I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Marvel Untold novel Reign of the Devourer by David Annadale, published by Aconyte Books, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.
So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first. I have a casual work contact with Asmodee to demonstrate board games for them in stores and at conventions. Asmodee being the parent company of Aconyte the publisher.
I am also friends with David on Facebook, but I suspect that’s more about him connecting with fans rather than being a big fan of mine!
I am going to try my best to not let that cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.
What is Marvel
Look at this point I would bore you with a bit of background to the game/universe, but lets not, you all know the Marvel Universe, if you don’t have you been living under a rock!
The Story
This story focuses on Doctor Victor von Doom, the ruler of the Eastern European country of Latveria, and is a sequel to last years Harrowing of Doom.
In this story Dooms desire for power and control leads him to attempt to regain knowledge that was lost on Walpurgis Night in the previous book, and with the assistance of the priest turned geomancer Zargo and surgeon Orloff, he searches for a repository of stolen memories and knowledge buried beneath Latveria.
But Maleva Krogh, a former member of Latverias ruling elite has a connection to the Devourer of memories, and is granted the power of the Urvullak, a deadly strain of Latverian vampires who steal the very soul of their victims.
Conclusion
The book is a slow burner, it takes a while to get going, but once it does the action is frantic, and epic.
It’s a very different novel to its predecessor, in that book Doom knew what was coming and was planning several steps ahead, whereas in this book, he was forced to react to the Urvullak who he was not expecting whatsoever.
In the last book you got time to know the main characters in the build up to Walpurgis Night, whereas this book takes place over a shorter timeframe, and you get less of the background. So I would say that the previous book is best read before this for maximum enjoyment.
Zargos inner turmoil is really well written, he is a man who made a choice to deny his powers and take a different path, but now has that choice taken from him. He is tortured inside and he is forced to develop his abilities further to fight the threat of the Urvullak.
Orloff gets a lot more fleshed out as Doom takes her from practising medicine to developing a new science, which is eventually weaponised as she becomes a warrior and potentially Dooms greatest tool in the fight against Krogh.
My favourite part of the book really is Krogh and the Urvullak, they are written in a way that is terrifying and horrific.
What they do is so awful, they way they rip away your soul and transform you into one of them. They feel just as much a threat on their own as they do when amassed as an army.
They are chilling and something like out of a horror film, absolutely petrifying.
This book takes a turn toward horror that I wasn’t expecting, reinforcing Annandale as a writer who is one of licensed fictions best writers of the weird and dreadful.
This book gets 4 out of 5 stars from me!
You can buy the eBook now, and the paperback is available in the US now and will be in the UK on 28th April.
This week I have been doing a lot of research about Battle Reports, I am trying to branch out a bit from Imperium ones.
I am hoping to do a Blood Bowl Sevens or Heresy one tomorrow, but it’s dependent on what’s happening overall in the day.
Me and Lindsay are thinking of joining Skillshare so I can try and figure out some ways to take photos better and get an easier way to produce the reports.
But let’s see what we can do!
What I Am Modelling
I started off by painting Morg ‘n’ Thorg, which means I have no more Blood Bowl left to paint 🙁
I am currently working on some Assault Intercessors for the Blood Angels army I share with Megan.
So what’s coming up next week?
Blood Angels Assault Intercessors x 8, Primaris Lieutenant & Librarian in Phobos Armour
Orruk Weirdnob Shaman
Death Korps of Krieg Medusa x 2
T’au Breacher Squad x 10
Ork Terrain
Khorne Blood Warriors x 10
Ork Burna Boyz
Sicaran Infiltrators x 5
T’au Fire Warriors x 10
Ork Nobz x 5
What I Am Reading
Not made much progress on my book, but I have listened to a couple of audiobooks, first was the Bookkeeper’s Skull by Justin Hill which was very good, and just a little bit creepy.
Paint the Primaris Ultramarines to 2000 Points – 25% Complete
The first 500 points are painted, we now have a combat patrol led by Uriel Ventris, and consisting of an Intercessor Squad, Redemptor Dreadnought and a Suppressor Squad.
My next game was the first main game of the day which I played against Ozzie and his Emperors Children and Mechanicum, I lost that but at least wasn’t my tabled!
My third game of the weekend saw me face Mark Frost and his daemons at long last, allowing him to claim the grand slam of beating all four Edge of Empire hosts with the army.
The traitors won the weekend, probably because I was playing for the loyalists.
It was an awesome weekend and I cannot wait for September.
What I Am Modelling
With Company of Legends, not a lot got done!
I did have a build session on Tuesday night and got a bunch of terrain for my 15th table built. This is stuff from the Charadon which is going to supplement the Imperium terrain to make a full tables worth.
And late last night I finished off a Deredeo Dreadnought I bought at Ardhammer in January, although I think the guns are recasts, the actual Dreadnought seems fine, but the guns are just not quite right.
I am gonna keep it, I only paid £10 for it, but I need to keep a closer eye on things I buy at secondhand sales.
So what’s coming up next week?
Corpse Grinder Cult x 15
Blood Angels Primaris Lieutenant, Librarian in Phobos Armour & Assault Intercessors x 8
Orruk Weirdnob Shaman
Death Korps of Krieg Medusa x 2
Morg N Thorg
T’au Empire Breacher Squad x 10
Fafnir Rann
Ork Terrain
Khorne Blood Warriors x 10
Sicarian Infiltrators x 10
What I Am Reading
I have yet to pick up a book this week 🙁
But I have been listening to The Wolftime by Gav Thorpe which is really good.
What Video Games I Am Playing
Not a great deal just a daily game of Halo Infinite for the most part to get the points.
What Tabletop Games Am I Playing
Other than those at Company of Legends, none.
What I Am Creating
Two more battle reports were published, issues 22 and 23!
Now that all the tutorial missions are done, I am going to be moving to a new schedule, Wednesday will be Imperium and Saturday will be something else.
I am kinda thinking the first something else will be a Horus Heresy very small Zone Mortalis game.
What I Am Spending
I did manage to pick up Watchmen: Ultimate Cut in 4K from the Microsoft Store for £3.99 which is awesome!
Also when at the North East Model Centre on Thursday, I bought another Painting Handle!
The 22nd part of the Warhammer 40,000 Imperium Battle Report Series.
In this episode, we the Adeptus Mechanicus take to the field for the first time as a squad of Skitarii Rangers face off against a phalanx of Necron Warriors!
Who will prevail in this battle between the sinister Necrons and the servants of the Machine God?