Customer Reviews

Malekith (Time of Legends)

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3 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Although Gav Thorpe's new novel is entitled, "Malekith," its scope is greater than the story of one man. Instead, it delineates the development of the Warhammer world as we know it and recounts the rise and fall of Malekith. In a sense, the story of Malekith is a tragedy rather than an epic. Although the novel has "epic" qualities--the expansion of the elves and the exploration of the unknown world--it is ultimately the story of one man's greed and lust for power. Like Macbeth, a great warrior is lured from the light to the dark by greed and the ministrations of a woman. In Malekith's case it is the greed and ambition of his Mother, Morathi, that taunts him, goads him, and tricks him. Thorpe's Malekith, however, is not one dimensional. Throughout the novel, the reader feels that the means, no matter how despicable, have within Malekith's twisted thinking a logical and noble end--to protect the elves from the Chaos gods. It is this element that raises Thorpe's novel from simply being a good Warhammer story to being a great Warhammer story.

The first novel of the planned trilogy begins with the end of Aenarion and concludes with the death of Bel Shanaar, the Phoenix King. The narrative involves four major set pieces: the expansion of the elves in the east and the alliance with the dwarves; Malekith's exploration of the west and the Chaos waste; Malekith's war against the cultists in Nagarythe; and the betrayal of the Phoenix King.

Thorpe handles the exploration of the east and the establishment of the elven colonies in the old world brilliantly. His description of the dwarven cities is meticulous in its detail. However, the dwarven segment is not simply a side show; it is important to the development of Malekith's character and to the reader's understanding of that character. Although Malekith's anger and ambition are apparent from the beginning of the novel, Malekith truly respects the dwarves and their king. At the end of Part One, Malekith mourns for his lost friend and intends to honor his oath to the Snorri Whitebeard. However, the next section of the novel finds Malekith on his way to the Chaos wastes in the west, where he discovers an ancient city of the Old Ones and discovers a magic circlet that imbues him with new power and insight into the threat of the Chaos gods. From this point on, Malekith moves toward his inevitable fate. His hubris ultimately leads him to the Shrine of Asuryan.

As I read the novel I was struck by several things: the psychological complexity of Malekith's character; the clear detailed descriptions of all the locations; the distinct personality and character of the various Warhammer races; an abiding continuity to Warhammer lore and fluff; and the lucid prose. I have read most of Gav Thorpe's work and I think this may be his best. I am quite anxious to read the second volume of the trilogy.

I highly recommend this novel to both fantasy lovers and gamers. The Warhammer intellectual property is so rich and so developed that it transcends tie-in fiction. With the Time of Legends series, it seems Black Library has decided to up the ante; to create epic works that can proudly compete with any non-IP fantasy fiction. As a companion piece to this work I recommend Graham McNeill's "Guardians of Ulthuan," and "Heldenhammer," Mike Lee and Dan Abnett's Malus Darkblade series, Mike Lee's "Nagash the Sorcerer," and Nathan Long's "Elfslayer."

Malekith follows the titular Witch King throughout the early days of his life, his rise to power in what would eventually become the realms of Men. He is arrogant, elitist, and condescending to everything and everyone around him. Whats so surprising around that with regards to an elf? Nothing. That's what is so surprising in the initial chapters of the book. Theres no blood-spitting megalomania, no thirst for the throne, aside from a brutal disappointment for not being raised at the opportunity.

Malekiths travels take him to his eventual meeting with the dwarves and the initiation of the golden age of the elves, which begins the same way. Elitism which slowly fades to grudging respect and even friendship. There's even some hard-drawn admiration for the first humans, though they're treated more as animals that learned a difficult trick.

One major deviation from the previous evil-incarnate series, Nagash, is that Malekith is within inches of being an anti-hero. He genuinely wanted to save his people. He wanted to be in charge, to have power to be sure, but he saw his kingdom softening, weakening, and sincerely thought that his plan was the only possibility of saving the Elves from eventual ruin. This sets up the tragedy well, as you're not rooting for it to happen, though there is some bitter joy at the scene with the Eternal Flame.

There aren't as many battle scenes apart from the beginning. Its mostly empire building, politics, and personal encounters with several famous characters and locations, especially the discovery of the Iron Circlet, which opens up the possibility of even more ancient history fluff. Regardless, the story flows well, is well written and exquisitely detailed, and differentiates in tone between the elves and the dwarves in such a way that it feels neither dry nor repetitious.

Aenarion the Defender was the first of the Phoenix Kings. After dying for his elven people most believed his son, Malekith, would take up the crown. Aenarion had raised his son with that assumption and trained Malekith in warcraft and ruling. Malekith also inherited his mother's gift for magic. Morathi, the Seeress, taught Malekith how to harness and use the power of Chaos for the good of Ulthuan's people. However, the First Council passed over Malekith and decreed Bel Shanaar to be the new Phoenix King.

Morathi, the queen-regent, is furious that her son has been overthrown. For the sake of peace, Malekith abides by the First Council's decision. Malekith gives the stewardship of Nagarythe to Morathi and sets off on an expedition to the lands of the east. Malekith's actions and battles make him legendary. Not only does he discover and fight beasts unknown to the elven people before, but he also meets the short and fearsome dwarfish people. Prince Malekith and the High King Snorri Whitebeard spend decades fighting at each other's side against trolls, giants, beastmen, and more. They even swear an oath of brotherhood. All is well while Bel Shanaar cared not for the colonies and stayed in Ulthuan. But after one thousand two hundred years, Bel Shanaar comes to meet the dwarfs' ruler, Snorri. With only a few sentences, Bel Shanaar takes credit for all Malekith's actions and negotiations. Bel Shanaar declares to Snorri that Malekith is only the Phoenix King's "embassy". The slight does not go unnoticed by Prince Malekith or his mother, Morathi. She has never stopped telling Malekith that he should return to Ulthuan and claim his birthright as Phoenix King. Malekith's bitterness begins to grow ...

**** FOUR STARS! My synopsis must stop there. To tell more would be to give major spoilers. Much more is going on than I reveal. There are more beasts, battles, magic, dark cults, back stabbing and ancient artifacts than I even hint at. The story is written in two parts. Most of the writing is narration style. The ending feels rushed to me and Malekith's actions unwise. I, as the reader, feel that the ending should have been crafted better. Yet as a whole, this "Time of Legends" story is full of action and adventure. A very good read indeed. ****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

To begin with, Malekith is the first of the elven Sundering series.
The book itself is a great read, though there is a rather strange irony and flaw in the character of Malekith.

--- The Sundering trilogy, unlike Sigmar & Nagash, is written from different perspectives during the same war. Thus one gets different views of the same event with more information and continuation. ---

The book itself is about prince Malekith and his inherited destiny as well as his own destiny. In this case that of his father Aenarion who had drawn Khaine's blade the Widowmaker to stop the daemonic invasion of their homeland. Through it Aenarion tainted his own bloodline with Khaine's dark power and promise as well as became the first Phoenix King.

The problem starts right from the beginning when Aenarion died and a successor is required. The obvious solution for his mother Morathi who expects Malekith to become the second Phoenix King. Unfortunately that is not to be the case.
Malekith himself accepts the new Phoenix King and heads instead for the newly discovered world across the ocean. This is where the initial story develops.

With his ruthlessness Malekith begins an advanced series of conquests against the various threats and monsters. In this environment, at the front of an army facing battle Malekith is the happiest and most content. Malekith himself never has had any patience or desire for the tedium of stewardship. (This irony is rather strange later on)

During his expansion of the elven empire and exploration of the new world Malekith makes new friends and allies. The first strike against Malekith's ego comes when the king only acknowledges Malekith as a loyal subject and not the monumental achievements he has had. Bitterness and hatred arises within Malekith.

Upon one of his returns to the colonies Malekith discovers that strange cults have arisen that indulge in the most perverse and heinous pleasures. Eventually Malekith is tasked with fighting the source of the cult.
To avoid spoiling this part of the book, suffice to say that he manages to stop the source but becomes corrupted himself.

The problem with this was that suddenly Malekith's desire for the Phoenix Throne is enflamed to new heights and his lust for power becomes nearly all consuming. The issue with this to me was, that despite him having always enjoyed being a warrior of unparalleled skills, he suddenly craves the very thing that he loathed the most and had always handed over to others.

This in itself was the strange part of the series, and rather a key story flaw. Luckily aside from this one major flaw the actual book is fascinating: showing Malekith's desires and ambitions that are always aimed at martial prowess.
Yet suddenly he is hell bent on becoming the Phoenix King through being an usuper and eventual acceptance of violence when his patience is at an end.

A good read none the less.

Malekith moves along at an ok pace, and tells a little of the backstory about the Sundering which was when some of the elves broke apart and became "dark elves" although the story doesn't get that far and I hoped it would. Found Malekith, though not yet "fallen", to be less likeable than Malus Darkblade and didn't enjoy the novel as much as the Malus novels but still found it a worthwhile and enjoyable read.

Dear Readers,
I am not a regular reader of the War Hammer stories, and I picked up "Malekith" from among the choices at the Bagram Airbase Post Exchange store as just a book to read after work hours. I haven't read any of the other War Hammer stories so I have no back ground in that area. As a stand-alone story I found Malekith to be adequate entertainment for a few nights reading. I don't know what to make of Malekith, the character. I think he's a very selfish elf, self centered and power hungry, and because of that the reader may not know if he's a good guy or a bad guy. Given the two choices and actions he took, I'd classify him as a bad guy who on occasion does a few good things out of hapstance. Reading this book did not make me want to go out and look for more War Hammer stories but as I said, I found it adequate for a few night's reading diversion. Overall, I enjoyed the book but count it as average among the many stories I've read. Review by Mark Grant, author of Blood of Scotland.

Epic definitely describes this book. The story is about an elf named Malekith (as the title suggests) set in the Warhammer Fantasy world. This books covers what I would estimate to be more than one thousand years. There is so much that happens in this story that it is hard to remember it all. The one thing that sincerely stands-out for me though is that the battle-scenes are very well depicted. If you are a fan of the Warhammer Fantasy miniatures in any way, you will most likely enjoy this book. Even if you are not a fan of the miniature game, this book still has an excellent fantasy-setting story.

This is an extremely rich, beautiful and finely written fantasy novel. Not only it offer a deep character study of Malekith, the book present also a remarkable story subtle and deep in the character's interplay. The whole course of actions of this saga that encompassed Malekith and the Elves nation at large is weaved masterfully by the author. Bravo!

The reviews written by Keith W. Harvey, Ryan Williams and Brian Long on Amazon catch up very well the qualities of this novel. I encourage you to read their text if you want to have more information than my small summary.

Because I was hugely disappointed by the story, I'll keep this short. Gav Thorpe isn't without talent. He just isn't all that good at developing characters and a plot. Malekith was a very one dimensional read, about a troubled prince struggling and succeeding in a world Thorpe only really bothers to describe through the eyes of Malekith. Had I read this in middle school, I would have given it 5 stars. Having had the pleasure of already reading epic novels, I just found this one lacking, and didn't even enjoy the abrupt ending.

Malekith is the novel you hoped Gav Thorpe would write. No one else would have been remotely qualified. This isn't simply because he also wrote the dwarf and dark elf army books, though that undoubtedly helped. As Angels of Darkness, 13th Legion and the early short story 'The Faithful Servant' all attest, he can, more than any other Black Library author, add layers of flesh and blood, hope and despair to the bones of Warhammer characters. Psychological realism, deftly analysed, crisply reported, is his strength. Here, it is equal to its subject.

Many will perceive the novel as a tragedy, an epic, or both. So it is. But it's also a character study. This is not to belittle Thorpe's achievement--on the contrary. The best GW novels (Fulgrim, Flight of the Eisenstein, Angels of Darkness) tend to be character studies. You might wonder why this should be, but why is the answer. Most readers already know how things happened; but their curiosity itches to know why. That makes all the difference. It also demands more than one fight scene after another. The author has to break through the realism barrier and plunge into inner space. In telling the rise and fall of Malekith, Thorpe finds a perfect trajectory for this journey.

We first meet Malekith a year after the death of his father, Aenarion the Defender, tragic hero and saviour of the elves. Chaos has been routed; Ulthuan is in ruins. But it has a future. But a new king needs to be crowned. Malekith is presented as the heir apparent. The other nobles have their doubts. You can see why. Morathi, Malekith's mother and loudest supporter, makes Sarah Palin seem well-adjusted by comparison. An enlightened path and 'debate with the peons' is no good - only iron rule, 'the right to decide for all', will secure Ulthuan's future. Embarrassed, Malekith offers a calmer petition on his behalf, but swears to abide by the council's decision. Another noble, Bel Shanaar of Tiranoc, is swiftly chosen and crowned instead.

The decision, of course, gnaws at Malekith, but not for the reasons you suspect. Honour and glory are stepping stones, but the loss of his father, the feeling of someway failing his legacy to protect the elf race, grip him as tightly as a hand around his throat. Even Asuryan himself is dwarfed by the dark gods; something needs to be done.

Hardly a load of laughs, you might think. But in fact, thanks to Thorpe's playful wit, there is comedy amid all the tragedy. The early chapters concerning the culture clash with the dwarfs - and Malekith's later speech to their uncomprehending ears - are very funny, as well as invigoratingly realistic. Simple things, such as words for precious metals and the texture of food and drink speak volumes about the culture Malekith explores, and so do Malekith's reactions to them.

This is Thorpe's best work to date--which is saying a lot. It features all his favourite themes - fascism, metaphysics, faith - and with them covers a larger, wider canvas than any he has attempted before. Not to be missed.