Customer Reviews

Darkness Rising: A Complete History of the Storm of Chaos (Warhammer)

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Darkness Rising: A complete history of the Storm of Chaos is the second art/background book produced by Games Workshop for its dark, gritty, and detailed Warhammer Fantasy setting and the new standard by which they will be measured. Darkness Rising covers the Storm of Chaos, the most horrific continent wide war that shook the nations and peoples of the Old World and beyond to their very core.

This is a beautiful book. Don't let the simple description of "paperback" fool you, this is a large book rather than a simple market novel one might obtain at the bookstore. The binding of this book is top notch and is composed of reinforced paper. The interior pages are a high quality gloss and beautifully designed. The artwork was created by a vast cast of spectacular artists who capture the mood of the Warhammer Fantasy setting and the trying times of the Storm of Chaos perfectly. Their images are at times subtle, playing second fiddle to the prominence of the text and at other points beautifully dynamic and spread across both pages in massive works that draw the eye to the minutest of details.

Darkness Rising: A complete history of the Storm of Chaos is written from the perspective of Frederich "Old" Weirde of Altdorf the capital city of the Empire. Old Fred is a self described noted scholar, professor of esoteric studies, historian, antiquarian, fellow of the Altdorf Men's Historical Society and connoisseur of the finest Estalian Port. It is from his eyes that we bear witness to some of the most dramatic events of the Storm of Chaos and thanks to the correspondence he receives from his son who is out in the fields we are given a profound impression of not just the events of this dark time but their effects on the populace and the nation as a whole.

A beautiful book for both collectors and enthusiasts alike, Darkness Rising will add detail to the imagination of any fan of the Warhammer Fantasy miniatures game, readers of the novels, or players of the recently released Warhammer Fantasy RPG. Particularly, the images contained within will allow people unfamiliar with the setting to, in a glance, be seduced by the dark grandeur of this immersive world. You will not be disappointed.

Great Artwork, and Perfectly coordinated with the Fluff, recommended for any fantasy or warhammer fan.

This is basically a history book chronicling the events that occurred during the Storm of Chaos. The barbarians and Chaos Hordes invaded from the north, while the Greenskins attacked the Empire from the east. Humans, elves, and dwarves banded together to battle against the invasion.

The book is written from the perspective of a scholar from Altdorf, while a young man, named Stefan, is writing him letters detailing the invasion from the front lines.

The events in the book are great. Ominous perversions of nature foreshadow the invasion. Then small battles lead up to the Warhammer equivalent of World War II. The book describes the heroes, weapons, tactics, and battles. The writing is descriptive and inspirational.

This is a useful book if you want to immerse your imagination in the Warhammer Universe.

Aside from quality writing, the information in the book is presented poorly. Many of the letters from Stefan are typed in a very small and very fancy cursive font that resembles the text used in wedding invitations. It's printed over graphics that look like stained and burned parchment and it's incredibly difficult to read.

The book also features art. The quality of the art ranges from Excellent to Magic Card Quality to Partially Painted Sketches. In many cases, the art doesn't match the text. For example: On page 74, Stefan talks about Chaos Siege Engines and says he included a sketch. If you look below, there is a picture of a Chaos Demon. On the opposite page, there are two knights fighting. On the following page, there is a massive picture of a battle. On page 78, there is a picture of elves. Page 79 is a full page sketch of the Chaos Siege Engine. Why isn't the art next to its description?

This book would have been much better if a little more thought was put into the layout of the pages and the art complimented the text.

Overall, this is a pretty good deal at $8. It's a paperback book, but it is 8.5" x 11.5" and is almost 100 pages. It is useful if you want some inspiration about the events surrounding the Chaos War and some pretty good art references.