recent read; Honourkeeper by Nick Kyme

For a while, Black Library kept intriguing me with back cover synopses and I was buying them like crazy. I made myself stop, but I still have a shelf full. It occurred to me it had been a long time since I read a Warhammer, so I picked one.

Irascible dwarfs almost always get my attention in fantasy works. I went with Nick Kyme's Honourkeeper, the third title in a loose trilogy concerning dwarfs in the world of Warhammer.

In the ancient days of the Old World, long before the time of men, the dwarfs and elves are at the height of their prosperity. As King Bagrik of the dwarfs and Prince Ithalred of the elves forge a trade pact, a vast horde of northmen attacks the elf settlement. When King Bagrik's son is slain, the dwarfs join forces with the elves, eager for vengeance. Can the dwarfs and the elves put aside their differences long enough to prevail over foe?

Much like its predecessor, Oathbreaker, this novel delivers on the sweeping battlefields, amazing dwarf halls, aloof elves, bloody Northmen of Chaos. I really liked the dwarf queen. There is also drama and intrigue between the two races - elves and dwarfs. They are attempting for forge a trade alliance, but they get along about as well as oil and water from the start.

I enjoyed this one.

Dear Black Library (open letter)

Dear Black Library,

You can stop now. Really. I just don't have time to follow two universes with multiple self-contained series. I have other books to read. I have too many of your books on my shelf unread, as it is.

Really. Please stop with the interesting cover blurbs and the eye catching art on the new stuff.

Please.

Also, please stop dropping all these damn good-looking omnibuses on me. It's bad enough I'm interested in your new titles. Then you turn around and create opportunities for me to 'catch up' with reasonably priced, three-for-one omnibuses of previous titles which triples my to-be-read pile in an instant.

Insidious.

Then to top it all off, you provide incredible cover art that makes me drool. It is very hard not to buy an omnibus like the Witch Hunter series. I already have the novels, but then you add a bonus story! Please stop.

Now you've gone and done this. And even though I have these novels, well, ... that cover. If there's a bonus story in this one, all is lost.



Damn.

Mathias Thulmann

Taking a break from fatherhood and work to discuss Mathias Thulmann, Witch Hunter of the Empire (of the Warhammer novels.)

There are three novels, and I am reading the second one now, Witch Finder. They are great fun, and if you like Solomon Kane, they are worth checking out. They are like reading a Hammer horror movie from their heyday.




As they often do, the Black Library are reissuing all three novels in an omnibus edition; due in November. The edition will include two previous short stories and a brand new tale. I guess that's kind of like a band releasing a greatest hits album with a single new track to entice fans to buy a collection they already own.

But, it is a sweet cover...