Storm Warriors

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The third and final tale of the minstrel Orfeo - sequel to Zaragoz and Plague Daemon - a story of terror and betrayal set in the ancient and haunted land of Albion.

Trystan saw the seething shadows in the clouds take on form and substance - until they had assumed the shapes of ghostly riders, a hundred strong.

All were lean with shrunken eyes lost in shadow, and many bore the scars of battle, picked out in livid white against their grey flesh, as if they shone with starry light... These warriors had long since quit the land of the living.

" Thou art in our world now, " one rider called out, "where those who are not of our number must be our prey. We are the Storm Warriors of Slaanesh, from whom there is no escape."

Cover by Fangorn

Published in 1991 by Games Workshop Publishing (as by Brian Craig)
ISBN:1-872372-17-1

When a band of mysterious elves is shipwrecked on Albion, the delicate peace of the land is shattered. Far from being the innocent travellers they claim, the elves pay allegiance to a more sinister power. Can the young king Herla save his kingdom from the whirlwind of darkness that threatens to tear it apart?

Published in 1994 by Boxtree (as by Brian Craig)
ISBN : 0-74-344321-7

Translated into Japanese.

Review by Ian Braidwood

Cast of Characters:
Orfeo, Caliph of Mahabbah and Lord of the Twin Seas Alkadi Nasreen, Meilir Larne, Kerewan, King Herla, King Coll of Alawn, Princess Morgana of Alawn, Hallam, Gwilym, Thoron, Sir Godwin of Conway, Lady Lynette, Emyr Siun, Trystan Harper, Bavian, Sir Moraint Heilyn, Lady Melicent, Hywel Heilyn, Lord Macalla, Prince Lin of Gwron, Huw Peredur, Jair, Berewyn Aglavin, Owain Dene, Athdara, Seremond, Lady Ceithlen.

Storm Warriors brings a group of malevolent elves to the shores of Morien and although they are not overtly violent, their intentions aren't good. They seek to cause a rift between the people of Morien and King Herla, and between the king and his bard, Trystan.

I kept finding echoes of the legend of King Arthur in this section of the book, as if Trystan were a cross between Sir Lancelot and a young Merlin. I'm sure the more perspicacious readers will work out how subversive discontent is sown.

This story revolves around the magic of music and the interplay between that, honour and friendship, with the code of Agam Rund mediating between individuals. The plot gradually thickens until there is a dual between the elf wizard Kerewan and Trystan with the eventual conjuration of the Storm Warriors themselves.

This is the final volume of the Orfeo trilogy and to be honest, I'm glad. Not that these books are actually bad, they are quite entertaining; it's just that they don't deliver what I want from a book. Perhaps you can imagine how my heart sank when I realised that between the Asgard trilogy and the Werewolves trilogy was a mass of violent fantasy aimed at an audience less than half my age.

The Brian Stableford Website