New Warhammer Online Novel Explores the Forces of Destruction

The third Warhammer Online book, Forged by Chaos, shifts perspectives from the goody two shoes of the armies of Order to the violent and chaotic world of Destruction.

Alliance, Order, whatever you want to call them, the bottom line is: the "good" factions in MMOGs are always lame. Or at least don't make for as compelling fiction. No offense, then, to the first two Warhammer Online novels, which focused on the struggles of the nice guys (though I guess they aren't all so nice in the world of Warhammer, where it seems like everyone hasn't showered or slept well in months) in the Order faction, but Forged by Chaos, the new novel by C.L. Werner, seems a bit more interesting.

Forged by Chaos shines its narrative spotlight on the armies on the Destruction side of the Warhammer rivalry. The book finds the armies of the Chaos faction ready to topple the Empire of Man, but they're not quite ready to do it without an insurance policy. That comes in the form of something called the Spear of Myrmidia, which a troop of Chaos warriors sets out to secure and use to unleash some serious bad juju on the world. Meanwhile, the Dark Elves and Orcs are also after the Spear - bad guys, apparently, have a hard time working together.

"Forged by Chaos provides readers with their first look into the dark, megalomaniacal minds of the forces of Destruction," Mythic's Jeff Hickman said. "Rife with internal conflict, shifting allegiances, and a never-ending lust for murder, we see firsthand how this unholy alliance of Destruction is just as deadly to each other as they are to the armies of Order."

The novel is being penned by fantasy scribe C.L. Werner, whose credits include Mathias Thulmann: Witch Hunter and other Warhammer books. It's being published by Warhammer imprint The Black Library and will be out this fall.