The Twice-Dead King: Ruin

By Nate Crowley

At first I was not sure if I would like this book. But in reviewing, I do my utmost to set aside my prejudices, and I was pleasantly surprised, making it an interesting one to review.

Black Library have released a few books now – this book, the sequel, The Infinite and the Divine – to flesh out the background of the Necrons, which got updated in 5th edition Warhammer 40,000. I wasn’t sure about the update at first: the mysterious, implacable Necrons had a horror vibe, and now it’s become more of a comical vibe, but belying this, there’s actually still some tragedy that works really well.

Anonymity ain't so bad

The problem Games Workshop had with the Necrons was the lack of individual personality. It’s hard to fuel people’s imaginations when the stories are ‘then the Necrons came out their tombs and killed everything’. It needed characters, and the approach was to portray them as arrogant and previously all-powerful. But their hubris was their downfall. They foolishly trusted the C’tan, a race of demigods. The C’tan named Mephet'ran, or the Deceiver (subtle that) tricked the Necrontyr, as they were previously known, into undergoing a pact which would do away with flesh and make them immortal, but the Necrontyr did not realise the price they would pay, many of them becoming immortal but mindless, and the leaders having the perhaps worse fate of being aware of what had happened.

There’s a feeling of tragedy then that is unlocked by exploring what is it really like for a Necron leader, witnessing this, being a part of it. And this book does a really good job of it. Oltyx is our protagonist, and he has fallen from the heady heights of leadership of his world, shamed and embarrassed at what has happened to him, his world and his race.

The personalities are really well thought out. Some of the principal characters have important interesting relationships. Oltyx has bickering sub-minds which assist him with decision making and actions: combat, strategic, doctrinal. Sometimes they verge into tedious, but most of the time they add interesting – even humorous – colour. Similarly, a lot of the support characters feel the same way. Often they have a comical personality, which is the direction Necrons have moved towards elsewhere too (such as the infinite and the divine by Robert Rath). Neth, Mentep, his pet Xott, even the scarab that features a lot towards the end. But also they did often just feel like support characters, when some of their perspective could have been introduced more. The admiral Yenekh, bucks this trend though – being quite a contrast to Oltyx in that he is well regarded by his peers.

Oltyx himself is surprisingly emotional – but, I think this is a deliberate and well thought out author decision. In fact, his emotions affect his interpretation of his past, his relationship with Djoseras and how he acts. It makes a lot of sense, and I think this main character is easily a big strongpoint of the book.

Oltyx’s background opens up more and more in the book. The plot is fairly simple, but does get more interesting later on as it unravels. At the same time, the background of the Necrons is explored more – the biotransferance, Oltyx’s experience of it, the C’tan Llandu’gor and the flayer curse. It does a good job of providing flavour but not neglecting the plot and enjoyment of this book itself. Compare this to Avenging Son in the Dawn of Fire series where exactly the opposite occurs. See my review for that.

Reanimation protocols

The action scenes are reasonable. One part of the book has a series of combats against various aliens, and it felt a bit forced, but other combats had some action, tension and Necron trickery. Sometimes I found myself wishing for more action, rather than getting bogged down in flashbacks, although I do concede there were sometimes important and beneficial to the story.

The book could do some things better then. Sometimes it gets bogged down in the Necron terminology, without really furthering the story, or the flashbacks were a little confusing. There probably could have been more action, but the dialogue was usually purposeful and interesting.

Final score

The personality of the Necrons has become far more comical, which takes a little getting used to, but based on the evidence here it’s also artfully paired with a tragic undercurrent which works excellently. The Necrons are the foolish king(s) who have fallen from grace, and they struggle defiantly to regain their honour. This book does a good job using that perspective, filling in colour but also carrying a great character in Oltyx. It’s different, unique, but has a good story and one that carries its character’s story excellently.

8/10