Thursday 1 September 2011

FANTASY REVIEW: Warhammer Fantasy: Defenders of Ulthuan, Son's of Ellyrion - Graham McNeill

Release Date: 01/09/11

SYNOPSIS:

The high elves have long been the protectors of the Warhammer World, and their homeland of Ulthuan is known for the powerful magic that surrounds it. At the heart of Ulthuan lies a magical vortex, and the mages who created it remain trapped in a space out of time, endlessly working the spell that keeps the world from becoming a seething Realm of Chaos.

When Ulthuan comes under attack from the forces of Chaos and dark elves led by the Witch King and the hag sorceress, Morathi, the high elves must hold firm or face disastrous consequences.

In Defenders of Ulthuan Graham McNeill tells the epic tale of the struggle between good and evil.


REVIEW:

Whilst this book was originally released back in December of 2007, it’s been revamped with a spiffy new cover to accompany the second tale in the series by Graham McNeill. Its cleverly written, the characters are outstanding and whilst some of the races in some of the Warhammer world are hard to get to know, it portrays a more realistic emotional version of the Elves that too many other titles have avoided making them almost Vulcan in certain regards.

As usual with Graham the title is character driven and with a myriad of dark plans for the war yet to be unveiled its one that will keep the readers glued from start to finish. Just make sure that you have the second ready to roll as soon as the final page is turned as personally I couldn’t wait to get my teeth into the meat of this bloody war where no quarter is asked nor given. Great stuff.


Release Date: 01/09/11

SYNOPSIS:

Ulthuan is a land at the verge of destruction. At Lothern, a fell army marches against the elven defenders of Prince Imrik and Prince Tyrion. In Averlorn, two brothers fight for forgiveness and their right to defend their people. But at Tor Elyr, the conflict will be lost and won. The druchii army, led by Morathi and Issyk Kul, battles the gathered might of the high elves in a vast, destructive conflict. But Morathi has even grander plans than this – to destroy the vortex that holds Ulthuan together, plunging the island into a nightmare domain of Chaos. The noble elves must overcome their dark cousins, or else face the end of their race.


REVIEW:

Whenever an author returns to the same characters from an earlier novel to write a sequel, theres always a danger that they won’t match up to the readers original thoughts about them or that the author never really manages to reassociate themselves fully in order to keep the two titles in the same vein.

What Graham does in this, the second book in this miniseries is not only manage to reconnect but the overall arc is one that is set to enthuse as well as capture the reader during this dark time of the Elven Wars. It’s creative, the Dark Elves attack meticulously planned including the use of a patsy and of course the whole tale is one that really will keep you on tenterhooks from start to finish.

Add to this some wonderful flourishes in regard to character growth and previous character associations which when backed with a definitive writing style really makes this a book that is nigh impossible to put down. Just make sure that you enjoy this during your holidays as otherwise I don’t feel bosses will understand that you can’t come in due to pointy ear exhaustion.

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