This is a bizarre one, but not for the reason that you might expect. In almost twenty years of reading Black Library fiction, I don't think that I have read a story so openly promoted and yet so overlooked as Callis and Toll: The Silver Shard. It's not that the book is bad, and it even offers the sort of story that Age of Sigmar has needed far more of since its release, with more general colourful figures on realm spanning quests over huge armies. Yet, even one year after its publication, few people seem to have reviewed it.
So, let's remedy that.
The Synopsis:
In the city of Excelsis, a band of mercenaries hunt for a lost relic. Led by a sinister figure who hides his guise behind a mask, only the promise of pay and the desire to escape alive keeps them going. Yet the threat posed by their employer is far greater than any of them could imagine, and the Realm of Beasts will soon face an ancient threat the likes of which have not been seen in centuries. Yet as the aelf hunter Shev is drawn into this plot, she soon realises that she is not the only one which has been drawn to this quest. The Witch Hunter Toll and the ex-Free Guilder Callis are hunting her employer, who has more than merely his greed as his greatest sin.
The Good:
The best part of the entire story is its tone and approach. Age of Sigmar has opted for something grandiose, something high fantasy and a few bits of steampunk to keep things interesting. It's a good mix, but in trying to focus upon the epic legends angle, it lost something in terms of its smaller stories. Tales like The Silver Shard are a step away from that, and they allow the reader to see more of the overall world (well, worlds) even when they are brimming with action. They're more Fellowship of the Ring than Return of the King, and it's definitely a welcome change of pace. Because of this, we see far more of the Realm of Beasts, the societies established there and get a good idea of just what the wider world is like. Much of this is present in the second act, which devotes a substantial amount of time to having the heroes travel across a monster-infested ocean to a corsair dominated port city.
The book isn't nearly so tied into the tabletop models as you would expect, and it veers away from promoting the major factions of the game. There are no Stormcast Eternals, Chaos shows up but in a manner that you would not expect, and the Seraphon play a role but vary heavily from their tabletop counterparts. The only groups which retain serious comparisons with their tabletop minis are a band of Kharadron Overseers and the Witch Hunter in the title. None of these are written in complete opposition to their tabletop variants or with an intentional desire to completely break from them. However, it never feels as if there's some requirement to show off each and every one, which makes the world feel much, much bigger as a result.
The story is also excellent when it comes to hinting at things but only showing so much. The various lost cities of knowledge that the groups encounter have been long overrun by greenskins or worse things, and only fragmented memories remain. Details surrounding the prior Age of Myth are key to the story, but Horth does an excellent job of only showing so much at any one time to keep you guessing. Furthermore, these are addressed and delved into in a relatively irreverent style which befits an adventure tale of this nature. While it's not exactly one-to-one, it's the closest that Warhammer will likely ever get to something along the lines of The Mummy films. Well, that or having an atmosphere which has you humming the Indiana Jones theme under your breath as you read it.
The characters are a nicely broad mix of individuals, with conflicting values, desires and roles. They are very boldly detailed and do fit into certain niches as you would expect, but there is a very well rounded quality to their writing and their conversations give them a very human quality. Even though you're always aware that you're reading story, it makes them lifelike enough to forgive an accept that fact.
Finally, the fights are excellently described at many points. This isn't so much the case where the heroes are vastly outnumbered, but any situations where they are facing small gangs of enemies or a big monster stand out well. You can clearly tell where everyone is supposed to be, and actions flow extremely easily from one moment into the next. The fact that the heroes and those accompanying them shift around so frequently also means that it feels constantly fresh, and from the second act onward they remain a strong element in the book.
However, from that last line, I think you know where the weaknesses are going to come into play.
The Bad:
So not to mince words, let's outline this clearly for all involved: The starting chapters to The Silver Shard are quite difficult to get through. They are easily the weakest in the entire book and the way in which they are executed seems to actively avoid Horth's strengths as a writer. There is very little in the way of easing the reader into the wider world, or even the characters in question. It just very abruptly starts, and you have to keep up with it. To make matters more difficult, it also spends almost all of this time following Shev and the main villain. As such, you're left wondering why you are following this character, and why the clearly ominously evil person hasn't revealed himself yet. Honestly, it's the sort of involvement where the mercenaries have been hired by John Not-A-Villain-At-All and then act surprised when he does turn on them.
The environments also lack the varied and dynamic nature of later areas, and much of this is due to how they are presented. We are given a very generic forest environment - with a few fun enemies at one point - followed by a large horde of Orruks occupying a ruin. It's one of these irritating situations where the sheer lack of a proper introduction undermines what is an otherwise good sequence, and that is only knocked down further by later issues. The first of these being that we have a band facing off in a three-way melee against more numerous opponents, which works against Horth's writing strengths, and then a surprise arrival. Callis and Toll's relationship with the villain is also delivered via an "as you know" detail which you can very easily miss, and the ideas behind it only become much clearer when they are repeated later on.
The point of this is that most of the book's failings are made very evident in the first few chapters, but there is little to nothing of its strengths brought up to help balance them out. It's only when things calm down and the heroes have more time to talk that it seriously starts to improve.
However, even considering the difficult beginning, there are a number of other problems which do crop up in the story. The first of these is that it is very predictable much of the time, and you can usually tell how things will pan out. This isn't so obvious in terms of who might arrive so much as how they will act once they do, and what their involvement in the story will be. It doesn't hinder how well these scenes are told, or even how effectively they are used, but you can usually predict how they will act in relation to the heroes. This will certainly bother some people more than others, so it's very much an issue which will vary from person to person.
However, a definite problem overall within the story stems from how it so often makes its titular characters seem like supporting figures within the story. They are introduced late into the book and the importance of their role varies heavily throughout the tale. Because of this, the story can feel oddly out of focus at various points, as if it doesn't quite know who to follow. You can work without a protagonist in some tales, certainly, but in this case, it's as if the book is trying to select a different person for its leading role every other chapter.
The Verdict:
The Silver Shard is deeply divided between very good and very flawed segments, with the latter sadly coming into play first. After reading through it twice it is easy to see just why it might have been logical for the book to be structured in this manner. Yet without foreknowledge of the overall narrative, it proves to be confusing, and it doesn't fully pick up until the second act. Because of this flaw, it's very easy to put down the book and never feel the drive to pick it up again.
However, even with this problem, the story does show a great deal of promise. Horth has a solid style of prose, and a nice balance between descriptions and action when he has more of a general world to world with. He avoids a lot of the more detailed purple prose of other writers, but he doesn't allow this to make the world seem empty or lackluster through his presentation. Plus, for all their flaws, I was interested in these characters and remembered their names long after I finished reading. If there was to be a sequel which improved upon the flaws here, I think it would be a great book.
As for this one, if you're interested in Age of Sigmar at all, I would suggest delving into this one but just keep in mind that it is deeply flawed.
Verdict: 4 out of 10
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