So I haven't really read much WHF novels lately, and as I am starting to get into GMing a campaign of Warhammer Fantasy Role Play, it might be a good idea to start reading more. Anyone have any must reads?

I have read the Konrad ones and some of the Gotrek and Felix. Also the Ambassador.

The time of legends series are really good, not a fan of much of the other ones tho..

'Riders of the Dead' was good, as was the Darkblade stuff.

highly recommend the nagash series, the konrad saga too, riders of the dead the vampire wars trilogy was alright the witch hunter series was good too

the dark blade stuff was very good except he gets knocked out a lot

All of the time of legends books are really good. I have read a lot of the black library fantasy novels and the time of legends really stand out. The sundering trilogy is fantastic.

The dwarfs omnibus is really good as well.

Brunner was a great read, and the time of legends stuff that I've read has been pretty good.

Agreed the sundering trilogy has been brilliant so far (got the last one to go)

The best ones to read are still the bloodbowl series..
Awesomeness!

Mouse

never read a bad one. They are all good.

Wilbur Smith is better though.

if your looking for fluff, the Time of Legends is the best.

I have to say the Matthias Witch Hunter trilogy was pretty good, as was the Brunner trilogy

oddly the wulfrik book also wasn't bad

from those i have read i liked the darkblade series a lot and if u are looking for more adventure rather than plot i would recommend the gathering storm which i found quite nice.

Depends I like the earlier stuff more so.

Books like; by Jack Yeovil
Krokodil Tears;
Demon Download;
Come back Tour; alternate future with Elvis presly as a detective.

Ghost Dancer; by Brian Craig

Compilation shirt stories; Route 666

Drachenfels; by Jack Y is especially good vampire story.

you also have the following
Shadow Breed & Konrad; by David Ferring
Storm warriors & Zaragoz; by Brian Craig.
Red Thirst; Wolf Riders; Ignorant Armies compilation short stories where a lot of characters first made thier appearance.

As well a number of early 40K books, like inquisitor & death Wing by Ian Watson

I've tried to read some of thier stuff latly and for what ever reason, find that most of it is really ho hum. ?? The issue is for me, that there are a lot of much better books / authors to read. ie [Game of Thrones; by george martin] So when you get an average story line it's meh.

So if you see some of thier older stuff IMo grab it.

I would say anything done by C L Werner is amazing

+10

Gilead's Blood.

Thanquols Doom. Available at Sunny Coast library

Just finished reading Konrad, so would have recommended that - but youve already read that trilogy.

For background story i quite liked Honour of the Grave as it showed the heroine in a less "goody two shoes" type of way, but also showed the empire and how fragmented it can really be.

The Vampire Wars novels are ######ing ######. I read the first one, and it was barely B grade fan fiction. Really really poor imo, and completely turned me off reading any other of the WFB novels.


The Horus Heresy books on the other hand are generally very good. The opening trilogy (Horus Rising / False Gods / Galaxy In Flames) is especially fantastic. Some of the others I've read have been a little bit hit and miss, but the good (the opening trilogy, Fulgrim, The First Heretic especially) far outweigh the bad (Battle For The Abyss, Descent Of Angels).

I better give the heresy series more of a chance then, as i have read a couple and felt them to be not that great (descent of angels being one of them).


Would you say its better to start at the very beginning and work your way through?

Yep go from the start. I liked the first three Heresy books but soon got jaded with what looked to be turning into a L.Ron Hubbard con to keep you buying every book by leaving the story arcs going on and on and on...mind you I'm a sucker for the Gaunt Ghosts, Gortrik and Caphais Cain series. Yes I understand irony

Fantasy wise, Dan Abnett Steel and Thunder (sounds like a fatal medical condition) collection of stories is good fun and has some great ideas for RPG scenerios and there some cool ideas for excellent small battles or skirmishes that could be recreated on tabletop. Theres one story thats a fun rip of the Magnificent seven plot.

IMO the WFB books have only recent gotten better in the last 5 years but still pales compared to whats been done with the 40K universe. Upside in my view is that WFB is more playble then 40K...OK I should not have said that... just my modest thoughts Please dont hit me.

Yep, as I said, that opening trilogy is excellent. You should definitely start with those three, but after that I think the order becomes much less important. Whilst each of the books is part of one larger story arc, they mostly tell their own different smaller arcs.

Fluff is 40k's greatest strength, and the Heresy is one of the best pieces of that fluff.

they do tell their own stories but a handful make references to earlier books or in the case of thousand sons & Prospero Burns are together

right ok, time to find them all.

Stay away from Dwarf novels written by Gav Thorpe unless you have run out of toilet paper

I liked those novels, they made me start Dwarves.

Best few novels for Fantasy:

Early really gritty stuff: Thunder and Steel (Riders of the Dead, Wolves of Ulric? & Gilead's Blood) - Dan Abnett's early stuff from when BL was Inferno.

Personal favourite: Malus Darkblade series. IMO best books in black library. Very indepth fluff for Dark Elves (Good for settin' scenes).

Lighter read: Gotrek and Felix. They won't give you too much of an insight into the day and life of Fantasy, but it does open some cool scenarios and plot twists for your campaign.

Nagash Series: I found the first book pretty rough with all the Egyptian sounding names and places. That said, I did find Part: 2 and Part: 3 pretty good.

Nagash book three was amazing

Those were the days.......



Out of curiosity, where does everyone go for their books? I get fed up of paying the overinflated GW prices, but most bookshops near me tend to charge the full RRP too.

+1, particularly good if you're going to run a WFRP campaign (I'm assuming you're using 1st or 2nd ed of course, rather than the Fantasy Flight boardgame version)


Book Depository: Paid $7 for "Know No Fear" instead of $25