“One sees more devils than vast hell can hold”
― William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
After having polished off the Gotrek and Felix Warhammer Fantasy books, I went ahead and read the Genevieve series. Turns out that the first book in the series was, in fact, the first book of Warhammer fiction of all, published back in 1989. They certainly haven’t let any grass grow under their feet in the years since.
There are four books in the series: Drachenfels (1989), Beasts in Velvet (1991), Genevieve Undead (1993), and Silver Nails (2002). Sadly, I referred to Goodreads before reading and they have them listed out of order (from a release-date perspective). Reading them in the order Goodreads has them listed left me confused and frustrated because I kept getting jarred by things not occurring in chronological order. Now that I’m done though I can’t be bothered to pour over them again and try to figure out whether that explains all my troubles or not. I suspect that, as with Gotrek and Felix, some stories may just have been included out-of-order in any case.
Be that as it may, I should say that these stories are light fun and I recommend them to Warhammer fans, players, and even fans of such things as Discworld. The stories were written under the name Jack Yeovil, but that is a pen-name for author Kim Newman. I haven’t read anything else by Newman, but I like his sense of humor.
Yes, I said humor. I know, it’s supposed to be all “grim and perilous,” but Newman doesn’t give two figs for that. Yes, the peasants are oppressed, yes there is plenty of intrigue and plotting and backstabbing and injustice. Yes, Chaos and Evil are out there. But Newman very much doesn’t portray life in the Old World as a descent into the horror of the big ol’ End Times (or whatever they call it). There is not a looming destruction-of-the-world on the horizon, so close that you can smell it. Things are much more like Terry Gilliam’s Jabberwocky. Or, in the very best of the stories, like a Shakespeare comedy.
“I frown upon him, yet he loves me still”
― William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
I’m not ashamed to say that the stories I liked best revolved around the theater. And I dearly love a romance. I don’t always get my way. But please, play on.
“And though she be but little, she is fierce”
― William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Genevieve is a vampire. She’s Bretonnian (that’s this world’s France). Newman tells us she was “turned” without having to die first, which makes her a much more human-like vampire than one who’d been killed and awoke in a grave three days later (or whatever). She is also (perhaps as a consequence) very human-like, although affected by a long, long life witnessing much evil and watching those mortals she cares for die of old age. She was “turned” when she was only sixteen, and she’s very pretty. I said this was light fiction, didn’t I?
So the funny thing is that some of these stories only involve Genevieve in a peripheral way, or not at all. These are more like “Newman’s Warhammer stories,” with many of the characters coming back again and again. Sort of like a Wes Anderson film, in which you’ll see his usual actors. Some of those other characters are a lot of fun. Detlef Sierck, playwright and actor, is this world’s Shakespeare. As you like it. Filthy Harald is this world’s Dirty Harry. Do you feel lucky? Well, do you? Arne the Bod runs a gym, I’m sure he’ll pump – you up. You can see what I’m talking about.
And Newman’s puns don’t stop there. Oh no. You can shop at Briechs Brothers. You can walk the Green Carpet at premieres. You can go to see The Strange Case of Dr Zhiekhill and Mr Chaida performed on stage.
Another point, these aren’t really four novels. Some books contain multiple stories, so I suspect they saw publication elsewhere first.
And now we’ve got all of that out of the way. As a gamer, if you want your Warhammer capital city of Altdorf to feel something like Discworld’s Ankh-Morpork, these stories will help you get the mood right. If you think that’s blasphemy, or just not grim and perilous enough, well then feel free to turn your nose up.
Surprisingly there are also some more serious references that have added a few books to my reading list: Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Maturin, The Mysteries of Udolpho from Ann Radcliffe, and La Maison de Rendez-Vous and Djinn from Alain Robbe-Grillet. So, literature fans, there’s something of interest here for you too.
“If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended”
― William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
If you enjoy your fantasy fiction full of puns, you should probably pick these up. It’s not great literature, but it’s a fun romp through the world of Warhammer.
The Michlin Guide 