A Warhammer Novel by David Ferring

David Ferring’s (David S Garnett’s) trilogy set in the Old World was first published in the 1980s but can still be picked up in the right shops… unfortunately it is not available on Black Library website.

From the book:

In a time of blood and darkness, the mutated hordes of Chaos rampage across the borders of the civilized world, sowing death and destruction in their wake. Drive by the power of his own mysterious destiny, Konrad continue his fight against the evil forces that seek to destroy the Empire – but at what cost to his own soul.

Things are going from bad to worse for Konrad. He has left his friend of the last five years to chase Skullface – the one he shot when his village was attacked by Beastmen and everyone was killed. In chasing Skullface he is captured by the Beastmen horde, escapes and eventually finds himself in Middenheim… where there are skaven to deal with.

Much like the first in the trilogy, this book paints the picture of a dark Empire falling apart from within and with enemies at every corner. There is chaos, corruption and warpstones and a Thanquol like Grey Seer.

Despite all this, it didn’t quite live up to the promise of Konrad (Book 1) and fell a little flat in places. The series is struggling a little from Konrad constantly surviving against all odds, but some of the escapes are somewhat unbelievable. That said, it is still a fun read and I am hoping that the story will pay off in book 3 – Warblade – which I have just started to read.

We always encourage people to shop at local bricks and mortar stores, but if your friendly local book store doesn’t have this available, we have a UK Amazon affiliate link & a USA Amazon affiliate link for which Woehammer receives a small commission.

— Declan & Eeyore

A Warhammer Novel by David Ferring

David Ferring’s (David S Garnett’s) trilogy set in the Old World was first published in 1980s but can still be picked up in the right shops… unfortunately it is not available on Black Library website.

From the book:

Deep in an isolated corner of the Empire, the young Konrad is flung into a life of desperate exile after the village where he has grown up is razed to the ground by marauding beastmen. In a constant battle for survival, he must seek the answers to his mysterious past in a savage land teeming with the foul servants of the Dark Gods.

Konrad is a youngster growing up in the forests of the Empire as an orphan. The local tavern owner ’employs’ Konrad to work in the stables and when not working he walks and explores the forest. He meets Elyssa, the daughter of the local Lord who gives him his name, and teaches him to read, to shoot a bow, and to love.

Unfortunately this is the Empire in the Old World and soon Beastmen arrive… destroy the village… and kill everyone – except, of course, Konrad. He does the only thing he can do – he runs from the village and finds a pair of men who promise to take him to the local town… but it only gets worse for Konrad from here.

This book was published in 1989 – the year I first started to play massed battle wargames (Space Marine) – but the Warhammer Fantasy Old World history is still well developed and David Ferring weaves all this in with the adventure of Konrad. In a journey that sees him go from the forests of the Empire, to the frozen wastes of Kislev Konrad grows from a child to a warrior. Willing and capable to defend himself and his friends.

This is a great start to the series, and has really good representations of the beastmen (from the time that they included all forms of humanoid life including skaven and orcs), and superbly sets the scene of an Empire (and Kislev) beset on all sides by Beastmen from within and Chaos from the north.

We always encourage people to shop at local bricks and mortar stores, but if your friendly local book store doesn’t have this available, we have a UK Amazon affiliate link & a USA Amazon affiliate link for which Woehammer receives a small commission.

— Declan & Eeyore