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The Bloodstone of Cerillion (Multiformat) $2.99
Publisher: Mantic Games
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by Stirling N. [Verified Purchaser] Date Added: 01/17/2014 15:06:17

Mantic Games' first foray into the world of written fiction. Author Johnathan Peace doesn't have a lot of books to his name, a quick google search returned this novella and a well-reviewed novel, The Magpie's Lament, which I have not read.

As a gamer and a big fan of mantic, I can say this is an adequate first start to what I dearly hope is a plethora of mantic fiction releases. With several kickstarters under their belts, and two separate universes ripe for expansion through novels and short stories, mantic has a lot of opportunity to become more of a household name and expand their existing IP.

The Bloodstone of Cerillion is rather short, I was able to read the entire thing in an afternoon. Its not an original story by any means, and is rather cliche, though I think Peace might prefer to describe it as a homage to fiction from the golden age of gaming. Three armies from Kings of War feature heavily in the story: Elves, Dwarfs, and Undead, while Basileans, Abyssal Dwarfs, and Twilight Kin (this setting's dark elves) are mentioned in passing. The characters aren't breaking any new grounds, but have their own distinct personalities and the writing itself is quite entertaining to read. The pacing of the story is good, and the plot itself, while cliche, provides adequate entertainment value.

There are a few moments where the specifics of the mantic world come into play. One example that comes to mind is an obvious reference to the Dark Surge ability the undead possess, where a necromancer is able to push a regiment of undead forward with dark necromantic energy. Unfortunately Peace made the mistake of having the necromancer target a group of ghouls with this ability, which in the rules are one of the few units in the army unaffected by the spell. OOPS. There where a few other logical errors in the story. One of the characters seems to take a mortal wound in one scene, but it turns out they're ok a few scenes later, without an explanation as to how they where able to recover from the grisly wound.

The pdf itself clocks in at 79 pages, which isn't bad for the $3 price tag. The artwork on the cover is the Kings of War stock art, and isn't unique to this release. It is quite pretty, however, and really gets across the aesthetic that mantic has set for their elves.

Overall I'd say I enjoyed the story. I don't know that it will convince any readers to start a kings of war army, but to existing fans its nice to see a small bit of the mantic world in greater detail.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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The Bloodstone of Cerillion (Multiformat)
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