Nick Kyme

Take a look at this link from Forjador’s blog/art site ‘Portraits of War’.

Here we have a group of stalwart and honourbound dwarf heroes straight from the anuls of the Black Library. Not only that, but there’s none other than Halgar Halfhand and Morek Stonehammer from my dwarf novels Oathbreaker and Honourkeeper!

I am extremely flattered to have been included in the cut (or leastways, two heroes from my novels) and I can’t wait to see this piece with some colour on it.

Top, top work from Forjador (aka Manuel Mesones) – thank you so much for doing it.

Just goes to show you can’t keep a good dwarf down…

No, not a blog post about various colourful carnival players, but rather a nice linky to an even longer version of the Honourkeeper review I posted about previously on Amazon.com.

Check out the rather excellent Red Rook Review blog for more…

Not only does it contain the full review (amongst others, incidentally – my good friend Steve Parker’s Gunheads is also reviewed on the site), but it also has some fascinating discourse of fantasy dwarf culture and literature. Impressive and interesting.

I have to say, my initial experience of the doughty dwarf race in fiction was probably The Hobbitby Tolkien, whose interpretation is most strongly echoed in the Warhammer World dwarfs which I’ve written about. I also have fond memories of the character of Flint in the Dragonlance Chronicles by Weiss and Hickman, though I’ve not read the books in a while, so they might have been a product of their time and best viewed through nostalgia-tinted glasses. One Dragonlance book devoted to the dwarfs of Krynn (the world in which Dragonlance is based) that I do recall with some fondness was Stormblade, which I believe had a dwarf civil war (between hill and mountain dwarfs, if memory serves) as its central conceit. I think I still have it somewhere – I shall have to dig it out.

Of course, Warhammer dwarfs followed for me. I think it was Combat Cards initially and then a packet of lead hammerers and longbeards (made by Marauder Miniatures back then) that got me hooked. Twenty years later, and here I am writing about the little blighters.

It’s interesting to note that dwarfs came from a very different place in traditional myth. Dwarfs were evil, greedy creatures, more akin to beasts than a civilised, honourable culture. I won’t embarrass myself by going further down this road as my knowledge is kind of restricted to the fantasy material I’ve read. But check out the blog site I mention above for more thorough and less off-the-cuff research – fascinating stuff.

It’s a been a while since it was released, and with all the current hoo-har about Salamander, I was very gratified to read a really nice review of Honourkeeper on Amazon:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nick Kyme’s post-Tolkien dwarfs, 28 Jul 2009

“Nick Kyme, Gav Thorpe, and to a certain extent Nathan Long have created from a post-Tolkien model a pre-Tolkienesque dwarf. Through the combination of the Gothic background of Warhammer and its underlying mythos, a dwarf-type has arisen that I believe is close to the early renditions of dwarfs found in the English, Norse, and Germanic fairy-tales. I began to notice this trend in Nick Kyme’s “Oathbreaker” and Gav Thorpe’s “Grudge Bearer.” However, my theory didn’t gel until I read Gav Thorpe’s “Malekith.” In that novel, he brought the dwarfs to life through a sustained tour-de-force of what Tolkien would call subcreation. This realized dwarf world appears again to great effect in Nathan Long’s novel, “Orcslayer.”

However, Kyme’s “Honourkeeper” is the near masterpiece because he situates his novel in a completely dwarf world. Yes, there are elves and men but the book focuses on and is unified through his disciplined use of a multiple point of view from the major dwarf characters…”

Well written and very kindly put. For the full review go to Amazon.co.uk right here.

Rest assured dwarf fans, I have not abandoned my roots, as it were, and will definitely be returning to the sons of Grungni in the semi-distant future.

In celebration of Honourkeeper’s release, I wanted to share an extract from one of my favourite scenes in the novel. Enjoy!

Death… Death was everywhere. It was the reek on the breeze. It was the screaming in his ears. It was the hot red haze in his eyes. Death was redolent, it permeated everything, soaked every pore. Death revelled with the savage ecstasy that filled Haggar’s thumping heart as he killed.

The elf knights were pinned and had lost the advantage of the charge, but they were still fearsome foes. Well-armoured, high up on their steeds, they would be no pushovers. Even still, Haggar dragged one from his saddle by the boot and applied the death blow with his axe. One of the beasts rammed its muscled flank into him, but it obviously hadn’t reckoned on dwarf tenacity and Haggar pushed back with his armoured shoulder making the steed rear up, unhorsing its rider. Skengi, fighting just ahead of the thane, was quick to dispatch the fallen elf with a blow from his hammer.

It was hard fighting. Probably the hardest that Haggar had ever fought. The elves were skilled, disciplined and phenomenally fast. Dragon knights jabbed down with swords and lances in a crimson blur, piercing dwarf armour with their accurate blade thrusts. Steeds kicked and trampled. It could go either way. Though the dwarfs fought for all they were worth, the arrival of the spearmen and limb-reaping sword masters had dented their resolve pushing them to the edge. Haggar could feel the warriors hanging on the brink of retreat. Only the banner of Karak Ungor, the shame of fleeing from it and allowing it to be taken by the enemy, held them… at least for now.

‘I’ll be damned if I see you put us to flight,’ Haggar snarled under his breath at the nearest elf in his eye-line.

With some satisfaction, he watched as the dragon knight was brought down. Another figure loomed out of the battle haze behind him, cutting at either flank with his shimmering, gore-slicked blade. Carving a path through a band of clan warriors, he found the dwarf he was looking for. The noble, he who had led the charge of the dragon knights with such ferocity and skill, levelled his long sword at Haggar. A ruby of blood peeled along the edge and fell ominously onto the ground in front of him.

The dwarf thane bellowed a challenge, thumping his chestplate and then brandishing the banner of Karak Ungor meaningfully.

‘Try and take it you pointy-eared swine,’ he cursed, ‘I dare you.’

Haggar recognised the warrior. A black mane issued from beneath his stylised dragon helm. He even maintained the cocky swagger in the way he approached the dwarf on his steed. This was the raven-haired blade-master, the elf called Lethralmir.

A shrieking war cry tore from the noble’s lips, sounding tinny through his helmet. Lethralmir stirred his barded horse and charged. Though it was only a short distance through the melee, Lethralmir’s first blow struck with all the force of an avalanche. At least that’s how it felt to Haggar, as he was battered, barely able to turn the blade aside from his neck.

The smallest of gaps had developed in the bloody struggle for the centre. It was through this that the elf noble brought his steed around for a second pass. Though he couldn’t see the elf’s face hidden by the snarling visage of his dragon helm, Haggar was sure he would be smiling.

Bastard, he thought working the tension out of his axe-arm where Lethralmir had managed to strike him on the pauldron, step down off that bloody horse and we’ll see what’s what.

Three short strides and Lethralmir was upon him again, angling his blade in a vicious downward thrust intended to find the gap between the dwarf’s gorget and battle helm. But Haggar was equal to it. He fended off the elf’s attack, turning the sword with the flat blade of his rune axe. The impact jarred Lethralmir’s arm, forcing the elf to take a tighter reign on his steed. As he pulled up, Haggar was able to stay on his feet and whirled his axe around, raking it down the beast’s barded flank as it sped past. Armour chinks cascaded like red rain and the dwarf was rewarded with a whinny of pain from the elven horse. Haggar looked down at the freshly reddened edge to his axe blade and smiled.

Lethralmir’s steed staggered and nearly fell. The ragged wound in its side was making its barding and armoured rider an intolerable burden. Even so, the elf hauled on its reigns to bring it around. Despite loud protests, the steed obeyed. Blood was running freely down its flank now, the enforced exertions tearing its wound ever wider. Suddenly its forelegs bunched beneath it, fetlocks collapsing under the weight it could no longer bear, and Lethralmir was dumped onto the ground in front of it.

The elf blade-master rose swiftly, in spite of his heavy armour, dispatching a pair of clan warriors that came at him out of the melee axes swinging. Two expert blows, the first whilst he was still on one knee striking the groin and the second rising to his full right, preceded by a deft pirouette that make the dwarf’s axe strike seem slow and clumsy, followed by a brutal arcing slash that took the warrior’s helmeted head from his shoulders.

Haggar blanched when he saw it – the elf’s long sword had sheared straight through the decapitated dwarf’s chainmail coif.

‘You’ll find me a sterner test,’ he promised, growling beneath his breath as the elf stalked towards him.

It’s a few hours after a hard day’s signings in Nottingham for the release of Honourkeeper, my second novel about the hardy race of dwarfs.

First stop was Games Workshop Nottingham at Friar Lane. Admittedly, it was a slow start, but I signed the odd few copies of Honourkeeper as well as the recently released Tales of Heresy (which I was editor, alongside Lindsey Priestley). Dan, the GW Nottingham manager, was very amiable and kept me company for most of the hour I was there.

After that, and a little lunch to keep me going, it was over to Warhammer World. Here, I as invited to participate in a game of Warhammer recreating one of the battles (albeit very loosely) in Honourkeeper. I’ll be honest, it’s been a while since I played Warhammer and I found the experience every bit as fun as I remember.

I was joined by a bunch of other games and I just want to give a shout out to all my fellow gamers, especially to the Dwarf/High Elf alliance that emerged triumphant with me at the end of the battle (you all know who you are).

Special props goes to Jim from Warhammer World, who ran the game expertly well and reminded me of the Warhammer rules at the start of the battle until the old mojo kicked in and all those years of gaming came flooding back – it’s just like riding a bike; a bike, spiky bike that launches fireballs and spits lightning bolts.

As well a couple of hours of enjoyable (and sometimes random) gaming, I also signed a fair few Honourkeepers and Tales of Heresy. Thanks to everyone for coming, especially to a chap called Nick (great name, great name ), who had travelled all the way from Leighton Buzzard (I hope that’s right, Nick).

I had a lot of fun and thanks too to Rich Packer, the Warhammer World manager, for a well organised and great event. Much appreciated!

Enjoy the snaps of both signings. Hope to be back again soon.