The fantasy world of Warhammer Fantasy saw its end a few years ago (although it was a relative end, as it is still alive and well through different products). He did it through a series of books that offered readers the most ambitious saga written for Warhammer Fantasy , a saga that presented different stories with a certain relationship between them, and in general starring a good part of the most prominent peoples of this universe. .
The saga, The End of Times , told the reader a story with different voices and approaches that was divided into five different books, each one written by a different author. Throughout these books we can see how different civilizations face the end of the world, led by elves, humans and dwarves, and how the forces of darkness, led by the powerful necromancer Nagash, rise once more to put to test the resistance of mortals. The difference with respect to previous occasions is that, this time, we know that there is no hope for victory. After all, it is about the story of The End of Times.
BOOK 1. The Return of Nagash
As can be deduced from the title of the novel, in this first book we witness the return of the most terrible enemy of mortal peoples. Nagash , neither more nor less ! This means, as expected, that the novel features the forces of undeath in particular, led by vampires and necromancers, and Manfred Von Carstein stands out among them , a character who appears in the story as someone deranged and who he only seeks to demonstrate what he is capable of doing, thus freeing himself from the long shadow of his last name.
The Empire will be the other great protagonist of this novel by Josh Reynolds . The men and women who fight in the name of the warrior god Sigmar will do everything in their power to stop the threat posed by the undead, and they will do so as the greatest army ever assembled by Chaos , led by Archaon , descends. from the Northern Wastes with the intention of razing the lands of men completely. What hope is left before two threats as unstoppable as those? Will there be someone capable of leading the fight against darkness?
BOOK 2. The Fall of Altdorf
You only have to see the title of the second novel of The End of Times to realize that things are looking bad. Chris Wraight signs this novel, which follows the plot developed in the previous installment and where we witness the confrontation between humans and monsters, represented by chaos and the undead. The fight will be desperate, and we will be able to see various heroes of The Empire fighting for the survival of their people, but all of them, including the reader himself, know that it is a battle that cannot be won. That, however, will not be an impediment to present the toughest possible resistance.
This is one of the best installments in the series, full of epic and heroes, combat and great battles, the desperate fight against the inevitable and tragic end. Honorable mention to the very same Karl Franz (emperor of The Empire ) and Louen Leoncoeur (king of Bretonnia ), two of the many heroes who will give everything in defense of Humanity. Meanwhile, the tide of Chaos and the undead continues to advance, and it doesn’t seem like anyone or anything is going to be able to stop it.
BOOK 3. The Curse of Khaine
Gav Thorpe is the author of this book, the third in the series and also the worst, by far. The novel, very unrelated to the previous two, narrates the events that take place among the elves during the terrible crisis that has led to the advance of Chaos . Many High Elf, Dark Elf, and Wood Elf characters appear throughout the story, most notably Malekith , King of the Dark Elves , and Teclis , powerful High Elf Archmage.
The problem with the novel, however, is that Thorpe seems intent on twisting and altering the very narrative of the Elven people, as well as the conflicts that led to The Secession. Due to this, and to the forced history written by Thorpe , we will find ourselves throughout the novel with a Malekith who stands as a hero and the only hope of salvation for the race of elves, with Teclis as his main support and ally, with the hitherto heroic Tyrion as the sinister enemy to defeat, with the noble Imrik as a traitor to his people and with endless other nonsense, whose culmination will be the battle between a Malekithwhite and luminous and a dark and bloodthirsty Tyrion , as if these characters had interchanged their roles in an incomprehensible way.
It is, in short, an expendable and forgettable novel. Very much in line with what Gav Thorpe has accustomed us to , by the way.
BOOK 4. The Rise of the Horned Rat
After the disappointing third installment of The End Times series, Guy Haley , author of The Rise of the Horned Rat , brings us a book starring dwarves, skavens and goblins, an explosive cocktail (literally and metaphorically) that offers some of the most epic and memorable scenes in the series, but also some of the funniest (mostly starring the goblins, of course). Various heroes from these three races also appear, including Bugman himself , explorer of the dwarves and the most famous brewer in Warhammer Fantasy.
The rebellion of the Horned Rat , as was the case with The Curse of Khaine, is a novel that, although it is directly related to the events of the first two, at the same time maintains a high degree of independence, since it focuses on three towns that had hardly had a leading role until now. In it we will witness an open war on three fronts between dwarves, goblins and skaven, a war that the former, the tenacious dwarves, seem destined to lose no matter what they do about it. This, however, will not be an impediment for them to offer the greatest resistance to both tides, the green and the mousy, which seem to never end. But, coming to the end of it all, what better way to do it than with a bloody ax in one hand and a cold beer in the other?
BOOK 5. The Lord of the End Times
Josh Reynolds , author of the first novel in the series, is also the one who writes this latest installment, in which we witness the expected and feared outcome of The End Times. Although I will avoid talking about the plot to avoid spoiling the conclusion of the story for anyone, I can say that Archaon , the unifier of Chaos , finally appears in it, and his arrival in the mortal realms marks the prelude to the end. of everything. Many will try to fight him to stop him, but Archaon , an unstoppable force, will go ahead with his plan to destroy everything.
