The First Chronicle of Malus Darkblade

A souls trip through shame and depravity with true glory just out of of reach all along the way all the more frustrating because he deserves it more than anyone. For a fantasy novel of such comic belligerence gore and action it truly delivers some complex themes in such an unlikely character on this dark spiritual journey. Through sacrifice and barely restrained hate and rage Malus races slogs and drudges through his Odyssey with a monkey on his back all along the way. This was my first introduction to Warhammer and I had no problem jumping right into such an expansive universe the authors do a wonderful job of making that segway as painless as possible whilst offering a truly unique fantasy experience. Probably my favorite fantasy of all time I related to this character in some strange ways when i read it back when it first came out think LotR + Thomas Covenant with a touch of trainspotting.

This first chronicle of Malus Darkblade includes books 1 - 3. The best book is the first one, "The Daemon's curse", the second and third books are weak. But the first book is really good and more than makes up for the other two and has a lot of atmosphere and great action sequences. Be sure to buy the second chronicle which covers the last two books (4-5) which are both superb, especially the last book "Lord of Ruin" which is the best book of the series. To summarize, these books are action extravaganzas with a lot of dark fantasy atmosphere thrown in such as dungeons, various fearsome monsters that the main character has to overcome and magical relics, and wizards or to be more precise, sorceresses. Its kind of like an old fashioned fantasy series where the emphasis is on entertainment and it succeeds rather well. The writers are very good in creating the setting with descriptive words and the action scenes are remarkable. The main story is compelling throughout, which involves a dark elf's search for 5 magical relics of great power and the bargain he makes with a powerful daemon. Highly recommended to fantasy enthusiasts.

I will skip the "what happens in this book" and just say that this is a different sort of fantasy novel. The protagonist is every bit the anti-hero. He is vicious, duplicitous, corrupt, vengeful and a master at guile and betrayal. In fact the only way to stay alive around him is to be more valuable alive then dead. But even with that the authors struggle to walk a tightrope. Malus must remain evil but he must also remain sympathetic to some degree. Sometime he is made more sympathetic by comparison to others around him (who are far worse) and sometimes he is made more sympathetic when he shows some small amount of loyalty or camaraderie. But then he start to look like he is not evil enough and the authors feel compelled to have him do something startlingly cruel. The result is a character who is a touch uneven. But this is certainly forgivable for the effort at trying to create a truly interesting and unique protagonist.

Malus Darkblade are the best Warhammer books I have ever read. You really do not need to be a "hero" type of guy. This is a masterpiece that present evil, hatred, battle, etc. in all it's glory. You will cheer for Malus for his sheer coolness, throwing away his hatred toward pretty much everything away. Talk is minimal, and hardly any conversation ends without blood and guts getting spilled all over the place. This is what all Warhammer books should be like. I feel like protesting because Malus series ended. I...neeed..moooore!

Have you ever been in the mood for something besides the normal goody two shoes fantasy star? You know what I mean. Someone who doesn't do the predictable things like save the maiden or charge off to right EVERY wrong. Ever wonder if there was more to the bad guys than them just being BAD? If so then you might just like this series. Malus Darkblade isn't your typical blonde haired hero. In fact he's a dark elf, one of these much overused supreme evil guys who always seem to pop up when an author just wants a source of all that evil planning. I wont say that Dan Abnett and Mike Lee's novels of Malus brings the evil dark elves into three dimensions, since I can't honestly say that the character seemed alive to me, but Malus is definitely a solid two dimensions. That's alot more than what we usually get in alot of fantasy fiction nowadays. We get to see the characters motivations and thoughts. We can begin to understand what drives him and how his actions are driven by what his upbringing has taught him is the right way to solve problems. As for the story? We Malus is the bastard son of a powerful noble with siblings who see him as a drain on the the family resources. He strives to make his own way and gets involved in dark elf politics, bound to a demon and driven on a quest. I won't giveaway anymore than that since it would ruin the surprise but I will say that it is a good read. So if your in the mood for an Anti hero and a good read then get this one. I doubt you'll be disappointed.

This is an excellent Warhammer story within the Dark Elves world. It tells the adventure of Malus Darkblade, a great and true Anti-hero. This is the series that drives me to read the other Black Library novels. This book is a compilation standing in two volumes. This one is the first one. It regroup book #1 to #3 of the series and contains an extra short novel about Malus. In addition there is an interview with Dan Abnett and Mike Lee. Since it release, I had the occasion to read the 2 extra texts included in this compilation. The interview with Dan Abnett and Mike Lee on the creation of Malus Darkblade is very interesting. It doesn't spoile the story. It will give you numerous side information and comments about how they have come to create this fantastic character and environment. I found the interview well made and informative on their creative process and perspective about Malus Darkblade. The extra Short novel is also extremely well written and thought. In this short story, we find back, right away, all the elements and mood we enjoyed so much within all the books that have made the series. I think the authors master their topic even more, because in about 40-50 pages they succeed to deliver a fluide and rich story with lots of info and plots. It also add to the whole series since it is set right before the begining of the first book, The Daemon's Curse. It give more depth to some of Malus early acolyte such as Silar. It told the story of Malus's raid to get slaves and gold, while the first book starts when he come back from this venture. In addition, the authors still succeed to include elements that will supprise the reader and enrich the main character and the environment captured and depicted throughout the whole serie. Concerning the main story, I found it never redundant; there is full of plots and they are very well thought; there is amazing lines shots by Malus and the other characters; the Dark Elves and their mentality are very well depicted and they offer an original and truly sinister setting for this story; finally there is Malus Darkblade, an amazing character that is a step above his own kind in terms of malice. Within this mad environment, the author succeeds to build a story that is credible and characters that we perversely enjoy to follow. The author, also, makes no compromise on how vile the Dark Elves could be. Every characters in the series is dark. Yet, the author succeeds to have them interact with each other in such way that it remains credible. That create a world where every Dark Elves felt to be on their guard and where everyone is a tool to achieve one own ends. Their relations are devoided of humanity, leaving place only to fear and cold instrumental relations. However, within this world, Malus and his kind are not paralyzed by fear, because there is hate. Hate is what keeps them moving forward: hate and maybe ambition.