Books of the Dead

[Phunting]

So, I'm not a massive Fantasy fan, but I concede to having a bit of a fondness for the Undead. They were my first Fantasy army back when I still played games, and the recent VC release has made me somewhat interested in them again.

Anyhow, I've enjoyed all the recent Horus Heresy books, and thought I might give some other BL stuff a go. Hence I though to combine the two and have a bit of an undead fest. I have read the first two Genevieve books many many years ago, apart from that, not really too familiar with Fantasy. The plan is to do a chronological run through the undead related books as follows:

- Nagash trilogy
- God King
- Von Carnstein trilogy
- Genevieve trilogy
- Ulrika duology

So. Is there anything i'm missing? Are any of the above not worth bothering with (I'm unsure how relevant God King will be)?

[Xisor]

I understand this, the Vampire Omnibus to be right up your alley too. The Red Duke is another one, and a very fine one at that. Also Dreadfleet and, of course, Vampireslayer (a Gotrek & Felix novel).

Also: The PoD books have been very good value, to me. I strongly recommend 'em. (Despite not having read the Vampire Omnibus.)

[Sheena Easton]

one of the other G&F books also has some Vamp action - I think its Manslayer

If you can get hold of them:

Ancient Blood
Curse Of The Necrarch
Runefang

are about undead, with Ancient Blood being the best and Runefang the worst

[Son of Sanguinius]

I really enjoyed Liber Necris. Certainly not a novel and not something easy to find (as far as I know), but it gives a fun look into the metaphysics of necromancy and the philosophies of the Vampire lines.

[Phunting]

Many thanks for the responses.

I'd like to point out that I don't just want to read any book just because a vampire happens to be in it though, I really want to read ones that shed light onto undead society.

With the G&F books, do they actually deal with vampiric society, or is it just that the villain happens to be a vampire in a castle at the end of it all? Same question for God King and Runefang, do we see anything from an undead POV or are they just the antagonists?

[FlashGordon]

Well if youre not a fantasy fan you can always read Battle of Damnos which is simply Ultramarines vs Undead in spaaace. (just had to do that)

[BaSe]

Currently reading zombieslayer and really enjoying it. Has the real feel of hordes of continuous non stop zombies and ghouls.

[Morkash]

I second the notion for the Liber Necris. It describes Undead and the circumstances of their summoning etc quite nicely. Downside is that you hardly get it for a reasonable price...

[Sheena Easton]

Many thanks for the responses.

I'd like to point out that I don't just want to read any book just because a vampire happens to be in it though, I really want to read ones that shed light onto undead society.

With the G&F books, do they actually deal with vampiric society, or is it just that the villain happens to be a vampire in a castle at the end of it all? Same question for God King and Runefang, do we see anything from an undead POV or are they just the antagonists?

In that case

The Vampire Wars Trilogy can be viewed as how the Von Carsteins operate
Ancient Blood deals with the Strigoi way of unlife and interaction with the Strignay
Curse Of The Necrarch has an insight into the mind of the Necrarch
The Ulrika books and one of the later G&F books (Manslayer IIRC) show a lot of insight into the Lahmian infiltration of the Empire
Vampire Slayer shows a bit about how the Von Carsteins and Lahmians (or even just different Vampires) have rivalries - but this is only briefly touched on and not central to the story.
Necromancer (which I forgot to mention earlier) tells of one way someone becomes a Necromancer

Runefang just has crappy Undead baddies

[Spider-pope]

If you can find it for a reasonable price, i heartily recommend Necromancer by Jonathan Green. It delves into one mans decent into necromancy, shedding light on what could drive a man to start raising the dead.

[Phunting]

Fantastic, well by the sounds of it then I'll add Ancient Blood, Curse Of The Necrarch, The Red Duke & Necromancer to the list.

What about God King? Any use as an addendum to the Nagash trilogy, or just undead baddies?

[Jon Green]

If you can find it for a reasonable price, i heartily recommend Necromancer by Jonathan Green.

It's great to hear people bigging up NECROMANCER after all these years. Personally I think it's my best Warhammer novel to date. (But then SHADOWS OVER SYLVANIA's not been published yet. ;-)

[BobtheInquisitor]

The Necromancer was great! It had a very Herbert West/Charles Dexter Ward feeling to it while still maintaining a healthy dose of Warhammer, which makes it a double-win in my book.

I am looking forward to your next one.

[Phunting]

It's great to hear people bigging up NECROMANCER after all these years. Personally I think it's my best Warhammer novel to date. (But then SHADOWS OVER SYLVANIA's not been published yet. ;-)

For what it's worth, I'd say it is probably my favourite Warhammer novel. Inspiration obviously from both Frankenstein and Herbert West, and an excellent job of meshing such ideas into the fantasy setting. It was from Shelly and Lovecraft's tales that I got my fascination for the undead in the first place, so was very happy to find it so much more than the usual fantasy novel fare.

I notice Amazon lists it as no. 1 in a series. Were there ever any others planned, or is that a usual Amazon typo?

[stormblade]

The before mentioned Runefang is about undead (although so far that is one Werner's novel I liked the least) there are some undead in Witch hunter triology and Brunner as well (both by C.L. Werner). I guess there must be some undead in Zombieslayer as well, haven't read it yet so I can neither recomenned it nor do the opposite of that.

[Jon Green]

I notice Amazon lists it as no. 1 in a series. Were there ever any others planned, or is that a usual Amazon typo?

Hi Phunting

NECROMANCER was indeed supposed to be book 1 in a series. I was planning on writing a couple of trilogies in fact.

I even got as far as sending BL the synopsis for the second book but heard nothing more about it. It's a shame, because I think CORPSE TAKER was a great story. (And it featured a lot more undead than NECROMANCER!)