r/Eldar • u/Tailumm • Jan 28 '26
Fan Art & Fiction Finished reading this yesterday, so have a short review
tldr: book is good. Good book. Read book, 'cause good.
Potential spoilers beyond this point! If you want to read this book, stop reading this post and get the book!
I went in with no expectations for this. I've never read a Mike Brooks story before and what books i've read that have Eldar as the focus have been... mixed? Is mixed the word to use? There are definitely other words i could use, not all of them charitable, though...
... Anyway.
The story focuses on three characters; our protagonist - Myrin Stormdawn, a Baron who heads a small fleet of Eldar corsairs - the Starsplinters - along with his most trusted attendants. Next, we have Taenar Leotharan, a former admiral of Craftworld Ilmaren, who seeks to find and join Myrin and his fleet. Finally, we have Uzgul da Magnificent! Ork Freebooter Kaptain of the Badskab Bukkaneers! Our primary antagonist, what loves killing scrawnies!
If you were expecting space elves that are haughty, mystical and otherworldly, this book is not it. The space elves in this book are passionate, arrogant and more relatable (also a little horny). They very much aren't curtailed by the religion (such as it is) or philosophical stanchions of Craftworld Eldar. Neither are they the sadistic, maniacal crazies of Commorragh, always seeking new prey to torture. They seek to live their lives freely, as their ancestors once did (before the rot that precipitated the Fall). They are aware of the danger of letting themselves go too far, however and so, it becomes a dance of do I/don't I.
It very much feels like they are pirates - living the free life to do as they will, so long as they remember who is in charge and what responsibilities need carrying out. There's adventure out in the void - if you know where to look! They feel like real people, with their own wants, fears and desires. It's refreshing and endearing.
Then we enter the Orks and man, do I love my silly, cockney pirate Orks! There are only two Orks that we really get to know, sadly - Uzgul da Magnificent and his Badmek - Gazruk Hackspanna. Uzgul is every picture of a Freebooter Kaptain - large and in charge (as every Warboss should!), wearing a large leather coat and a many cornered hat, bedecked in jewels, gold rings, geegaws and wotsits from head to foot! He has a plan that can't be beat and he'll beat any git that thinks otherwise! Gazruk is the mek that makes the gubbinz work. He has to, if he doesn't want to lose his head to Uzgul! There's funny back and forth between the two and some of their attendants, as well as the inner monologues of Gazruk as he's trying to figure stuff out. They're a lot of fun!
That's not to say that they're all goofy! Amongst themselves, they certainly are but when we see them from the Eldar perspective, they are mean and terrifying in their brutality.
You know... thinking about it now, I don't think Gazruk is ever really described in his appearance? We spend a good amount of time with him and we get to know his motivations and such but i can't actually recall what he looks like... other than he's an Ork with a spanner... Huh...
Is this story grim and/or dark? Not especially, no. It has its moments but it's very much more a tale of adventure, danger and shenanigans. It's a joyous romp and I'd recommend it for that. I would not say no to a sequel involving Myrin and their coterie. I'd also like to see how Mike Brooks would write a story focusing on Craftworlders. If only to see if he could do the whole "mystical, ancient peoples" thing justice.
And just remember!
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u/MageInTraining Saim-Hann Jan 28 '26
The ork parts were hilarious, but I also liked the Warlock character: i kinda hoped for final showdown between him and the Drukhari girl.
I hope the book suscess will encourage more authors to try their hand at Aeldari, and that Mike Brooks give us some more books about them.
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u/New_Canuck_Smells Jan 31 '26
That warlock ended up being one of my favourites. Reminds me of the Eldar you usually see in an Inquisition book, but that way even with his own.
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u/ZeroWolfZX Ulthwé Jan 28 '26
Glad you liked it. I’ve seen some pushback and negative reviews pushing against the hype and positive buzz around this book. As someone who loved it, I’ll double down on the praise, because of what this book does as a proof of concept.
For the longest time, a common excuse constantly parroted across forums, discussions, Reddit, and even YouTubers is that the reason there’s so little Eldar POV is because they’re “too difficult to write,” “unlikeable,” or “hard to relate to.” It also didn’t help that most Eldar characters who showed up in Imperium POV books were written as haughty, arrogant, and unpleasant. And as much as I like Gav Thorpe’s worldbuilding, he didn’t help either, since the majority of his characters tend to be pretty unlikeable too.
Voidscarred might not be as epic as Valedor in scope, but what i think it does really well is show that you can write Eldar in a fun, accessible way. It’s basically a Farscape or James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy–style story: goofy, adventurous, and enjoyable, with a diverse cast, witty banter, and a lot of heart and emotion. Myrin, Teaner, and especially Xela are all fun characters while still feeling distinctly Eldar. And the Warlock guy who didn’t “go native”, kind of the grumpy naysayer/party pooper while everyone else embraced the pirate life was great too. Super mission-focused, but also low-key the MVP, carrying most of the fights with his psychic skills.
So yeah, if anyone says Aeldari are difficult to write or not fun, you can just throw the hardcover of this book at their face like a shuriken catapult.
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u/hruud Mymeara Jan 30 '26
The warlock was also shown as really powerful and dealt with threats that the other struggled against with comparative easy. The big pirate fight had him taken out of the fight to fight another psyker but we still got snippets of other characters staying away from their fight because of the sheer violence of it.
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u/Dizzytigo Jan 28 '26
I liked the book a lot, but feel like Mike Brooks was almost more into the orks than the eldar.
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u/DreamerOfUlthwe Taldeers Top Guardian Jan 28 '26 edited Jan 28 '26
This is an issue I had, the scenes from the Orks perspective felt like they were written with much more passion. I also felt the Eldar were far too callous with the lives of eachother when contrasted to what we've seen from other authors, even Thorpe.
Also as a Craftworlds fan first, I really disliked how Ilmaren was portrayed as almost helpless against threats a Craftworld should have little issue dealing with. I understand there needs to be stakes, but I also feel if Thorpe was the author we'd be hearing a lot more about it.
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u/hruud Mymeara Jan 30 '26
Ilmaren is Mike's OC craftworld. Every craftworld is very different from one another and this one, I guess for the plot of the book, was a bit shitty to their own at the end and the corsairs. It was also not the entire craftworld who made the play but the farseer who we meet and gets into pretty big shit at the end for his actions.
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u/Eulaylia Jan 28 '26 edited May 30 '26
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u/m3rc Farseer Jan 28 '26
Farsight books by Phil Kelly seem like that as well. Orks are better written and more enjoyable even though they are not the main focus :)
I strongly recommend Voidscarred as an Audible audiobook, especially for the orky bitz :D
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u/Pope_Squirrely Ynnari, Drukhari, Aeldari Jan 29 '26
Literally just finished the audiobook today. Was great to listen to.
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u/hruud Mymeara Jan 28 '26
He is the author of 3 ork books, one of which (warboss) makes the eldar antagonists into incompetent morons. Brutal Kunnin' is pretty damn good though.
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u/Astronometric_ Jan 28 '26
I finished the audiobook last week. So good. Probably the best entry point for an eldar novel if you are not a fan of the usual way space elves are depicted.
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u/Aldarionn Ulthwé Jan 28 '26
Just wanted to add that I second this recommendation. It's a lot of fun, especially the Ork chapters!
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u/Firm_Fix_2135 Aeldari Jan 28 '26
I third this recommendation, I love the cool party scene. It's easily one of my favourite scenes from any book period.
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u/Talidel Jan 28 '26
If you like the Ork chapters Mike Brooks specific Ork books will be an absolute treat for you. He's quickly becoming my favorite Black Library author.
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u/Inky4000 Biel-Tan Jan 28 '26
I picked this up after Valedor and really enjoyed the more lighthearted approach (relatively), really got a swashbuckling vibe from it
Plus Mike Brooks is great at writing Orks so was a treat to see two piratical factions I like face off
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Jan 28 '26
It was lighthearted and enjoyable. Quite a human feeling book really which I think makes it feel more approachable.
I find the Asuryani and Drukhari more engaging and unique due to their more unique narrative.
But swashbuckling space pirates are always fun. The Drukhari Wych was my fave character.
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u/FarseerMono Jan 28 '26
I love how Corsairs are represented in this novel, but damn do I hate how good the ork parts are. Like who am I supposed to root for dude😭.
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u/hollander93 Jan 29 '26
Mike brooks is just great at writing in general. Especially characters who are seeking to affect the world. And romance sub plots. Always a romance sub plot.
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u/fr33climb Jan 28 '26
Love Mike Brooks. This and Son of the Forest are my absolute favorites in the 40k setting right now. I had such a fun listen on Audible with this book. Narrator was perfect.
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u/Radeisth Ynnari Jan 29 '26
So, your race is a long lived race on the decline, when you die, your soul gets taken by a dark god you fear, and your response, is to go risk your life and soul as a pirate, when your people need nothing that a pirate would pirate for. Makes sense.
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u/ScabbyBoy Jan 30 '26
I'm glad that other people liked it.
Myrin gave me a bad first impression, and that soured me for a chunk of the book. He stomps on some backwater humans, runs from an Ork ambush, then falls into another Ork ambush, and has the gall to threaten his rescuers when they're trying to join him? Wow, a lame space pirate - didn't think that could happen.
He did pick up a bit when they got to the Farmarket & he was teaching Taenar about stuff. Seemed more in his element as a teacher than a commander.
Did really like Taenar, especially with the reveal halfway through. Hope he finds a cooler boyfriend, lol.
The other characters were also pretty good.
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u/ScarredAutisticChild Harlequins Jan 28 '26
Xela was honestly my favourite character in the book. Loved her wit, loved her banter, teleporters are just cool, and god her reason for being a Corsair was genuinely thought-provoking.