Warhammer Novels

I’ve never been a prodigious reader of novels based on role-playing games, but I’ve read quite a few Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms novels. Recently, I’ve read a couple of books based on the Warhammer game and really liked them: FORGED IN BATTLE by Justin Hunter and VALNIR’S BANE by Nathan Long.

One of the best things about the Warhammer books is the setting. It’s an alternate universe version of Europe, with Emperor Karl-Franz ruling over an empire that stretches across the Warhammer analogs of France, Germany, and other assorted countries. The Empire faces all sorts of supenatural threats from surrounding regions. Despite the presence of magic and monsters, the novels, which focus on the Empire’s various armies, have a very gritty tone to them, with most of the characters being grunt-level soldiers. The technology level is particularly interesting. Most of the fighting is done with swords, lances, halberds, etc., but gunpowder exists and the armies have primitive firearms, including matchlock rifles and cannon. That provides a welcome difference from a lot of sword-and-sorcery novels.

There are different series within the overall Warhammer series. FORGED IN BATTLE is the first of the Ragged Company series and follows a company of halberdiers as they try to stop beastmen from overrunning the village they’re assigned to protect. There’s a definite Western feel to this one, as the soldiers fight war parties of beastmen and try to convince outlying settlers to come into the village where they’ll be safer. Substitute cavalry for the halberdiers and Comanches for the beastmen, and you’ve got a John Ford Western. VALNIR’S BANE, the first of the Blackhearts series, has a more traditional fantasy plot, as a group of heroes set off to recover an artifact with mystical powers that will swing the balance of power in a war between the Empire and the forces of Chaos. Of course, the soldiers who go on this commando-like mission are recruited from convicts facing the gallows for various crimes, so there’s a certain resemblance to the Dirty Dozen (a time-honored plot if ever there was one). Nathan Long does a great job with it, creating good characters and putting them in dozens of perilous situations. One plot twist is a little predictable, but since it’s one I’ve used myself on more than one occasion, I can’t quibble about that.

Overall I enjoyed both of these books quite a bit and will definitely be reading more in the Warhammer universe.