The Colonel's Monograph, Graham McNeill

Boy, I think I might've left this too long. It's been over a month now since I read this one, and though this seems to have been a bit beneficial for my opinions on it, I confess I can't remember much on the particulars of it. Maybe that's for the best, because what I do remember is that I was quite annoyed when I finished the story.

Recently widowed archivist Teresina Sullo has been invited to catalogue the personal library of one of the heroes of the imperium, the late colonel Elena Grayloc, the valiant commander who led the only surviving Astra Militarum regiment out of the madness of the infamous Dark Suns campaign.

She travels to Grayloc manor, where she is aided by those left behind after the colonel's apparent suicide. But it swiftly becomes clear that there is a mystery at work in Graylock Manor and darkness and danger besides. Gripped by the deepening mystery of the colonel's past Teresina follows up on the mad ramblings of the last archivist to work at Graylock manor, and she fervently begins to search for the tome that is rumoured to hold all the answers she seeks: the colonal's secret Monograph.

The main problem I had with the Colonel's Monograph is that it is the first of all of the Warhammer Horror stories, both the novels, the short stories, and the middling length fiction I've read so far, that seems to validate the arguments directly against a Warhammer Horror label, the idea that these stories wouldn't differ so much from the rest of the Warhammer fiction, and that there was no real warrant for a special Warhammer Horror branch.

It's not so much that the story isn't horrific, but rather that it feels terribly run of the mill. It is a story that pretty much goes exactly the way you expect it to go. The kind of story that I believed would inevitably be put out in this range; "Warhammer but specifically Horror!".
The Colonel's Monograph is the kind of hack writing that seems to validate general reader opinion that all that Warhammer fiction is is this kind of derivative throw-away fiction , filled with sensationalist elements, that is written specifically to cater to a juvinile and immature audience that hasn't read all that widely.

I'm being unduly harsh, but it's also pretty much the way I do see it.

There's a place for this fiction, and I frequently do enjoy it, but it would be nice if we could just get better.

Derivative is underlined above because it's my main problem with the story. Maybe it's just that it adheres so much to classic horror and gothic fiction, in such a way that it feels less like a pastiche and more just of a straight up copy of what's come before. Sure, the elements are 40k, but pretty much nothing else is original.

I have read some reviews of this one on Goodreads and apparently this is precisely what the audience wants: It wants those tropes and familiar situations, but just set in the Warhammer settings, and all I can do is shake my head in annoyance.

Another problem, one with 40k fiction, Warhammer fiction/ lore, in general, is that there is so little that is mysterious and will continue to remain mysterious. These are massive universes, that have articles, lore books, game rules and what-have-you dedicated to conveying as much information as possible, and of which more are put out every so often, and, as a result, everything that is being written is required to adhere to certain rules. Originality does not thrive here, and so horror as well can not really thrive. There's always a usual suspect, there's always a name that'll dispel whatever tension has been built up...
Whatever evil is afoot in the Warhammer Universe, whatever phenomena, whatever terrible and mysterious thing there might be crawling in the shadows, needs to fit in a familiar mold.
And there's already some definite precedent for the evil in the Colonel's Monograph.

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Honestly. it's really not that bad. I actually was going to write something way more positive, but I think I just wanted to vent a bit about the nature of Warhammer in General.
Sometimes I get too serious about the dumbest things.

The Vampire Genevieve series, Reading Order

I'm one of those people who wants to read things precisely in order and so the (somewhat) convoluted Vampire Genevieve series gave me a bit of a headache. For your benefit I set down the Chronological Reading Order, which follows the events exactly one after the other, below, and further down on the page, my actual recommended Reading order, together with my reasons for having this one be different than the Chronological.

The Chronological Order

1.  Drachenfels, the 30 page +/- prologue: the book-end of 'The Quest for Constant Drachenfels'
2.  Red Thirst (Silver Nails): Genevieve and Vukotich and the Great Escape
3.  No Gold in The Grey mountains (Silver Nails): Lady Melissa and the ruin of Drachenfels
4.  The Ignorant Armies (Silver Nails):  Johann and Vukotich in the North
5.  Drachenfels, the Main of the novel: Detlef Sierck and Genevieve and the play of Drachenfels
6.  Beasts in Velvet: Harald Kleindeinst and the case of The Beast
7.  Stage Blood (Genevieve undead): Detlef and Genevieve and the Phantom of the Opera
8.  The Warhawk (Silver Nails): Harald Kleindeinst and another killer
9.  The Cold Stark House (Genevieve Undead): Genevieve and the Endless Play
10.  Unicorn Ivory (Genevieve Undead): Genevieve and the Family Drama
11.  The Ibby the Fish factor (Silver Nails): Detlef and Genevieve and the end of the line

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However, the reading order for the entire series I'd recommend is a little different from this one:

Recommended Reading Order

     I'd start with The Ignorant Armies as that one stands alone quite well.
Next I'd go with Red Thirst as Vukotich will be the connecting thread that'll introduce you to Genevieve, and the story will also make reference to the ending to the Quest of Oswald and its successful completion, which will slowly hype up your interest in the Drachenfels storyline.
     The third to read will be No Gold in the Grey Mountains short story, which will subvert your expectations somewhat (though depending on the reader, this might be a bad thing, or a good thing), while introducing you to both the environs of Drachenfels and the character of Lady Melissa, who, though she isn't that important, she will be immediately present upon the start of Drachenfels proper and will have an emotional bond with Genevieve, which you, as a reader of the No Gold short story, will al have.
     Then, naturally the Drachenfels novel, followed by the Stage Blood novella.
     I'd advise not immediately continuing into the Cold Stark House short story as, though it follows Genevieve, is a bit of a confusing and almost soulless continuation of her story line. Following on from the superb Stage Blood, it can not be anything but a let-down. It's best to make the side-venture into Beasts in Velvet first, as it is a magnificent novel, though it isn't a Genevieve novel per se (but then that's actually a plus since reading Cold Stark House next would be a bad idea), then followed by the Warhawk short story. Both follow Harald Kleindienst and  Rosanna as they solve crimes.
     The Warhawk's ending is a little abrupt but this'll be a good opportunity to go ahead with the Genevieve storyline and to plunge on into the Cold Stark House story. When that misadventure has been dealt with, prepare for an uptick in quality, and a return to the feeling of Red Thirst, the lady Vampire teamed up with an unwilling ally, in Unicorn Ivory.
     Then, to round it all off, with a good ending and happy feelings, comes the Ibby The Fish Factor.

To reiterate, without a wall of text:

1.  Ignorant Armies (Silver Nails)
2.  Red Thirst (Silver Nails)
3.  No Gold In The Grey Mountains (Silver Nails)
4.  Drachenfels
5.  Stage Blood (Genevieve Undead)
6.  Beasts in Velvet
7.  The Warhawk (Silver Nails)
8.  The Cold Stark House (Genevieve undead)
9.  Unicorn Ivory (Genevieve Undead)
10.  The Ibby the Fish Factor (Silver Nails)

6 and 7 could possibly be left out if you want to just read about Genevieve but, really, you'd be missing out.

And that puts to rest my extended look at Newman's classic horror series.

A very good addition to the Warhammer Horror imprint.

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Small note:

These books were written in a time where the spirit of adventure was paramount, and the original writers liked to put in references to the works of the authors they shared their little sandbox with. As such there are references to Steve Baxter's The Star Boat, The Tilean Rat, The Wolf Riders and likely a bunch of others.

And there are also a bunch of references, flat-out or oblique, to larger works: David Ferring's Konrad trilogy, Brian Craig's Orfeo trilogy and William King's Gotrek and Felix series. It is of course not necessary to read any of these if you enjoy or enjoyed the Genevieve series.

Review: Silver Nails, Kim Newman

     Silver Nails is the last book in the Vampire Genevieve series, at least publication-wise, as it collects all the short stories that Newman wrote during his stay in the Warhammer universe. Despite being part of the Genevieve series two of these actually don't have Genevieve in them as a protagonist. However, both of these excursions; The Ignorant Armies and The Warhawk, feature characters that will meet or have met Genevieve in other adventures.

     There are various possible reading orders but I'll keep that for the next post. The short stories, in the order as they are presented here, follow the in-universe chronology, so it's a serviceable order to read them in any case.

Red Thirst

Glinka Claes' Moral Crusade sweeps the land.

Gambling, whoring, swearing and other vices are outlawed, and every transgression is severely punished with iron rod and articles of faith. Under the cover of law and night "sinners" are press-ganged into slavery for their crimes and transported west in convoys.

The mercenary Vukotich finds himself among them, but as soon as the opportunity presents itself he'll find a way to escape into the wilds together with the young girl that is shackled to him. But little does he know that the frail thing only has the appearance of a girl, and that it harbours dark secrets, and an even darker thirst.

If man and monster are to stay ahead of their pursuers they'll have to find a way to work together, and put aside their mistrust and fear. And when they, over the course of their escape, uncover an evil plot to lay the empire of man low, what then will they do? Monster and man, would they both be served by stopping this evil design, or would one of them rather work it in hand?

Yeah, it's a bit of a massive info dump but I couldn't really help myself. Newman usually puts a lot of different elements in even the slightest of short stories, and you can't really (or shouldn't) sum these up in a few sentences. I could've just said that Vukotich and Genevieve escape enslavement and, over the course of their escape uncover a plot to lay the empire low, and distrustful as Vukotich is of Genevieve, can he allow himself to work together with a Vampire, a creature best served by the fall of man, but... I think that would lessen the mood somewhat, don't you think?

     Either way, something rather interesting is that the villain here is a Cathayan (I think), who showcases a strange and different magic system than you'd usually find in the Old World, but that does have its roots in Chaos. It hardly works hand in hand together with the Warhammer World, since Cathay was quickly rendered off-limits to the authors and sculptors at GW, but then the Genevieve novels do stand apart of them somewhat, anyway.

      Red thirst is a decent short story, though it misses a lot of the heart that usually can be found in the Genevieve canon. There's little to no actual horror here, but as these stories tie in to Drachenfels, there's no real objections from me when you lump it under Warhammer Horror regardless. I'm a completionist above all things, anyway.

Chronologically this is the first story in the Genevieve timeline, but in my opinion it should be read only after you've read The Ignorant Armies one, as that one stands more or less alone, but is tied firmly to this one by the Vukotich character, who is hugely relevant there. He's of course relevant here as well but there are elements in this one that'll be more clear and more emotionally rewarding if you've read IG first. Red Thirst also has some neat foreshadowing to the Detlef/Genevieve relation in Drachenfels.



The Ignorant Armies

To the north of the Empire, in the forests of Kislev, a young man silently reminisces on the events that led him and his retainer in pursuit of the warlord who razed his family's mansion to the ground, who murdered his family and kidnapped his younger brother, Wolf.

Relinquishing his hereditary title and the claim on his lands, Johann has been giving chase to the warlord's forces, in a desperate bid to save his brother, or, if Wolf is beyond saving, to take vengeance on the monster who upset the course of all their lives.

And now the hunt draws to a close, and soon Johann, Vukotich, and the warlord will meet on the plains where champions clash and lead their ignorant armies in never-ending war for the bloodthirsty joy of the Chaos Gods.

     The Ignorant Armies was Newman's first Warhammer story, and it doesn't even focus on Genevieve at all, instead focusing on Johann and the mercenary Vukotich, the last of whom will also appear in the Red Thirst short story, which takes place about 30 years earlier.
Wolf will also have a small cameo in the Drachenfels story. Which means that this one takes place after Red Thirst and before Drachenfels proper. We'll follow Wolf and Johann around in Beasts in Velvet too. So much for how this one ties in to the rest.

     The story itself is very, very good. Newman, as usual, sets out his pieces quickly and seeds his ideas and story-tools well in advance, without giving too much away beforehand.
     Now, if this was a modern Warhammer story, the conclusion would be a foregone one: 10 years is a long time to be in the thrall of the servants of Chaos. See, for instance, Dan Abnett's classic Warhammer story, Riders of the Dead... or, really, any later Warhammer tale with characters captured by Chaos forces.... or... ooh, like Dark Apostle; an insanely dark and brooding Chaos tale in the 40k setting, also has a large part of its run-time dedicated to one such character. But as it is, the conclusion to this story is rather surprising.
     Looking back one can see the neat foreshadowing, that is nonetheless quite invisible the first time. The highpoint of the narrative, the scene itself, is a glorious but dark miracle. And as usual, Newman is excellent in his delivery, adding force to something that, in a less skilled writer, might've come off as silly or blatantly contrived. I think this is my favourite one in here.
The horror is adequate, though the intriguing strangeness of the scenes, the central idea and the setting easily drowns out allegiance to horror this story might have.


No Gold in The Grey Mountains

A small band of criminals have taken up residence in the ill-rumoured castle Drachenfels and have been using its ruined grounds to stage their robbing of the nearby road.

When a travelling coach arrives, expected to be bearing a load of taxed gold from a nearby mine they find instead of the promised gold a little girl, rich, by dress and manner. Turning a bad situation into a good one they take the girl with them with the idea of selling her back to her family for ransom.

But when they arrive in their walled lair they find that something old and hungry is in there with them, stalking in the shadows.

     This one takes place somewhere in the years between the vanquishing of Constant Drachenfels by Genevieve and Oswald in the Drachenfels prologue and the main story of Drachenfels. It follows the Lady Melissa, who will harbour Genevieve in the cloister in Drachenfels proper and will have a starring role in the Ibby the Fish Factor.

     It's another very good story that is very much  enmeshed in horror, and that could stand apart from reading the Genevieve series quite well.
     The reading pace is fast and quite interesting as a lot of details get effortlessly squirreled away in every sentence, forming a rich layer to the story. It has wholly believable and interesting characters and twist and turns to the tune of an exciting narrative.
Ieuw, I hate it when I write like this. I find it appalling. But that doesn't make my assessment of the story any less true though.


The Warhawk

The streets of Altdorf are unquiet once again, as another Pattern-Killer stalks its streets, or rather, haunts its skies. With a body count of seven and rising, The Warhawk is Altdorf's most profligate killer since the Beast's reign of terror, and the corpses haven't even finished piling up.

Rosanna Ophuls joins Harald Kleindeinst on the case, but the killer has been expecting this and is about to incorporate both investigators in his diabolical plans.

     As the 'another' should indicate, this one takes place after Beasts in Velvet, and features Harald Kleindeinst and Rosanna Ophuls. It's sadly the last story to follow them around and doesn't tie much into the rest of the Genevieve-storyline. Its ending is also a bit abrupt and though not completely unsatisfactory, one can't help wishing there was just a little bit more to tie it all off a little better.
     But. Holy damn, there's a big surprise in here: a damn cross-over with Gotrek and Felix. With Gotrek having an actual speaking role, and with Felix, looking on worriedly from the sidelines, having a quiet flirt with Rosanna.
      Gotrek actually shows up to give Harald some information on the Warhawk killer's antecedents. This doesn't feel forced either, although I do wonder if this can be constituted as canonical still, since Gotrek and Felix's Journey is such an extensive one, and has been chronicled in detail. Man... I really wish there could be a complete and definitive collection that puts everything in perfect order.

     Anyway, the story itself treads the line between silly and grotesque, with the nastiness of the actual killings themselves easily swaying one to place it on the side of horror. It's also a lot of fun to read about the two investigators again and a few off-hand comments might also clue you in on at least one of the last open threads left dangling at the end of Beasts in Velvet. It wasn't really necessary to do this as Beasts still stands on its own after The Warhawk concludes, but I'm glad for the information nonetheless.


The Ibby the Fish Factor

Genevieve Dieudonné has returned to Altdorf, but though it's only been little under 2 decades since she'd been declared a hero of the Empire, humans have short lifespans and even shorter memories, and where once she'd been welcomed with cheers and shouts of joy, now there is only violence and the promise of true death for the Undead. For a new faction has popped up, and this time Vampirekind is being targeted directly.

Ibrahim Fleuchtweig, also known as Ibby the Fish, warchief of the Fish gang, has allegedly been murdered by a vampire, and Antiochus Bland, head of the Anti-Vampire movement has ideas on how to use the murder for his own ends.

Meanwhile, Detlef Sierck, aging but still quite genius, and writer of pieces of theatre, sonnets and other assorted writings, is about to come face to face with his Undying Lady once more, as she has came to him for help.
Because there is assassination attempt afoot, and if the plot against Vampirekind is to be thwarted, Detlef and Genevieve will have to be the ones to stop it.

The very last of all of Newman's stories in the Warhammer setting, both in the internal chronology and publication-wise, Newman wrote it because he wanted to give Genevieve and Detlef a happy ending. It's an enjoyable tale, though maybe a little flighty. The horror this time is nonexistent, but who really cares? If you're still reading these stories you're not just solely here for the horror, and you've probably come to care for these characters. If so, this one will be a fun one to read. There's love, action and death, all the ingredients needed for a page-turner.

Review: Beasts in Velvet

The Empire's capital of Altdorf lies huddled beneath a shroud of fear as a killer of women stalks its fog-bound streets. The savage murderer, known only as The Beast, leaves his victims behind in grotesque displays of gore and mutilation, and there seems to be nothing the City Watch can do to stop him.

Johann Von Mecklenberg, 3 years after the events at Castle Drachenfels, has returned to Altdorf to tutor the future heir to the Empire, and to check up on his brother Wolf. The same brother who once was kidnapped, corrupted and made a servant and warrior of Chaos for more than a decade, and whose life of corruption was miraculously annulled by a heroic self-sacrifice, and who was returned to the boy he once was, young and innocent, and unmarked by Chaos.

But the taint of Chaos can not be so easily washed away, and as the Beast Murders continue to terrorize the nation's capital, Johann begins to regard his brother with a terrible suspicion.

Harald Kleindeinst, hard bastard and disgraced ex-copper, watches the mounting tension in the streets and can do nothing, removed as is from the workings of the Law. But as Johann comes to him with an offer of reinstatement in order to find and capture The Beast, 'Filthy' Harald is more than happy to reintroduce himself to the criminal element of the city, with a fist of iron and knife of steel, of course.

They are joined by Rosanna Ophuls, psychic scryer and novice in the cult of Sigmar. Her scrying gift has made her ideally suited to uncover information on the killer, but she'll have to let herself feel the horrific last moments of his victims to gain clues on his identity. And though she is no stranger to the darkest thoughts of Altdorf's citizens, the Beast's twisted mind might just be too much for her to handle.

As the fog worsens, and rumours surrounding the nature of the Beast spread among the citizens, the tension on the street rises. With the citizenry angered at the complacency of the aristocracy, and with gang violence escalating every moment, the threat of riot and calamity looms ever larger.

Johann, Rosanna and Harald will have to work together to apprehend the killer and to stop Altdorf from plunging into chaos.

Excessive blurb, anyone?
You'd think that all the bases would be covered after that, but there's some stuff I've not mentioned both to keep the word count down and to prevent spoilers, and also because I like to go along with whatever the writer puts out there. And Yes, that's right, there are no spoilers here, believe it or not. All of the above is present in, give or take, the first 60 pages.

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     Beasts in Velvet has long been my favourite stand-alone novel in the Warhammer universe. It is the one responsible for a lot of the background feeling of the fiction, or at least the fiction set in the cities of the Empire. Lankhmar was a huge inspiration for the cities of the Empire, but not even Leiber imbued his setting with the same liveliness that Newman does here.
     One of the main reasons why the Vampire Genevieve series is so beloved is that it made the world feel alive.
     In the fiction that was to follow, the capital of the Empire was such an interesting setting because Newman made it so. He made Altdorf a lived-in city, beholden to its citizens, and not just governed by the military men that came to rule the Warhammer world. And citizens have a citizen's need, and after the most basic functions, that need is predominantly the need to be entertained. Newman's stories constantly reference their in-universe's popular culture; there are references to the theatre productions of Tarradasch or Detlef Sierck, the ballads of Ferring, or the songs of the minstrel Orfeo.

And it helps enormously, of course, that Newman himself gave us such a splendid set of in-universe pieces of entertainment with The Strange case of Doctor Ziekhill and Mister Chaida (Stage Blood) and The Treachery of -REDACTED- (Drachenfels, and beyond), making the idea of popular culture within this setting infinitely more feasible.

     This, more than anything, this acknowledgment and pre-occupation with art and entertainment, gives the reader a sense of recognition and identification with the people that populate these stories. Not just the main characters, but also the others without whom there would be no story. The population at large. The faceless masses that make up the population of this world. Usually this amorphous blob is there on the background, given lip-service to, rarely seen and barely heard, but because art needs an audience Newman had to bring them alive. And all of a sudden, the masses are no longer faceless.

     And in Beasts in Velvet he explores them and their relationship with the world around them further by introducing the impact of news, gossip, and rumour.
Though it isn't perfect, Beasts in Velvet gave us more information on the normal citizens that live in the Empire, how they live, and how they would respond to a serial killer stalking their streets.

     Anyone who'd read the Vampire Genevieve series had a way more active and interesting background world for their next adventures (or battles) to play themselves out in.
Anyway, I really got off track there, but sometimes you just have to go along with what you want to say, and explore the things that really interest you. I find that sometimes I just can't write, because instead of giving myself free reign, I'm trying to work in a manner that constrains me so much until I can't write at all.

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Seeing as the above wall of text won't help with the people coming here to see about the whole 'Horror' business, I better trim this next bit down a tad. Let's start with a few words from the man himself.

From the Introduction:

And then there is the opening quote:

If that doesn't say it all, I don't know.
     And it does: Beasts in Velvet horrifies, even on re-read. It's an engaging tale of a twisted serial killer with dark psychological underpinnings (and the scene where this is revealed has some deeply upsetting stuff). It takes its cues from the Jack the Ripper murders, having mystery and sheer bloody horror at the center of its story, and it fills the streets with a thick, choking fog and enough body parts to comfortably trip over.
     The characters are engaging, the story is fast-paced and its ending is satisfying.

Full merits. If you love horror and haven't picked this one up yet; go do so, you won't be disappointed. Can't recommend it enough.

* Small note, despite appearances it isn't necessary to read anything else in the Vampire Genevieve series: Beasts in Velvet stands alone, though there's always more flavour to be had if you've read Red Thirst (SS), Ignorant Armies (SS) and Drachenfels (N).

July Book Haul

Alright, I'm late again with the monthly Book Haul post, a few days too much, into the next month even but I guess it doesn't really matter.

As you might've noticed I've been out of sorts lately, at least blogging-wise. There's not been much new going on here. This is down to a few things, some of those are private and won't be talked about.

 But, some of the writing itself has been slow-going too. Mostly it is the Grendel Fantasy Masterworks post which is proving very hard to figure out. But it's nonetheless slowly progressing, despite there not being any real information around to back up my write-up of the novel.

Something else that has stopped me from blogging is the reading itself: I've been reading quite alot. I've been making my way through the Witcher's Ciri saga, and I am finding it really quite abyssmal. More on that in a next post. Because I do need to talk about it, if only to pin-point why I dislike it so much. I think it warrants that, at the very least, because I liked the 2 short story collections so much.

Anyway, on to what you're all here for; the Books!

Ghost dog picture. Saffy is doing extremely well, thank you for asking.

Ahem. Let's try this again.

Now then, on to the books!

First up: Vastarien's first issue of the second year.

I am still enjoying the Vastarien magazine. The stories, though usually pretty short, tend to be memorably dark and horrific. This one had a few pretty disturbing tales, and special mention goes out to The Curse of the Three Biblical Magi, which was a lovely mix of historical fiction, mythology building, Body Horror and philosophizing. Which one of those last two sounds more horrible to you?

 It also had a truly bewildering ending. This might be a plus depending on your preferences.

I was also hugely into the Horror Religiosus essay by David Peak. Religion and horror is my bag so I'll be keeping this one's references in mind for future reads.

The essays in the magazine are always worth the time so don't just skip them.

By the way, here's my current 'read Ligottian fiction collection'.

I haven't read much Ligotti, actually, which is always a little disconcerting when I realize it.

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Here are two special ones that I've had my eye on for a while.

2 books by one of my favourite authors; Mathew Woodring Stover.

Iron dawn is book 1, Jericho Moon, its sequel.

Heart of Bronze is actually the Hardback omnibus collecting these two novels into one handsome package.

I had to get these second hand because the books themselves are out of print. It's bizarre but Stover is not that well know. Despite actually being one of the best and most engaging writers out there. When I've read these two I'll have read practically everything by him, barring his Star Wars, which I don't touch on principle, because fuck Star Wars. I've never liked that series by the way, this isn't a recent development. Imagine watching the Phantom Menace, being absolutely smitten by it, then watching the originals and finding them really quite old, and then being ridiculed and mocked for actually liking the prequels. I swiftly got turned off on the whole thing. Fandoms are always toxic. Entitlement and Expectation work hand in hand to destroy the appreciation of any work of art.

Anyway, I got off on a little tangent there. I actually just wanted to say that I might end up hunting down Stover's Star Wars books anyway. He really is that good. But I'm just waiting until I've read absolutely EVERYTHING ELSE the man has to offer.

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Orbit's Trade Paperback of the latest Witcher novel.

I'm really hoping this'll be better than the Ciri Saga. More The Last Wish and less Lady of the Lake please. I'm also wondering whether this one will be taking place before the Ciri saga. People don't talk much about this, but didn't the ending to the Lady of the Lake kind of preclude maybe any more Witcher sequels. The possibility for the interpretation is there, but you could just as well pretend otherwise.

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Mythos Books' publication of Matt Cardin's Dark Awakenings short story collection.

Matt Cardin is a writer who's very much into religious horror so this one's very much my bag. I've only read the 'Gods and Monsters, Worms and Fire: A horrific reading of Isaiah' essay, so far, which was fascinating, though a little dense, and I confess to feeling slightly (very slightly) out of my depth.

It's clear Cardin has done extensive research into the material, and any interpretation of God as an absolute fucking monster gets a big thumbs up from me.

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Because I was so disappointed by my Witcher read, I had the realization that I really SHOULD just be buying the books that I know will be up my alley, rather than go chasing popular opinion.

To whit: some novels by K.J. Parker.

I've heard he's and exacting writer, and I've really wanted to read more of him ever I finished reading his The Devil You Know novella. It was a tad disappointing but I nonetheless had a lot of fun during the write-up, which can be found somewhere on my blog.

This trilogy seemed to focus a little on mythological elements, and there was some mention of 'Gods' so even though I forgot all the reasons why I wanted to pick these up I nonetheless went ahead and bought them. I did have to find Memory second hand though, and as a result its condition is less than perfect, though you can't really see it on the picture.

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The ones I'm reading right now, as the post goes out.

My favourite Newman novel and the Silver Nails short stories, on which I'm already doing some extensive writing.

There'll be a seperate post on the reading order for those interested.

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The chiltern edition of Sun Tzu's Art of War, which pictures really can't do justice.

On the outside it's an incredibly beautiful gold-foil covered edition, with embossing and refflective finish (which you can just barely make out in the red parts).

However, the inside is gauche to the extreme, and as such I can not recommend you to actually buy this edition. There's seven books in the Chilltern Classics, and though they look gorgeous, as they are each just a small part of a distinguished writer's oeuvre, I would just be annoyed at the incompleteness of it all.

Take a look at these beauties though. I'm tempted every time I look at them.

Chilltern Classics

I would also dread there to be illustrations like this throughout the book. It's unlikely, I'll concede, as the Art of War merits some padding, as it really is quite a short little treatise, which I blew through in just a little while.

I found it mostly to be just a collection of observations, that'll make you say 'well duh' a lot. Though I admit I would struggle to think even a few up like this.

The two last chapters I did find genuinely fascinating and revealing though.

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Lastly, the Limited Edition of the Lost and the Damned novel, published by the Black Library.

Last time I gave this one its own post, but I would just be rehashing my comments I think.

It's a beautiful edition, blah blah blah.

Though, the World Eater icon here is simply Gorgeous. And, as I'm a World Eater myself (my psn-name is still Worldeater_5) this one cuts to the very heart of me. I would love some actual merch like this.

So much work went into this, blah blah blah.

And the Sanguinius artwork is practically perfect. The Angel embodies his namesake.

Who the hell even drew such a magnificent thing, blah blah blah.

Seriously though: Damn. Awesome.

And another seriously though: holy shit, they're really pulling out all the stops for this series, huh?

And that's it. A little (very) late, but there you have it.

Enjoy. I know I will.

Review: Genevieve Undead, Kim Newman

     The second release in the Vampire Genevieve series under the new Warhammer Horror Imprint, Genevieve Undead, is a collection of three linked novellas. This novel was originally released in 1993 and has now been newly re-released to drum up some interest into the Warhammer Horror imprint. After all, Newman is a recognized and popular horror novelist, so it is a good idea to release the novels that he (practically) cut his teeth on even though those same novels are not indicative of either the direction that the Old World fiction ultimately continued in, or even that the Black Library strives towards right now. This means that both quality and mood are markedly different from what you'd normally find in the Black Library's stable.

The whole Genevieve series uses numerous horror tropes, and is very comfortable with giving homage to various classics of both horror literature and other types of horror fiction, and in Drachenfels and Stage Blood in particular; the blood-drenched boards of the Grand Guignol serve as the main springboard for the action.

    The first novella here; Genevieve Undead, takes place after Beasts in Velvet, the second complete novel to actually feature the vampire heroine, but in which she's delegated to a mere cameo. Nevertheless Beasts is actually my favourite of the four novels. I'll talk more about that one when I review it.
     You could read Beasts in Velvet first and catch a few references though it isn't really necessary to do so, as the first novella; Stage Blood, is still the first story to chronologically follow Genevieve and Detlef five years after the events of Drachenfels proper.

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Already a genius before the events at Castle Drachenfels 5 years earlier, the experiences in its dark halls have given Detlef Sierck a new insight and an unstoppable urge to drive his plays into darker territories, and now, together with his Vargr Breughel company he is staging a new production based on an older morality play.

As Detlef seeks to perfect both his new take on The Strange History of Dr Ziekhill and Mr Chaida, and his own dual performance in the title roles, the vampire Genevieve begins to grow aware of the toll it is taking on her lover, how inhabiting the evil character of the transformed doctor is threatening to drive out the good in Detlef. And soon she may have to acknowledge that her relationship with him might also be responsible. 

But the darkness is a generous muse, and soon the halls of the Vargr Breughel theatre will resound with rapturous applause.

But behind the walls, behind the one-way mirrors, in the passageways and in the haunted recesses of box seven, the theatre's Trap-door Daemon looks on everything that happens, and has designs of his own.

And then there's still the old evils... And the dangers within will be joined by those from without.

Because in the destroyed fortress of Drachenfels a vestige of the Great Enchanter has been unearthed, and soon his last vengeance will begin to make his way to the unsuspecting artist, and his undying lady.

I spent quite some time on the blurb here as Stage Blood really is a damn fine story and I felt it deserved something extra. (The other two don't have blurb as that would constitute spoilers and in the case of The Cold Stark House I would have to explain the story for it to even begin to make sense.)

     As it follows the previous book's principal protagonists, Genevieve and Detlef, and in some measure also that one's main antagonist, it pretty much serves as the direct continuation for the Drachenfels story line.
     I'm not exaggerating when I say that Stage Blood is magnificently done, its cores theme revolving around the idea of duality and man's struggle with his darker side. The longer the story goes on the more you realize at how many points this is explored and how well it all actually fits together.
The story is funny, horrific and ultimately heartbreaking, ending on a real note of poignancy, the inevitability of certain developments no longer able to be put off. Though it easily evokes a response from the reader, I can't help but feel as if there should have been slightly more build-up for Genevieve's decision at the end of the novella. It's a small niggle though, as the decision itself feels logical and inevitable even as it breaks your heart.

Stage Blood's quality has the unfortunate side-effect of making the other two novellas in this collection feel like disembodied little side-jaunts, removed in both tone and style from the rest of the Genevieve stories.

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     The Cold Stark House picks up Genevieve's story some time after the ending of Stage Blood but at its start you can be forgiven for being confused about where it belongs, as the novella is a bit of a mess. This is mostly down to our point of anchorage, Genevieve herself, suddenly having become a stranger to us, with a lot her backstory massively, glaringly, altered.
Or at least that's how it appears.
     The conceit of the story can be figured out quickly after a certain point, but until that time the reader will be floundering, unable to connect, irritated by the seemingly endless stream of contradictions that come with a cast that is straining the seams of the novella with their inconstant backstories, altering characteristics, and of course their frequent dying and resurrecting.

But of course, it is this last development that reveals the story for what it is, or at least its nature, and it is at this point, a few resurrections in, that the plot becomes clearer and less aggravating.
Nonetheless, it is comfortably the worst of Newman's tales that I've read, if not worst then it is the least fun to read.

It's also in this story that I realized how little agency Genevieve actually has, and has had, throughout the series. Maybe this is due to the Immortal-Vampire aspect of her character, being pretty removed from the affairs of the world, disinterested due to her extreme lifespan, but it frequently ends up with her acting only as an observer in the affairs of others.

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The last story here, Unicorn Ivory, is a step up from the previous outing, but it still has the odd conceit of introducing our heroine as someone other than whom we have come to know. This time we're wise to the act though and we'll be able to happily go along with what Newman has in store for us, leading to a pretty intricate and satisfying tale that nonetheless feels a little bit off, a little bit hurried, in its ending. It's a good thing that Chronologically in the Genevieve series there's still a short story after this one, else it'd be a bit of a lackluster ending.

Review: Perdition's Flame (audio drama)

Perdition's flame is the first audio drama from the Warhammer Horror range.

I'm not one for audio books or dramas but, drawn as I am to horror, and in particular keen to explore the 'Horror' aspect to the Warhammer license, I felt obligated to check this one out.

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A tiny bit of a rant here... Feel free to skip if you dislike me harping on about my ideas and negative responses to the audio format.

I dislike audio-dramas/books because it doesn't take much for me to get pulled straight out of the story, my bubble of immersion too easily punctured by even the smallest of things; off-kilter accents, stilted line-delivery, disharmony in dialogue, etc... but in this particular story I'm pleased to announce that I only gritted my teeth in absolute supreme irritation only once. In case you're interested: It is in Chapter 13, right at the 1-minute mark. You can't miss it.

The voice actors do a mixed bag of a job, their accents ranging from the bad to the flat-out excruciating. This might not be because of the actors themselves and rather because of the material they have to work with, the stereotype accents they have to deliver, or it might just be because of an inherent bias on my part, although I went into this story very open-minded and willing to be entertained.

And you know, this is probably what is always going to be my main gripe with audio-adaptations of any kind and the reason why this particular format just isn't for me. Prose can be perceived as perfect for the reader as it requires the imagination to fill in all the possible blanks, while auditory input from another party (not yourself, and thus alien to yourself) can cause, and very likely not in a way that is all that conducive to the listener, associations that might not be expected leading to negative reactions.

Every single one of the characters sounds like a stereotypical cliché, and not even the acceptable kind, and in fact they're all quite dubiously rendered by the voice actors. Our main character and narrator Vosk's thick and distinctly Russian/Vostroyan accent is mildly off-putting at first but due to a kind of stockholm-type syndrome, swiftly becomes comforting. Especially when we veer from his drawn-out tones into the nasal whines of the female characters who you'll be begging to shut the fuck up. Both Captain Brandon and Inquisitor Herryn are awful to listen to. Brandon's gutter-British and Herryn's upperclass entitlement ooze with every syllable out of the actor's mouths. If you're looking for subtle: this isn't it. Commander Treece, with barely a minute of dialogue to his name, isn't much worth mentioning either.

Honestly though, I'm not here to slag these people or their choice in profession off, so I won't be mentioning names, and you can just file all of the above under 'Levi just does not like audio dramas'.

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All of that being said.

The story was ok. It wasn't really worth being made an audio drama out of, but it was at least acceptable.

In a lonely cave, with a howling blizzard raging through the night outside, a Vostroyan guardsman sits in front of a fire and welcomes you to sit with him, to listen to his tale. He'll treat you to a tale of cowardice and redemption aboard a haunted ship, where voices whisper in urgent entreatment, and where the shadows wait in the darkness, patiently waiting for their chance to break free.

It is a tale of terror, of the risen dead spawned by the dark plague come for mankind. It is the tale of those that fight it. And it is a tale of an unknowable horror that can not possibly be contained.

In the grim licensed future of 40k there's not much chance of being surprised. Any and all plot developments must adhere to the rules of the setting, after all. And if you are well-versed in the lore, or if you've read a lot of the novels, chances are you can figure out story revolutions well in advance.
Worley knows this. and uses it to his advantage, managing to wrong-foot lore-enthusiasts and delivers an at least decent twist, in a story that threatened to become quite bog-standard 40k. As it turns out after the drama's close I actually found myself left with some questions, which is a good sign of my engagement with the story, or at least, with this particular lore aspect. I'm not sure how this would float with people completely new to 40k but I appreciated this element most.

As for horror, well... it definitely was not worthy of the Warhammer Horror label. It does make a point about horror in the Warhammer 40k universe (and which relates to the plot twist), but it's not explored enough, and as such, to any new listeners this point would be entirely lost, I think, making me wonder if anyone who's not already into the setting would actually have anything positive to take away from this.

A spoken story that has to last all of 70 minutes has a very limited amount of time to leave a good impression. This is genuinely a tall order. I don't think the Library should be trying to churn these out, and should instead be trying to make something truly unique, maybe something experimental, that'll validate audio dramas, and in particular, Warhammer Horror audio dramas.

 Imagine it: some kind of Barker-esque visionary who could create some new type of Horror, unseen and unheard of before, and drawing in legions of horror enthusiasts. The type of dark prodigy you sometimes read about in horror stories, the type that went mad and died or disappeared, leaving behind a secret, much sought-after body of work.

As it is now, this really isn't it. Hard pass.

Review: Drachenfels, Kim Newman

"The hours flew by.

In the play, and without, the forces of darkness gathered."

Man, I had forgotten how good Drachenfels is.
Try as you might to efface it, there is a certain stigma attached to the Warhammer label. People from outside of the setting are quick to dismiss it as adolescent drivel, riddled with bad writing, worse characterization and a lamentable catering to a business model not conducive to originality or plotting. And they're not entirely wrong. But occasionally there comes a novel that blows those preconceptions out of the water.

The Genevieve novels were written before the entirety of Warhammer was set in grimdark stone, and though it still is dark and horrifying at times it very much has a different feel to it than wat came later. There is no real desperation here, no sense that this world is doomed; instead this is a world that, though there might still be hardship and evil and violence, is also filled with joy and love and art. There's barely anything to do with battles or war and instead the first novel's narrative revolves around the staging of a play.

20 years after he vanquished the great enchanter Constant Drachenfels, crown prince Oswald engages the services of the down-on-his-luck greatest artist the Old World has ever seen.

And though he rather have nothing to do anymore with the fickle nobility, frequently unappreciative of the works of true genius, Detlef Sierck, stuck in debtor's prison, has no choice but to accept and stage a play based on the prince's past exploits.

Swayed by the inspiring Oswald and his companions, the beautiful immortal Genevieve Dieudonné especially, Detlef is soon swept up in the passion for his work, and in spite of the rumours of bad luck and portents of doom, he slowly begins to create a production that has the potential to be one of the greatest works of the age.

But soon after they begin to arrive at castle Drachenfels, where the play will be held in front of the richest and most powerful rulers of the the Empire, as the prince's friends begin to turn up gruesomely murdered, it swiftly becomes apparent that a great darkness is stirring once again.

The characters are hugely likable and memorable, Detlef and his associate Vargr Breughel especially, and the story is riveting and quite original, certainly unprecedented or unfollowed within the setting. The narrative is engaging and moves swiftly, even as it is filled with surprises and mystery, tons of humour, black or not, and, since this is Warhammer Horror after all, a fair amount of horror.

After some initial misgivings, on re-read it became apparent that even though the impact of the horror elements might have been defused a little bit too much for the entire read to classify as pure horror, the sheer variety of them fully make it deserving of the label.
Insanity, sadistic serial killers, a haunting here and there, vampires haughty and humble, body horror and murder tableaux, insanity, unceremonious and shocking death, brooding, gothic castles, and so on.

But horror is more than just its trappings, and even back then a student of horror, Newman knows that it hits all the harder as it doled out sparingly, offset with humour and wit. He is one of those natural writers, somehow capable of imbuing his narrative with colour and vibrancy, while effortlessly fleshing out his setting and characters with seemingly inconsequential information that frequently turns out to be more important than first expected. He uses some writers tricks perfectly and here in Drachenfels, the spectacular fifth act of the play itself is simply brilliant.

A hugely enjoyable and very satisfying novel.

     -Small note, having read the short stories recently. Drachenfels overlaps with Newman's short stories in the earliest Warhammer anthologies. Both No Gold in the Grey Mountains and Ignorant Armies take place in the 20 years between the ending of the quest to end Drachenfels and the beginning of the Detlef Sierck storyline.

     -Lastly, because I just couldn't leave it be: Another note, this time on Warhammer compatibility.

In many ways Kim Newman's Genevieve does not fit at all in the Warhammer Old World as it came to be. It breaks too many of the settings' rules, and in more than a few cases the lore has evolved to actively exclude some of Drachenfels' main story elements. The locales don't always add up, there are some curious outdated details on cultures, races, historical events, the traits and capabailities of certain characters are outdated, and so on.

But the novels are so good, that even though they don't actually fit in the setting anymore, virtually any reader of Warhammer, dedicated to the concept of overall continuity as they may be, will gladly close an eye to any inconsistencies they might find.

     Now, with the Warhammer Horror label, gathering the darkest tales of their properties under its imprint, the Black Library quite smartly took the opportunity to republish the Genevieve tales. They stand on their own quite well and no further reading is required (or indeed, encouraged) to make sense of the world that they inhabit.