Title Forged in Battle
Author Justin Hunter
Pages 256
Year 2004
Publisher Black Library
Reading time 4 days (January 2010)
Rating 7,5 / 10
This was my first warhammer novel this year. I wanted to read something small and easy to read. So I start reading this book and it took me a while to get into the mood. Last day I went to a doctor and with 120 pages to go I read it all... (just see how much I waited and the darn transports... well it was nice to read so many pages in one set, I must start doing that again).
Well now the book.. This book as a straightforward story.. The Beastman are starting to gather in the woods around a small village. There is some sacred stones than are calling the beastman and to finalize a ritual they need to kill one man from a family of some old forgotten hero than 2000 years before thwarted the plans of the beastman (of course the humans don't know this part). In this village of a couple hundreds humans they have a company of around one hundred human pikeman and handguners. Of course the beastman are more and they have 2000 years of rage with them. Well they start to incenerate the surroundings areas as they prepare to invade the village. There are some chaos cultists (some of them are not that well hidden). Then there is a final battle and such... I will not dwell on the end but suffice to say it ends well (maybe because the title says... Forged in Battle (a Ragged Company novel) It means Black Library thought of a series... But this author never again wrote anything for Black Library. It's a shame...
Well.. as I said this is no-nonsence. There is no magic, no godfear characteres that never die, and such... Everyone is expendable... As I said before this is a small novel and if you want a novel with the depth exploration of warhammer world or character build just look somewhere else. If you want to entertain yourself with a good quick read then read this novel.
Sometimes I thought there was too many characters and in then end only care for one. Edmunt. One guy who saw his family being butcher by the beastman and the main port-standart of the ragged company. He has a axe and my god, he is truly awesome with it... It kills and kills and kills... It looked like I was seeing a human Gotrek. But in then it was the only character I really cared.
There is some plots than go nowhere like the sergeant dislike of our main character and his superior office. What happened to Edmunt (he didn't die but in the epilogue he is not mentioned). What happens to the chaos cultist that was saved in the end (nobody knew besides the captain and some men in the company of his true colours.
The most interesting part suffice to say was the battles, specially in the end with the siege and Edmunt.
Well this is it... I wonder what happend to Justin Hunter. I know this isn't the best book that Black Library published but it has some good parts... It is one of those authors who dissapear like Neil McIntosh who made a trilogy then puff... Or Robin D Laws or James Wallis. What happened to them?? David Ferring made one of the most important series in the Black Library with Konrad. Old readers love those book... Jonathan Green made two good books... Necromancer one of the most scariest books in Black Library. He sure could built a dark world. And The Dead and the Damned. A novel with a bunch of mercenaries (I will read it soon..) But this author went to Abaddon to write a new series so no loss there... (I have all Abaddon books... didn't I tell you before?) Well It would be nice to someone comment in my blog if they had any information of this writers...
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