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Slaves to Darkness #1
The Claws Of Chaos
Fantasy novel set in Games Workshop's Warhammer universe
288 pages, Paperback
First published September 19, 2002
About the author
Gav Thorpe
386 books604 followersGav spent 14 years as a developer for Games Workshop, and started writing novels and short stories in the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000 when the Black Library imprint was launched in 1997.
He continues to write for Black Library, and his first 'homegrown' novel series The Crown of the Blood has been released via Angry Robot.
Currently living in Nottingham, Gav shares his home with his loving and very understanding partner - Kez, and their beautiful little boy - Sammy.
He continues to write for Black Library, and his first 'homegrown' novel series The Crown of the Blood has been released via Angry Robot.
Currently living in Nottingham, Gav shares his home with his loving and very understanding partner - Kez, and their beautiful little boy - Sammy.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 9, 2026
This book was interesting. It serve the purpose it was created. It's nothing that will uau you but if you enjoy warhammer fantasy you will enjoy it.
Allow me to explain, you've got this girl (Ursula) that is living her life in a small town on the empire. She is in love and to be married with a knight that has been draft to fight on Kislev against chaos.
While she is trying to "survive" in that town, some strange things start to happen with skaven and she is point out as the culprit - the real reason? the woman who is pointing her finger wants her gone because she wants her sister to marry her pretender- the knight.
When her pretender his name is Kurt, learns of this - he is told that a witch hunter, one he has some history with, is going to that town, he abandons his order and try to help Ursula. While he travels he kills some of previous colleagues with the help of a kislevite.
Arriving to that town he saves the damsel and escape to the north... Here is where the story change pace and become more fast pace.
The book ends in a cliffhanger. 74/100
As I've said, nothing here is really new. It's a normal warhammer fantasy series.
Allow me to explain, you've got this girl (Ursula) that is living her life in a small town on the empire. She is in love and to be married with a knight that has been draft to fight on Kislev against chaos.
While she is trying to "survive" in that town, some strange things start to happen with skaven and she is point out as the culprit - the real reason? the woman who is pointing her finger wants her gone because she wants her sister to marry her pretender- the knight.
When her pretender his name is Kurt, learns of this - he is told that a witch hunter, one he has some history with, is going to that town, he abandons his order and try to help Ursula. While he travels he kills some of previous colleagues with the help of a kislevite.
Arriving to that town he saves the damsel and escape to the north... Here is where the story change pace and become more fast pace.
The book ends in a cliffhanger. 74/100
As I've said, nothing here is really new. It's a normal warhammer fantasy series.
May 9, 2021
An unexpectedly deft work, while the to-ing and fro-ing amongst the main characters is somewhat repetitive, the strong presentation of the dark world of Warhammer carries the story through.
September 1, 2020
Finally some good fu*king book
January 9, 2021
Starting the year as I mean to go on, by consuming as much trashy sci-fi/fantasy as I can get my eyes around. So pretty much like every year...
August 13, 2026
3.5 stars. First things first: the blurb descriptions of the later novels in this series are spoilers for this novel (which is otherwise a satisfying standalone story full of twists and reverses!) so I recommend you avoid them until you've read this. Anyway, onto the review...
Claws of Chaos is almost the platonic ideal of an old Warhammer novel. It's wintery and atmospheric and bloody and filled with the sensation with everyone is doomed and happy endings are impossible. It reads so fast I almost feel a little short changed.
(I also wonder if the editorial brief for this book was "can you take Jack Yeovil's old - and wonderful - short story Ignorant Armies from the classic anthology of the same name and turn it into a full novel?" This isn't a criticism - that piece and this novel tell the most archetypal of all Warhammer stories and I'd be happy to read a hundred versions of it...)
Claws of Chaos is almost the platonic ideal of an old Warhammer novel. It's wintery and atmospheric and bloody and filled with the sensation with everyone is doomed and happy endings are impossible. It reads so fast I almost feel a little short changed.
(I also wonder if the editorial brief for this book was "can you take Jack Yeovil's old - and wonderful - short story Ignorant Armies from the classic anthology of the same name and turn it into a full novel?" This isn't a criticism - that piece and this novel tell the most archetypal of all Warhammer stories and I'd be happy to read a hundred versions of it...)
December 20, 2013
Kniha první z trilogie Bestie Chaosu.... Děj by byl jakž takž existující, postavy taky nebyly nejhorší ale být to film, přišel by mi vhodný maximálně tak k žehlení, nebo jako kulisa při vaření nedělního oběda. Existuje totiž moment kdy to není plot twis ale otravná změna.
Nevím jestli to bylo překladem nebo originálem, ale v porovnání s jinými Warhammerovkami mi nepřišla chytlavá.
Nevím jestli to bylo překladem nebo originálem, ale v porovnání s jinými Warhammerovkami mi nepřišla chytlavá.
March 12, 2010
A very cool trilogy, very Warhammer.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews