Iron Company

Chris Wraight's Iron Company marks the second entry in the Empire Army series and builds on the foundation established by Richard Williams in Reiksguard. Admittedly, I was a bit lukewarm towards Rieksguard; the narrative was a bit slow and uneven at times, there were a LOT of characters that were often hard to keep track of, and I had trouble getting a good sense of what Williams wanted the book to be (a political drama or a war story). However, Wraight takes a serviceable foundation set by Williams and improves upon it by leaps and bounds. Perhaps it's the characters, perhaps it's the narrative; whatever the reason, I found Iron Company to be a much more compelling and interesting read. The Iron Company of the title's namesake refers to the gunners and engineers of the Empire charged with firing and maintaining the lumbering artillery of the army. Here, the story focuses on Magnus Ironblood, a grizzled veteran, an alcoholic, a man on his last legs in the Empire army. Magnus is approached to lead the artillery of an Imperial force staked to overthrow a rogue margravine set to cause havoc in the Hochland countryside. Magnus begrudgingly accepts, gathering a small crew of engineers to help him lead the iron company to victory or ruin. Joined by Silvio Messina, a Tilean engineer with flair, Thorgad Grimgarsson, a dwarf with a secret motive, and his longtime friend Tobias Hildenbrandt, Ironblood sets of to siege the margravine's mysterious citadel, Morgramgar. What follows is an excited and tense narrative involving all manners of siege warfare, something that is exciting and really unique to a fantasy setting. The siege warfare is really what makes this book shine. Battles are exciting and tense, the manner in which they are conducted is quite believable, and it's really a refreshing alternative to the open battlefield warfare of a lot of fantasy novels. Wraight does a fine job establishing Morgramgar as an entity unto itself, which really makes the sieges come to life. And while the battles really do make the book great, it's the characters that allow the story to flow and function well. Unlike Reiksguar, we are dealing with, essentially, four characters throughout the novel. There are auxiliary characters of course, a warrior priest here, the ubiquitous steely army general there, but the novel belongs to Magnus, Silvio, Hildenbrandt, and Thorgad. We're introduced the characters early and they're able to grow throughout the novel. We're not subject to the convoluted character histories of Rieksguard, nor are we asked to juggle characters that aren't easily discernable from each other. It makes the read a lot more enjoyable. Additionally, Magnus Ironblood is a really good protagonist. He isn't overly likeable. Despite his abilities as a master engineer, he has his character warts. But that's what makes him a good character. We grow to really like Magnus as we're allowed inside his head and privy to his history, despite those flaws, and that mak

This novel is a well written cross between sci fi and fantasy. In a world that has dwarfs, goblins and beast men there are black powder weapons form cannon to rockets. The hero is Engineer Magnus Ironblood and the villain is his school friend Rathmor with a battle for a northern mountain castle that is well built and well defended. The point seems to be that armored cannon that are steam powered are weapons of mass destruction too horrible to contemplate in this world. The novel has hand grenades beside axe welding dwarfs in a real contrast of war that takes one back to the 16th century. I liked the novel that resulted and it really makes some points about the ignorance and distrust of technology by the upper class, that points out why Europe never made good use of science and technology until the first world war. That an iron clad wagon ( even drawn by horses) makes more sense than cannon fodder type formations of gunners that Europe used for so long had occurred to me. I think that the next step of robot weapons may be put in use faster?

Set in the Warhammer universe, this book is a pleasant surprise. Up to now, I have been mostly disappointed in the Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 books. But, Mr. Wraight has changed my mind. He tells a quick moving story with decent character and plot development. The pacing is very good and, at times, it became a page turner. Basically, the story is about a engineer who has become a drunk and now is searching for his redemption. Though in some rebellion against the Empire, old grudges, a dwarf and a rouge and you have the makings of a good tale! If you are looking for a good and entertaining fantasy read, this is it. This is not epic fantasy, it just a good story that you can sit back and enjoy. Enjoy!

Magnus Ironblood is a washed up cannon engineer who drowns his sorrows in cheap ale; he is a shadow of his former self after some mysterious tragedy. This book isn't high fantasy ala Tolkien, or even in depth like R.A. Salvatore, no, it's a quick, fun read to keep you entertained for a day or so. You won't come out of it with a changed perspective on the world, and the story won't shock you with in depth twists and turns, but for what it is, I found it to be a great book. There is consistent action throughout, no grandiose or verbose descriptions of the plains they traverse, and enough of a storyline to keep me entertained between battles. Another successful book in the Warhammer Universe, as long as you go into it with the right attitude toward what it will provide.

I have been somewhat critical of the Warhammer series of the Black Library by various authors, but Chris Wraight distinguishes himself in the way he handles this military fantasy adventure. The protagonist, Magnus Ironblood, is a disgraced engineer (as that term was used in the Renaissance), meaning he is an expert in the design, manufacture and use of canons, firearms and other seige weapons. He is also a drunk, and as we meet him, he is at least approaching 50, and finds himself in a rather backwards country. Unfortunately, he is discovered by agents of the prince in the area and impressed into an army being gathered to supress a rebellious countess who has secluded herself in a mighty and remote fortress where she is gathering a powerful mercenary army. As disgraced drunks tend to be selfish, Magnus is no exception, and lures his old comrade Hildebrand away for hearth and family to assist him in ramrodding the artilery train along with the army. A prior army totally disappeared, but financial desperation and a feeble hope at some sort of redemption for a great failing in the past compel Ironblood to accept the commission. Accompanied by untrustworthy mercernaries and a mysterious dwarf, the first hurdles and challenges are bad terrain and difficult travel into the mountains. One of his mercenaries seems intent on advancing himself at Ironblood's expense, so nobody except Hildebrand is trustworthy. The campaing and seige takes many wonderful and mysterious twists, before reaching a final desperate conclusion. This is a very satisfying read. RECOMMENDED. RECOMMENDED.