The Butcher of Khardov

As I mentioned in my last post, I had purchased The Butcher of Khardov from Skull Island Expeditions, the publishing arm of Privateer Press.  The Butcher of Khardov is a novella, so it is not really that long.  I read it in two or three hours.  It is not a tough read, but is definitely enjoyable.

The Butcher of Khardov is the origin story of the Warmachine warcaster called The Butcher.  The novella is not told in chronological order.  In fact, the story flips between several time periods.  This type of story telling can often get very confusing if it is not done right.  However, the author Dan Wells does a very good job of keeping all of the characters and events straight, even as he bounces through time.  The story is engaging and I was curious to know what happened next.  For a novella, Dan Wells does an excellent job of developing the characters.

I think my favourite part of the story was the fact that the Warmachine aspects of the story were not overplayed.  The warjacks and steamjacks were in the story, as were a few other types of Khadoran troops, but they were not put front and centre of the story.  The aspects of the Warmachine world were weaved into the story and just mentioned instead of attempting to centre the story around them.  In my opinion, this is what separates this book from what I have read from the Black Library.  Games Workshop shoe horns their properties into a story, this novella makes a story out of Privateer Press’ properties.  It may seem like a subtle distinction, but it makes all the difference in determining whether a story is advertising garbage or an enjoyable romp.

The bottom line, is that I would recommend this story to anyone who is familiar with the Privateer Press properties and I think anyone who likes fantasy would also enjoy this story.  A firm indoctrination into the Warmachine world is not required to get everything out of this story.  Add to the mix the smoking good price of 99 cents and you really can’t go wrong.  I plan on trying another offering from Skull Island Expeditions and we’ll see if they can keep up the high quality or if it was just a blip on the radar.