Soul Wars: Warhammer Age of Sigmar, Book 1

This is one of those rare, game tie-in novels that are far better than they need to be. It has a very interesting dynamic in showing the motivations of not only the characters but the gods they serve. I love how the author really Illustrated the motivations of the undead. Very interesting, very creepy. Surprisingly, it also had one of the best Dungeon Crawl sequences that are typical that these kinds of novels. Very good novel and very highly recommended.

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 WarsReynolds 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.

The pacing is great, the way Josh introduces the setting and lore masterful, and the audible narration is among the best I’ve ever heard. Highly recommended for anyone that enjoys Paladins, Stormcasts, Armies of Death, and high fantasy. Truly loved this read.

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.

Not nearly as good as the original. I have read warhammer since the mid 1980's after so many years making a fictional world almost real I find the new age of sigmar books lack the depth that was created after years of work by an army of talented writers. There was so much in the old world left unfinished. The lands of the East are still a mystery and the hobgoblin empire was only mentioned a few times as a society much like mongols. So much was left unwritten i hope the powers that be will someday return to the old world and finish what they started.

Great battle, subtle influences among the gods leading even the divine, masterful story telling with beautiful verbage. Another wonderful insight into the worlds of Aos. Thank you Josh!

Really well written. Mostly jumps between Nagash and his armies and the Stormcast Eternals and takes place mostly in Shyish. A major criticism about the Stormcast Eternals is they do not permanently die, but this book adds some complications to that and it's not just memory loss. This was my first Age of Sigmar book and I did not feel lost at all. My only major problem with the book was that the ending left more to be desired.

An exciting read full of interesting characters, a great read!

great read

Great book real page Turner good if you even have a passing interest in age of sigmar really got me into the world and made me care about the characters

Bought as a present for my brother's Christmas. Very pleased it arrived on time!