Dark Harvest (Warhammer Horror) by Joshua Reynolds

Dark Harvest (Warhammer Horror) Reviews

• 
  Michael Dodd

  A sinister, atmospheric tale of old gods and lost faith in the grey swamps of Ghyran. Once a warrior priest of Sigmar, now reduced to scraping a living as hired muscle, Harran Blackwood finds his quiet life in Greywater Fastness rocked when he receives a message which stirs up painful memories from his past. Setting out with violence in his heart, Blackwood travels to the squalid town of Wald to seek the message’s sender, but finds a deeper and older darkness lurking in the wilds.
  
  It's maybe not as out-and-out horror as you might expect, but there’s a lot to enjoy in a rare Warhammer story which doesn’t involve Chaos, and in which the antagonists are as much wild forces of nature as anything else. It could have done with digging a bit deeper into Blackwood’s past, which is intriguing but a little nebulous, and a little more in the way of consequences for the fact he’s able to see the (properly creepy) little gheists haunting the swamps of Ghyran, but there’s nevertheless an evocative sense of darkness to the setting, the cast and the overarching narrative. If you like your Warhammer stories to feel old-school, atmospheric and properly grim, this should be right up your street.
  
  Read the full review at
  https://www.trackofwords.com/2019/11/...
• 
  Candyce

  Although atmospheric the story itself is slow and the climax does not really pay off. The protagonist is an anti hero but not one that is captivating. He is arrogant and somehow knows everything before it happens each step of the way. He does not encounter any trial that actually feels as though it might be of mortal danger to him. As for horror I feel that this had potential but was over all flat.
• 
  Munch

  I was sent an arc copy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.
  I was pleasantly surprised, I wasn't expecting to enjoy this as much as I did! I was instantly into the story and connected to the main character. I haven't read any other Warhammer books (I'll probably have to look up more now) but I didn't find myself getting too confused, there are a lot of unfamiliar places and creatures but the author does a really good job of slowly filling in your knowledge of the world without it being too much. The main character Harran is a easy character to root for, he's one of those men that act like they don't care and are out for themselves but you see that this is just a façade and he has a very intriguing back story which is slowly revealed as the story goes on but I still found myself wanting to know more. The atmosphere was creepy and dark, the plot of a isolated village in a swamp and hostile locals with dark secrets really drew me in. The side characters were interesting and complex as well, I especially liked Gint, he brought some banter and I enjoyed watching his and Harran's interactions as they slowly got to trust each other. Overall a good little creepy read for winter time.
• 
  AA_Logan

  My first AoS Horror novel, and one that is edging me closer to exploring the setting more fully. Reynolds does great work here fleshing out the edges of AoS, exploring the minutiae of life far from the battlefield and the centres of the setting, and depicts an otherworldly and unsettling existence where life is nasty brutal and short.
• 
  Nynniaw

  [Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review]
  
  Summary: This story had all the classic elements of horror. The decaying, decrepit town was of course present, as were the hostile, unhelpful inhabitants and the secret cult. So were the troubling dreams had by our main character, the dread visions caught at the corner of the eyes. But these elements, unsurprising and almost token in their predictability, were woven very effectively into a compelling narrative that kept me faithfully turning the pages. They provided a journey that is likely to be of great interest to people who crave this kind of horror in a non-urban setting.
  
  Prose: Perhaps one of my favorite elements in the book was the prose itself. The author manages to capture and paint a vivid picture of the story events and the dreariness of Wald in a way that really made the place pop in my mind. It sure made for an enjoyable read. The word green was utterly ubiquitous, but I suppose could not be helped. 4/5
  
  Plot: As mentioned above, the particular elements of the plot fall on the table almost as a matter of course. This by itself is not necessarily a bad thing, though at times it did feel a bit too by-the-book other than the fact it was taking place in a fantasy setting. There was a points that soured my enjoyment of the story, however. Namely, the Old Stag not devouring Harran at the end by virtue of the latter already belonging to Sigmar. It makes sense, but it also makes all the suspense the book had been slowly building feel like a sham. The second, also concerning the Old Stag, is that his speech felt a little too refined whenever he spoke to the character. Also, Gilt's death felt utterly cheap and telegraphed from the moment he mentioned the foretelling. 3/5
  
  Pacing: The story felt a little plodding near the beginning. Though Harran is a very interesting character and viewpoint for most of the story, the very start of it felt a little too studded with banal introspection. 3/5
  
  Characterization: The characters were without a doubt the most enjoyable aspect of this story, alongside the prose and the world-building. Harran, specially, and I can't help but wonder if we'll see him again in another book. 4/5
  
  World-building: Though this was the first book I've read set in the Warhammer Fantasy universe, I feel like the author did a particularly excellent job in providing flourishes of memory of Harran's previous life to embellish his present situation and his character as a whole. The same goes with the information he provides regarding the different creatures and the setting. 4/5
  
  Final Score: 3.6/5 rounded to 4/5.
• 
  Arthur

  Fairly standard fantasy affair with an all-too-predictable story and a tendency to get lost in Harran Blackwood's background. Engaging atmosphere yet the writing tends to paint too vague a picture sometimes. A lot of the cast was unmemorable outside of a handful. Did not like how long it took for the mystery develop--Blackwood doesn't get his first clue until the halfway point, and considering how obvious the story is, the book feels like it's dragging its feet. Could've used more twist and turns and some editing down, and excising the long forays into Harran's backstory with more left to the imagination.
• 
  Ryan

  I bought this book because it had green page edges. Unfortunately, that was the only thing interesting or unique about it. The story was cliché-ridden, and the protagonist is a shallow, unlikable antihero, all of which could have still made for a passable novel, if the whole thing wasn't so badly written.
• 
  Jenn Howlett

  Dark Harvest is from the Warhammer Horror range of books – I’m not wholly convinced about this series as I don’t really see anything additionally horrific about them compared to other titles in the Black Library range, but they are nonetheless decent reads.
  
  Dark Harvest is set in the Age of Sigmar realm of Ghyran and follows the lead character, Harran Blackwood; a former Sigmarite Priest turned dogs-body for one of the head-honcho-goons working on the city of Greywater Fastness. Upon receiving a letter from a former friend he leaves the large city behind and heads to the small, isolated village of Wald with the intention of removing this person's knowledge of his whereabouts via the method of murder. Along the way, he manages to pick up tag-along Gint – a card cheating rascal who has his own agenda for his presence on Wald.
  
  As a lead character, Blackwood is going to be a character that splits readers; you’ll either enjoy his dreary, anti-hero nature or you’ll detest it! There’s nothing sympathetic about him and little in the way of redeeming features; aside from the fact that he’s there to get the job done and begone from the vile village. There’s a lot of intriguing elements to keep the character engaging beyond his penchant for solving all his problems with violence; the history of his former profession and the fact that he can see the gheists of those gone before him – creepy, ghostly manifestations that torment him at every opportunity they get. Blackwood's answers to his problems are usually found at the end of the knife and there isn’t much in the ways of mortal opposition for him; I did find that this element of the story detracted from the horror narrative of the story – if everything can be solved by fighting your way through it, what’s left that can really scare you?
  
  This isn’t to say there aren’t horror elements to the story; throughout the novel, Blackwood is being hunted by something ultimately sinister. Something that compliments the setting of the novel perfectly. The imagination behind the village of Wald is an inspiring feat in itself; when thinking of the Realm of Life images of rampant, overgrown forests come to the fore. However, Dark Harvest has a much more ominous setting in the form of atmospheric swamp-land. The descriptions give clear, unsettling depictions of a decrepit bog, in which the peasantry of the nearby village has to somehow make a living. The location, and its wicked descriptions help to elevate the horror aspect of the novel. Wald is not a nice place to spend a fortnight; it’s bleak and unwelcoming – this is conveyed not only in the setting but the inhabitants of the eerie place; each of which have their own part to play as the novel unfolds.
  
  The plot throughout Dark Harvest is relatively straightforward. Blackwood travels to the village of Wald in order to track down a former friend in order to keep his own personal secrets hidden. While there he uncovers a mysterious plot that has left him marked by one of the Old Gods. Along the way, there are several tormentors that exacerbate this problem; making Blackwood's ultimate task all the more difficult. Told in the first-person perspective makes for easy reading and the plot just as easy to follow.
  
  What I found most enjoyable about this novel – aside from the grim, delightfully disturbing imagery – was the mindset of the main character. He’s a man that knows his worth and place in the world and his dry personality was one that I found myself appreciating. He won’t be everyone's cup-of-tea, but I found him most entertaining to read about. I’d have loved for Dark Harvest to delve a little more into his past, but I don’t think that the book suffers from that lack of depth; if anything it could have shattered the illusions of the character; we don’t need to know the deep ins and outs of his time as a Warrior Priest only that he was one but somewhere along the line he fell from Sigmar's Good Graces. There is a good contrast between the horror of Blackwood's previous path and the one he uncovers in the village of Wald and the secrets of the God they worship; the cult of one comparing nicely with the mainstream religion of the other; prompting questions of theology – for those that wish to delve deep enough. If not, there are still masterfully crafted scenes of abject horror to enjoy.
  
  Alongside Blackwood is his tag-along, Gint. A character that offers a refreshing brightness to Blackwood's dryness. His developments are ones that I didn’t see coming, despite asking myself why he was so invested in his companion's trials.
  
  Another aspect of this novel that I appreciated was the fact that it wasn’t just another story of Good vs Chaos. The sours of antagonism came in the various forms of the Syvaneth, creatures of nature that, while in a tentative pact with the humans of the Greywater Fastness, play the part of both tricksters and hunters of the mortals they share the Realm of Life with. While I do like the tried and tested ‘Good vs Evil/Order vs Chaos,’ it’s also nice to read something that deviated from the usual factions of Age of Sigmar fiction. Dark Harvest also adds another enlightening layer to the grittiness of the Sylvaneth faction; what ties them together and what divides them – a keen look into their past and the Gods that they worship. Dark Harvest did a lot to develop the Age of Sigmar setting for me, as my overall knowledge of the world is limited; thus my desire to know and read more of the world is only expanding when I get to read fiction as glorious as this.
  
• 
  Waltrius

  C'était la première fois que je me lançais dans la lecture d'un roman de la nouvelle gamme "Horror" et le résultat est assez positif. Très souvent, les romans Warhammer, c'est guerre guerre baston (et c'est aussi ce qu'on cherche), mais il y a toujours un potentiel horrifique assez sympa.
  
  Dans Dark Harvest, on fait un gros plongeon dans ce que les anglo-saxons appellent la "Folk Horror", une horreur basée sur une communauté isolé et des croyances locales étranges. Ici, les marais et le village glauquissime de Wald ou notre personnage, Blackwood, part à la recherche d'un ancien ami.
  
  L'ambiance est bien là : c'est lourd, c'est suant, c'est puant et pendant une bonne partie du roman, ça fonctionne. On ne sait pas bien ce qu'il se passe, ni trop pourquoi le héros fuit son passé, mais on sait que c'est glauque et qu'on aimerait pas être à sa place. Avoir le fin mot de l'histoire apporte un peu de contexte mais rompt aussi un peu le charme. C'est probablement inévitable avec ce genre.
  
  Dark Harvest reste donc très sympa à lire pour l'ambiance, et l'histoire est suffisamment accrocheuse et intrigante même si la fin fait retomber un peu trop rapidement la tension. Vous risquez de rester sur votre... faim. Je regrette notamment que le passé de Blackwood soit aussi nébuleux et flou à la fin qu'au début... Mais ça reste un des meilleurs romans Warhammer que j'ai pu lire ces derniers temps et dont le rythme lent et pesant permet de porter un regard différent sur cet univers pas assez exploité à mon goût.
  
  Attention à l'audiobook cependant ou le narrateur prend un ton trainant et mystérieux amusant sur les premières heures mais qui devient vite caricatural voir agaçant d'ici la fin...
• 
  Aaron Traylor

  Meh. There were some cool moments but mostly toward the end. I think if some events have happened earlier it would have been more interesting overall. It's good to have some things slowly revealed, but this book seemed like it was slowly revealing EVERYTHING.
  One saving grace: It had great atmosphere. The swamp town of Wald felt like a real shithole that you would never, ever want to visit. It gave me some good ideas for D&D.
  
• 
  Marco Baier

  Ahh, there is something about stories featuring swamps that I simply enjoy. Maybe it is the scenery itself, those misty & muddy places far, far away from proper civilization. Maybe it is the decay made manifest, the way nature claims and conquers, devouring towns and unlucky souls alike – just as in this novel. Maybe it is just enjoying the suffering of the characters while oneself is snug as a bug in a rug while they will inevitable become wet and woefully miserable? Maybe it is the way unseen things are lurking in the shadows.
  
  Stalking. Watching. Waiting… for you to turn the next page.
  
  This book has it all, which is why I recommend it for the proper connoisseur or Grimdark Fantasy. It felt more like one of the good old Warhammer Fantasy novels rather than what I’ve read from Age of Sigmar so far – which admittedly is not that much. It is darker and grittier than most, less heroic in action, but not in scope. It is a good book and I enjoyed reading it, but I probably won’t be reading it twice.
• 
  Jeff

  This was a bit of an odd one. I contemplated dropping it out of boredom basically up to the last 30 pages, and then for those 30 pages I couldn't put it down. I've noticed that same issue in a few of the newer books from Black Library, so I'm curious if that's an intentional formula.
  
  On paper, this is the story of a disillusioned, former Warrior Priest who goes to a swampy backwater after receiving a mysterious summons from a former friend. He sets out to solve an initial mystery, and that ends up spiralling out into a much bigger mystery. That's a great premise, but what ends up dragging this book down is the prose and pacing.
  
  About 4/5 of the book is just a slog - we follow Harran around while he does uninteresting things and grumbles an endless stream of cool noir dude one-liners. In fact, every character in the book is a cool noir dude/dudette with a chip on their shoulder; and while that's interesting at first, after a few hundred pages it becomes annoying that none of the characters can make it through a conversation or even convey information to eachother without the conversation abruptly ending with some iteration of "Forget it, I don't care." It reads like gritty noir written by someone unfamiliar with gritty noir.
  
  However, I think the most frustrating part was in the writing itself - if Brando Sando catches flak for over-describing everything, this is the opposite end of the spectrum. Descriptions are so sparse that they're often confusing, and painting a mental picture of whatever scene Harran is standing in at any particular moment can often be a real challenge. The same can be said of the characters, who pop in and out of the story so frequently, but are all so similar, that it's hard to keep them apart. Even the names are tough to differentiate - I finished the book an hour ago, and while I know there are two recurring characters name Pender and Fulder, I couldn't really tell you anything about them.
  
  Alright, so that's a lot of real estate in this review dedicated to the negative aspects of the book. But overall, it's not a bad book, per se - I didn't DNF it, after all - but what's frustrating is that it had the potential to be so much better. But as-is, much like Harran's trek through the swamps of Wald, an overwhelming majority of this book is a dreary slog that will leave you feeling fatigued and wishing you were somewhere else.
• 
  Nightshade

  This is the first Warhammer Horror book and the first non-40k book that I've read, so I wasn't quite sure what to expect going into it. I really enjoyed it.
  Reynolds did a very good job in building up the creepy atmosphere in Wald and I loved the middle-of-the-swamp setting. The world-building was great and I liked Reynolds writing. Right from the start as they are travelling it is made clear that it is not safe to leave the road and I loved all the creatures hiding in the woods and waters, particularly the treekin. There are a lot of mysteries that build up throughout the book, but everything is resolved nicely by the end, with basically all the questions answered. I actually quite liked the fact that Harren survived his experience in Wald, as it was unexpected. I found myself routing for him, despite being sure he was going to be killed, so it was fun to see him survive.
  There were a lot of interesting and fun characters introduced. I liked Harran's no-nonsense way of getting things done and his interactions with the people of Wald were fun. I liked watched his friendship grudgingly develop with Gint, leading to some fun scenes.
  With The Stag's foretelling at the end of the story, that there are worse things awaiting Harren, I would like to see what happens to Harren next. Another book that covers these predicted future events would be great.
  Overall I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to jumping into another Warhammer Horror story soon.
• 
  Kevin Murphy

  Note: I listened to this as an audiobook, so I have to include that aspect in my review.
  
  I love this kind of horror that nestles itself into a mystery with a folk setting. This world is older than can be comprehended, and there are so many things that know it better than we ever could.
  
  That feeling runs through Dark Harvest from near the start to the very end. We learn about Harran Blackwood's past, and his many sins, as he narrates the story. His brutish manner is reminiscent of some of the film noir detectives, which is one of the main things that had me hooked on the unfolding mystery of what is happening in this nowhere village. The pace lags a bit without falling flat until the final few chapters offer up a nightmare sprint of action and plot reveals; my only real complaint would be a need to tighten things up here and there to move towards that end a bit faster.
  
  Jake Urry does a good job reading it, although his cadence and tone lack the kind of variety I enjoy more. He reads at a steady pace regardless of action or conversation, and despite the characters speaking with varying degrees of alarm, confidence, or whatever, Urry seldom leaves a comfortable growl. It works well, but there's so much room for better voice acting.
  
  This really hit me just right in most ways. It's a blend of genres that I love, done well, with enough red herrings to keep the reader unsure of the full picture until the end. The setting is well-realized, and its weaker elements don't really detract much from it. High 3, rounded to 4.
• 
  Jay Big Cat

  I finished it so I won't give it one star but Dark Harvest is a boring story.
  The main character, Blackwood, is an ex war preist turned leg breaker with a mysterious past goes to collect a debt as well as look into a mysterious coin he receives from his past. He makes his way to a swamp village where everyone is super into sickles, knives, creepy masks, and hunting.
  There's some stuff about the areas past that is pretty grim and some interesting scenes with the inhabitants of the swamp but as a horror story but I never really felt that Blackwood was ever in mortal danger or really scared. Most of the characters are pretty forgettable except maybe Blackwoods would-be sidekick with a mysterious past..
  If it didn't have Warhammer or Horror on the cover I probably wouldn't have picked this up to begin with.
• 
  Peter Buckmaster

  I recently read one of Josh Reynolds' works in The Wicked & The Damned. I felt Dark Harvest was more my thing, mainly due to the setting. The swamps and forests add a nice creepiness to the story. There is an off-kilter feel that kept me unsettled but absorbed.
  The protagonist, Horran Blackwood, was also a better fit for me than the commissar. Although Blackwood isn't particularly likeable, I could get behind him, root for his survival.
  The monsters are fantastic, ranging from treekin to something out of a dark Pagan legend, and the atmosphere drips enough dread to bring the sense that Blackwood's success is anything but a done deal. And the secondary characters are compelling, but Blackwood's apathy/tolerance of Gint was a little bewildering.
  The look of these Warhammer Horror books is great! This one has green edged-paper, bringing the mood before you've even turned a page.
• 
  Neil

  Audio Book review
  
  I just didn't get this.
  
  I'm aware there was a general plot of the main character tying to find someone for some reason. There were obstacles in his way and an ultimate goal. But having just finished the book I'm struggling to put the meat on the bones (appropriate horror pun?).
  
  I'm a big Warhammer/Games Workshop fan, and the swamp setting was a good one - in theory. But there was nothing that stood out whilst listening which grabbed me and made me sit up and think "I need to concentrate on this". A good audio book for me bores into your brain without you realizing it. This one didn't, sadly.
  
  As with all my reviews when I haven't been a fan, I hope this isn't too negative. I'm sure there'll be readers out there who loved Dark Harvest. That's the beauty of opinions and this site.
  
  
  
  
• 
  Steven Simmons

  I would honestly give this 3.5/5 given the option. I think the thing that this book does really well is create a sense of dread and oppressive atmosphere in its setting. I largely don't care for the Age of Sigmar setting, especially compared to the "oldhammer" Warhammer fantasy world. There have been a few stories that have interested me but they either feature Gotrek (a character from the "world forgotten") or the witch hunters. This one doesn't directly deal with the latter but let's say its adjacent to them.
  
  Overall I'm glad I read this and my score would probably be 4/5 but I felt the pacing felt really inconsistent and that the final chapters and ending just sort of...happen? I also don't really have any setup for what the main character is outside of this book and what his overall motivations will be at the end which is always kind of an annoyance for me.
• 
  Hunter

  I would give this book a 2.5 review if I could but since I cannot I will stick with 2.
  
  I’ll get straight to the point: this book was incredibly hard to read (for me)& I didn’t understand a lot of what I was reading. I really had to force myself to push through the last 150 pages or so simply because I just wanted to be done with it. The last 20 pages or so wasn’t that bad but the rest of the 279 pages were bland to me. I might’ve enjoyed this book more if I would’ve liked Blackwood more. I think his character was just a flat out ass hole & yes he got in some tough spots but it’s like the entire book he’s just kicking everyone’s ass & wasn’t really even challenged which made a lot of the “intense” moments in the book, not intense.
• 
  Kyle T

  One of the first novels I've read that's set in the Mortal Realms of Age of Sigmar. A decent story about what is essentially a bounty hunter. Technically he's self employed but it still is more or less one man tracking down their target dead or alive. Harran is very misanthropic and it gets a little grating at times, but never anything too annoying. The side characters really help give life to the story. It has Lovecraftian vibes throughout but Reynolds only ever scratches the surface of that genre and leaves me wanting more. The whole book is very moody and dark (harvest lol) but even during the end when Reynolds gives some payoff for what's been building... It feels like it could have been a little more explosive or shocking.
• 
  Graeme

  Sinister and atmospheric, the horror elements of the book come through strongly. I haven't read a great deal of Age of Sigmar material, but to me this seems to lean far more firmly into a creepy, unpleasant aspect of the universe than the normal stories of heavenly warriors and godlike heroes. The protagonist is fairly unlikable and maybe a little too good at or aware of most things (a common problem I find with 1st-person books) and occasionally the story can be a bit clichéd. That said, by the end I was fully on board and am looking forward to the next offering from Reynolds in the Warhammer Horror series.
• 
  Tyler

  Atmospheric!
  
  I loved the setting and I loved the characters.
  
  The plot was slow, but that's okay for me because I know it's a horror/mystery and I like the slow build up that leads to a final payout at the end. The big problem I have with this book is the payout simply didn't deliver to redeem the pace. I really want to like this book more, don't get me wrong the writing is really good, but right after I finished I had already thought up several endings I thought would have been way better than the way it ended.
  
  If you're reading this review, pick it up the book and check it out for yourself. It's a quick fun read and maybe the ending will satisfy you more than it did me.
• 
  Jack Creagh-Flynn

  This work plays off of the concept of a rural secluded village that is somewhat cut-off from civilization, and has odd and eerie customs. This concept is used well. I often kept going further in the book, or wishing I had extra time because it introduced gripping questions that I felt would be answered soon. The is a feeling of dread in the book that follows the protagonist and one is left uncertain about where and how this dread would manifest. The atmosphere is wet and rotten, but not in any real supernatural sense, but a real grimy filth that accumulates just from being somewhere waterlogged and surrounded by foliage.
• 
  Adam Hurst

  It would seem that the Wendigo has really become an inspiration for so many writers this decade. Algernon Blackwood's The Wendigo was my first experience with this mythological creature, unless Pet Cemetery can be included despite no actual mention of the supposed child of Loki. So although the story is not all that unique, it's still an enjoyable read. Don't expect much Warhammer 40k lore here despite it being labeled as a Warhammer novel. One could easily forget it was a Warhammer book altogether.