The battle starts in Dietershafen in the year 1119 with Mandred's forces engaging the Skaven led by Sythar Doom of Clan Skryre, then the next part is in Skavenblight in the year 1121 with Sythar Doom now in a Council of Thirteen meeting before we return once again back to the battle of Dietershafen in the year 1119. It's like this throughout the book and while the years are only so far apart and they a still somewhat connected story-wise, it does tend to start irritating you after a while. I'm not sure if this was the intention of the Author or some editorial decision, but I'm fairly sure the previous two books didn't follow this time crisscross format (I'll check and update this if it's incorrect).
The story itself is the rise of Mandred to eventually becoming the next Emperor and the defeat of the Skaven conquest. The book itself seems to take place a few years after the last one with most of the Empire under Skaven control. The book still switches between the various points of view from Mandred, Kreyssig along with a few other humans and of course, the various Skaven leaders. One of the main reasons I enjoy the Skaven written by C.L.Werner is that he really understands Skaven and can create some really enjoyable characters (which is why he is usually the one to write books featuring them) and he does indeed show them and their weaknesses well. After all, Mandred may be this great legendary hero, but the only thing that can bring the Skaven down are, of course, the Skaven themselves.
While this does finish up the Black Plague trilogy nicely, the timelinissue tends to cost it a little. Some people may think nothing of it, but for me it was the one thing I couldn't ignore. Still, I enjoyed it and found this book had some really interesting parts to it that kept me reading into the night. Now, if they could only get C.L.Werner to write a trilogy on the second Skaven civil war....
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