Soul Wars (Warhammer Age of Sigmar) by Joshua Reynolds

Soul Wars (Warhammer Age of Sigmar) Reviews

• 
  Steve

  While I appreciate that this novel focuses on character, setting, and dialogue instead of battles and combat, it sometimes felt like nothing much was happening. None of the characters, even Pharus, changes enough to warrant the number of pages devoted to them. The setting falls back on the same descriptions over and over (I wish I'd kept track of the number of times the sky was described as "purple the color of a bruise"). The dialogue is good, but not much separates one character from another.
  
  Basically, while I think these novels do better when they focus on characters and setting - and it's admirable that the author tried - there needs to be a bit more meat in those areas to sustain it. I didn't think it was bad, but either the character arcs needed to be more robust, or it needed to be edited down a good deal.
• 
  Planar

  I really wanted to like this book. I really want to like an "Age of Sigmar" novel. I am trying hard moving from one "best Age of Sigmar novel to date" to the next but failing utterly and feeling bored and uninspired after a few chapters.
  
  Soul Wars is yet another fantasy novel full of narrative clichés and one-dimensional characters. “Half orphan girl street urchin with a drunk father and only cats as friends”. “Grumpy wizard sage that loves book more than people”.
  
  Seriously?
  
  The sad truth is that a book that was written on demand to support a commercial product (the AoS Soul Wars boxed set). It is not born out of a writer’s need to say something to the world. Good fantasy like good science fiction is usually allegorical. Such books use a fantastic setting to speak about our present, our lives, our fears and agonies. About the human condition ultimately. AoS novels instead have no reference back to real human beings. They use shallow caricatures of humans to sustain romantic heroic stereotypes. Motivations are black and white, characters are either heroes or villains. Worse of all there is the same ever repeating narrative of heroic destiny. Heroes fulfilling their pre-destined purpose in life. Solid unbend linear narratives of the universe where each one of us lies in its center surrounded by an immense cast of extras set there to assist us on the fulfillment of such destiny
  
  Meh...
• 
  Josh

  By far the best Age of Sigmar book I have read so far. Finally some civilian characters and the storm-cast don't all seem like carbon copies of each other.
• 
  Dave

  The Warhammer 40,000 novels published by Black Library are what brought me into the actual game. So when I picked my armies and started building and painting miniatures I was already well versed in 40K lore. I started playing Warhammer: Age of Sigmar (40K’s sister miniature game of fantasy battles) though without any real knowledge of the lore or having read any novels. As a horror and heavy metal fan I thought the ghostly Nighthaunt army was really cool looking, and one year a very generous friend got me a starter set of Nighthaunt models. From there I got the Nighthaunt Battletome and Age of Sigmar rule book.
  
  I really liked the lore I read there especially about the Nighhaunts and the other legions of the death god Nagash. So, I started to look around at some of the Black Library Age of Sigmar novels. Initially I couldn’t find any about my army that grabbed my interest. Then I stumbled upon Soul Wars by Josh Reynolds. I became intrigued and decided it would be my first Age of Sigmar novel. I just finished it and I’m so glad I did. It was a story that was both epic and intimate. It featured warring gods, their servants, the people caught in the crossfire, vast interdimensional realms, and one very important city.
  
  One of the most fascinating things for me about the Age of Sigmar set up is the backdrop of the multiple realms. It’s like Dungeons and Dragons if it was set against a backdrop like the nine realms of Asgard. In Soul Wars Reynolds did an amazing job bringing those realms to life. We got little glimpses of several realms, a sizable glance at the god Sigmar’s heavenly realm, and a major exploration of Shyish, the land of the dead and purview of Nagash.
  
  I especially loved the scenes in the two contrasting Shyish city’s, Nagash’s capital Nagashizzar and Sigmar’s foothold metropolis in the land of the dead, Glymmsforge. The way life and unlife was compared and contrasted in the two cities was really cool. Half the fun of reading 40K novels is the rich and vibrant settings authors create and bring to life. If Soul Wars is any indication I’m going to have a lot of fun visiting the various realms in Age of Sigmar novels too.
  
  Soul Wars is jam packed with fascinating characters too. As a Nighthaunt player I joshua-reynoldsappreciated a chance to see some of my models brought to life as characters. They felt fun, fascinating, and very true to form. It was also interesting to meet Nagash and some of his servants. I especially loved the scheming lich known as Arkhan.
  
  The most fascinating and surprising characters for me though were the Nighthaunt’s enemies in the book, Sigmar’s Stormcast Eternals. Before reading Soul Wars I had written them off. They struck me as fantasy Space Marines. In a way they are that, but as Reynolds shows in Soul Wars they’re so much more too. They’re complex and kind and compassionate in way Space Marines are often not (the exception being my favorite Loyalist chapter, the Salamanders). They’re also a diverse lot whose ranks include both men and women. I liked that a lot. My favorite Stormcast ended up being a veteran and scholarly warrior mage named Balthas and a woman assigned to the streets and tombs of Glymmsforge named Calys Eltain. There’s another Stormcast character I really enjoyed reading about, but I can’t talk at all about them because of spoilers. Let’s just say that character goes on an incredible journey over the course of the book.
  
  There’s also some great human characters like a brave and daring girl named Elya. Also there are cats! Yes, cats play a pretty fun and interesting role in Soul Wars
  
  Reynolds is also great with epic action. A large part of the story is about an army of ghosts and zombies laying siege to a medieval city. So take Game of Thrones Battle of Winterfell and transport it into Gondor from Lord of the Rings That’s what the battles in Soul Wars felt like to me. They were that cool.
  
  So, Soul Wars was a very welcome initial venture into the world of Age of Sigmar novels. I look forward to reading more and more books by Josh Reynolds as well.
• 
  Michael Dodd

  Josh’s seventh (!) Age of Sigmar novel, Soul Wars sees the Mortal Realms take a darker turn, as the dead begin to rise in horrifying numbers all across the Realms. In the Realm of Shyish, the Free City of Glymmsforge is under the protection of the Anvils of the Heldenhammer, but as Nagash grows bolder Sigmar reinforces the city with warriors from the secretive Sacrosanct Chambers. For Lord Arcanum Balthus Arum, the deployment to Shyish is an opportunity to atone for a mistake, but even his prodigious powers are tested by the Nighthaunt hordes flocking to Glymmsforge.
  
  There’s a lot for this to deal with, not least introducing both the Nighthaunt and the Sacronsanct Chambers of the Stormcasts, but that’s handled subtly and without drawing attention away from the plot or the themes running through the book. Reynolds does an impressive job of depicting the grand sweep of events taking place in Shyish and across the Realms while maintaining a cohesive story that feels personal to these characters who are relatable and, largely, very human. Reading this you feel that it marks a change in Age of Sigmar, reminding us that while Chaos is still a huge threat, the terrifying power of Nagash is going to be very present from now on. It’s pretty much essential reading for any Age of Sigmar fan.
  
  Read the full review at
  https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/07/...
• 
  Pablo Raak

  Bueno, ha costado, pero a veces es sólo un poco de disciplina lo que falta para acabar un libro de 230 páginas y nada más (no os dejéis engañar por la cintilla de Goodreads de que tiene 320). El confinamiento paró mi lectura (al faltarme el necesario paseo en bus diario que tantas horas de lectura me daba), pero aquí estoy de nuevo, review en mano, para ofreceros mis pensamientos.
  
  Intentaré evitar los spoilers, aviso, pero reconozco que me costará horrores. Es grande el clímax de esta novela. Más de lo que habría esperado. Y más, considerando que el clímax estaba un poco... ¿vendido? No importa, no quiero hablar de eso.
  
  De lo que quiero hablar es de como esta novela supera, sin lugar a dudas, mi anterior intento de meterme en la novelesca de la Edad de Sigmar, que fue el Jardín de Nurgle. Josh Reynolds, tal y como aparece en el pequeño fragmento al final de esta novela, es el autor de Fulgrim: the Palatine Phoenix, todo un clásico. Pero en el Jardín de Nurgle, ya fuera por el material, o por las presiones de la empresa, no brillaba en absoluto. Bolter porn en exceso, un clímax demasiado "over the top" y la sensación constante de que se te olvidaba que un secundario existía, de parecidos que son todos entre sí. Soul Wars viene a superar todos esos problemas, o si no todos, una gran parte de ellos.
  
  ¿Qué hace fuerte a esta obra por encima de la que leí antes? Que es todo mucho más humano. Glymmsforge (Forjaglymm en la traducción oficial española) es una ciudad humana, y se siente como tal: barrios bajos, gente con preocupaciones normales, que ven la guerra entre dioses como Sigmar o Nagash como los figurantes de una peli de Marvel verían las guerras de los superhéroes: desde abajo y con dudas. Y es que, de hecho, esta novela se hace muy afín a una peli del MCU o un capítulo de The Mandalorian: un poco de humor brutote, un poco de sentimiento básico, unos cuantas peleas bien ejecutadas y un clímax de gritar "SSIIIIII" y "NOOOOO" a lo largo de todo su desarrollo. Y revelaciones espectaculares al final, para que te hagas teorías con la siguiente peli.
  
  Pero, me desvío. Lo importante aquí es la humanidad: vemos a los Stormcasts, los ángeles de Sigmar, hablando de cosas tan inconsistentes como patatas y manzanas, o intentando comprender la vida mortal. Y vemos a los habitantes de las ciudades de Sigmar hablando de evadir impuestos o querer escribir novelas que se recuerden. O de alcohol y comida. Dioses, ¿alguna vez te ha dado hambre una novela de Warhammer?
  
  Por supuesto, los protas son muy, muy predecibles y tópicos, pero lo bueno es que los tópicos estaban relativamente bien escogidos. Además, como en una buena producción Disney, empiezan de un modo y acaban de otro, al aprender unos de otros. No son santos aquiescentes: algunos Stormcasts como Balthas son directamente insoportables, y otros que son más santurrones como Calys o Pharus Thaum, acaban sufriendo cambios o directamente viendo todos sus ideales hechos caquita.
  
  No esperes tampoco, bua, una revelación espectacular, si acaso entretenimiento. Esto, como el MCU o The Mandalorian, o como todas las otras novelas de GW, sigue siendo merchandising. Y funciona como tal. Pero eh, la gente disfruta con el merchandising, y yo he disfrutado con este merchandising. Bastante más que con el anterior, de hecho.
  
  Así pues, cuatro estrellas: la de protas, la de worldbuilding, la de narrativa de entorno y la de sensaciones especiales. Si le quito una estrella es porque quiero ser objetivo y serio, o desearía serlo al menos, y es que esta novela sigue sin corregir un problema de la anterior: llega un momento en el que hay tantos secundarios con nombres acabados en "-us", y muchos de ellos tan parecidos, que no logras recordarlos a todos y a veces reaparecen en la narración provocándote la sensación de que te has saltado algo. Y es una pena, porque algunos secundarios (especialmente los que no son Stormcasts) están bastante bien diferenciados, y los protas que son Stormcasts son muy reconocibles entre sus compañeros.
  
  Finaliza aquí, por ahora, mis lecturas de Josh Reynolds, aunque no serán las últimas mucho me temo, pues ha conseguido atraer mi atención con las revelaciones finales y su sabio uso de la humanidad en los Stormcasts. Pero, hasta que llegue el momento de seguir con este autor, creo que dedicaré mis esfuerzos a otras sagas de fantasía, y (dentro de la prosa de GW) a David Guymer, que le tengo que coger un mordisco a su novela de elfos merluza y a la de los guerreros de calcio.
  
  Nos vemos en otra review, chavalada, y recordad: "son las pequeñas cosas las que hacen la vida" y "una patata es una patata, haga el tiempo que haga".
• 
  Moony (Captain Mischief) MeowPoff

  DNF 15%
  the book i suppose would have been more interesting and cool if i had been invested in warhammer and it's game. But sadly i am not, and thus the book did not appeal to me at all. I was confused and bored, even that i tried to invest in the character. That said, i liked the writing and how it was put up, i just had problems invest with the characters.
• 
  Linton

  Great worldbuilding and great characters. I might actually prefer AoS to Warhammer Fantasy or 40K.
• 
  Andrei

  My first forray into Age of Sigmar and I have to say - it was pretty good, though I found the same metaphors used over and over again very grating. Still, a decent introduction to WH Fantasy.
• 
  Martti

  Another one from the Black Library 2020 Humble Bundle.
  https://www.humblebundle.com/books/vo...
  
  In the beginning I was actually positively surprised, because in Soul Wars you get Gods and Commanders as the main players, contrary to other WH novels where we are transported onto some random planet/city with some random armies having their little conflict. This novel actually deals with some central events in the WH lore. It's just sad that all the characters are such mindless strawmen, in essence mindless followers or puppets of the Gods, repeating the religious dogma.
  
  In retrospect of course I understand why nothing is resolved in this novel - it's just a glorified setup for the miniature painting game. The goal is not to resolve any tension, but rather give you some poor excuse why WAR is in the name of the game.
  
  Maybe a short memo on the places: Azyr is world (planet) of God-King Sigmar and Stormcast Eternals. Shyish is the world (planet/plane/dimension?) of Nagash, the God of Death who once was a man, wizard. In the past called Age of Chaos, the Chaos gods invaded this world of death and Sigmar allied with Nagash to fend them off. They won at least some ground during the Age of Sigmar, I think. But Nagash was building some magical pyramids for the ritual of Necroquake which destabilized Shyish by raising innumerable amount of undead, because he really needed to betray his allies. The setup to the dance between three main factions - order vs undead vs chaos.
  
  All these super-beings seem to have lived for centuries, but are still only puppets for the uber-gods. Why do they even bother trying to portray them as "characters"?
  
  There is some talk of the "Universal Wheel" that goes around as the history repeats itself during the eons, because gods are allknowing and allpowerful, but yet they are unable to learn anything. I sense faint echoes of a far better fantasy, also with massive magical battles, but at least with some interesting rules, intrigue, logic and narrative - Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan.
  
  The main weight of the novel takes place in the "free city" of Glymmsforge in these lands of Death and it is being guarded by an army or "host" called Anvils of the Heldenhammer, a department of Sigmar's Stormcast Eternals.
  
  What does a "free city" in undead lands of Shyish actually means and who would want to live there, you might ask? Why would anyone want to live in this barren land? Why would you put somebody into this terrible tactical position of defending a single outpost in a totally overwhelming hostile environment?
  
  None of that is explained probably because the whole WH universe would probably collapse into a singularity, so it's much easier to never explain anything with logic. Just increase speed. Maybe the narrative can free us of the gravity well of dull pompous monologues. Nagash is all, much eternal wow. Not By Sigmar's lightning hammer, do not think he's Thor. He's not, it's written into his legal agreement with Games Workshop. Also please do not confuse Nagash with Kel'Thuzad of Warcraft. I think they have cleanly replace-all'd his name from all the legal documents.
• 
  Nevada Dru

  The Age of Sigmar is Games Workshop’s successor to Warhammer Fantasy, and I know close to nothing about either. My experience with Warhammer Fantasy is the few hours I’ve spent playing Total War Warhammer and so far with Age of Sigmar, I’ve built some of the models and organised the folder that comes with a Mortal Realms subscription. However, as more cool models arrive in the post, I want to understand who these little ghosts and knights are and why they are so darn angry with each other. This is where the novel Soul Wars by Josh Reynolds comes it as it centres around the conflict of the Nighthaunts and Stormcast Eternals. As somebody who almost zero context and understanding of this expansive, complex Universe I found it to be a great place to start. Let’s take a look at why.
  
  Admittedly one of the main reasons I found Soul Wars such a great start is that the two factions you get from the Mortal Realms subscription are Nighthaunts and Stormcast Eternals. If you decide to start your Age of Sigmar adventure elsewhere, then you might not get the same level of enjoyment from the book. However, with that said this is still an enjoyable story that delves into the lore and setting of the Age of Sigmar. So even if you collect Skaven or Seraphon, you will still get a certain amount of understanding and context to the Universe.
  
  But what is Soul Wars about? It is pretty much exactly as it sounds, as it revolves around the war between Nagash, the Lord of Death and Sigmar, the God-King, as they fight for control over a tomb of souls. Each wants them for their own purposes and amongst this, we spend a lot of time with various Stormcast and servants fo Nagash including Nighthaunts and other undead.
  
  For the full review please visit Bits & Pieces -
  https://bitsandpieces.games/2020/06/0...
• 
  Tom

  Tomes from the Black Library are probably best enjoyed when you’re actually part of the world of Warhammer i.e. you’re a table top gamer. There’s something about taking part in the narrative play and painting the miniatures that brings you close to the characters and the world (or in this case realms) they live in. That’s not to say this book can’t be appreciated without playing Age of Sigmar, but it certainly helps. As to the story; well, I’d say it was pretty good. Some reviewers have commented that it seems to consist of many dramatic characters and demi-gods making grand, doom-filled speeches, and this is true. But if you’re Nagash, Lord of the Undead, used to whiling your time for centuries regenerating your body and inner energy, then what else have you got left to do? Andrew Wincott’s narration is superb in this respect, and his narration of the different Nighthaunt characters is immensely entertaining. Who knew there were so many ways to speak in the voices of the undead? In places the story is a bit repetitive. I lost count of the number of times that someone said ‘... all are one in Nagash’. There’s also no trace of romance or development of ‘relationships’ if you”re looking for those elements. This is probably the ethos of Warhammer, and aficionados won’t miss this, but it does tend to make you not care as much for the characters if you don’t think they have much to lose. It also doesn’t help knowing that you can always be reforged by Sigmar or recast by Nagash if you happen to fall by the Lord Executioner’s axe or mashed by a stormsmite maul. But overall I enjoyed this story and it will certainly colour my perceptions when launching my Nighthaunts in future battles!
• 
  Hans Otterson

  Remember, I write the following as a fan of the universe on offer here. I don't think there's anything wrong with or lesser-than about shared universes, even when they exist primarily as marketing tools for games. Games are possibility spaces just like good stories are. Anyway--
  
  This has all the ingredients for quite a dish (if you're the sort who are the fan of the universe Games Workshop has built here), but like the other novel I've read by this author, it comes out a soggy dud.
  
  Like most
  game-related fiction, what's cool about this story is all in the broad strokes -- showing you how elements of this universe that you are a fan of (if you're not a fan, no need to apply) works and raising questions that can be endlessly quibbled about and picked apart on the internet or at the game store. You know, it's the kind of popular fiction that brings people together, like Marvel movies.
  
  Unfortunately, that's really all on offer here. In order to keep up on "the lore", I'd have preferred to listen to a synopsis of this. The problem is that Mr. Reynolds has some potentially compelling characters, but he doesn't seem to know what to make of them or what to do with them, other than to have them march toward plot points and ring them like a bell with their swords. The book involves a conflict between a God of Order and a God of Death. One of the main characters served the God of Order, but when he died the God of Death was able to get hold of his soul. Reynolds takes us through a number of scenes where the character seems to be undergoing some sort of trial, some crisis of faith, whereby the God of Death tempts him to see things from his perspective, and to see the God of Order as a liar. Essentially, tempting this character into his service.
  
  But...it never really happens. There's no epiphany, there's no moment where the character changes, he's just the servant of God A in one scene and the servant of God B in the next. I imagine Mr. Reynolds couldn't create a conflict here because there are no stakes for the character--we don't really know who he is or why he serves either God. He just does, and then he doesn't, and then he smashes his sword into someone. All the main characters are like this. The stakes simply are not properly set up.
  
  Even the main set-piece battle (this is a Warhammer novel, remember) is like this. There's a crypt of 10,000 souls that God of Order owns and God of Death wants. But we're never given any indication of what's at stake should God of Death, as he begins assaulting it, win. Since I'd set the book aside for nearly a week after reading about half of it (never a good sign), I thought maybe I'd forgotten. But no, just as the battle is getting underway, we are reminded what's at stake here, what all the conflicts in the book have been escalating to:
  
  

  Ten thousand dead are interred in this well of souls. Ten thousand warriors who might one day serve to turn the tide of the war we wage.

  
  
  Might...ONE DAY? Then why is this conflict happening here, now?
  
  Unfortunately, this book reads exactly like what it is--pulp without any verve or soul.
  
  3S
• 
  Ann

  Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
  
  The Undying King, Nagash, has decided it’s time to move on Glymmsforge, and calls up his fiercest subjects to deliver him his prize. This move disorders everything, but most especially the guardian of the Ten Thousand Tombs, Lord-Castellant Phraus Thaum. As the threat evolves, the Anvils of Heldenhammer and ancient Stormcast Eternals are dispatched to protect Glymmsforge and the mortals within.
  
  I went into this book not knowing too terribly much about the Age of Sigmar, but extremely eager to learn more. This was a wonderful book to introduce concepts of this side of the Warhammer coin, in my opinion. The characters are clear and well-introduced, the threats and the stakes are delineated clearly. I greatly enjoyed Reynolds’ descriptions of not only the various battles, but also of the individual characters who interacted throughout the story. The battles themselves were clear, as brutal as a Warhammer reader could wish, but not overwhelming or so drawn out that I became bored. I loved the various descriptions of the characters and factions, and how the author managed to keep the participants in the story separate and distinct. The conflict fit neatly into the book with a definite beginning and end, though it’s titled ‘Age of Sigmar, book1’, so I can’t help but hope that it’s only the first of a series of some sort that I can look forward to continuing, but even if it’s not, this book had enough about various characters that I definitely want to read up more on. I’m not sure how, but Warhammer fiction is addictive, and Soul Wars is a great story to keep you wanting to read more!
• 
  Laura Naulaerts

  Probably closer to 3.5 - 3.75 stars.
  
  Josh Reynolds knows how to paint a scene, how to incite dread. He makes you care about the characters, and really takes you into a character's psyche. There were a few characters in this book I absolutely loved. Elya, Calys, Grip especially. In some regards, Pharus as well. The duplicity in his character was a really interesting insight.
  
  I think writing from both Sigmar & Nagash's sides was both a good and a bad thing. Good, because it was really interesting to see the cause and effect, action and the response. The lines of thought and reasoning in both. But it also led to me not really being as engaged and caring as much as I could have been, had we had all of this from either Stormcast/order or Nighthaunt point of view.
  
  But I couldn't shake the feeling throughout the whole book, like I was missing something. Like there was backstory and lore that I was supposed to already know but didn't. At times, there were too many characters introduced, too many small storylines. These storylines didn't always feel like they fulfilled a purpose and often were too short or small. By the time I'd gotten a clear view of what and who the characters were, they disappeared from existence.
  
  Spoilers/discussion of the ending of the book:
  The ending of the book felt a little anticlimactic to me, fell flat. It was just confusing precisely what they were trying to achieve and whether or not that worked. Maybe if I'd had more background that would have been less so?
  
  Overall - not my favorites of Joshua Reynolds', but very well worth a read.
• 
  Heinz Reinhardt

  As is to be expected with anything written by Josh Reynolds, this was a beautifully written book. The descriptions are superb, the world building is fantastic, and the action is excellent.
  So then, why three stars?
  Because, not much happens overall. While there are a few truly excellent scenes that are epic and fascinating, such as the necroquake, or the damage done to the Forges of Azyr, in truth, there is very little that actually happens in this novel.
  Mostly, I lay the blame not on Josh, who is one oft he very best in Black Library's stable, and a great genre writer period, but rather the Age of Sigmar setting.
  It is simply too bare of flesh on the bones. It is, still, mostly a skeletal framework which lacks a deep, historic lore and a feeling of place. A place that the reader can identify with, and feel devoted to. If said place is threatened, like the Empire in the Old World, it creates a bond between reader and writer that, sadly, AoS still lacks.
  This novel, while giving some detail on the Death faction, of Nagash's plans and grand strategic vision, and of Shyish in general, it doesn't really do anything else.
  While well written, it was sadly a bit forgettable.
• 
  Christopher Napier

  This is the first Age of Sigmar book I've read and it was a very enjoyable experience. From the start we are embroiled in the affairs of Nagash and Sigmar, even coming almost face to face with the Ruinous powers at one point. From this grand scale, the crux of the story hinges on a very human story which manages to humanise both the Stormcast Eternals and Deathlords and connect both to the mortals caught between them which is impressive and sorely needed as the new setting finds its feet.
  
  My only complaint is that the final battle scene is a bit lengthy and confusing and the ultimate confrontation has a little too much Nagash & Sigmar involved, rather than letting the mortals resolve the conflict on their own merits.
  
  Reynolds really likes the words 'cerulean' and 'tatterdemalion' but I can hardly blame him for that. They are very nice words.
  
  All in all this is a compelling book, very much one for fans of Games Workshop's IP but it has considerably increased my interest in the Age of Sigmar setting.
• 
  Lor

  I love Warhammer novels so much, and really need to read more. So, despite taking too long to get around to reading it, I was so happy when I got this ARC. I wasn't sure what to expect with this one, since I wasn't really following anything else Warhammer related, but I was super happy reading this novel, pretty much from page 1.
  
  The story moves through the domains of two warring gods, and a story unfolds following individuals from both sides. Between Sigmar's Stormcast Eternals - huge warriors whose souls are reforged when defeated in battle - and Nagash's undead advisors, the fate of pretty much everything is well outside the control of mortals.
  
  I was worried at first that the writing would obstruct some of the greater story elements, but was happily mistaken. It doesn't move too quickly, and the rich description doesn't create awkward stops along the way. The motion of the story is carried by a number of characters who come to the fore as needed, focusing on a handful of Sigmar's warriors.
• 
  Pavle

  This was my first dive into anything outside of the Horus Heresy, 40K setting for Games Workshop IP. I have always been a fan of Josh Reynolds and his take on the universe. I can confidently say I am sold on Age of Sigmar. I do not have the former, Warhammer Fantasy Battles, IP Bias as I only just begun last summer my nose-dive into Warhammer. That being said, I cannot stop raving about this book. It felt wonderful and gave such a prime opening for the setting to flourish. I believe this book is paramount for any attempting to pursue the hobby. The characters were compelling and the narrative was visceral driven from thoughtful exploration and carves a nice patch for future stories to be told.
  
  This is an A+ for my account.
• 
  Declan Waters

  The literary introduction to AOS2 (Age of Sigmar) and the current starter box (Stormcast & Nighthaunt). As with most of the Age of Sigmar books Sigmar and the Stormcast are clearly the 'good guys' and get a lot more time in the pages than other races; although there was some interesting interaction between Nagash and Arkhan which developed their story slightly.
  
  Strangely not a lot about the Nighthaunt (in the box!!) and more about the war between Nagash and Sigmar for the souls of the dead.
  
  None-the-less a good addition to the Age of Sigmar setting, which is starting to develop a little and become easier to understand (by moving closer to the World That Was, and using relatable places - as far as a city in the Realm of Shyish is relatable).
• 
  Fredrik

  With the Age of Sigmar entering its time of crisis, the Era of of the Beast, what better time to read about the previous time of crisis; Soul Wars.
  This is very clearly tie-in novel, designed to introduce a new line of models for Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, but I like both the setting and style, and found this a mostly enjoyable exploration of the lore.
  The story drags on a bit, but it's got good mix of character conflict and martial conflict, and none of them severely overstay their welcome.
  Not great, but pretty alright.
• 
  Tom

  Unfortunately Games Workshop have yet again allowed their authors to create flat and featureless books. The characters have no features to attach yourself too, nothing really goes on that can't be summed up by a fan in 5 minutes, and the loquacious nature of the author makes the story a constant hurdle race of unnecessary adjectives and adverbs. A really poor show from a publishing company that used to create fantasy gems.
• 
  Mikael

  An excellent introduction to Nagash and the so called Soul Wars. What was Nagash not seen until now? and why is he an frenemy of Sigmar? Well now we know.
  I also find that the characters were interesting and their fates somewhat heartbreaking.
  Arkhams musings on the nature of life and death and the gods place in the universe were very interesting.
  The Age of Sigmar books both rule and backgrounds had a shaky start with alot of trash antologies produced. This is one of the good ones.
• 
  nicholas doyle

  It was decent.
  
  As a fan of 40k I began seeing the similarities between the two GW universes right away. It's a neat juxtaposition for someone with my perspective. The author gives you hints at the interwoven characters pasts without completely playing to the cheap seats. Will Sigmar and Nagash finally reconcile? Find out in the upcoming installments. I assume, this was my first AoS book but I hope they manage to get along.