Title The Burning SohreAuthor Robert Earl
Pages 416
Year 2004
Publisher Black Library
Reading time 4 days (January 2010)
Rating 7.5 / 10
This is the first book by Robert Earl and the first with Florin and Lorenzo. This book turned out so good that two books were release later, Wild Kingdoms and Savage City. This book is the only oppurtunity to read some fiction in Lustria. Before this there had be no books depicting Lustria. A later book was published but in it was in the Blood Bowl universe. Well this was a year that Black Library tried to explore other places/Situations... This one in Lustria, Gav Thorpe's Slaves to Darkness went to the South with Tomb Kings and Magestorm with Mages. In Warhammer 40k Simon Spurrier wrote Lord Of The Night one of the most appreciated novels along with Double Eagle by Abnett.
Well returning to this book... This book is the first of Florin and Lorenzo as I said before. The book to my knowledge was a bit bigger... I think there was no need for 416 pages for this novel and so I thought some parts were secondary and not needed. But apart that I enjoyed getting to know Florin and specially Lorenzo. First Florin is a noble and Lorenzo is servent but in the novel I think he doesn't act like one but as a equal. Sarcastic always making fun of situations and of people yet getting Florin out of trouble but nevering acting not-peaseant like. He gets all sarcastic with other peers or nobles but not Florin. It's a fatherly, respectly love. I enjoyed it.
Florin on the other end begins as a spoiled, irresponsable kid but as the situations demands he turns into a hero-alike. I enjoyed this change.
Now the plot, Florin (a Bretonnian) likes to gamble but when a crime lord tries to earn his dues he and his man-servant flee into a ship that is going on a exploration of the New World called Lustria (the homeplace of lizard-men greatly influenced on the aztects or the mayan civilization. Well it was a great setup and it was nicely executed by the author. Well the crew is a melting pot of inhabitants of the old world such as Bretonnians, Tileans, Kislevites, Marienburgers (Empire) and Dwarves.
Well there are several important characters we get to know such as Colonel van Delft, the Dwarf Thorgrimm, Graznikov (kislev) and one that I hoped that he appeared in later novels Orbrant. He his a warrior priest of Sigmar on a quest to self-finding. Well not to mention one of the most important characters the celestial wizard Kereveld.
Well a voyage for gold turns out to be a expendition funded by the celestial college but that doesn't change anything in the plot. The men still wants gold...
In Lustria we get to know the Lizard-men, heavily inspired in some cthullu mythos beings. I thought the parts with Lizards were done great specially Xinthua. (On the great overall the Lizard-Men are not evil as Chaos. They are not corrupted by the taint of chaos but as beings of great age and understanting of magic (very different from the views of humans or elves).
On this book we get to know things that until here were unknown like the constelations of starts above or how many planets does this solar system has. We even get to know more of some beings that inhabited the s eas such as Serpentia Megalothon or the opinions of Bretonnians and Empire against and for Tilean food.
The ending was a bit of rush and the saving of Florin from the hands of the Lizard Men is a bit of... odd and easy. In the end was an interesting book that make me understand a bit more of the warhammer world and the need to read the next books with Florin...
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