I’ve never cared much for Dwarves. If I had a therapist and a few hours to get into it, I imagine as I laid there on the couch we’d eventually arrive at the fact that while playing AD&D in my formative years, no amount of racial bonuses would ever be enough to induce me to play a character that moved at half the speed of others.
Probably the closest I’ve ever come to liking Dwarves in a fantasy property was in Dragon Age: Origins, and mainly on the strength of the intriguing world-building and storytelling present in Orzammar society. That doesn’t mean I played them, but I did think they were pretty cool (especially the idea of being uncomfortable with the open sky after a life spent underground).
But if there’s a guy out there who really feels strongly about them, it’s Gav Thorpe.
“I am, to put it bluntly, a fan of dwarfs,” he notes in the Introduction to the book’s Special Edition. He’s not kidding. Saying it goes beyond appreciation and into “personal affiliation.” Indeed, he even signs off on the Introduction as Throbbi Drakkaz aka Gav Thorpe.
Drakkaz Thorpe notes that back in 2022, Warhammer Community ran what appeared to be an April Fool’s joke teasing the return of the Squats (the old name for space dwarfs). On the off-chance it might be more than just a gag, he fired off an immediate email to the editors to see if there was interest in a novel.
It’s hard to imagine a better candidate. He’s written about them in the Old World, such as in Grudge Bearer and The Doom of Dragonback. He’s written novels about them in Age of Sigmar, with the short story Blood Gold.
And now, with The High Kâhl’s Oath, he can say that he’s written a novel about them for 40K as well.
So this isn’t quite a story of irresistible force meeting immovable object, since I’d say I’m more dwarf-agnostic than dwarf-opposed. And given my recent experience with the T’au, sometimes seeing really is believing.
Would Thorpe be up to the task?
The Story
With the introduction out of the way, this is the part where I’d like to summarize the plot of the book before moving onto my thoughts. There’s only one hiccup- it’s going to require a minor spoiler to do so. Although the reveal comes in what is effectively the novel’s prelude, the book takes some pains to keep things vague. Note, for instance, the ridiculously vague summary from the back of the book:
“Myrtun Dammergot, leader for the Kindred of the Eternal Starforge, is in her element, exploiting the unending conflict and living a life of adventure, without the unwanted burden of responsibility.
“But when a messenger from her Kindred’s Hold ship brings news that upends everything she knows, responsibility, challenges, and opportunity come knocking.”
So here’s the spoiler: the news Myrtun gets is that the High Kâhl has passed away, and that she is to be the new High Kâhl. This shapes the trajectory of the remainder of the book as she seeks the fate of her predecessor, with the book’s main thematic push being the tension between being true to one’s self versus one’s duty to others.
That’s a fairly common trope, one which underpins a raft of Disney movies from Moana to Brave, for instance. But whereas those stories tend to present societal obligations as things holding the protagonist back, Thorpe does a terrific job of establishing the Kin as something valuable and worthwhile in their own right. Indeed, for all that Myrtun is a strong character with depth and complexity, it’s the Kin who steal the show here.
The Kin
The book’s opening sequence made clear that I was in for something unexpected. From Deathworlder to Dominion Genesis, The Long and Hungry Road to Blood Harvest, I’ve been immersed in tales of Tyranid tragedy for awhile now and it was a welcome surprise to see the hunters become the hunted.
Thorpe opens up with the 40K equivalent of a whaling expedition against a Tyranid hive ship. Turns out the ‘nids aren’t the only one who see the value of biomass, and disabling a hive ship not only removes a potential threat from the board but also can- once properly harvested- yield quite the handsome ransom.
It’s a great introduction to the Kin, mixing heroism with business-minded pragmatism, and from there the main narrative arc kicks off in earnest. Myrtun becomes High Kâhl, agrees to honor the oath of her fallen predecessor, and leads a perilous expedition through a massive warp vortex. What they find is an almost immeasurable treasure for the Votann- but one that is absolutely infested with Orks.
Thorpe gives a full accounting for their culture throughout the book, from the society that unites them to the technological elements that give them their distinct character. Undoubtedly influenced by his love for Dwarf culture in general, he does amazing work in giving this people a soul. Best of all, he avoids the common structuring I often see where most of the worldbuilding stuff is frontloaded in the book, leaving the remainder a fairly unfettered action story. Instead, Thorpe weaves his lore throughout the story with the deftness of a veteran craftsman.
I can’t do better than letting Thorpe’s own words speak for him, so here is one of the book’s (many) standout passages to illustrate:
War has casualties because no profit comes without first incurring cost, Myrtun thought as she watched the deceased being strapped together into an unceremonious but practical spherical mass that would be taken back to the Grand Endeavour. It was a truth that she had learned early in her life in the hardest way possible. A Kin that was created, lived, and then returned to the Votann had partaken in a productive – some would dare say profitable – existence.
Their matter would live again and their experiences had become immortalised. The Votann in their wisdom had never eradicated fear from the Kin. As a biological drive it was exceptionally motivating, and as long as it was honed with training and discipline, it was absolutely essential. Self-preservation, when under control, brought all decisions into sharp focus.
Yet the Votann had gifted the Kin a lack of existential dread. Not for them questions of the afterlife, whether souls existed, how to live a good life. Every Kin knew where they came from – the gene databanks and Crucibles in the Holds of the League – and that they would, if returned home, end up in the bio-recyclers with their consciousness uploaded to the Ancestor Cores.
There was no mystery to confuse, no questions that might bring doubt. Which was why Myrtun had never allowed herself to become wholly comfortable with death. It was to be accepted, but Kin lives were not simply existence tokens to be expended for gain. Each was a potentiality for further experience, with the ability to exploit new opportunities for the Leagues, and live new experiences for the Votann.
So disparate were all the Kin, even within just her Prospect, that every death altered the future trajectory of her people – most in minor ways, but some Kin might have gone on to greatness that would never be realised. Each of the bodies bundled up with mag-belts might have been a future Prospect commander, a future kâhl, or even High Kâhl. The cloneskein in each of them may have pushed them in a direction, be it Hernkyn or Brôkhyr, Cthonian miner or Grimnyr, but it was not a preordained fate.
Across the book’s near-three-hundred pages, Thorpe succeeds in painting an affectionate portrait of a pragmatic and utilitarian race, characteristics that set them intriguingly apart in a universe overflowing with moral absolutists. It’s hard to escape the impression that, knowing a second Leagues of Votann book was by no means guaranteed, Thorpe challenged himself to make the Votann book, one that did justice to the fantasy race he’s loved all his life.
Hard(-er) Sci-Fi
It’s also a nice break from the usual Black Library fare to find a heroic story that involves mostly non-combatant heroes. Sure they can hold their own, but these aren’t a conquering, warlike people. Rather, this is much more a tale of exploration and discovery with the same “finding mysteries beyond known space” vibe that is the mother’s milk to Star Trek fans.
The Trek comparison holds up in other ways. Warhammer 40,000 has always had a stronger element of science fantasy instead of science fiction. Nobody’s confusing this stuff for The Three-Body Problem or even The Expanse, existing as it does closer to the Star Wars end of the spectrum.
To be clear, that’s not a value judgment- science fiction is a big tent and the genre is all the better for it. But if you’ve ever wondered what Warhammer 40K might look like if it leaned just a little harder into science fiction, The High Kâhl’s Oath is your jam.
From astronavigation to warp traversal, ship piloting to operations, Thorpe imbued a degree of realism throughout. Heck, there’s even a trade union meeting scene. It’s still unmistakably a Warhammer 40,000 story, but one that often feels more slice-of-life rather than larger-than-life.
Final Thoughts
Three months ago when the Black Library released the results of the Book of the Year poll for 2024, I was pleasantly surprised at some of the results. With Elemental Council charting third and The High Kahl’s Oath placing just outside the top five, I wondered what other readers knew that I didn’t. Now I know!
I’m hopeful that this isn’t the last we’ve seen of these fascinating people, these “space dwarfs.” Doing well with the readers is certainly a factor in equating the likelihood of more, and all of the lorework Thorpe and the editors undertook to bring this one to market prove time well-spent if we are treated to a sequel- or even a new short story for the upcoming Advent Calendar.
Non-human-centered stories tend to be rather more dear in the Black Library. Fans of the Drukhari, for instance, were clearly delighted when Lelith Hesperax, Queen of Knives by Mike Brooks dropped last year. But despite the book placing third in Book of the Year, it probably doesn’t herald an incoming deluge of stories set in Comorragh.
But Gav Thorpe is an old hand, and this is clearly a passion project. If you’re looking for reasons to be optimistic, you could do worse.
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