Malekith follows the titular Witch King throughout the early days of his life, his rise to power in what would eventually become the realms of Men. He is arrogant, elitist, and condescending to everything and everyone around him. Whats so surprising around that with regards to an elf? Nothing. That's what is so surprising in the initial chapters of the book. Theres no blood-spitting megalomania, no thirst for the throne, aside from a brutal disappointment for not being raised at the opportunity.

Malekiths travels take him to his eventual meeting with the dwarves and the initiation of the golden age of the elves, which begins the same way. Elitism which slowly fades to grudging respect and even friendship. There's even some hard-drawn admiration for the first humans, though they're treated more as animals that learned a difficult trick.

One major deviation from the previous evil-incarnate series, Nagash, is that Malekith is within inches of being an anti-hero. He genuinely wanted to save his people. He wanted to be in charge, to have power to be sure, but he saw his kingdom softening, weakening, and sincerely thought that his plan was the only possibility of saving the Elves from eventual ruin. This sets up the tragedy well, as you're not rooting for it to happen, though there is some bitter joy at the scene with the Eternal Flame.

There aren't as many battle scenes apart from the beginning. Its mostly empire building, politics, and personal encounters with several famous characters and locations, especially the discovery of the Iron Circlet, which opens up the possibility of even more ancient history fluff. Regardless, the story flows well, is well written and exquisitely detailed, and differentiates in tone between the elves and the dwarves in such a way that it feels neither dry nor repetitious.

Malekith is the novel you hoped Gav Thorpe would write. No one else would have been remotely qualified. This isn't simply because he also wrote the dwarf and dark elf army books, though that undoubtedly helped. As Angels of Darkness, 13th Legion and the early short story 'The Faithful Servant' all attest, he can, more than any other Black Library author, add layers of flesh and blood, hope and despair to the bones of Warhammer characters. Psychological realism, deftly analysed, crisply reported, is his strength. Here, it is equal to its subject.

Many will perceive the novel as a tragedy, an epic, or both. So it is. But it's also a character study. This is not to belittle Thorpe's achievement--on the contrary. The best GW novels (Fulgrim, Flight of the Eisenstein, Angels of Darkness) tend to be character studies. You might wonder why this should be, but why is the answer. Most readers already know how things happened; but their curiosity itches to know why. That makes all the difference. It also demands more than one fight scene after another. The author has to break through the realism barrier and plunge into inner space. In telling the rise and fall of Malekith, Thorpe finds a perfect trajectory for this journey.

We first meet Malekith a year after the death of his father, Aenarion the Defender, tragic hero and saviour of the elves. Chaos has been routed; Ulthuan is in ruins. But it has a future. But a new king needs to be crowned. Malekith is presented as the heir apparent. The other nobles have their doubts. You can see why. Morathi, Malekith's mother and loudest supporter, makes Sarah Palin seem well-adjusted by comparison. An enlightened path and 'debate with the peons' is no good - only iron rule, 'the right to decide for all', will secure Ulthuan's future. Embarrassed, Malekith offers a calmer petition on his behalf, but swears to abide by the council's decision. Another noble, Bel Shanaar of Tiranoc, is swiftly chosen and crowned instead.

The decision, of course, gnaws at Malekith, but not for the reasons you suspect. Honour and glory are stepping stones, but the loss of his father, the feeling of someway failing his legacy to protect the elf race, grip him as tightly as a hand around his throat. Even Asuryan himself is dwarfed by the dark gods; something needs to be done.

Hardly a load of laughs, you might think. But in fact, thanks to Thorpe's playful wit, there is comedy amid all the tragedy. The early chapters concerning the culture clash with the dwarfs - and Malekith's later speech to their uncomprehending ears - are very funny, as well as invigoratingly realistic. Simple things, such as words for precious metals and the texture of food and drink speak volumes about the culture Malekith explores, and so do Malekith's reactions to them.

This is Thorpe's best work to date--which is saying a lot. It features all his favourite themes - fascism, metaphysics, faith - and with them covers a larger, wider canvas than any he has attempted before. Not to be missed.

Although Gav Thorpe's new novel is entitled, "Malekith," its scope is greater than the story of one man. Instead, it delineates the development of the Warhammer world as we know it and recounts the rise and fall of Malekith. In a sense, the story of Malekith is a tragedy rather than an epic. Although the novel has "epic" qualities--the expansion of the elves and the exploration of the unknown world--it is ultimately the story of one man's greed and lust for power. Like Macbeth, a great warrior is lured from the light to the dark by greed and the ministrations of a woman. In Malekith's case it is the greed and ambition of his Mother, Morathi, that taunts him, goads him, and tricks him. Thorpe's Malekith, however, is not one dimensional. Throughout the novel, the reader feels that the means, no matter how despicable, have within Malekith's twisted thinking a logical and noble end--to protect the elves from the Chaos gods. It is this element that raises Thorpe's novel from simply being a good Warhammer story to being a great Warhammer story.

The first novel of the planned trilogy begins with the end of Aenarion and concludes with the death of Bel Shanaar, the Phoenix King. The narrative involves four major set pieces: the expansion of the elves in the east and the alliance with the dwarves; Malekith's exploration of the west and the Chaos waste; Malekith's war against the cultists in Nagarythe; and the betrayal of the Phoenix King.

Thorpe handles the exploration of the east and the establishment of the elven colonies in the old world brilliantly. His description of the dwarven cities is meticulous in its detail. However, the dwarven segment is not simply a side show; it is important to the development of Malekith's character and to the reader's understanding of that character. Although Malekith's anger and ambition are apparent from the beginning of the novel, Malekith truly respects the dwarves and their king. At the end of Part One, Malekith mourns for his lost friend and intends to honor his oath to the Snorri Whitebeard. However, the next section of the novel finds Malekith on his way to the Chaos wastes in the west, where he discovers an ancient city of the Old Ones and discovers a magic circlet that imbues him with new power and insight into the threat of the Chaos gods. From this point on, Malekith moves toward his inevitable fate. His hubris ultimately leads him to the Shrine of Asuryan.

As I read the novel I was struck by several things: the psychological complexity of Malekith's character; the clear detailed descriptions of all the locations; the distinct personality and character of the various Warhammer races; an abiding continuity to Warhammer lore and fluff; and the lucid prose. I have read most of Gav Thorpe's work and I think this may be his best. I am quite anxious to read the second volume of the trilogy.

I highly recommend this novel to both fantasy lovers and gamers. The Warhammer intellectual property is so rich and so developed that it transcends tie-in fiction. With the Time of Legends series, it seems Black Library has decided to up the ante; to create epic works that can proudly compete with any non-IP fantasy fiction. As a companion piece to this work I recommend Graham McNeill's "Guardians of Ulthuan," and "Heldenhammer," Mike Lee and Dan Abnett's Malus Darkblade series, Mike Lee's "Nagash the Sorcerer," and Nathan Long's "Elfslayer."