we finally get a chapter on Badlanding as the Fists attack the orks there. Things picked up, then the orks won, and everything died right back down again. The orks attack Rynn’s World, I think things could get good, but right before things really hit the fan, disaster strikes and almost everyone dies. Battle over.

The characters also were flops. The Chapter Master is a sort of messianic character who can do absolutely no wrong and is always cool and calm, he is best friends with the unthinking hot head, we have the “I hate mere humans” Space Marine (who lets us know he hates mere humans over and over and over) and the “I pity humans” counterbalance character to fix things in his wake. They are all flat, and play on over-done stereotypes.

I got about halfway, so this one earned above a 1/10, and scores a 2/10 for still being unfinishable. That said, it wasn’t by much. For a series I had so much anticipation for, it sure started on a sour note. I’m now a bit hesitant on the next books in this series, but I’m hoping Aaron Dembski-Bowden can blow me out of the water again like he did with Cadian Blood.

2/10

The Coming Race by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Part of loving a genre is exploring its roots. While science fiction, fantasy, horror, and adventure all go back quite some time, exploring Victorian-era works that fit into my genres of choice seemed like a fun idea, and a nice change of pace for Luke Reviews. Therefore, Luke Reviews is going to explore some of these works here on the site, mixed in with the usual fare. A six book list for my foray into Victorian (and a couple post-Victorian works that still really fit into the Victorian genre fiction sensibilities) can be found below:


The Coming Race by Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Erewhon by Samuel Butler

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

King solomon’s Mines by H. Rider Haggard

Green Mansions by W. H. Hudson

The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle

I hope you enjoy exploring the genre fiction of an earlier age, and that it provides a bit of a fresh experience along with all of the modern fiction. Take the time to read the classics you always hear about!

A man is exploring a mine when he stumbles upon a hidden underground society. This people, who call themselves the Vril-ya, are exceptionally advanced in the sciences through the use of a mysterious substance known as vril. However, as the narrator learns more and more about them, he also learns of their terrifying power and their belief that they are to one day rise up from the depths and take back the surface world from humans.

While this novel at first seems to be a “hollow Earth” adventure story, like Edgar Rice Burroughs’ classic novel At the Earth’s Core, it turns to be very little like that. After the initial bit of getting our un-named narrator to the Vril-ya, the largest section of the book is made up of his observations of their culture. This can be both fascinating and frustrating. Bulwer-Lytton’s in-depth creativity in assembling his culture is certainly impressive, but it derails any semblance of plot for a substantial portion of the book. After an extensive crash course in Vril-ya society, we get back to the plot with a bizarre love tangle-up, before our narrator is faced with a life-threatening situation.

For a book of its time, it was immensely popular, but certain sections of The Coming Race have aged poorly. If you are willing to work with the extensive sections that lack plot, but are almost textbook is style, you will find a lot of treasures, both in the essays on their society and the story itself. However, if you are an impatient reader and want a quick, exciting story, this likely won’t be the book for you. That should be considered before deciding on the book based on the rating alone. For fans of science fiction, who want to explore the history of the genre, this would seem to be a key text, and worth the visit.

7/10