Stand at Callenspire

 

Mantic Games published the 4th edition of Kings of War to finish off last year, and one of the goals of the new edition is to increase the storyline (i.e. the fluff) behind the game, announcing that not only would there be a new rule book, but also six supplements, and these would all tell the story of Xirkaali invasion of Mantica.   And this is the first novel directly tied into the current storyline of the game (they did put out a book of short stories for the Edge of the Abyss campaign, but it was after the fact),

Most of the previous Kings of War novels have been somewhat independent of the ongoing storyline - tellling stories set in this world but not driving the direction of the game.  This is different - it is as current to the storyline as the first 4th edition supplement released with the new rules.

Callenspire is an elven city that is in a key location leading to home of the Elves, as well as halflings that live in Ej, a nearby territory.  If the city falls to the invaders, then there will be nothing to stop them from ravaging both the elves and halflings.  The elves ask for the help of the halfling tactician Aaron Cadwaller, so led the halflings to victory when they broke from they declared their independance from the League of Rhordia, as well as the ensuing battles with the Riftforged orcs.  Fans of previous Kings of War novels may recognize him as a major character they have already seen.

One of the promises is that the heroes from the Champions game would all be major characters as the storyline moves forward is kept as Axel Tricklebrook, a gilken mage from the Trident Realms of Neritica makes his debut outside of that game.

The Xirkaali were introduced as an army with 4th edition, and now you can begin to see more into wo they are, though their long term goals are not discussed in this book.  So while the readers know what some of the overall goals are, the characters have no idea why this overwhelming force from the east are attacking.  I really enjoyed getting to know more about the Xirkaali, and even a bit about some of the living legends in the game.  I was actually surprised to see that most of the Xirkaali battle leadership is female (including the mentioned living legends in the game, who both make minor appearances).

For a book set in a wargame and telling the story of one of the first major battles in a war, there is a surprising lack of battle scenes.  Instead it tends to concentrate on the characters preparing and then dealing with the aftermath.  The elves are a bit too detached from the real world - assuming that their prowess centuries ago and training makes them unbeatable.  Of course this arrogance is one of their weakest points.  Most of them can't believe that these half size mortals can do much of anything worthwhile.   The halflings themselves aren't sure they should be there, but feel obligated for the elves giving them a place to live previously.  Meanwhile, the riverguard are not happy about these humanoid dogs destroying their forest and waterways, but as part of the Trident Realms they taking an attitude of "wait and see" with these Xirkaali on land.

This is much more of a character driven book than it appears - the conflicts between the elven royalty are more of an issue than the invading forces it seems.  The Xirkaali are not evil - they simply have a mission, and nothing is going to stop them.  They are there to save the world after all.  Being able to see some of their additional internal motivations makes them much more interesting antagonists.

There are some great bits of humor throughout as well.  I couldn't help but chuckle at "He looked down the length of the parapet, at elvish archers and halfling gunners, fighting shoulder-waist".  Plus the whole recurring idea that the Xirkaali Hemicyons (the humanoid dog soldiers) really like pumpkin after Aaron Cadwaller give them some as a gift during negotiations.  "I do like this pumpkin.  We should definitely take this ... Shire for our own.  And some halfkin to farm it for us."

I was feeling like it was starting slow because it seemed to take half the book to get to the actual city, but then this about more than Callenspire, it is about the characters, and the battle is truly just a setting to explore them.

I really enjoyed the ending, and it left me wanting more.  I'm not sure when the next novel is coming out that ties into the invasion, but I am anxiously awaiting it.

You can pick up the dead trees version as well as the ebook directly from Mantic Games, Winged Hussar publishing, your favorite online bookseller or ask for it at your friendly neighborhood book store.

Because it is all fun and games . . .