The Twice Dead King - Ruin review spoiler free....ish

 

The Twice Dead King - Ruin by Nate Crowley. 

I've decided to move on to another Necron book, which is starring Oltyx the exiled dynasty heir of the Ithakas dynasty. Oltyx has the unusual trait of having five subordinate minds within his consciousness. These sub-minds can converse with him and act separately in the following categories of his mind:

• Doctrinal - his understanding of the Necron culture and history
• Strategic - his understanding of military strategy
• Combat - his understanding of martial prowess and fighting abilities up close
•  Analytical - his ability to go through and keep track of massive amounts of data
• Xenology - his ability to understand lesser beings and species

All of these sub-minds can speak to him, each other, and even keep their own secrets. Oltyx is exiled to a world called Sedh, some of the dynasty including Oltyx awoke early from the Necrons' Great Sleep and he attempted to take power from his father the Phaeron Unna and his brother Djoseras. This failed and he was punished by exile to a backwater world of no importance. Unbeknownst to him, this was done to avoid execution for the attempted Regicide and Fratricide. Before Biotransference Oltyx was just starting to break out with the cancerous tumors that made the Necrontyr so short-lived. He was a veteran of the Necrontyr Second War of Succession, before their ill-fated bargain with the C'Tan. 

Nate Crowley has managed to bring together not only external threats but also one that is insidious and is still a fear of the Necron race. Within this story you are shown how the Biotransference still plays a part in the minds of the Necrons, no matter how impossibly far in the past it was, it still has lasting consequences upon them. Usually the Necrons are shown to be completely obsessed with how advanced and mighty they are compared to the other races, and yet never being able to come to terms with what they have lost. This duality features time and time again in their stories, and Oltyx shows this well. The Novel is nicely paced and it builds up to an interesting final few chapters, setting up perfectly for the sequel book Twice Dead King- Reign. The back and forth between Oltyx and his Sub-minds is at times funny and also reveling, I think that this a book any Necron fan needs to read.

Top image used under creative commons Warhammer wiki

bottom image book cover of the version used in the review