Spectator? Team owner?

To each their own.

Orc team I

Troll is done already, and obviously it will not do to have a hungry troll about without some gobbos. I believe these four all deserve to be in the squad.

Two are feisty fighters, two are uncomfortable about getting hurled or eaten by the troll.

Book review: The Corrupted

Robert Earl has long been on my radar, that is to say that I have noticed his name and have another of his books lying around (unread), so I gave "The Corrupted" a read.

The plot delivers a few twists, so I won't say too much about it. It features a fat wizard and his apprentice travelling North in search of another wizard who has become corrupted by Chaos, as well as a band of Witch hunters in hot pursuit as well. I don't know if I ruin it for anybody by saying that this all turns pretty ugly along the way, the further North they get.

As earlier reviews have suggested, I like my chaos more as a cancer than as a punch to the face. The corruption of denizens of the Warhammer World is a bit more interesting to read about than just somewhat pitiful attempts at describing big battles, be they legendary or not. This book offers plenty of that, and it is fairly nifty attempt to knot together different strands, characters entangled in the same sordid matter. I like how Earl treats Chaos, at least in this book, as something infectious, a stain that won't come out, no matter how hard you rub it.

What's good? It offers some interesting characters, some unlikely. How many obese grey wizards have YOU come across in Warhammer books? it may not be worth the read for that reason alone, but still. It also offers some more insight into wizards in general, though they may seem a bit too ridiculous, comical or silly for some people who like their magic a bit more cool. I think what I like best is the frailty and somewhat pathetic nature of all the characters in the book, though some teeter on the brink of silliness at times.

What's bad? It's too short. Granted, the plot might not have been able to stretch across another 100 or so pages, but I think I would have like to see an honest attempt. At least another 50 could have done the book good, and there was no indication that Earl could not have pulled this off, having a wealth of decent characters and a rich setting to draw upon.

Rating: 3 out 5. A Twix, not an actual meal, tasty but not filling.

Troll

This mofo needs a bit more work. Chains, a thumb... minor details. He is a big boy, but he fits a small base. May need a counter when he goes down.

Repositioned, disarmed, padded. Not neutered, though. Mean and stupid.

Testing my new lightbox without bothering to rearrange lamps much... so far it seems like it improves things quite a bit.

Fear not, I have been busy in the laboratory, but until I make a suitable light box to improve my pictures, I will keep my current project under wraps. It is near completion, though I ran out of vital components. Arms, as it happens.

Meanwhile, I will continue with some book reviews, and I should be back on track later this week, all depending on work and such.

Book review: Realm of Chaos

Edited by Marc Gascoigne and Andy Jones, short stories by a range of authors.

It may not exactly be fair to review them all in one go. It comes across as guilt by association for some who may have written a brilliant pearl of a novella, yet find it buried deep in this... book.

I read the collections of short stories, embittered by my experiences with Warhammer novels. Not that they are all so poor, and I have even reviewed some of the better ones that I have read on this blog, but I find that several have too little substance to carry you through a whole book. Inane plots, boring characters with no depth, popular films transported and adapted to the Warhammer world, cliches... all in a flurry of adjectives to disguise the fact that you've paid good money for something that most college level aspiring writers could probably produce. At least with a gun to the head.

As you may have guessed, this one has a few real stinkers.

I'll tell you where Andy Jones went wrong: He put his own short stories in. These are godawful. Grunsonn's marauders are a sad effin bunch, and the comedy is neither funny nor in the right place, as most of the other stories seem to go for a splash of horror. They feature in no less than two stories in this book. Both should have been flushed.

I'll tell you where Marc Gascoigne went wrong: Not shouting "Blood for the Blood God!" and slaying Andy Jones for his awful stories.

There are two stories by Gav Thorpe as well. Some Warhammer enthusiasts may love his work, and I confess I have not read enough of it to truly weigh in with an opinion on his authorship. I am guessing it may be better NOW than when he wrote these two short stories, but to be fair, they are both high enough in quality to warrant being included. Predictable, yet with enough mood and detail. The last one, "Faithful Servant" is actually quite good, open-ended (fairly rare in Warhammer books) and with a good sense of how not to try and make MORE out of just one moral question.

Most of the other stories deserve neither praise or mockery. If I had to pick a favourite, I would say "Wolf in the Fold" by Ben Chessell (who also got two stories in here), though "Hounds of Winter" may deserve a mention as well, with Jonathan Green also contributing two stories.

Maybe I am too picky, but I just did not see anything here that absolutely needed to be published. I sometimes use these books as starting points, looking up the authors to see if they've written more, interesting looking stuff. I have not done that this time.

The book was essentially free, and I paid a pittance for S&H, and the read was quick. I would perhaps recommend it to commuters or young readers, but not to veteran readers or picky curmudgeons like me.

Rating: 2 out of 5. Inspires people to write their own.

Nurgle team VIII

Last bunch of rotters. Meet the feebles. Or rather, meet these optimists, catchers you might call them and laugh a bit.

Maybe it was not exactly need that made me give them this pose, but it IS pretty good for football.