Want to have a chat about Black Library publications regarding the Warhammer and 40k settings then here is your outlet.
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:31, Mon 26 Jan 2009.

Thanks a bunch!

It is pretty old but I picked up a second hand copy of "Status: Deadzone".  It is a collection of short stories revolving around Necromunda and a great resource, especially if you are going to be throwing PC's in a hive (especially the underhive).  Not the best writing in the world but fun and interesting enough.

***1/2 out of 5 boltguns

Gaunts Ghost is definitely my favourite, a good way to show the life os a slogging guardsmen in the worst situations from the lowly trooper to the Colonel Commissar himself. There are 11 books in the series, with my favourite being either number 3, "Necropolis." or number 10, "His Last Command."

I quite liked the Eisenhorn trilogy. It was the first set of books that described life in the Imperial outside of the Imperial Guard. Gilead's Blood for Warhammer was also pretty cool.

In reply to Furry Teddy (msg #4):

Xenos-Malleus-Hereticus

Dan Abnett ia such a better writer than William King, yet "Felix and Gotrex", has cemented King as the most  popular writer in the Black Library, for shame.  Eisenhorn is in my top three of greatest Warharmmer characters ever created Fantasy or 40k.
This message was last edited by the player at 10:43, Mon 26 Jan 2009.

Ofcourse i could do as everyone else and say "Whatever Abnet pens down" but the truest gem of BL fiction/fluff comes from the early days of Warhammer monthly
I am talking ofcourse of the Redeemer

I have not yet found anything that makes me smile of the dark humour that is 40k then this series. And that it is drawn by Wayne Reynolds dont make it worse.
I consider this the best advise of fluff if you ever will pit your acolytes against the Red redemption.
Damn it GW....give me a pocket sized rerelase of this and the Kal Jerico vs Necrons story and i will die happy

Okay I'll go out on a limb here...my favourite Warhammer book is "Zavant".  I love the Indiana Jones/Private Investigation style feel to it.  The characters are quirky and very unique.  I'd love to read another one with the same cast but as far as I know, and PLEASE correct me if I am wrong, "Zavant" was the only one.

***** out of 5 bloody Ork heads!

.....and speaking of Abnett who was mentioned earlier, I'm reading a comic written by him right now and it is awesome!  I'll have a review up tonight with any luck.

I must admit to liking Gotrek and Felix, the best thing about all GW books seems to be the pacing, they generally move along very quickly and are easy to read (likely connected those two points!).

I have a thing for Beasts in Velvet, there is something about that that I like but don't know why. I've never really gotten into the 40k books, seems like I could be missing something.

Pacing is for marathon runners, his two Gotrek and Felix Omnibus are almost one chapter set up, second chapter plot point, third chapter battle.  I can read just about anything and I like King because you can read it on Thorazine, but most of all he builds a great pathos for the Empire, besides that let the Fing Trollslayer die a herioc death in Chapter 4.
This message was last edited by the player at 14:07, Mon 26 Jan 2009.

Wow!  I just finished reading this TPB and it is awesome!  A very good comic if
A) You like comics
B) You like great writing and art
C) You want to learn more about tech-priest stuff, in particular Dreadnoughts
D) You want to see Space Marines (Black Templars) blowing the snot out of a variety of baddies, and in particular how Black Templars are recruited, trained and promoted.

*****/5 Bolt guns!

Flakk is to Black Library as Lewis Lapham was to Harper's Bazaar, you should start writing for Warpstone.

5 1/2 bolts for Flakk's research and reviews

I will admit to not totally getting the connection but...thank you?
<I tried to figure out with a Wiki search and am now a bit confused=:>)

Oh Lewis would just hold interviews or forums really from topiscs that ranged from some near extinct hallengenic flying tree frog to the state of the economy and he was always on foot with the experts, he actually perdicted, like alot of people did the market crash, but the way he did it was scary, it happened almost play by play for him, but I'm sure you've read Warpstone right Flakk?

Oh Lewis would just hold interviews or forums really from topiscs that ranged from some near extinct hallengenic flying tree frog to the state of the economy and he was always on foot with the experts, he actually perdicted, like alot of people did the market crash, but the way he did it was scary, it happened almost play by play for him, but I'm sure you've read Warpstone right Flakk?

Did anyone else find the 2nd Gotrek and Felix Omnibus abit dull?

In reply to Tullyandy (msg #15):

Please refer to my messages above, don't get me started on the over-rated King.  I didn't get a chance to Thank Teddy for putting up another kick-booty thread. Thanks Fur-ball!

I'm half in love with the trollslayer Novel, it's so simple yet so enthralling.

I would love to play a high level character of Nurgle and destroy Gotrek, he of all characters in the Old world, is the one I would love to pit-fight against.  I would love to have a tentacle to suck out that nose ring and make the stuny swallow it, that would be just for starters, then we would move to his hair.

Nope=:)  I've heard of it though.  It's a fan Warhammer mag right?

Yeah Flakk check it out, some great articles and downloads, out of the UK and they have kept the old zine feel of the late 80's and 90's.  Started out in 1996, three issues a year, all in house for the most part, they do take submissions.  They keep a mean archive of hard-copy, but a lot of their back issues are SOLD OUT.  Soley devoted to WFRP, check it out.http://www.warpstone.org/

Sweet!  Thanks for the recommendation.

I just finished reading the "Forge of War" TPB.  Wow!  2 Warhammer comics in two days and they have been awesome!  I usually don't give gushing reviews but this is awesome!  Check it out.



-Plenty of info on Greatswords and Averlanders
-Nice look at Dwarves
-Such a good story and would make a great series of gaming sessions

*****/5 Ork heads!

In reply to zacaldo (msg #16):

This one was flakk's idea.

You two should get together and run a game together it would be lights out.

LOL.
Might have to happen some time=:)  Waaayyyyy back in the day my D and D group used to take turns DM'ing each session.  It was really fun trying to end with a cliff hanger so the other DM would have to worry about it.  PC's were ran as per normal except the DM's PC who was NPC'd or wandered off scouting, or went shopping....

"You approach the closed gates to the castle.....sorry time to call it a night."

Might be a cool idea with multiple GM's and set session lengths.

If you guys ever did do something like that I would be in like Flynn.  Actually that saying is very disturbing considering the late actors sexual preferences and fetishes. LOFL.

LOL!  Pretty busy right now with all my games but definately got me thinking....

great idea, but i probably will NEVER manage to trick my players into doing this :(

on-topic: I really liked the Ravenor book (s) they're a great inspiration for DH games!

Is Ravenor the spin off from Eisenhorn?

yeah i think so. There are several refferences to Eisenhorn, so the two series are probably 'related'

I think Ravenor was one of Eisenhorn's interrogators who gets horribly wounded fighting the daemon host Cherebul. Does that sound about right to anyone?

sounds about right. He is, after all, bound to stasis chest, because he's been horribly mutilated or something. Only his (Humongous) psychic powers alow him to continue the fight

He was injured when a number of extremely powerful psykers were captured by a powerful inquisitor, and paraded on one of the core worlds in Eisonhorns sector. It was all actually a plot of some sort to spirit the rest of them away. Ravenor was crushed under the burning debris of a large monument strcuture and a crashed Lightning fighter.

I need to pick up a new copy of the Eisenhorn omnibus.

I highly recommend as I'm sure others have, the Eisenhorn and Ravenor series as fiction and as source material.

In reply to MGhint (msg #32):

Yeah Ravenor and Eisenhorn are two must haves, BL is trying to market a Inquistor's handbook, not the RPG version, more of just a vat of information and 80 percent of it is from those two tomes.  This is an old one, and way out of print the Original "Warhammer 40,000 INQUISITOR" by Ian Watson, before Black Library back when it was the old GW books.  It is alright, but when it came out it was earth shattering for those of use ready to lead the purge.  And I know I am old enough to read books without pictures, I survived Don Quixote, Dostoevsky and Tolstoy, but with all the great artist at their disposal throw in a couple of pics that didn't make the grade for White Dwarf.  This old Ian Watson has Illustraitions by John Blanche, Paul Bonner, Tony Hough, Adrian Smith, Stephen Tappin and Kevin Walker.

On another note what I would pay top dollar to see is a version of Batman Black/White available by itunes, for anyone with a video player it is five dollars a little more than a comic book, but really well done, you just have to see it.  It is a throw back to scan, pan, and cut out animation, with good writing, music, sound effects and editing.  I never understood why GW or Citadel or any of thier sister and brother companies did such a terrible job promoting themselves, now they start, but with video-games their direct competition.  Yet another reason for the American revolution, the Zulu rebellion and every other destruction of British colonialism, they can't advertise product and they sure as hell can't advertise government control.  This post has been put out to pasture.  Thanks for the ventilation shaft.  Although I will have to pick up Flakk's suggestion, at least they are trying something new.

Just finished "Witch Hunter" by CL Werner.  Great book!  An essential for any would be Witch Hunter.  Cool plot twists keep you guessing and loads of background information make for a solid story.  As a plus for me it mentions Wurtbad a few times.  Why would I care about that?  Well it is the major setting for my Fantasy campaign and from the sound of things will be a major setting in the next book.

****1/2 out of 5 severed Ork heads.  I can't wait to read the rest of them.

I really like Streng!  What a great character.  A womanizing drunk who works for the Witch Hunter as an interrogator/tracker/assistant.

C.L. Werner is Black Libraries top three "newer" writers in my black book, extremely well developed characters that does not take an Omibus to describe.  "Witch Hunter" is also as flakk mentioned actually has plot twist the major fault to most SCI-FI, excuse me "Fantasy" (for you hardline genre freaks).

I hope some of you that read from the Black Libraries that need a break, from the sometimes overly dark and dismal world, especially of 40k to pick up anything (Alex Stewart) who goes by Sandy Mitchell does, I don't know how to rate it, severed Ork heads is taken, but at least a Ork tooth or two with some fungus ale, would be perfect for this fodder.

There is nothing funnier in the Library than Sandy Mitchell's Ciaphas (pronounced kai-a-fass, pure biblical joke) Cain works, just imagine if John Cleese had managed to become a Commisar, it isn't over the top, the editors see that the writer doesn't swallow her tongue while in cheek.  The stories and characters are a nice break from an eight hour session of slaying Slaanesh demons or even worse playing Slaanesh demons, a little remider and piece of advice from an old GM in the sky now, "STOP TAKE A BREAK, TAKE A WALK, READ A BOOK, EVERYTHING IS NOT GAMING".  For anyone about to burnout a little over ten bucks and you will be set you up with 800 pages, his first three books plus three extra adventures that all started out as stories to amuse himself.

By the way, I don't know if I am the the first to actually take some one's advice on this thread and actually shell some gelt on GW pulp, but flakk was dead spot on with his praise of WARHAMMER'S "FORGE OF WAR" comic, read the most recent that I could find the 5th and had my comic book "guy" back order the first four, I am extremely picky about comics, flakk was right, this is good, art awesome, story good enough, but if no one is reading this BOOM comic use it for WFRP adventures, it is like they were designed for them, thanks again flakk. And please don't let me forget to ask you how you got your hands on that CREMLIN album, they have a good MYSPACE sight, if you know anyone in the band you should get that stuffed signed I swear they are one "Kim Deal" short of famous.

Thanks for the recommendation.  I love John Cleese!  "Faulty Towers" rules!  I will have to check it out.


Glad you liked it.  It would make a great adventure!  I went back to the same shop last night to see if they got any new issues in and sadly they don't.  They are all on Amazon so if my local shop does not get them in soon I'll have to fold and grab them up because they are pretty good.  I'm kinda kicking myself because they had the third TPB of the Black Templar comic a couple weeks ago and I decided to wait....now it's gone.


I ordered it from their facebook group and got it in the mail less than 2 weeks after.  Their CD's come from a distributor so I could not get one signed but apparently I have a t-shirt and photo being held for me.  Gotta love knowing the mother of the lead=:)
http://www.facebook.com/ext/sh...;h=q937E&u=ErOTj

Gotta love the mutha's, no actually one of the few networking whore's I am not subscribed to, well maybe, I spend way to much time on my f ing computer I think I do, thanks for all the info and yeah and a "Towers" fan to boot, well done sir.  I never knew John Cleese was actually as prim and proper as he really is, he felt most of Monty Python's skits were a bit too much he is actually a pretty conservative guy.

So I would have to say just mix in the whole Python crew and that is what you will get.  It would actually be fun to run a game Dark Heresy Game with a bit of humor in it anyway, I mean most of the forum is hard core fan's they would get most any "inside joke", still working on my never to be finished game that I need a GM or a lobotomy for, I wish I had learned CAD.

post script: is Furry Teddy out of the forum, did he pick up any moderators? I friggin got banned from the GM section for mentioning the forum to a couple of guys the other week looking for a game, no offense to anyone who has been a moderator for RPol or any other site, but jebus christmas that is the least amount of power I have seen go to someone's head.

Not sure.  I dropped him a PM to see if he needs any help.

I got banned as well.  rMail the mods and explain which rule you broke and you'll get back in.  Same reason I was banned by the sounds of things.  That's what I get for being helpful.

Is this the same John Cleese who was the first guy to say f*** at a British memorial service?

Seriously, if you ever read an interview with him, which is rare, he really is a proper english gent, *goes back and turns on Faulty Towers*, if you have seen Towers than you can see the obvious difference between John Cleese and The rest of the Python rabble that would F a herring if it could get on the BBC, he really didn't like a lot of their skits. Lets put it this way when they asked him what was his favorite Monty film, he said and by far, "Life of Brian", now the actual material is more dicey than any Python film ever made, but their is no famous disgusting scene, as the wafer thin mint, or the knight who would not die, he just didn't go for the TnA or shock value.  Never mind just try and get a good interview with him I don't think Playboy did one but I know Mike Wallace from 60 minutes got one alright, I can't remember the really famous one.  I will get back to you "Crucifixion? Goood! One cross... stay to your left!"
This message was last edited by the player at 18:30, Thu 26 Feb 2009.

Exterminatus

Not a bad comic.  It reads like an adventure straight out of DH.  The art work is lacking, which would be my major beef.  Compared to the other TPB's I've read recently this one looked rushed.  Overall a good read and it gave me many evil ideas for my own campaign.  A nice look at an Inquisitor and his retinue.

***1/2 boltguns out of five!

i dig that. Got that exact same comic myself, and i liked it quite a bit

Anyone else read (and love) "Servants of the Imperium"?

http://www.servantsoftheimperi.../index.php?comicid=1

Are there any materials (canon or otherwise) that postulate what happens in Warhammer 50K?

I am thinking of setting a game 10,000 years in the future of the current setting.

Yeah, I was pointed towards 'Servants of the Imperium' by someone in my game. I spent about a hour tracking back through past strips, and laughed out loud at almost every one.

You may also find 'Exterminatus Now' worth a look. It's not exactly 40K, but clearly set in a parallel universe adjacent to it, and if your gaming group is anything like mine you'll recognise the banter...

http://exterminatusnow.comicgenesis.com/

I just finished "Witch Finder", #2 in the "Witch Hunter series.  Not bad.  I like the addition of the Knight of Morr, and any book with Skaven in it (and done properly) is welcome as well.  It took me awhile to get through the rather short book, and a few plot points did not make sense, but all in all a good book and worth checking out.

31/2 out of 5 severed Ork heads



RevMark, thanks for the heads up re. the comic. Pretty cool stuff.

It's a shame that the witchhunter series "ends" with about half its plot hooks unsolved

"Do you know any good novels about the 40k steeing that closely relate to DH?
Not like the Horus Heresy or any other grand space marine books, but the story of smalltime heroes with the usual flaws?"- From another thread.....

The big ONE of Inquisitorial interest would be the Eisenhorn triology closly followed by Ravenor

It may be "grand" but if you are looking for a hero with flaws Sandy Mitchell's Ciaphas Cain is a tongue-in-cheek brand of humor, there is an cameo by an Inquisitor, but Algard speaks truth, nothing beats Dan Abnett, and now he is penning comic books to boot. Praise the Golden Throne for Abnett!!!

Dan Abnett is a bit hit and miss for me, I liked the Eisenhorn triology and the related short stories and even the bits made for Inquisitor, but I dont like Gaunt's Ghosts, I got a few pages into the first one and thought 'Hmm this is sharpe in space, where's my Bernard Cormwall books they are better written.'

Horus rising was entertaining but the whole battle scene where Abbadon and his black armour wearing Termies are walking across the battlefield with the description 'it was like looking at another legion some black legion' made me put the book down and slap my head. But, for me (and it is at this point a lynch mob turns up) his best work is alongside mike lee with the Darkblade books, for some reason I just find them more enjoyable.

When it comes to 40K stories, I usually read Sandy Mitchell's Caiphas Cain books, the tongue-in-cheek approach to the 41st millenium is strange, but it works, although if you are going to read them, stick with the first three/four the more recent ones are a bit hit and miss

I'm currently having a read of the Vampire Wars series by Steven Savile and I have to say, I'm pleasantly surprised by him. I've never read one of his stories and, even though it drags at certain points along the way, it never gets boring, currently halfway through book number 2 in the omnibus and so far I'm giving it three vampire fangs out of five.

Other books that I do heartily recommend from the writers over at the Black Library are the Witch Hunter series by C.L. Werner, even though it has one Mary Sue character, you'll know him when you see him ;)

The Black Hearts by Nathan Long, because I love reading about Anti-heroes, and that book is chock-full of them, to me the first book is really special because you really get that feel they aren't gonna live through what they've been forced into.

The Space Wolf omnibus by William King, it really shows the difference, or maybe Mr. King just wanted to make a difference, between how several of the Legions bring their space marines into being. Plus the race between the Space Wolves and the Orks is a nice gimmick :P

There are several other books as well that I haven't put up here just because I'd be writing for the next thirty minutes I think :P

Also, Banjo, I agree with what you said about Horus Rising, "I see a Legion, A black Legion", I was like.. "Abnett.. if you've got a writing block, don't write :P"

I just bought "Imperial Guard" the omnibus.  I hope it is good.  Whatta good deal- got mine at Indigo for $16:00 Cdn.

I just finished reading the last Cain novel. I love them because Cain proclaims to not be a hero, and indeed most of his inner monologue reinforces it, but every single time he calls up the hero in himself and becomes what he proclaims he hates.

Right now I am rereading the Gaunt Novels. I have loved them, ever since First and Only was the first book I read of the 40K universe. That was before I even started playing the table top.

As for the Warhammer novels. Only Gotrek and Felix novels pulled me in, anyone have any other good choices from that universe?

"Zavant" is my all time favourite Warhammer Fantasy novel.  Think Indiana Jones meets Sherlock Holmes kinda style with a Halfling manservant thrown in for good measure.  A little old so it might be hard to find....just found some on Amazon.com.  Wish I still had my copy but it was so good I passed it off to a friend.



Gotrek and Felix is awesome as well.  I have the first two omnibi and have also read Orkslayer (the worst of the lot I think).

Best Wh books I've read so far have to be the Darkblade series, I mean how do you end up cheering for a psychopathic murderer...it's great!

Best Wh40k books to me is the Eisenhorn trilogy, awesome story, great characters and daemonhosts!

I love the Cain novels, read through all of them about 5-6 times now, just can't wait for the next one to come out.

Have you guys heard about the new and last trilogy involving Eisenhorn and Ravenor? It was being talked about on the FFG forum.

I noticed the chatter but have not read any of those books.  All have been recommended to me so I will have to get my butt in gear and pick them up after I finish the Imp Omnibus.

I just finished "Witch Killer" last night.  Not a bad book, not a bad series but if it is finished it ended with lots of loose ends.  Does anyone know if there are more books in the series other than the trio?

Streng is an awesome character!  I really like how the baddies were depicted as well.

Not as good as some of the Warhammer books I've read and it took me a long time to get through the series but overall good.

3.5/5

I agree. I personally think the first book was a lot better than the follow-ups.

ahh, just finished books 1-3 of Gotrek & Felix, and now onto books 4-5.  Thanks Flakk, really gives you a good background feeling for Dwarfs.

Such a good series.  I've read the first 5(?) books and only disliked "Orcslayer" which IMHO was too odd.....

Thankfully they slapped the author HARD and he has shaped up with Man/Elf slayer

I've just gotten hold of The Inquisition War, as it's just been re-released by Black Library. It's looking good at the moment!

The Cardinal has mentioned this before as it is of his opinion that Mr. King is one of the most over-rated authors at BL.  Gotrek and Felix are great, but is it just Ignato or is every "novel" basically structured exactly the same?  Stick with code name: Sandy Mitchell until more Ciaphas Cain is available, or Abnett or better yet the forum breaking out the old stuff.

The out of commish work is great if anyone posts a tome out of print please place ISBN number on it as used book sellers have got their act together for the most part and almost any book can be found for reasonable prices in the States.

Everyone starts G&F and makes it a personal quest, "I have read four of these novels for frakk's sake I will finish, the true test of King's fiction is if you will survive to read another book!"

Abnett is my base standard for Black Library fiction. And yet, I found Ravenor much harder to get into then Eisenhorn. I attribute that however to my adoration of First Person Narration. Eisenhorn is essentially a sci-fi thriller adventure that reads like a Dashiell Hammett hard-boiled detective story, which really showcased the universe from an approachable and thought-provoking perspective.

I'm the same, I just love First Person Narration, which is the same reason (as well as the setting) why I like the Dresden Files series, Tim Butcher is brilliant. :)

In reply to MILLANDSON and Warrior Poet.  The Cardinal agrees fully with both about Abnett as the Cervantes of BL.  He also is always working check out BOOM comics to see what Dan is up to if you still read the pulp data-slates.

S.C.I.

On my vacation to Iceland I got a chance to do something I usually don't have a lot of time to do- read.  I managed to get 2/3's of the way through "Imperial Guard Omnibus: Volume One".  The first two novels, and the extra short story for each, were very good.

"Fifteen Hours" and "Knee Deep"- 5/5!  An awesome look into the life of a conscripted guardsman sent to a battlefront that has been raging for many years with no sign of letting up.  Sent there by accident the main character is the sole survivor of his group and forced to deploy with veterans of the conflict.  I really liked the small side stories that gave several of the characters a bit of time in the spotlight.   Grim, grim, grim, just like it should be!

"Better the Devil" and "Death World"- 4/5!  A bit cheesy but a nice look at the Catachans.  If the Imperium had more soldiers like this group there would be no stopping them.  I'm not a big fan of super-humans and at times what these men did seemed too over the top but entertaining nonetheless.


I'm reading the last novel right now in the omnibus and so far it is shaping up rather nicely.

I just finished the last novel in the "Imperial Guard Omnibus: Volume One".  "Rebel Winter" and "The Citadel". Two great reads and a good look at the Vostroyans.  I highly recommend this Omnibus and look forward to reading the next one.

4.5/5

I just finished reading the "Defenders of Ultramar" trade paperback #5 from Boom! Studios.  Not a bad read.  The art was lackluster in parts and adequate in others (inconsistent pics and inaccuracies).  Not as good as some the of the other Boom comics I have read, but then again I am not a huge Ultramarine fan.

3.5/5

I still love Beasts in Velvet by Jack Yeovil for BL.  Too bad he never wrote any 40K stuff.

Abnett's always been hit and miss (liked Eisenhorn and Ravenor though).

Funny, I never really though of it as Gaunt = Sharpe.

But definitely Cain = Flashman.

Beasts in Velvet is rather good.  Keep your eyes open for it as it is well worth the read.

I actually like all of Yeovil's stuff, Genevive was brilliant.

"In the Inquisition we loot AFTER we secure the area."

LOL!

It is a nice comic indeed. Oh the joys of the 40k Universe.

It does rock doesn't it?=:)  I'd love to buy it in paper format.  I'd pay $$ for a trade paperback.

I just finished "Fell Cargo" today.  Overall it is not a bad read, and the ending was great.  It took me a long time to read the book, and I never really got into it until the end.  I'm not a huge pirate fan, and not really up to speed with all the nautical terms, but enjoyed the book nonetheless.  A few too many characters to keep track of for my liking.

rating 3.5/5

I just finished Giantslayer.  Wow!  After a book that seemed to drag on forever this one was a whirlwind and despite a very busy schedule I finished it in a couple of weeks.  I loved the interaction between Gotrek and Teclis.  No surprises there but very entertaining.  I also loved the fact that the bulk of the story took place in Albion.  I am currently playing in a game set there so it was cool to read about it, and I have always wanted to send a group there in my games.  The actual giant fight was cool but too short IMHO.

A great book so check it out.

4.5/5 rating.

My two coppers worth.

Teclis: Pff. Just another dwarf... Hang on why is he glowing? Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap.

I scored a nice find today in the $1 bin of a local shop- Blood and Thunder #1,3 and 4.  I'm glad it did not seem that #2 is needed, but here's hoping I can find it as well.  The last issue would top it off=:)



A pretty good comic.  Like most Boom comics the art tends to slack in spots, but the story was pretty good.  Lanky git, lol.

3.5/5
This message was last edited by the GM at 01:41, Thu 22 Apr 2010.

Funny - all I can hear in my mind is the voice of a World of Warcraft Orc saying "Blood and Thunder!"

Which, you know, works.

Mwhaha the greatest battle in history.

Is that a novel or a comic? it looks good!

Novel. The last of the Sigmar triology from the Time of Legends series.

Have you read it?  Is it any good?

Nooo it's not even out yet, only in the Coming Soon section in the Black Library web page.

Right now I acquired Nagash the Unbroken (it's the second book from the Nagash series)



and now I'm reading it's first book: Nagash the Sorcerer



It is pretty awesome! Tells about the early life of Nagash, how did he learn Dark Magic from the Dark elves, his plot against his brother the king and then his rebellion against the city states of Nehekhara, and the plan to conquer them all. There are pretty much powerful necromantic stuff in it and also egyptian style magic :) (scarab clouds eating the flesh of walking corpses etc.)

Thanks for the tip.  I will have to check them out (and the Sigmar books when they are out as well)!  Right now I am re-reading Orkslayer and enjoying it a lot better than the first time I read it.

At the moment im finishing up demon slayer and then om moving onto the second omnibus that i bought for G & F

Every time I go to the bookstore, I consider purchasing Malekith.



I've had the notion bobbing around in my mind to someday run an all-High Elf game set in Ulthuan, and so when I started reading the WFB High Elf book for background information, I learned a bit about the whole tragic tale of Malekith.

Still, I always hesitate - not sure if I want to spend the dough.  How's Gav Thorpe as an author?

I just checked out his list of books and have not tried any of his stuff so I'll second that question. "Grudgelore: A History of Grudges and the Great Realm of the Dwarfs" and "The Last Chancers" look interesting....

This may be of fairly limited interest, but Graham McNeill will be doing signings in Dublin and Belfast in about a months time.

Date: Thursday, June 3, 2010
Time: 6:30pm - 8:00pm
Location: Waterstone's Dublin Dawson Street

Date: Friday, June 4, 2010
Time: 1:00pm - 2:00pm
Location: Waterstone's Belfast Fountain Street

Well I just finished Orcslayer and I must say I enjoyed it.  I read it when it first came out and struggled to get through it, so in reading through the 3rd omnibus I was very reluctant to give it another shot.  Reading it a second time I enjoyed myself and many evil ideas are bubbling in my brain from the book.  Don't expect a "normal" orc slaying epic tale as the orcs are anything but normal (well the ones at the first are).

4/5



Now for Manslayer!

I find I never tire of Gotrek and Felix, though when I think about it, I always expect that I will.

If nothing else, I think the Gotrek and Felix novels have consistently had good plots.

Looking forward to Zombie Slayer, coming out at the end of the year.

I just finished Manslayer and was pleasantly surprised.  Long is not as good as King but certainly coming out swinging so far=:)  A great story that has given me many evil ideas.  Certainly more to it than just killing manlings.



4/5
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:39, Sat 05 June 2010.

I was disappointed with Long until Manslayer. Orcslayer (or whatever) was a little too brisk after such a long period of downtime. But Manslayer definitely made it all come together. The meeting with the Felix's family and the passage of time made it all the better. The notion that something odd was happening to them. Definitely well-done.

I picked up the Mathias Thulman, Witch Hunter collection recently but haven't found the time to dive into it yet. Any opinions on those stories?

Just finished Battle for the Abyss in the Horus Heresy library... pretty good read actually, I was surprised.  Certainly entertaining.

Also read a Serenity comic, which was wierd, not as good as I perhaps hoped.  Too short and the story was a bit redundant at times.  Not sure I would recommend it unless your a fanatic (like I thought I was)

I just finished 'Honour Guard' (4th Gaunt's Ghosts novel), which I was depressingly disappointed with.

Nice action scenes and Abnett's characters are as great as ever, but seemed low on plot, had some annoying deus ex machina, and Gaunt's angsty personal plot, which had been wonderfully built up earlier on, didn't get any kind of resolution at all.

Meh. :-/

I liked them.  My favourite character in the series has to be Streng(sp?).  Brilliant!  Some slow parts but overall a very good read.

I finished with Nagash the Unbroken, and now also with the Curse of the Necrarch.



I really recommend this one! There is lot more in it that first seems, and after the half of the book totally new plots, characters and such appear! It's really good!

Just finished the first Ciaphas Cain Omnibus and I have to say it is right up there with Ghosts, Eisenhorn etc. A different genre/spin but a really good read. I especially like the relationship between Cain and Jurgen.

I did into and out of the novels.  I hardly play much anymore so this keeps me at least distantly connected to the universe.

Has anyone read a pair of novels about an adeptus arbite.  They only had a very short shelf life and I can't find them anymore (must try amazon).  Also has anybody read Titanicus?

The most recent non omnibus work I bought was Faith and Fire, which was "ok".

Should be out soon.

I just finished the first Gotrek and Felix Omnibus...I couldn't put it down it was so good.

In reply to dlantoub (msg #106):

I 100% loved Titanicus. Read it front to back as soon as I got it and then read it again. Great source for the inner workings of the Adeptus Machanicus.

@thewootninja and Crownblade.

Thanks for the help. I appreciate it.

Just got 'Tales from the ten tailed cat'. As good as I remember it :)

*****

Well, this last time I was at Barnes & Noble I had $10 in my pocket, so I decided to break down and buy it.  I'll comment on it once I finish reading it.

I just finished Elfslayer and it was a crazy and fun ride!  Loads of high action and impossible odds.  Long gets a bid carried away at times, and some of his descriptions are hard to follow, but a great read regardless.  I really learned a lot about Dark Elves.  My poor players....

4/5 severed Ork heads

Now for Beastslayer

I just started orcslayer, and I think that Long is doing a fantastic job. This book has been one of my favorite in the series.

just got nostalgic thinking about my first black library series, the Inquisition War

Picked up Gav Thorpe's "The Path of the Warrior". A solid read about the eldar that provides some insight into the Paths they follow and their thought processes. The only issue I had with it was the ending was very anti-climactic for me...even if he is going to be doing another one.

3/5 for the ending only.

Would have been a 4/5.

Recently flicked through Hellbrandt Grimm's 'Some swift and brutal hand'. A nice read, but not a good story in truth.

***

Currentyly reading the Rangnar Saga. I LOVE the first four, but the guy who wrote the firth should be shot, his writing style just dosent fit and his word choice makes me cringe.

I just finished "Shamanslayer".  A great read with loads of info on Beastmen and a nice plot twist and cliffhanger ending.

4.5/5

I'm starting it thursday(shamanslayer)

Man, I swear, one of these days I'm going to break and read me some Gotrex & Felik. I've read some short stories by William Koenig, but never found out what made them so special to people.

They are awesome and I would highly recommend them.  I have gotten loads of information from them to plague my players with.

Hmm, I remember reading that Geheimnisnacht short story and maybe something to do with a Necromancer (or was it the same thing?).

It was okay, but blandish? Don't remember it as holding many gold nuggets of lore, but if you're saying you've dug up info, then I guess the books are worth giving a read. Once I get through my DH collection (man, bought the lot of em and barely through DotDG - reading chronologically - and there's the compiled Liber Chaotica I got for b-day also waiting...).

Just finished 'The Lost' - the third Gaunt's Ghosts omnibus, which I ploughed through whilst on vacation during the last week.

The previous one ('The Saint') left me pretty cold, unusually for Abnett's stuff which I usually love. So I went into this one expecting more of the same really, and was pleasantly surprised to find this one was utterly awesome. :)

The first book Traitor General absolutely blew me away.  Cannot emphasise how much I loved this one, and I really enjoyed seeing the chaos society from their perspective.  The second one 'His Last Command' continued from there and was almost as good.  The third 'Armour of Contempt' was perhaps the weakest of the set, but still enjoyable enough and a good conclusion to the Gereon trilogy. Would have been nice to see more of the Inquisition, but that's just me... ;)  The fourth one 'Only in Death' was perhaps more standalone than the other three and is one of the darkest stories I've ever read.  Absolutely awesome stuff.

Go read this now! :)

I'm getting the impression that Elves/Eldar are Gav Thorpe's thing, based on my last visit to Barnes & Noble's game fiction shelves.  I'm getting close to the ending of his Malekith now (I'm a slow reader - I read the words quickly enough, but I get easily distracted), and it's not bad.  It's not tremendous, but by no means a poor read.  So keen is my perception that I just noticed this is going to be the first in a series, so I'm really hoping he doesn't do an anti-climax for this book, too...

I keep wanting to do fanfiction about a wraithguard lost in a hive after an eldar atack.  The knowledge that I fall into every trap of noob writers the world has ever thought of keeps me from doing it.
**
Back on topic, well not really. My first GW fiction ever was a book called Harlequin by Ian Watson.

 harlequin is part of the series I mention before

I am reading the Ravenor omnibus and so far love it!  It took a few pages to get used to the writer's style and it is a great read.  I need more time to read it and keep thinking about it...

This message was deleted by the player at 00:36, Sat 04 Sept 2010.

In reply to flakk (msg #128):

Did you read Eisenhorn? I just asking, because that preceeds the Ravenor series and tells why Ravenor became crippled.

No.  I thought what I was reading was first in the series.  Added it to my list=:)

Ravenor is cool, don't get me wrong, but Eisenhorn is IMO one the best books BL has ever published. 10/10.

I have to agree with Crownblade there.

I forgot to mention that I picked up Farrer’s “Enforcer” omnibus and was blown away. The stories are excellent and portray some really unique parts of the Imperium. There is a great story revolving around a Rogue Trader’s charter and another one about an Astropathic station. All in all, an excellent read.

Just finished the first Omnibus of Gotrik and Felix. It is quite good I must say and gives an unique insight into the Skaven Psychology that fits exactly the Skaven Sourcebook. I am tempted to buy the second Omnibus.

Id recommend them, the gotrek and felix books are some of my faves in the warhammmer universe.

They are fantastic, I'm reading zombie slayer right now... It has me worried.

Zombie slayer is out!  Awesome.

Just finished the first novel in the Ravenor omnibus and it was great fun!  A great look into an Inquisitor retinue and awesome psyhic battles!  I am so going to steal a ton of ideas from this and plague my players with them.

yeah im almost 3/4 of the way through the eisenhorn omnibus.  Tis very good and really shows how to tempt your acolytes.

I think as soon as I finish Ravenor I'm going to get Zombie Slayer and then probably Eisenhorn (I should have read this first but made a mistake).

Just happened to remember this one :D

LOL!

Yeah, that sounds like Player Character psychology.

This made me smirk, then wrinkle my nose in disgust.

That comic makes a good point. We should all resolve to take a poop in every game that we're in this week for the sake of realism. :)

A capital idea!  I shall drop trou forthwith!  Huzzah!

I was just wondering how many of you have read the Horus Heresy series of books? Talk about a series that rends the heart better than the claws of a Genestealer! Must read as far as I am concerned!

Ive read all the horus heresy ones. All I ca say is wow!

For me, it's right up there with the Eisenhorn Trilogy and Gaunt's Ghosts. Lots of action, of course, but the way you see Horus and the Luna Wolves drawn down into Heresy is magnificent.

I'm going to have to check those books out.  Recently got into Gaunt's Ghosts, and the series has been just great, can't put the books down.  You really feel for some of the characters, and when they pass you really hate the bastard that killed them.

---

Spoiler text: (Highlight or hover over the text to view)
Corbec and Bragg's deaths were the best

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Agreed. I was never a fan of Space Marines. Just couldn't empathize with 7ft gen-enhanced super-soldiers. The HH series has changed all of that. They're an excellent series although I've only read through the 3rd so far.

I suppose though Horus' rebellion is only 'heresy' in hindsight, as the Imperium isn't really a religious institution during the timeline of the books.  My favourite theme in the first couple of books was the irony of the space marines' desire to give their warrior code structure and ritual leading them into the clutches of Chaos, despite the Emperor insisting they spread the Imperial Truth of, well, atheism.  Which is kind of the opposite of what they're like 10'000 years later.

What Horus did was heresey regardless of the atheist nature of the Imperium at the time.

A heresy does not actually require a set of religious beliefs to be agianst. Simply a heresy is an action which shows that you have no respect for or is the oposite to the official or popular opinion.

The Horus Heresy are something of a mixed bag I'm afraid. The early ones, the first 3 or 4, were excellent. Quality after that ranges from excellent to garbage (I'm looking at you, Dark Angels .. seriously, that book adds NOTHING to the Heresy set).

The Mechanicum one I thought was very good, Legion had a couple of WTF?!? moments, and currently I'm reading The First Heretic. I never did like the Word Bearers.

In reply to Banjo (msg #153):

That's true.  Although in my experience the word heresy is used seriously to describe dissenting opinion to religious dogma (ususally by religious dogmatics), it doesn't have to be so.  I suppose I thought so as I do live in the twelfh century :)

I guess Horus Heresy just sounds better.  If Horus' name were Roger it would probably be Roger's Rebellion.  Actually I'd rather follow a guy named Roger than 'Hore-us.'

Well, either you're being "hore'd" or "rogered", but either way you're screwed.

It's not a Warhammer novel, but I just picked up a book from the library by one Mr. Dan Abnett, named Triumff, Her Majesty's Hero.  It takes place in an alternate history where the Elizabethan age never ended; it's now 2010 and Elizabeth Gloriana XXX rules the Anglo-Hispanic Unity.

I've never read Dan Abnett before, but after hearing so many people praising his WH40K novels, I wanted to give him a try.  I can see one reason why he's so popular: the man knows how to use the English language.  He amplifies my fear that when I write, I'm just using the same ten adjectives over and over again.

That, and he's funny, too (the back cover suggests the book be filed under Fantasy for "Alternate History, Wild Magic, Swashbuckling and Unforgivable Puns."  I'm looking forward to seeing how this develops.

Interesting observation (fueled by alcohol), when was it declared the Heresy? Our perspective has always been post-Heresy when the Imperial Cult is in full swing so it makes sense that we refer to it as that. As always, the victor dictates history.

At the time I suppose it was more of a treason/rebellion.

Then as time progressed and the emperor became worshipped as a god it became a heresy.

Ive also just started reading the first heretic.  Less than 50pages in and wow.
This message was last edited by the player at 12:56, Wed 03 Nov 2010.

I just finished the second book in the Ravenor series.  Wow!  The mystery unfolds and makes sense, plus a few twists and future plot hooks are introduced.  I can't wait to start the third book.

New characters introduced and some old ones...
The cast is very interesting and is starting to grow on me.

This is a great series that has given me so many ideas.  I almost feel sorry for my players now=:)  Petropolis sounds so unique and interesting I'd love to run a campaign there.

Want to read a great book about the Inquisition?  Well check out the first book and get geared up for this one!

4.5/*****

I hope you read Eisenhorn first? Abnett pretty much wrote the book on the Inquisition. Watson, Stewart and Martin are all twisted acolytes of Abnett ;-) You'll find Ascension was strongly influenced by those two books.

I thought Ravenor was first and quickly realized my mistake.  Eisenhorn is  on my list, and I am very glad not having read it does not seem to matter to the Ravenor story.

Eh...you'll get some minor spoilers by reading Ravenor first.  It shouldn't reveal too much, but there is some.  It's a bit late to save the big one already (Ravenor's fate), so no real reason to change at this point.

Yup:). Revealed pretty early and no turning back now:). Makes me think Eisenhorn might be a but too radical fir my liking:)

Yeah, that's one of the bits you spoiled for yourself.  The trilogy is a bit of a slide into radicalism.  No worries.  It's still a good read.

LOL!

Rob Leigh (the author of Servants of the Imperium) came to the Warhammer 40K larp event that I organise a couple of weeks ago.  He wrote a highly frothy review of it on his blog. :)

http://www.servantsoftheimperi...comic/blog/index.php

Cool!

I think the reason that Eisenhorn is so excellent is it details the slide into Radicalism. Eisenhorn is a hard-core Amalathian throughout the series but doubts and threats prey on him constantly. It's odd, Ravenor is much more the radical in the Eisenhorn novels.

I just finsihed the Ravenor trilogy!  Awesome stuff!  Loads of action, investigation and cool settings.  The cast of characters is another plus!  Now I am hooked and will have to get my greasy mitts on Eisenhorn.  Out of order I know, but if is half as good as Ravenor then I have to have it=:)

*****/5!

Just finished the second Omnibus of Gotrek and Felix. Still nice books, giving interesting details of the old world and insight of various major opponents. However, it missed the near slapstick of the earlier books and especially "skavenslayer"

If you only have time for one book, I still recommend Skavenslayer of the series.

My favorite has to be Daemonslayer. I've already read up to zombieslayer and I can't wait for the next one.

Skavenslayer and Beastslayer are my favorites.

All of them great books. I love the speach the chaos champion gave at the walls.

Demonslayer was fantastic...it might be my favorite.

Trollslayer was my favourite and I have read it four or five times.  Orkslayer was my least, but I did enjoy it a second time (not so much the first), and I think Skavenslayer was my second favourite.  Has anyone read the book about the Skaven Grey Seer?

I think I heard that the series now has 2 books out? I'm really tempted to read them as I loved Gray Seer Thanquol. Btw, does anybody remember what happened to his assitant? The one that grew the horns and became pretty hardcore, well hardcore for a skaven.

hmm, I think he started an up rising.  And if I remember correctly, I think he was on the First Grey Seer novel.

I hope so, I dont remember what happened to him and I really wanted to see more of those two interact.

I always enjoyed the "What happened, someone else must of done something" mentality of the scaven.  Nothing that went wrong, could have been his fault ;)

I failed due to the slackness and incompetance of my minions!  They are all striving to make me fail!  Hey wait....sounds a lot like RL.

hmm, where do i get these 'minions'?  My girls are still a little young ;)

Lurk did indeed escape in Beastslayer after his rebellion failed in the Hell Pit. I had expected him to turn up as part of the Chaos Army, but so far none of it.

He's probly somewhere being a coward and enjoying the blessings from the horned rat. He could go out and defeat all his enemies...but a true skaven thinks himself too valuable and leads from the rear.

Just read the latest Cain book. The Emperor Finest. While it is not a bad book, it misses the oomph from the earlier books in this series. Not the best work from Sandy Mitchell.

In reply to Gwenlynn (msg #185):

Sandy really is hit or miss. Want an example of massive Sandy miss? Read his DH novels... the second is better than the first but only because the first set the bar so very low.

So I finally finished the 'Enforcer' omnibus.

I have very mixed feelings on this one.  Matthew Farrer has a very evocative writing style.  He really evokes the atmosphere and the fantastical feel to the 40K setting, which I liked a lot.  But he completely blows it with weak plots and characters.

The main protagonist, Shira Calpurnia is just not very interesting, although I did like the fact that there was no issue made of the fact that she was a woman.  No fanfare, no comment made about it by other characters - I approve.  She was strong and capable, but seemed a bit lacking on the personality front, and unlike, say Abnett's characters, it was hard to really care about her, or any of the other characters.  They were all a bit wooden (but very nicely described!).


The first book 'Crossfire' I found an absolute slog to get through.  The plot was very disjointed, and I had figured out who the main villain was right near the start (I grew up on Agatha Christie novels - it's always the least suspicious-looking person who's involved right from the beginning...). In some ways this seemed more like a collection of short stories that has been inexpertly strung together as one single plot - each investigation seemed barely connected to those that came before or after.

A bit disillusioned, it took me a good long while before I picked it up again and moved onto the second book 'Legacy'.  This was about a rogue trader warrant that was being fought over by various groups.  I actuslly enjoyed this one far more than the first one.  Calpurnia takes very much a backseat whilst the book focusses on the warring factions.  I really enjoyed the build-up and the plotting, and it all gave me lots of ideas for Rogue Trader games.  But Farrer blew it all at the end, proving once more than writing a solid plot is not his strong point.  After all the build-up, the whole lot just fizzles out in what (to me) was a very unsatisfactory conclusion, and I couldn't help but feel very disappointed.

So once again, it took me a while to move onto the third book 'Blind'.  This one I thought was the best of the bunch in terms of plot (although that's not saying much).  Once again, Farrer evokes a great setting, and seems to have a lot of good ideas, but doesn't really explore them as much as he could.  And like the others, he has too many characters and doesn't spend enough time on them.  Still, the plot does hang together a bit better than the others, and this time my main disatisfaction was more simply that of wasted potential - I would loved to have known more about some of the characters, their schemes and there was talk of a secret faction in the background that looked fascinating, but was only mentioned towards the end (and even then didn't seem to have much to do with the 'main' plot).


SO all in all:  Great descriptions of the 40K setting and very evocative.  Gave lots of ideas for games.  But weak plot and characters, and a lot of wasted potential.

I just finshed the trade paperback Condemned by Fire and really enjoyed it.  A witch-hunter in action with a dwarf and greatsword as allies= awesome.  Great art and story.  Check it out!

4/5 severed Ork heads

Bumping this thread as there has been a lot of book talk lately:)

LMFAO! I find this far more entertaining... are there anymore flakk? :P

google servants of the imperium to get the entire series to date.  Very funny.

Yes very funny stuff and usually updated every week on Sundays...sometimes delayed or skipped but pretty consistent.  I'd love to have a trade paperback of the whole series and would pay nice gelt for it.

The Enforcer Omnibus is excellent! And I agree with the Rogue Trader novel. It's the only BL book that I've seen which treats RT's like they are portrayed in the RPG and older fluff. I also give a strong "hell yeah" to the Arbites being ignored by most folks. So odd since they're the ones with their hands in everything!

I would like to say that I am writing a webcomic with a artist on Deviantart. The comic will be about a Cadian regiment fighting the Eldar of Craftworld Saim-Hann on a newly colonized mining world of Marcia. A Death Korps of Krieg regiment arrives on the planet to aid the Cadians, but this is all part of the Eldar's plan.

I'll post every page here. I think you guys will like the action! I can't give away anything about the plot that paragraph above is just a small overview, plot is way deeper than that.

Looks interesting. I had something similar, but it was Biggles (google it kidz). I'll be buying it anyway.



http://www.blacklibrary.com/Wa...ive-of-the-dead.html

I just finished "Galaxy in Flames", part 2 of the Horus Heresy series.  It was awesome!  Very epic!  I really don't want to put in any spoliers but let's just say the kek hits the fan and stuff really starts to ramp up.  My only beef is the sheer number of characters, but its all good (and there is a handy little glossary of the major characters to help keep things straight).

Galaxy in Flames is the 3rd one.

Doh!  My bad!  And I forgot my ratintg as well-
4.5 severed Ork heads out of 5=:)

In reply to flakk (msg #198):

I'll be interested what will you think of Legion (I think that was the best so far), ohh and also of Mechanicum and Nemesis :)

Just picked up Horus Heresy....


Is this a good place to start trying to understand 40k?

Yes it sets up a lot off why everything so messed up in 40k. Buckle up friend, the Heresy train has no brakes

I'm only on chapter 5...  the references to two emperors in chapter one was confusing, but it's made more sense since then.

ah i remember my first read through :D, not gonna lie some of the books are pretty poor but worth it for the good ones