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Tales of Mantica: Edge of the Abyss
Based in the game world of Kings of War, War kings reflects the best of high fantasy stories as different factions fight for survival and domination.
Based in the high fantasy world of Kings of War, this anthology contains ten interlinking stories that set the stage for the launch of a new series of novels.Containing short stories by accomplished writers Robert Waters, Scott Washburn and Brandon Rospond this is a great collection of fantasy stories to entertain readers, representing a broad spectrum of stories
Based in the high fantasy world of Kings of War, this anthology contains ten interlinking stories that set the stage for the launch of a new series of novels.Containing short stories by accomplished writers Robert Waters, Scott Washburn and Brandon Rospond this is a great collection of fantasy stories to entertain readers, representing a broad spectrum of stories
- GenresFantasy
285 pages, Paperback
First published July 23, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 6, 2020
Not at all a bad first outing for the Tales of Mantica series.
Some editing errors and typos here and there, but nothing too glaring to tip you out of the story. For the most part, the writing was good, though clearly many of these writers were first timers.
I started this entirely on a whim, mainly because I enjoy stories revolving around armed and armored heroes battling demonic entities and dark, nefarious villains, call me old fashioned. Set in a world, somewhat, similar to the Old World of Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy, Mantica is the setting of the Kings of War franchise. And while it is similar, in many ways to the Warhammer world, it wasn't blown to bits to make way for something...well, strange, convoluted, and at times too weird to be relatable.
Mantica is enough like the current world that it harbors a sense of reality and relatability that the Old World of Warhammer Fantasy had, and that Age of Sigmar simply lacks. And while I am unfamiliar with the Mantica world the vagaries of the lore, this anthology peaked my interest.
Out of all the authors chosen to write for the debut, only Clint Werner is one I knew beforehand. His story, The Sea Does Not Give Up Her Dead, is one of the better ones in the anthology. For my own tastes, the standout stories, besides Clint's, were:
Kinship by C.W. Conduff
The Last Stand by Bill Donohue
Eyes Unblinking by Mark DeSantis (a military historian I am familiar with, pleasantly surprised to see a fellow military historian try their hand at genre fiction)
And Crimson Winter by Brandon Rospond, which was my favorite tale of the anthology.
I can reccomend this to any fans of fantasy, and look forward to delving into more Tales of Mantica in the future.
Some editing errors and typos here and there, but nothing too glaring to tip you out of the story. For the most part, the writing was good, though clearly many of these writers were first timers.
I started this entirely on a whim, mainly because I enjoy stories revolving around armed and armored heroes battling demonic entities and dark, nefarious villains, call me old fashioned. Set in a world, somewhat, similar to the Old World of Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy, Mantica is the setting of the Kings of War franchise. And while it is similar, in many ways to the Warhammer world, it wasn't blown to bits to make way for something...well, strange, convoluted, and at times too weird to be relatable.
Mantica is enough like the current world that it harbors a sense of reality and relatability that the Old World of Warhammer Fantasy had, and that Age of Sigmar simply lacks. And while I am unfamiliar with the Mantica world the vagaries of the lore, this anthology peaked my interest.
Out of all the authors chosen to write for the debut, only Clint Werner is one I knew beforehand. His story, The Sea Does Not Give Up Her Dead, is one of the better ones in the anthology. For my own tastes, the standout stories, besides Clint's, were:
Kinship by C.W. Conduff
The Last Stand by Bill Donohue
Eyes Unblinking by Mark DeSantis (a military historian I am familiar with, pleasantly surprised to see a fellow military historian try their hand at genre fiction)
And Crimson Winter by Brandon Rospond, which was my favorite tale of the anthology.
I can reccomend this to any fans of fantasy, and look forward to delving into more Tales of Mantica in the future.
November 13, 2018
This book is a collection of short stories describing conflicts around the world of Mantica, a fantasy realm created for the game Kings of War.
I went in expecting a book written for a specific audience (players of the game), and not necessarily particularly deep, and that is honestly what this book is.
There are two stories that I found really good, well written, with solid pacing, and interesting characters.
The best stories were the second one, a story following a undead pirate, raised to serve an unforgiving master, and the merfolk hunter group that sets out to stop them. Both narrators were interesting, had descriptions and speech patterns that let the reader get a feel for who they were deeper.
There was also a quite good story involving a group of halflings fighting off a swarm of ratpeople. Quite good, with the fights not revolving around repetitive descriptions of sword fights, but instead utilizing magic and engineering to great effect.
These two stories were excellent!
There were also several stories I found mediocre, with glimmers of interesting things, but bland-ish characters or pacing.
Then there were two stories I found outright bad, one of which was so poorly done I ended up skimming it.
This collection of stories suffers from feeling like they tried to cram too many factions into one book. Each story feels very cookie cutter, culminating in a grim, seemingly impossible fight with evil about to prevail and good narrowly pulling out a victory.
Every story, minus the undead pirate, revolves around armies fighting. After reading 2-3 stories, it sort of felt like you had read the rest before you even started. Stories following a single being, exploring, or encountering foes would have broken up this monotony of action and battles.
I also which the short stories offered some exploration of the "evil" creatures and villains. Almost all the villains were one dimensional and uninspiring.
My final note on the book is that there were several glaring issues with editing. One section had a whole paragraph lacking any spaces, several times I noticed typos that completely changed the meaning of a sentence.
Overall, I am glad I read this, but I wasn't blown away. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who doesn't play the game, and think even players might just want to pick and choose a few stories, rather then read the whole thing.
I went in expecting a book written for a specific audience (players of the game), and not necessarily particularly deep, and that is honestly what this book is.
There are two stories that I found really good, well written, with solid pacing, and interesting characters.
The best stories were the second one, a story following a undead pirate, raised to serve an unforgiving master, and the merfolk hunter group that sets out to stop them. Both narrators were interesting, had descriptions and speech patterns that let the reader get a feel for who they were deeper.
There was also a quite good story involving a group of halflings fighting off a swarm of ratpeople. Quite good, with the fights not revolving around repetitive descriptions of sword fights, but instead utilizing magic and engineering to great effect.
These two stories were excellent!
There were also several stories I found mediocre, with glimmers of interesting things, but bland-ish characters or pacing.
Then there were two stories I found outright bad, one of which was so poorly done I ended up skimming it.
This collection of stories suffers from feeling like they tried to cram too many factions into one book. Each story feels very cookie cutter, culminating in a grim, seemingly impossible fight with evil about to prevail and good narrowly pulling out a victory.
Every story, minus the undead pirate, revolves around armies fighting. After reading 2-3 stories, it sort of felt like you had read the rest before you even started. Stories following a single being, exploring, or encountering foes would have broken up this monotony of action and battles.
I also which the short stories offered some exploration of the "evil" creatures and villains. Almost all the villains were one dimensional and uninspiring.
My final note on the book is that there were several glaring issues with editing. One section had a whole paragraph lacking any spaces, several times I noticed typos that completely changed the meaning of a sentence.
Overall, I am glad I read this, but I wasn't blown away. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who doesn't play the game, and think even players might just want to pick and choose a few stories, rather then read the whole thing.
October 11, 2018
I was excited for this collection of books as I am interested in the Mantica fantasy setting.
As with most collection of short stories there were a few stories I enjoyed and a few that I think were OK.
One of my main annoyances with a few of the stories is that the writers don't really succeed in making the non human characters actually feel non human. 'Into the straits of madness' didn't make you feel you were following salamanders.
By far the best story for me was 'Rat-Catcher' where halflings come to the aid of a human city.
I didn't finish 'The Last Stand' as the story, characters and writing really didn't appeal to me and I couldn't bring myself to actually read the entire story.
As with most collection of short stories there were a few stories I enjoyed and a few that I think were OK.
One of my main annoyances with a few of the stories is that the writers don't really succeed in making the non human characters actually feel non human. 'Into the straits of madness' didn't make you feel you were following salamanders.
By far the best story for me was 'Rat-Catcher' where halflings come to the aid of a human city.
I didn't finish 'The Last Stand' as the story, characters and writing really didn't appeal to me and I couldn't bring myself to actually read the entire story.
October 24, 2018
This book is a good way to cement yourself within the world of Mantica. In other words it is a love letter to the fans of the tabletop game Kings of War. If you don't know what that is or if my previous two sentences mean, then this book may be confusing for you in parts. That doesn't mean that there aren't bright spots to be found in this book, but to be fully engrossed in the story, you need some background information.
Apart from that this is an anthology of authors (some of whom do not play the game) and their stories are mere snapshots of the lives that the characters live within this fantasy world. It's a very fun read so long as you aren't going into this looking for a huge amount of depth at the turn of every page. The stories range from pretty exciting to rather bland. There isn't anything earth shattering in here or revolutionary, but rather it does what it is meant to do: play on the tropes that have been established within the fantasy genre and give players a chance to see their characters and armies in living color.
Overall a great set of stories that will keep you entertained, but nothing that is going to change the face of either the game, or the fantasy genre.
Apart from that this is an anthology of authors (some of whom do not play the game) and their stories are mere snapshots of the lives that the characters live within this fantasy world. It's a very fun read so long as you aren't going into this looking for a huge amount of depth at the turn of every page. The stories range from pretty exciting to rather bland. There isn't anything earth shattering in here or revolutionary, but rather it does what it is meant to do: play on the tropes that have been established within the fantasy genre and give players a chance to see their characters and armies in living color.
Overall a great set of stories that will keep you entertained, but nothing that is going to change the face of either the game, or the fantasy genre.
January 21, 2024
The stories themselves are fine; albeit rather generic and reminiscent of the early black library novels. No knowledge of the lore of kings of war needed to read and enjoy which is good. The main problem was the number of typos and print errors in the book. Spacing missed in a lot of places, random gaps and the pages not properly separated. Nothing really stellar story wise and worth picking up if on sale but probably not one to pay full price for.
September 28, 2018
Tales of Mantica: Edge of the Abyss is the first novel based off the world of Mantica, the setting for the tabletop wargame Kings of War. The book is an anthology of 10 short stories, covering, if not featuring, many of the armies in the game. While not perfect, the game is a great start to expanding the storyline of the universe. Definite must read for those interested in fantasy and the game Kings of War.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews