Getting Started with Black Library – Age of Sigmar

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A few people have recently asked me about where they should start with reading Black Library’s Age of Sigmar fiction, so I thought it might be worth putting together an article with my recommendations on the subject. In a similar vein to my Getting Started With Black Library – Warhammer 40,000 article, I should point out that these are my personal recommendations, and everyone’s mileage may very well vary, but bearing that in mind these are a few suggestions for where (and how) to get stuck into Age of Sigmar. I’ll link out to reviews where appropriate, but you can also have a look at the overall Age of Sigmar reviews page on Track of Words for a full list of everything I’ve read/listened to and reviewed.

Age of what now…?

On the off chance anyone reading this isn’t already aware, Age of Sigmar is the modern-day incarnation of Warhammer – it’s related to old-school Warhammer, with some of the original factions and even named characters still around, but it’s quite a different proposition. For loads of information about the setting and its history, check out the timeline page on the Age of Sigmar website.

In Black Library terms, while there have been dozens – maybe hundreds – of Warhammer stories published over the years, Age of Sigmar has only been around for a few years so there’s much less content to read or listen to. That being said, there’s more than enough for it to be a bit tricky working out where to start, so read on for more information on that front.

Do I need to know the Old World inside out?

In short…no. Don’t get me wrong, if you’re familiar with the original Warhammer setting and the stories set in the Old World then you’ve already got a great grounding, and you won’t have any trouble picking up Age of Sigmar. It’s DEFINITELY not the same setting, and the tone is often quite different to Warhammer – it’s much more of a ‘high fantasy’ setting now, compared to the decidedly ‘low fantasy’ stylings of the Old World, with more of a sense of hopefulness and positivity – but at the same time there are still plenty of familiar elements that you’ll recognise and be able to use to help grasp the differences.

It’s really not essential, though. Sure, a few characters from the Old World have survived and crop up in Age of Sigmar, but for the most part we’re talking new characters in new locations, and factions/races who draw from the old archetypes but take things in quite different directions. I would say that it’s useful to be familiar with the core concepts for the different races and their gods – i.e. to know that skaven are largely duplicitous, backstabbing, cowardly rat-men, that Sigmar was once a mortal man who ascended to godhood, that the followers of Chaos worship the four great powers of the Chaos pantheon, and so on – but beyond that you should be able to pick up pretty much everything you need as you go along.Just one caveat to that – as I write this, David Guymer’s audio drama series Realmslayer is due for release in a couple of months, featuring the return of Gotrek Gurnisson. While I’m sure it’s been written in such a way that new fans can get the gist of who Gotrek is, it seems likely that you’ll get more out of it if you’ve read at least some of the Gotrek & Felix stories beforehand. There are seventeen novels and over twenty short stories in this series, so it’s quite an undertaking to read the whole lot, but you could do worse than checking out the first few of the ‘nounslayer’ books (i.e. Trollslayer, Skavenslayer, Daemonslayer etc.) and probably also the final two volumes – Kinslayer and Slayer.

I should also point out that if you do want to check out some of the stories set in the Old World, there’s a growing collection of omnibuses being released under the Warhammer Chronicles banner which provide great entry points. I’d suggest starting with one or more of Graham McNeill’s The Legend of Sigmar, Mike Lee’s The Rise of Nagash, or Gav Thorpe’s The Sundering – three classic trilogies dealing with Sigmar and the founding of the Empire, the early years of ‘The Great Necromancer’ Nagash, and the pivotal histories of the elves. If you enjoy those, you can then pick and choose where you want to go next from the other omnibuses. There’s plenty of choice already, and the series is growing almost every month.

So I should just start at the beginning, right?

Well sure, you could start at the beginning, which means Chris Wraight’s novella The Gates of Azyr and then the ten books of the Realmgate Wars series. Those were the first books released for Age of Sigmar, and I can see why you might think they’re the right place to start – they were, after all, the first glimpses provided of the Mortal Realms and their inhabitants. Much like with Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, however, the beginning doesn’t necessarily represent the best route in.

Ok, so the analogy isn’t perfect, but it’s close. With both Discworld and Age of Sigmar, the earliest books are absolutely worth reading, but don’t really represent what the series is about. Specifically, the Realmgate Wars books are almost entirely focused on the Stormcast Eternals and the various campaigns which took place immediately after Sigmar opened up the gates of Azyr and sent his armies forth. That’s cool, and if you’re after massive battles on top of massive battles then there’s loads here to enjoy. They’re not always the most…characterful of books, though, and there are other books which go into more detail about the Mortal Realms themselves and what it’s like for more relatable characters to live in them. If you’re desperate to read up on the events of the Realmgate Wars then you could always pick up the Age of Sigmar rulebook which has masses of background and gives you a good overview of events.

Obviously this all depends on what you want to get out of the experience of reading Age of Sigmar, and everyone will have different wants and expectations. I’m basing most of this article on the assumption that you’ll want to learn as much as possible about what the different Mortal Realms are like, and get a feel for how life works for the various races and characters making a living therein. In my experience books which offer both of those things tend to be the most interesting and engaging, and usually stick with me the longest.

Ok…what would you suggest?

Every time anyone asks me where to start with Age of Sigmar I always go straight to the same three books. Between them I think you get everything you need to be able to understand what Age of Sigmar is and get a feel for the Mortal Realms, at which point you can kick on and investigate the rest of Black Library’s Age of Sigmar stories at your leisure. Here you go…

Hammerhal by Josh Reynolds

The title story of an anthology which is (according to the BL website) “designed to introduce you to both Warhammer Age of Sigmar and Black Library fiction”, this novella is a quick and satisfying way of getting stuck into the setting. In my review I said that it tells “a clever story with engaging characters while also showcasing plenty of the scale and ambition that the Mortal Realms can offer…all in about 140 pages”, and that’s about the shape of it. Narratively it’s great fun, split between Stormcast Eternals battling beastkin and a Witch Hunter investigating shadowy goings-on in the city of Hammerhal, and it introduces the reader to both some great locations and a range of different character types.

Official ‘start here’ products aren’t always the right choice, but in this case I think it’s right on the money. It’s a novella, which means that it’s short and sweet – although Josh has done a grand job cramming loads of great stuff in there – and it’s available in the anthology Hammerhal & Other Stories which a) contains loads of other stories, and b) costs a mere £5. It’s a no-brainer.

City of Secrets by Nick Horth

Set in the city of Excelsis, where prophecy is traded as currency, this is a short novel (arguably a novella, really) which does a fantastic job of demonstrating what life is like in the Mortal Realms for an actual mortal – as opposed to the immortal (ish) Stormcast Eternals. It’s a simple, straightforward story that reels you in and quickly hooks your interest, exploring the city from the perspective of Corporal Armand Callis as he fights to survive, and then to save the city from impending doom. As I mention in my review, it’s really grounded compared to lots of the other Age of Sigmar stories, and the city itself is brought to life beautifully.

So it’s a story very much about the everyday characters who inhabit the Mortal Realms, which is great. When the Stormcast Eternals do show up, in the shape of the fairly horrifying Knights Excelsior, they’re shown through that lens which reveals a different side to them than is normally shown – a welcome reminder that for all the (relative) positivity of Age of Sigmar compared to the Old World, things are still pretty bleak.

Eight Lamentations: Spear of Shadows by Josh Reynolds

Beginning in Excelsis, the same city as portrayed in City of Secrets, this starts off small before broadening out into a story – and the start of series – which really takes in the sights and sounds of the Mortal Realms. It’s a straight-up adventure story, packed full of action and excitement along with some brilliantly-drawn characters, once again very much on the mortal side of things. Although there’s also a duardin god, a vampire, and some Chaos worshippers of debatable mortality.

There’s lots going on here in terms of introducing characters and exploring locations, but narratively the premise is simple – there are eight magical weapons somewhere out there in the Mortal Realms, and all the big powers want to be the first to find them. Cue a quest, complete with obstacles, enemies and much derring do. Because the premise is so brilliantly simple, there’s tons of room for character development and exploration of the setting, and it also nicely ties in to a few other stories so that once you’ve read this you’ll keep finding little connections as and when you read some of the other tales.

If I like those, where should I go next?

So those are the three books that I would suggest you start with – a novella, a short novel, and a full-length novel. Between them you’ve got great characters, introductions to lots of different factions and races, and explorations of some really interesting locations, so there’s plenty to think about. What I’d suggest next is that you decide whether you want to carry on with any/all of those specific storylines, and also whether anything in particular jumped out at you while reading them that you’re keen to explore further. Here are a few options for you…

Follow the narrative

Within those three books you’ve got introductions to three series – Josh’s Hallowed Knights and Eight Lamentations stories, and Nick’s Callis and Toll tales. If you fancy checking out more from any of those, here are some good places to start:

• Hallowed Knights: go back to where it all started for these characters with the novella The Gates of Dawn, which is available in The Realmgate Wars: War Storm.
• Callis and Toll: pick up the short story The Old Ways for a little more from two of the characters in City of Secrets, and then move onto the novel The Silver Shard to read about what happens next.
• Eight Lamentations: the next novel isn’t out yet, but there are three linked short stories – The Tainted Axe, Auction of Blood, and The Road of Blades(which isn’t billed as an Eight Lamentations story but does feature one of the Chaos characters). There’s also an audio drama on the way, called Eight Lamentations: War-Claw.

Speaking of the narrative, the other option along these lines is to delve into the ongoing narrative of Age of Sigmar. Generally speaking, the Warhammer universes have tended to be pretty static things – the exception being the End Times, the new Dark Imperium era of 40k, and the Age of Sigmar. That’s historically meant that there wasn’t really an order to things, but as Age of Sigmar is still so new you can actually follow along with how the setting is being developed by reading the books that are released to accompany the key moments in the game’s background.

I talked about the Realmgate Wars earlier, and this is actually when I’d suggest you go back and pick them up – once you’re familiar with the setting and have got used to things by reading a few other stories. Ok, Hammerhal is a bit out of sync with the Hallowed Knights stories that fall within the Realmgate Wars, but overall I think they’re worth checking out if you want to follow those early Stormcast actions that lead up to the Allpoints and the end of that particular phase of the Age of Sigmar.

The next stop in the narrative after that would be the Malign Portents phase, which wasn’t technically covered by Black Library but does have some fiction written about it. You can actually check that out FOR FREE, which is lovely, by heading over to the Malign Portents website where you can find no fewer than fifty (!) micro-short stories all set during that period. It’s perhaps a little daunting to think of so many stories, but they’re really quick reads so they won’t actually take long. They also lead up to the ‘current’ phase of Age of Sigmar, the introduction to which is covered by Josh Reynolds’ excellent novel Soul Wars, which brings you up to date with the overall narrative of Age of Sigmar.

Pick a faction

Alternatively, if you’re not so bothered about keeping up with the narrative, you could pick out a faction or two that you’ve read about in those first three books and explore a little of how they’re covered in other stories. For example:

• Fancy reading more about the various duardin peoples? Check out the Fyreslayers anthology, or CL Werner’s Overlords of the Iron Dragon for some Kharadron Overlords action.
• Skaven catch your eye? Go for the novel Skaven Pestilens by Josh Reynolds.
• Interested in the Order of Azyr after reading City of Secrets? CL Werner’s The Tainted Heart takes a slightly different approach to Age of Sigmar witch hunters.
• If it’s vampires you want to know more about, you’ve got plenty of options with Mannfred von Carstein popping up in a few Realmgate Wars books plus Adhema (from Spear of Shadows) in Josh’s Nagash: The Undying King. There’s also Neferata: Mortarch of Blood by David Annandale for a rather different vampire.

Those three books don’t feature all of the different Age of Sigmar factions, but if you’re already a fan of a specific faction then you may fancy checking out what’s available from BL anyway. You can usually do a search on the BL website by the faction to see what’s available – for example searching ‘Idoneth’ brings up David Guymer’s two short stories featuring the Deepkin. I’ve already covered lots of books about the ‘Order’ grand alliance, although there’s a whole anthology about the Sylvaneth called, fittingly, Sylvaneth – however you’re best off picking up the Legends of the Age of Sigmar omnibus as it includes those stories along with loads more.

Likewise I’ve mentioned a few books to cover the ‘Death’ grand alliance, but if you’re after ‘Destruction’ you could do worse than have a look at Fury of Gork by Josh Reynolds (in the Realmgate Wars). As for the ‘Chaos’ grand alliance, they’ve mostly been featured as antagonists – plenty of the Realmgate Wars books feature lots and lots of Khorne or Nurgle warriors getting splatted. Try Call of Archaon, however, for a collection of short stories featuring champions of the various Chaos gods, and keep an eye out for Robbie MacNiven’s upcoming book about the Varanguard.

Short stories

Lastly, don’t just focus on novels – while 40k still has the monopoly on short fiction, so far there have been over forty Age of Sigmar short stories published and there will surely be plenty more to come. I’ve already mentioned a few anthologies collecting together themed stories, but there are lots of standalone tales as well. I’m not going to list all the different stories here – check out my Age of Sigmar reviews page for that – but instead I’ll pick out a few of my favourites so far.

• Heartwood by Robbie MacNiven: one of my favourite Black Library stories of recent years (in any setting), this is a beautiful Sylvaneth story that really nails the tone of the faction.
• Ghosts of Demesnus by Josh Reynolds: a Hallowed Knights story, but a much quieter and more thoughtful tale than the novels tend to be. Read Plague Garden first, then make sure to check this out.
• The Learning by David Guymer: a wonderfully creepy, evocative tale of the Idoneth Deepkin and the lengths they go to just to survive.
• The Sands of Grief by Guy Haley: a story of Prince Maesa and Shattercap, this follows on from the Shadespire audio drama The Autumn Prince (check out The Darkness in the Glass for this and two other Shadespire audios) and is a great tale of an aelven prince desperate to find a way to bring his long-lost love back to life. It’s creepier than it sounds.
• Guns of the Black Eagle by CL Werner: speaking of audio dramas, this is a deliciously fun short audio about two sky-captains scrapping over a hold full of aether-gold. Check it out for brilliant voice work and a hugely entertaining story.

Don’t just take my word for it…

As I’ve already said, these recommendations are all based on my personal taste. To try and give as rounded a view as possible, I asked a few other people to talk about where they would suggest starting with Age of Sigmar. Read on for recommendations from two stalwarts of the online Age of Sigmar community, as well as two of the most prolific Black Library authors to have written for the series so far.

Daniel Street from AoS Shorts

Dan runs the brilliant AoS Shorts website, which is dedicated to everything (and I mean everything) AoS-related.

Dan: For my recommendation, I’m going to suggest starting with the micro rather than the macro. The various Age of Sigmar short stories are a great way to discover the Mortal Realms and introduce yourself to the Black Library series for minimal cost. You don’t need to understand the saga of the Realmgate Wars in order to follow and enjoy these works (so there is no need to feel you have to ‘start at the beginning’).

Read the 50 Malign Portents shorts for free, or pick up one of the inexpensive e-books. Try The Sea Taketh by David Guymer for a standalone piece or pick a short story from an existing series – Ghosts of Demesnus for Lord Celestant Gardus, The Old Ways for Guardsman Callis and Witch Hunter Toll, or The Tainted Axe for the characters of the Eight Lamentations series.

[Dan: check out the version on Track of Words for the suggestions of Josh Reynolds, David Guymer and Kenny from the Combat Phase Podcast – ]

I hope this is helpful for anyone keen to make a start on Age of Sigmar fiction but not sure where to begin. If you have any questions or comments, or just want to kick off a conversation about Age of Sigmar, I’m always very happy to chat so please do feel free to leave a comment below, or come and find me on Twitter or Facebook. As I mentioned earlier as well, do also have a look at the main Age of Sigmar reviews page on Track of Words for links out to all of my reviews!