NAGASH!!!

Well, this was something.

I know a bit about the world of Warhammer 40K, which oddly does nothing for me at parties. I know even less about the world of Vanilla Warhammer, so I thought, "Son, it's time to rectify that.' Maybe then I won't spend so much time alone looking at record collections at the copious parties I attend.

Nagash The Sorcerer tells the tale of a young priest who thinks he's better than everyone else and how he becomes King and now thinks he's really better than everyone else. Along the way he commits atrocity after atrocity in his fist clenching quest for power, until neighbouring kingdoms say "Enough already' and try to murder him.

Nagash's chosen route for self realization is skipping along the cheerful path of necromancy. Along with the expected Harryhausen armies of skeletons, author Mike Lee comes up with a few other horrific applications of said art that had me turning the pages, muttering 'What the fuck next?"

Nagash The Sorcerer is more a horror novel than a fantasy novel, complete with a seemingly unstoppable serial killer (Nagash) and opposing kings and priests, who seem about as competent as the latest group of teen counselors at Crystal Lake. Set in a land that is very much modeled after Ancient Egypt, Lee spends a fair amount of time building up the land's culture and history without skrimping on the horror and action scenes. It's not surprising that since this based on a tabletop wargame, there are many pages dedicated to battle formations and movements of armies, for all the good it does them.

As lurid and dark as it is, I did enjoy Nagash The Sorcerer. I'm not sure how much I've actually learned about Vanilla Warhammer, but I just know enough not to go within twenty miles of where Nagash is.