The Rise of Nagash by Mike Lee is an omnibus of three novels chronicling the rise and fall of Nagash, the greatest necromancer who ever lived. Originally published as part of the Time of Legends series, Mike Lee's trilogy takes us to ancient Nehekhara, the first human civilisation to exist in the Old World. Each of the three books spans a different period of Nagash's life (or unlife), while also devoting much of their attention to the diverse peoples and powerful characters who shaped the history of Nehekhara during those turbulent times. Gathered together the three novels chart not just the lives of Nagash, his allies and his foes, but also the origins of the Undead and the Tomb Kings and the fall of the greatest human civilisation the Old World has ever known.
Nagash the Sorcerer, the first novel in the trilogy, spans more than a century. It is built around two plotlines: one following a war between Nagash and an alliance of rebel kings, and one set decades earlier chronicling Nagash's original rise to power in Khemri. The two storylines complement each other, the earlier one gradually revealing the origins of many of the second storyline's plot elements and eventually catching up to its beginning right towards the end of the novel. Each storyline offers something different: Nagash's origin story gives readers insight into his goals and motives and puts his rise into historical context, while the war storyline lets us see Nagash's reign through the eyes of his enemies as it follows their campaign to overthrow him. In both Mike Lee brings ancient Nehekharan society to vivid life, exploring its politics, religion, culture, traditions and methods of warfare. Lee has put an incredible amount of effort into imagining the setting and it pays off, making Nagash the Sorcerer the best of the three novels for understanding ancient Nehekhara as well as the best war novel in the trilogy. It concludes in spectacular fashion with the Siege of Mahrak in which Nagash is finally defeated, bringing an end to the first period of the Great Necromancer's biography and spinning out plot threads that will bear fruit in the second and third books.
Nagash Unbroken begins at the nadir of Nagash's character arc, wounded, exiled, and succumbing to madness. It coincides with the low point of the trilogy, for Nagash Unbroken covers an obscure portion of Nagash's story that felt like it could have been covered in a few chapters rather than dragging out for a whole book. In the middle novel of the trilogy Nagash discovers the mountain that becomes Nagashizzar and learns the secrets of warpstone, waging a war upon the primitive human society that inhabits the area and gradually crushing them beneath his power. This whole plotline really feels like a footnote in Nagash's history, something that could have been glossed over in favour of accelerating his upcoming clash with the skaven. Thankfully, it only takes up half of Nagash Unbroken. The other half is set in Lahmia, the Nehekharan city that rises to prominence in the wake of Nagash's downfall, and follows the rise of Neferata, sister to the king, who becomes the city's ruler and, eventually, the first ever vampire. Neferata is an intriguing character and the chapters devoted to her story are what make Nagash Unbroken worthwhile, as well as linking it to the final book in the trilogy.
Nagash Immortal, the final book in the trilogy, brings Nagash and Neferata's stories together through Alcadizzar, a warrior-prince raised by Neferata who flees upon learning her true nature and ultimately unites the kings of Nehekhara against Lahmia, destroying the city in a climactic battle and driving Neferata and her vampire coven into exile. Meanwhile, Nagash's legions of undead contend with a massive skaven invasion of Cripple Peak, fighting a bitter underground war that eventually grinds to a stalemate and then an uneasy alliance. This plotline is focalised almost entirely through the skaven, who bring their unique and amusing flavour to the story. Nagash and Alcadizzar then go head-to-head in the invasion of Nehekhara, the culmination of everything the trilogy has been building to. Alcadizzar whups Nagash and sends him to bed without dinner, but the Great Necromancer cheats and through a series of terrible spells turns Nehekhara into the land of the dead.
The Rise of Nagash isn't flawless, the second act drags too much for that, but it's pretty close. The only major problems are not textual but to do with the much-revised lore of the Vampire Counts, earlier versions of which are retconned by Lee's writing. According to Vlad von Carstein's expanded backstory he was originally a Nehekharan noble who became Neferata's husband, later fellow vampire, and fought in Nagash's army against Alcadizzar. As such he should be one of the most important characters in Nagash Immortal, but he doesn't even appear. This aside, The Rise of Nagash is an excellent trilogy, an epic tale of war and tragedy that spans the downfall of Nehekhara and the rise of the Vampire Counts and Tomb Kings. It is essential to understanding the backstory of Nagash, one of the most pivotal characters in all Warhammer fiction, and is quite simply a bloody good read (pun intended). I heartily recommend it.
