Which books should I start with?

[severilos]

I was at Border's tonight, just looking at the selection of Warhammer titles, and I wasn't really sure where to start. (thanks for the Layman's guides, btw) I never really got into the world/lore so much until I became a beta tester over a year ago. So I'm wondering if someone can give some direction as to which titles to start with... and if any of them would be more geared towards Destruction (or tell a story from that point of view), since my main is a Marauder.

Other series that I have enjoyed are Lord of the Rings, the Sword of Truth series by T. Goodkind, and the Shannara books... and some other random titles here and there.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

[dariakus]

Gotrek and Felix, the First Omnibus.

Fantastic starting point :)

[Guardian]

The Cold Hand Of Betrayal was awesome and the Malus Darkblade books were quite good. I also recommend Liber Chaotica :D

[Wiedervereinigung]

Because you said geared towards Destruction players:
1) For Druchii, get the Malus Darkblade books
2) For Chaos, get "The Enemy Within" and the Blackhearts omnibus

For general evil flavored awesome, get the Von Carstein omnibus and Nagash.

Unfortunately, I don't know of any Warhammer novels where Greenskins are featured as well developed characters.

If you want some Skaven in there, as well, then get the Gotrek and Felix novels. Sure it follows and Dwarf and an Imperial, but it features a few well developed, recurring Skaven that are completely awesome (and inspired me to start my Skaven army a few years ago).

[trenn]

or check out Empire in Chaos. as this is the WAR novel. mine finally arrived yesterday.

[Direlord]

Libre chaotica is a great tome for chaos fluff explaining chaos the gods etc.

heldenhammer is the first in the store line of Sigmar a fantastic book IMO.

Nagash which just came out recently is about the great necromancer i have yet to read it as i picked it up last sat but i'm currently in the process of rereading the horus heresy books and will start nagash after i finish the first 3.

the malus darkblade series is pretty good but some lore people dislike it for it not being a accurate story to DE fluff.

the Von carstein or vampire wars isn't bad deals with the vampires and undead. if you like unded there is Libre Necris but i didn't think it was that great for how little you got.

dwarf wise, Grudgelore is a fluff book, oathbreaker and grudgebearer are decent novels.

i never read any of the gortex & Felix novels but i keep hearing they are good.

There is a WAR book out but no idea how good it is.

Elves there is a Defenders of Ulthaua (sp) but no idea how that is

Skaven there is Vermintide but again no idea.

[AshTheKing001]

The official WAR book "Empire in Chaos" is quite fun. I'm liking it more than most of the other WH books. I would start with this one because it ties into the game so nicely.

Enemy Within is great for Chaos and Empire. And it's all about Tzeenech.

Defenders of Ulthuan is all about HE vs. DE. It's very close to the WAR story so I'm not sure if it was meant as an unofficial WAR book.

As far as Skaven, A Murder in Marienbug has some good bits. That book is interesting for how not Warhammer it is. It's almost as if the author wanted to include the least amount of WH lore and still get away with a Black Library label.

[severilos]

Thanks for all of the suggestions folks. Very helpful!

[Breaker]

no pictures lol

[Robglobgubob]

I finished Nagash last week and was not happy with the pacing of the book. It was a let down after reading Heldenhammer(which is my favorite Warhammer novel).

I think Gotrek and Felix is a great starting point for anyone wanting to pick up Warhammer books.

[Maximilian]

I finished Nagash last week and was not happy with the pacing of the book. It was a let down after reading Heldenhammer(which is my favorite Warhammer novel).

I think Gotrek and Felix is a great starting point for anyone wanting to pick up Warhammer books.


Heldenhammer really shows you how powerful Sigmar was, it was a great book I can't wait for more in that series.

[Dis]

Hi another Warhammer Fantasy LORE noob here playing the game and wanting to do some reading to understand the World of Warhammer Fantasy.

Black Library recommands the following books.

TALES OF THE OLD WORLD
http://www.blacklibrary.com/product.asp?prod=60100281032&type=Book

GOTREK AND FELIX :: THE FIRST OMNIBUS
http://www.blacklibrary.com/product.asp?prod=60100281018&type=Book

DARKBLADE :: THE DAEMON'S CURSE
http://www.blacklibrary.com/product.asp?prod=60100299076&type=Book

Thinking of getting the following book as well since it's set in WAR ONLINE
Empire in Chaos
http://www.blacklibrary.com/product.asp?prod=60100281042&type=Book

Please Advice ^^

:confused:

[Robglobgubob]

http://www.blacklibrary.com/product.asp?prod=60100281054&type=Book

Get this instead of Daemon's Curse. It covers the first 4 (I think it's only the first 4) books of the Darkblade series.

[Dis]

http://www.blacklibrary.com/product.asp?prod=60100281054&type=Book

Get this instead of Daemon's Curse. It covers the first 4 (I think it's only the first 4) books of the Darkblade series.

Malus Darkblade, The chronicles of : Vol 1
This omnibus edition collects the first three Darkblade novels The Daemon's Curse, Bloodstorm and Reaper of Souls, by Dan Abnett and Mike Lee. This series has a strong sales history and is the second most popular seiries for Warhammer.

[Direlord]

if you play a WH there is a witch hunter omnibus i believe coming out. i orginally thought i was a new book but from reading now it sounds like they are just reprinting the 3 books into one with a few short stories inbetween.

[Dis]

I think I will just get those omnibus.
Cheaper and more stories in between.

TALES OF THE OLD WORLD
GOTREK AND FELIX :: THE FIRST OMNIBUS
THE CHRONICLES OF MALUS DARKBLADE VOL 1

9 stories worth of content in between.

[MightyAl]

Just get Beasts In Velvet. It's worth it, even if just to see how obvious it is that a main character is basically Dirty Harry.

[Kilani]

if you want a very good book by an amazing author that also shows a detailed point of view from the chaos side i recommend riders of the dead by dan abnett this book is half in the point of view of the kislevs and half chaos great story.


or if your looking for something a bit fun i suggest fell cargo also by dan abnett about pirates and thier travels around the old world its only a short book but very very good.


and yes the mathius thulmann books aka the witch series are ok, they might not make good starting books however as they can tend to drag in parts. (the witch books are indeed old books that are being reprinted now)

and of course i agree with everyone else malus and the gotrek books are a must :) but i wouldnt suggest malus for someone new to the lore as it could get a bit overwhelming :)

[Dis]

TALES OF THE OLD WORLD
GOTREK AND FELIX :: THE FIRST OMNIBUS
THE CHRONICLES OF MALUS DARKBLADE VOL 1

I bought these 3 books and will be getting em in 2 weeks.
Hope it doesn't fall shorts of my expectations. :rolleyes:

[severilos]

I was at Border's this past weekend and was surprised how little they had. They seemed to have more 40k books. Then I went to a local shop that sells Warhammer, Magic and D&D figures and miscellanea and they didn't have ANY novels. Guess I'll have to order online. :neutral:

[Dis]

I was at Border's this past weekend and was surprised how little they had. They seemed to have more 40k books. Then I went to a local shop that sells Warhammer, Magic and D&D figures and miscellanea and they didn't have ANY novels. Guess I'll have to order online. :neutral:

Yeah.
Warhammer 40k = HOT
Warhammer Fantasy = WHAT?

[Direlord]

yeah not that easy to find warhammer books it seems. i'm lucky the GW store i go to has a good size section of books but even they often get stuff a lot later than release time.

best bet is just hit the black library site.

[Vermin Lord]

Well, I can't recommend any novels, but what I can do is mention some of the fluff books.

1. The Lost and the Damned, and Slaves to Darkness
A pair of two old (from 1992, I think) books about the forces of Chaos. They both contain both lots of rules and fluff and have sections on both Warhammer Fantasy and 40K. They are split into two pairings of gods (Nurgle and Tzeentch get one book, Khorne and Slaanesh another). before Liber Chaotica came out, this was THE definitive source of Chaos lore. People still hold it in very high regard. Also contains a lot of gorgeous artwork by Ian miller.

2. Liber Chaotica
This is the new take on the stuff last seen in the books I mentioned above, and does have a few throwbacks at them. It gives the compiled info on a lot of stuff that has been invented since. My only problems with Liber Chaotica are thhat some pages are in an almost unreadable font, and that there is very little artwork that aren't concept sketches.

3. the Loathsome Ratmen and all Their Vile Kin
This book is basically a recap of almost everything that was ever revealed about the Skaven, from beginning to end, and pretty useful to those who want to know about them but didn't follow them through the years. It is also written in character, so it makes for an interesting read. It is also full of great artwork, both old an new.

4.Liber Necris
The definite book on undeath in warhammer fantasy. Not only does it contain info on history from before Nagash to the most recent campaigns of the Von Carsteins with everything in between, it also gives an in depth explanation how necromancy, undeath and stuff like that function inside the setting. I'm pretty sure some of the details here are brand new and have never been mentioned before. it's also written in character, but it isn't that noticable for the most part. Contains tons of artwork.

5. Darkness Rising
This is an book with detailed information about the Storm of Chaos campaign. I must admit I haven't read it yet, but it does look just as promising as the other ones here. Artwork just as good as in the other ones.