Warhammer novels?

[Mouseferatu]

So, I just purchased a pack of four Warhammer novels for a mere $3 at a used bookstore. Got home broke the package open, and discovered that some of the books are parts of series for which I don't have the others.

For instance, I have Skavenslayer and Daemonslayer, but not Trollslayer (which comes before) or Dragonslayer (which comes after). Similarly, I have Gilead's Blood, but no other Gilead books.

So, my question is this: Do these books stand alone sufficiently that I can read them out of order? (Similar to the early Vlad Taltos novels, or most of the Forgotten Realms novels.) Or are they truly a series to the point that they've got long-running storylines, and I'm going to miss out or be confused if I don't acquire the others first? (Such as the way Dragonlance or the Belgariad were written.)

Tnanks to anyone who knows.

 

[Desdichado]

The x-slayer books stand alone fairly well, with only occasional oblique references to events in earlier books. Don't know about the others.

 

[AdmundfortGeographer]

I was looking for Warhammer novels recently too. ...

(I tried joining the Black Industries forums to ask some questions, but every time I have tried registering the past three weeks I have gotten a web page with an error message about some such "Microsoft OLE DB Provider for ODBC drivers error". I sent them messages for help, with no response... so screw 'em.)

Anyway, I was wondering if there was a ranking of the Warhammer novels by fans. Something like "Witchhunter: 4 stars" "Trollslayer: 5 stars"... etc.

Or alternatively, something that rates First how good the book is just as a read, and Second how good it is depicting the game, and Third how good it is depicting the feel of world.

Because I'm not so terribly bothered by books that aren't great reads if it is still top notch at depicting the feel of the world or the game.

That said, I did hear the Slayer books were among the best and I luckily found the first six on one shelf at a used book dealer... and the books were still uncracked... I grabbed Witchhunter at the same time on a whim. Dunno how good it is.

I also finished Death's Messanger. Very different from D&D game fic. Maybe I liked it as much as I did because of the vast difference was so stark to me. And I have rarely ever read a cliffhanger as sudden as the one in Death's Messanger.

 

[David Howery]

my nephews are big into Warhammer (and got me into it too... my Dwarf army is up to 3000 points now), and have all the G&F books. I read them all eventually, but didn't like most of them.... the exception being Daemonslayer, which has some really neat ideas....

 

[Captain Tagon]

Witchhunter is great. Seriously good book. Haven't read any of the other Warhammer books, just some of the 40k ones.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Witch Hunter and Witch Finder are very good as are the other CL Werner books, the X-Slayers improve from the first book and are enjoyable, Necromancer was so-so and I just could not get into it. Just started Death's Messenger and it is good so far.

 

[Morpheus]

Witch Hunter and Witch Finder are very good. Valnir's Bane was ok. I'll let you know about Trollslayer, Skavenslayer, Giantslayer, Daemonslayer, Dragonslayer, Necromancer, Blood & Steel, Bllod Money and The Ambassador after I have read them. Why yes, I did go a little crazy on Amazon.com, why do you ask?

 

[NiTessine]

Trollslayer is more or less a standalone, but after that the Slayer series seems to have developed a continuing plot.

Gilead's Blood is a standalone collection of short stories. There are no others in the series that I am aware of. The last story rocks, by the way.

 

[Ibram]

I've been a fan of the Black Library novels since '99. I've read most, but not all of them...

Trollslayer is a collection of short stories, good ones, and isnt needed to understand the rest of the novels. Skavenslayer - Daemonslayer - Dragonslayer - Beastslayer - Vampireslayer - Giantslayer all well tied together, with the middle 4 being the closeset related. Giantslayer is not realy tied to the other books at all, and deals more with a campaing GW ran a few years ago.

As far as I know there are no other Galieds Blood books.

 

[Brakkart]

I'll add Drachenfels and Genevieve Undead to the list of reccomended novels for you to check out. Both are superb dark fantasy. While Drachenfels is a straight novel, Genevieve (which is a loose sequel/spin-off) is actually three short stories featuring the same character.