Crowded Bookshelf: Digging up the past

» ‘Nagash’ trilogy book review

Duncan Fingarson
Columnist

Res of my previous

columns will know that I’m
a fan of Warhammer 40,000,
Games Workshop’s more popular
science-fiction setting. But
I’ve yet to talk about anything
from their Warhammer Fantasy
setting, which I also love. It’s
got a lot of the standard fantasy
archetypes—dwarves, elves,
humans, halflings, most of
which have some sort of unique
spin on them—but it’s also
got a few things that are all
its own. Where else can you
find a race of megalomaniacal
magitech Ratmen? The
setting predates Warhammer
40,0005 creation, and has a
long and detailed background
filled with mythic heroes and
villains. This is the focus of
Mike Lee’s Nagash trilogy.

Nagash is hugely important
to the fantasy setting. He’s
the creator of the art of
Necromancy, and could well be
considered the setting’s biggest
villain. I’ve always found him to
be a tremendously interesting
character, and he features

: significantly in the history of

: my two favourite factions out

: of the Fantasy setting. He’s the
: driving force behind the fall

: of Nehekhara (think Ancient

: Egypt) and arguably comes

: closer than anyone to actually
: defeating the Skaven (the

: aforementioned megalomaniacal
: Ratmen). However, he was not
: always hugely powerful, nor

: did he always stay that way.

The first book, Nagash

: the Sorcerer, covers the parts

: of Nagash’s life where he still

: counts as human. He starts out
: as the high priest of Nehekhara,
: but he dreams of being king.

: Nagash is a schemer and he

: secretly learns magic from

: captured elves before launching
: a coup, murdering the rightful

: king and plunging the land into
: darkness. Never satisfied with

: the power he does wield, Nagash
: builds the Black Pyramid in an

: effort to gather more. Much

: of the book is focused on

: the conflict between Nagash

: and the holdouts of the old

: empire, the brave few willing

: to fight him. Ultimately he is

: forced to flee, though he leaves
: the empire nearly in ruins

: behind him when he goes.

Book two, Nagash the

: Unbroken, deals with the

: aftermath of Nagash’s fall and

: his establishing of a new power
: base. His choice of home leads

: to conflict with the Skaven over
: Warpstone, a magical mineral

: that both sides want to control.
: Back in Nehekhara, the lore

: that Nagash left behind is still

: causing trouble. Thinking the

> sorcerer has been defeated,

: some of his old servants have

: tried to gain power of their

: own, and, without a common

: enemy, much of the already-

: damaged empire is embroiled

: in political manoeuvering. This
: is the shortest, and probably

: the weakest, of the three books,
: but it does its job well of setting
everything up for book three.

Nagash Immortal launches

: into things right where book

: two ended, with a massive

: invasion by the Skaven. Once

: again, things are split between

: multiple plot threads as a new

: king rises in Nehekhara, one

: capable of finally uniting the

: many people who live there.

: Unfortunately, he’s also the last

: king the empire will ever see. All

 

: of Nagash’s machinations come
: toa head and the sorcerer sees

: himself revenged upon the land
: of his birth. This is probably the
: best of the three books, and the
: character of Alcadizzar, the last
: king of Nehekhara, is likeable

: and easy to cheer for even when
: you know he’s predestined to

: lose everything he loves.

I really liked this trilogy.

: Lee tells the story of one of the
: most influential characters
: in Warhammer history very
: well, though I might be biased

Image via amazon.ca

: towards the novels thanks to

: so much screen time being

: devoted to my two favourite

: factions. Nagash is dastardly and
: unstoppable, a larger-than-life

: villain everyone can love to hate,
: and the plot is well thought out.

: The biggest weakness of the

: trilogy is that it could be very

: hard to get into for someone

: entirely unfamiliar with the

: Warhammer setting. If you're not
: already a fan, then the books are
: still good, but you'll probably get
: a lot less out of them than I did.

 

It's a bird! It’s a plane! It's...

» ‘Supergirl’ TV pilot review

Cheryl Minns
Arts Editor
Marts@theotherpress.ca

OOOO

C comics has spent the past

few years bringing their
characters to life on the small
screen. From the CW successes
Arrow and The Flash to Fox’s
Gotham, the male heroes have
established loyal fan bases of
faithful viewers. Then comes
CBS’s Supergirl to put an end
to that winning streak.

Supergirl opens with baby
Kal-El’s iconic departure from
Krypton. It then adds to the
story by including his 12-year-
old cousin, Kara Zor-El, being
prepped for a trip of her own
to follow Kal-El to Earth and
take care of him. This is the
first indication of how the show
sees its lead female character as
a traditional caregiver instead
of an independent hero.

On her journey, Kara’s ship
is knocked into the Phantom
Zone from Krypton’s explosion
and she becomes suspended
in time for 24 years, leading
to her arriving on Earth years
after Kal-El became Superman.
Instead of Kara helping her

: cousin, Clark Kent helps

: her by arranging for her to

: move in with the Danvers, a
: pair of scientists who helped

him develop his powers,
and their daughter, Alex.
At age 24, Kara (Melissa

: Benoist from Glee) works as an

: assistant to a Devil Wears Prada-
: like boss, Cat Grant (Calista

: Flockhart from Ally McBeal)

: at CatCo Worldwide Media in

: National City. Her boss explains
: that employees will have to be

: let go because the city doesn’t

: have a hero like Superman

: to make headlines and sell

: publications. This sparks the

: idea in Kara that she could be

: a hero that makes headlines.

: However, it isn’t until her

: sister, Alex (Chyler Leigh from

: Grey’s Anatomy), is trapped ina
: crashing plane that Kara takes

: flight and manoeuvres the plane
: toa safe landing on the water.

: This reiterates the idea that

: what makes Kara a hero is her
ability to take care of family.

After the rescue, the

: mysterious heroine is labelled

: Supergirl, a name that Kara

: protests should be Superwoman
: instead. However, Grant quickly
? corrects Kara—as well as any

: doubting viewers—by sassily

: explaining, “I'ma girl. And

: your boss. And powerful, and

a girl?

: rich, and hot, and smart. So

: if you perceive Supergirl as

: anything less than excellent—
: isn’t the real problem you?”

The episode’s set-up for the

: rest of the season is that Kara’s
: ship escaping from the Phantom
: Zone 12 years ago also brought

: a ship of prisoners to Earth.

: They are determined to destroy
: Kara because her mother was

: the judge who sentenced them.
: However, in a clichéd twist, the
: leader of the prisoners turns

: out to be Astra, the identical

: twin sister of Kara’s mother

: (Laura Benanti from Nashville),
: who wants to destroy her niece.
: Things were much simpler

: when Superman was the only

: known survivor of Krypton.

Supergirl boasts some

: impressive special effects scenes,
: such as the Krypton escape, the

: plane rescue, and a final battle

: between Supergirl and one of

: the escaped prisoners. However,
: the show’s hang-up on whether

: or nota girl can be a hero makes
: it less interesting than other

: DC shows from production

: team Greg Berlanti and Andrew
: Kreisberg (Arrow and The Flash).

Supergirl may improve over

: the season and evolve into the
: fall series hit that it promised

: to be, but at this time, it hasn’t
: lived up to its potential.

 

Image via CBS