Anyone have any suggested reading from a novel perspective? I'm looking for:

- a good read

- semi-intro to the warhammer universe

Rat Catcher's Tale: www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp

jh

There are several good books from Black Library which are situated in Warhammer world. On eof the first and a classic is the Gotrek and Felix series. At least the first few books are quite fun.

Ambassador's Chronicles should be a good read also.

Tales of the Old World is a collection of short stories set in the Warhammer universe. The stories come from all sorts of different nations and perspectives, and can provide a good idea of the world in general.

Matthias Thulmann: Witch Hunter is a great collection if you are interested in the topic. The opening short stories in particular are a lot of fun.

While not masterfully written my personal favorites are the Gotrek and Felix Omnibuses are a pretty great place to start. They have a wide ranging set of adventures that cover a very good variety of locals and threats. They also give an excellent account into how skaven should be used as opponents (part of the best thing of those novels is the Skaven mindset). There is just something fun about them and I found them to be quick reads. They also have been my measure for how to mix grit, grim and action into my games.

Next I suggest The Witch Hunter books they are an excellent journey through the coruption that lies in the old world.

Then for more variety in the form of short stores the various Tales of the Empire series are great. They will give you lots of independent looks into various aspects of the Empire and different approaches that authors have taken.

Another really good book is Fel Cargo, it's a great take on running a Pirate themed game of Warhammer. Grey Seer is also a great book, but it's all from the Skaven perspective so while it's a great idea it's kind of a skewed view of the world. Which I think you can only appreciate more if you've read books from the hero's perspective first. Especially Gotrek and Felix which is where Grey Seer Thanquil gets introduced.

Now outside of the Warhammer books some other books that tell tales fitting of the setting would be Giles Kristian's Raven: Blood Eye which is a very grim Viking Tale that does an excellent job of describing battle scenes. K.J. Parker Scavenger Trilogy (Shadow, Pattern, and Memory) are very grim and really do justice to a mixed miliarty/political campaign. Last but not least if you want to run a game that has heroic, but not godlike in power characters you can't go wrong with any of David Gemmell's works. In particular I'd recomend Druss: The legend and his Riganntte trilogy. They are fantastic books for telling the tale of men who rise to the occasion and become legendary through their deeds.

While you asked for reading I'll submit two movies that are certainly worth watching 13th Warrior and Brotherhood of the Wolf. 13th Warrior because it's one of a rare breed of movies that focuses well on the qualities of the group and not just using the group as a supporting cast to bolster the hero. Brotherhood of the Wolf because even though it's timeline is ahead of Warhammer the technology level isn't far off and the main plot is spot on for Warhammer. Also again the settings are stunning.

I just finished with the vampire wars and Ancient Blood. Both taking place in the time of three emperors which happens to be close to the time of my mordhiem campaign. Although I'm fuding dates to fit the campaign, it won't be long before the PCs meet the von carsteins.

I'll second Tales of the Old World and the Gotrek and Felix novels, especially as Gotrek and Felix might as well be an adventuring party. I'd also highly recommend the Genevieve novels, Drachenfels, Genevieve Undead, Beasts in Velvet and Silver Nails

I also give an endorsement to the Gotrek & Felix novels and Tales of the Old World. Both give broad views of the world. I'm finishing Tales of the Old World now and have found it a rich source for gaming inspiration.

It seems Tales Of The Old World hasn't yet been translated in French. I play rpg in english but I won't read a whole novel... so I'm asking to french speakers here :

Quelqu'un sait si cela a été ou va être traduit en français par bibliothèque interdite ?

Gotrek and Felix is the way to go, in my opinion. The first omnibus contains books that helped *define* the Warhammer world, in the beginning.

For a close-to-full list, take a look at the link in my signature.

It is not Black Library but Hrafenkal's Saga is cheap and it is a great look at thirteenth century Icelandic life. The heroes aren't epic but they are very cunning and extremely violent. I think the best place to look is the source material.

willmanx said:

(Sorry for French speaking....)

Je ne pense pas, hélas.

zuzul said:

argh, damnèd mon cher Zuzul.

What about the "Blood on the Reik" series (Death's Messenger, Death's Legacy, and Death's City)? I found them not too bad and a good introduction on the warhammer world for my gruop of newbies

nub5 said:

A solid "bottum up" view of the setting. I particularly like the ending.

morskittar said:

Both myself and my group found it enjoyable and very "Warhammery". The thing about this storyline is that is was written with WFRP in mind (I believe these books were published right around the time WFRPv2 was). So it more down at the level of individuals and small groups. I also like how you get a good feel on the perception of witch hunters from the series.

USP45 said:

it sure isn't a novel, but I'm posting the adventures my group is playing in this blog: http://pathstochaos.blogspot.com . rules descriptions just appears on entries that don't show on the first page, like NPCs, PCs, Resources, Home Rules...