Welcome to my Dark Harvest Review. This book is part of the Warhammer Horror Novels line by Black Library Publications. When I was looking for a new novel to read, the cover artwork of Dark Harvest really caught my imagination so I bought the book.
Normally, I prefer to read rule books to miniatures games over novels. Lore is not something that typically excites me. That said, I have read Gotrek and Felix (the first omnibus) and quite enjoyed the book.
In this post, I am going to summarize the book and talk to you about my thoughts on Dark Harvest by Josh Reynolds.
Looking at Amazon, it may be hard to find this book now, but they do sell the audio version. You might be able to find it elsewhere too. I bought my copy from a national bookstore in my local mall.
Before going further, let me apologize if I get something wrong. I am not up on my Age of Sigmar lore, so I may get some things wrong. This post contains my basic understanding of the book after giving it a full read through.
To set the scene, here is the back of the book.
Now, let me tell you more about the story.
Quick Dark Harvest Book Report
In Dark Harvest, the main character is Harran Blackwood. He is a fallen Warrior-Priest of Sigmar. Lately, he spends his time guarding caravans as his employers transport items from one city to another and acts as hired muscle too. Basically, he is a ruffian who is very skilled with a knife. He keeps the fact that he is a fallen Warrior-Priest hidden.
One day, he gets a sign that sends him on a quest for vengeance. In his quest to kill a person he has a personal grudge against, he ends up in a strange town called Wald. There he uncovers a sinister plot to awaken an old god. Entwined within that plot is the man who he wants to kill.
Blackwood continues to pursue his prey. While he starts to reconsider whether he actually wants to kill his target, the plot related to awakening the old god presents itself to our protagonist. He works through the mystery while wondering what is special about him that calls out to the god.
In order to not spoil the story, I will leave the summary report at this. Now, let me tell you my thoughts about the book.
My Thoughts on Dark Harvest by Josh Reynolds
Here we are at the meat of my Dark Harvest Review. My thoughts of the story.
I found the story of Dark Harvest enjoyable, but not 100% up my alley. The reason for this is that I could not get myself 100% behind the protagonist (Harran Blackwood).
The reason for this is straight up because he has a death wish. This death wish is less interesting than those in other stories seeking a glorious death. While he really wants to kill his adversary, he doesn’t really care if he lives. Sure he would like to live, but I couldn’t shake the feeling through out the book that “if he dies, he dies.”
I didn’t feel the investment into the main character (Blackwood) like I did for Gotrek in Gotrek and Felix. Your feelings may differ though.
On top of not feeling investment into the main character, this story wasn’t exactly what I expected. I was expecting some sort of more suspenseful Cthulhu related story. That is not what is in this book. This book does contain lots of supernatural elements like the Sylvaneth and Nighthaunts but I did not find the book scary. That might be connected in my lack of attachment to the main character.
To me, Dark Harvest felt more like a mystery novel than a horror novel. Along the way, Blackwood meets a number of temporary allies and I was forever wondering who he can trust and who he cannot. There were also a number of mysteries for Blackwood to solve. Where are the disappearing people going? What’s going on in this town? Where is his foe and why would he be sent a coin to bring him here? Why does he feel this old God calling out to him?
I found the book an interesting read, but in terms of characters – I enjoyed Gotrek and Felix better.
Something that I want to mention is that I liked reading about Human settlements in the Age of Sigmar. I keep hoping to find more new factions in Age of Sigmar like the Empire and Bretonians. I may have to wait for the Old World for that type of content. LOL.
Wrapping it up…
Thank you for joining me in my Dark Harvest Review. It is a little late as the books may be hard to find now, but I am sure some local stores still have copies and Amazon has an Audio copy of the book available too.
You can also check out the Warhammer Store. That said, I did not see Dark Harvest there, but they do have a better price on Gotrek and Felix.
While I did not find the story 100% up my alley, I am not a guy typically into the lore of a game. I just want to play and read the rules. The setting and stories surrounding the encounter do not matter as much to me. If you are into lore, like supernatural mysteries, or Warhammer Horror, this book might suit your tastes better than mine.
In the interest of full disclosure, the links to Amazon are affiliate links. If you use them, a portion of your purchase price goes to me as a commission at no extra cost to you.
Until next time, Happy Gaming Everyone!!!
