Hello all,

I am a new player of warhammer fantasy. Although I have limited info on W40k lore, I know next to nothing about Warhammer fantasy RP lore. I would love a suggestion on which Warhammer novel should I get as a starting point towards building a Warhammer library. I would like a novel that is sort of a starting point on the general lore, and also is somewhat close to the WFRP timeline.

Thanks!

As far as Warhammer Fantasy novels go, there's probably nothing quite as iconic as Gotrek and Felix.

I also found the Witchhunter series quite entertaining. Pretty different from Gotrek and Felix series, reading both series will give you a good grip on the warhammer setting. I think both of those take place roughly during the same time period that wfrp 3e is set in, but bear in mind there's no real set timeline for what the warhammer world has been through (things have changed a lot through all editions of the roleplaying game and the tabletop game).

So, what would you suggest a WH lore-newbie read first? I take it Gotrk and Felix is ok?

The Witch Hunter series (omnibus version with 3 books in 1) is great. Good flavour and also good story.

Hit up the link in my sig for a somewhat comprehensive list.

G&F and the Witch Hunter are the most 'RPG-esque' books for the setting I think.

There are plenty of setting novels, but I'm not as keen on them as the rest.

If you want a good read, the Nagash series is entertaining (although book 2 is sooooo much shorter than book 1), but take place thousands of years before the current time.

oops, double post.

...Bill King is great, at least trollslayer and skavenslayer but Sandy Mitchell is by far the best. If you can find an old copy of "wolfriders" there is a short story in there by Mitchell called the Tilean Rat....EXCELLENT whfrp material!!!

Thank you all, I am off to buy Witch-hunters from thebookdepository!

Gotrek and Felix is great, but contains 3 omnibus's and is generally outside of the range that most PC's get invovled in. The Witchhunter omnibus is generally a little more at the level that PC's tend to get into.

There is also Florin and Lorenzo which are similar to Gotrek and Felix but with a little more Gothic Flare to them.

Then the new Bruner The Bounty Hunter Omnibus just came out and it sounds like it could fit what your looking for to. But I haven't read it yet.

Oh, and the Drachenfels novel (J Yeovil) is also great. It's great more as a book I think as the heroine Genevieve is not a typical warhammer RPG heroine by any means!

Rob

Any of the classics - Konrad, Drachenfels (my favorite), The Enemy Within, Plague Demon (tough to find), Tales of the Old World (Great collection of short stories), Murder in Marienberg

I’ll second the recommendation for A Muder in Marienberg. The novel reads just like a beginning scenario for WFRP. The characters while competent are not overly powerful. This creates a real sense of danger for them when they face the challenges of the story.

As mentioned before, The Witchhunter & Brunner omnibuses are excellent reads, as well as the Tales of the Old World anthology, which gives you a great overview of the Warhammer World through several short stories.

For a soldier’s point of view of the world, I highly recommend the Empire Army Series. This series includes Reiksguard, Iron Company, Call to Arms, and the upcoming Grim Blades.

Finally, I must mention the Gotrek & Felix Books. Though their exploits are a tad bit more powerful than most player characters will be, but they are still fun reads, and good inspiration for your games. I highly recommend their audio book novel Slayer of the Storm God. The narrator does an excellent job with the character's voices, and the music and sound effects adds a great atmospheric mood to the story.

Good Luck & Good Gaming!

I'd recommend Beasts in Velvet as an excellent introduction to the feel of WFRP. And it is one of the best Warhammer novels too. And it comes in the same collection as Drachenfels too (which is perhaps the best of them) - The Vampire Genevieve.

Other books tend to be less typical but Florin and Lorenzo's adventures, some of Felix and Gotrek's early stories and Brian Craig's Wine of Dreams or Zaragoz might be worth a gander too.

LOVED Beast in Velvet. I only got 1/3 of the way through Wine of Dreams - should I give it another chance?

I loved the first editions of the Warhammer novels way back when - Konrad, Plague Demon, Drachenfels... as was SO glad to see them begin again. I never would have imagined how huge the library would grow! Fantastic reads.

Another good book to get is The Blackhearts omnibus. I personally like it more than Gotrek & Felix ad the three novels in that omnibus are perfect for three long adventures in WFRP.

To get an overall feel for the world of Warhammer I would definitely recommend the Felix and Gotrek novels. As their journeys take them all over the empire and they run into a vast array of people and adversaries. Some of the other novels concentrate more on particular regions in the world but are a good source if you are thinking of running games in these areas. I would suggest Blackhearts and Witchhunter after the first couple of G & F omnibus.

scifiguy said:

I enjoyed it but if it wasn't grabbing you it might well be that it isn't for you. It is more Culthulu-esque atmosphere than pulp action Warhammer.

Personally, I didn't like Konrad and its sequels so much...