Can anyone recommend a mediocre Warhammer novel? I say "mediocre" as I am not expecting literary excellence and I am only trying to get some background and ideas for my campaign in the Old World. Mere ordinariness is perfectly fine, especially in tie-in genre fiction. But the titles I have taken out the library (Gotrek and Felix, Ulrika the Vampire, Reiksguard, anything by Graham McNeil etc.), have all been truly appalling, and have besmirched the setting for me. The one writer I have had any other experience with: the excellent Kim Newman (writing as Jack Yeovil) appears to be sadly out of print.
Mediocre Warhammer Novels
I hear you on many WH novels being "m'eh".
The Tales of the Old World omnibus of short stories is not a bad bet - it varies but lots of different stories so lots of different ideas to work with and it also an exposure to different writers in small doses.
I liked the Witch Hunter series of novels by C.L. Werner. They too offer a "range of baddies and mischiefs" as well as other challenges a fairly decent sort faces fighting evil in the Old World.
I hear you on newman/yeovil, Drachenfels is the best warhammer novel I've ever read. It's actually a bit non-canonish on couple of things but it's actually "a good book that happens to be set in Old World". It's out of print but I don't know if it's in any Genevieve omnibus (I was less impressed with the others ni that line).
The Luther Huss novel is pretty good till the last bit. I didn't like how it wrapped up things.
Will check out C.L. Werner. He's one I haven't tried yet and premise looks interesting. Witch Hunters done by other authors all seem to be cardboard cut-out buffoons. Not that I'm against 'flat' characters. Angela Carter was great at them.
You should try: www.blacklibrary.com/Warhammer/Grey-Seer.html
Although the protagonist is a Skaven Grey seer the skaven stuff is quite funny. But I recommend it because most of the time the humans and chaos antagonists are running and living the daily life in altdorf. Also the author grabs some lose ends of Yeovils Beasts in Velvet and some stuff like the chaos cult of the purple hand which was the main bady from the original The Enemy Within. Also the story of the two dock gangs, the fishs and the hooks is in. These references are short, but let me felt this book as completely WFRP related stuff.
Thanquol is the main Charakter but bad, and the humans ie. the good guys seem to be the minions of a deamon or some other shadowy creature. So all in all I read this book and was on noones side.
Some places like Ali Otto's drug den could be set into any roleplay session without any work. Also the smugglers with their connections to selling warpstone, or the fat halfling pawnbroker can be used instantly into any city adventure.
Theres a free audiobook/podcast out there somewhere, Felix and the other one (short, hairy, you know who I mean) - not great, but you can listen whilst you wash up.
Haven't finished, but so far I'm enjoying!
A collection of 8 stories. Strangely enough I found the title story, "Ignorant Armies" the least entertaining…
I don't know if they're still available, but James Wallis (who owned Hogshead Publishing, the company that kept WFRP alive during the lean years, and who incidently I did a bit of work for and is a **** fine bloke) did two Warhammer novels: Mark of Heresy and Mark of Damnation.
"Former Empire solider Karl Hoche has spent his life hunting down the dark forces of Chaos. But after developing a mutation himself, Karl struggles to come to terms with becoming his own most hated enemy. Distraught, he reverts to what he knows best--the destruction of Chaos. But when he begins to garner a reputation as the near mythical Chaos Hunter, he becomes a more attractive target for those who seek out heretics."
Dark, gritty, older style WFRP stuff and well written.
My vote also goes to C.L. Werner and his Witch Hunter stories. Also, I liked the Warrior Priest by Darius Hinks better than most other Black Library books I've read. Very warhammery mood at times.
Try Beasts in Velvet, an older book but very good. You should be able to pick up a copy on ebay. Anything by Dan Abnett
Yes. Read a couple of Dan Abnett's Doctor Who novels and they were good. Will check him out.
I'll put in a word for Brian Craig's (i.e. Brian Stableford) Orfeo series (especially the 1st and 3rd books Zaragoz and Storm Warriors). As a 20-something I preferred Jack Yeovil's (i.e. Kim Newman) novels for the plots and characterization, but since then I've gained an appreciation for Stableford's language and spin on Warhammer morality.
I remember Brian Stableford from White Dwarf (back in the days when it was good). Will check him out too.