1) - Drachenfels

So the first book on the list is Drachenfels written by Jack Yeovil which is a pseudonym for Kim Newman.  I have no idea why authors use fake names, i guess they can reinvent themselves or hide behind them.  Interesting choice though to pick Yeovil, cant say i have ever been to Yeovil, lets quickly check it out.

Someone probably got paid a lot of money to come up with that slogan.....

Do cities have minds?  Are the sentient living creatures?  Maybe we are looking at the next role playing supplement, fighting your way through the dangers of Yeovil, the living city!  I am starting to wish i penned this blog under my pseudonym of Indiana Prime, i have missed a trick there.
So the picture at the top is from the cover when it was re released by the Black Library in October 2001.  I remember the Black Library frequently asked questions page said they would not republish the old novels from before its time, luckily they realised that was daft and reprinted them all.  But the decision to change the cover, well lets take a look at the original.

Maybe the source of his power is a terrible problem with underarm sweating, luckily they had a can of Lynx Africa to best him

 Yeah no complaints from me to change it.  It looks like the evil Constant Drachenfels is going to envelope the heroes in his cloak!  No wonder he is so feared throughout the world, how are they going to see where they are going?  The change in cover shows the heroine Genvieve Dieudonne looking much more like her description in the book (although probably older than she should look) and Drachenfels himself looks like the terrifying monster he is meant to be.

The original from GW Books

I quite like this one, i assume that is Drachenfels seal on the book.  Early covers had a habit of writing the title over and over again which is a bit pointless.  Still its quite Gothic and suits the atmosphere of the book really well.

Just a quick mention, their was also a 1st edition Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay book with an adventure based around a group of adventurers exploring Castle Drachenfels.
 

I really like this cover, it gives the sense of foreboding about the castle that Kim Newman gets across in the novel.  Ill just imagine the castle goes further back and that it is out of shot in the picture rather than get upset that its too small.  However when looking for this picture i found this!

Yep the ruins of Castle Drachnfels are very real.  Its amazing how i never knew that, i guess it just goes to show how much fantasy, and not just warhammer fantasy i hasten to add, is taken from real life inspiration.  Ill be honest this has disappointed me a bit as i thought the setting was all from the mind of Newman but in the end he didn't even bother to change its name.  A quick google translate of Drachenfels turned up that it means Dragon Rock.  I like the style of whomever built this place!  Right i may have got a bit distracted there, id better get on with the actual review!  Needless to say SPOILERS AHEAD, LOTS OF THEM!

Although not as bad as the book itself for spoilers, literal the first page which gives an example extract of the book, gives away the final twist at the end!  Whomever edited that needs to find a new job.

Now you have to remember that when this book was written the fluff was not official and some of the content of the book directly conflicts with the now established world.  I wont let this get in the way of the book but ill point some of it out.  Drachenfels starts with a prologue set 25 years ago.  In an interesting twist it starts mid way through an adventure, with people already killed off!  Son of an Elector Oswald Von Konnigswald is leading an expedition to put an end to the evil that is Constant Drachenfels.  One of the party is the Vampire Genevieve Dieudonne who although appearing like a young lady is in fact well over 600 years old.  The prologue is told through her eyes and tells of how the adventures party fall at regular intervals before they are able to confront the great enchanter himself.  Genevieve though is knocked unconscious at the end and missed the final battle between Oswald and Drachenfels.  This was a different way to start a book but i really enjoyed it.  The dread of the castle really comes across well and we are left wondering what happened after Genevieve passes out.

Act one introduces us to the hero of the piece, the playwright and actor, Detlef Sierck who is in the infamous Mudsen Keep for owing a staggering amount of money after his last project fell apart.  It is 25 years later and Oswald von Konnigswald recruits him to create a play to celebrate the anniversary of his greatest triumph, the defeat of Constant Drachenfels.  Genevieve is in a convent for vampires, nothing really else of note happens, its a scene setter.  Although i have to mention Ottos father who has gone senile with age and plays with painted toy lead soldiers with model orcs, dwarfs and elves.  OH MY GOD he is playing warhammer in a book set in the warhammer world!  My mind cant take it.

So we go to Act 2 which focuses more on the survivors of the original adventure, all of them are not doing very well and are tempted back to come to watch Detlefs play which is going to now be premiered at Castle Drachenfels itself.  This act tells various stories through multiple characters that could have been quite difficult.  Newman uses short chapters, some less than two pages long which is done very well and the short chapter lengths keep the pacing fast and exciting.

With Act 3 the troop arrive at the castle to set up the play.  The castle is a lot less threatening now but you know something is going on.  Its this act that sets the tone of the book actually being a murder mystery as people are found gruesomely killed.  You are given an insight into one of the killers as a few of the chapters are through his eyes but you still do not know who his patron is.  A good mix of incidents revolving around the play, the deaths and also the interaction and relationship between the characters.

Things start to escalate rapidly in Act 4 with some more gruesome and gory murders (flayed alive is no way to go).  One of the best chapters deals with the thoughts and unhappiness of one of the lesser characters who is in fact a mutant.  It is interesting now to see that after they are revealed Detlef says its not illegal to be a mutant, obviously the early warhammer world was a lot more tolerant, now they would be lucky if they were not all burned at the stake for even being in the same place!  Finally the great and the good of the empire arrive at Drachenfels ready for the premier.

The final act focuses on the play itself.  After all the build up I was looking forward to seeing how it played out.  Of course it all goes wrong when the real Constant Drachnfels turns up.  A good twist also occurs and we finally find out what happened at the climax of the original quest between Oswald and Drachenfels.  My only gripe so far about anything is the way the great enchanter, this invincible monster is defeated, it just felt a little bit like an anti climax to me.

Famed for wearing masks, Drachenfels was annoyed that he forgot to put one on and only had his cone helmet the one time he was painted.

Well i tried to limit the spoilers and there is a good reason for that, this book is very good and i really recommend you read it.  The short chapters are great and keeps you wanting more and the action fast paced.  I like the multiple characters, even though its a Genevieve novel she is only one of the leading characters and its probably Detlef that is the star of the novel and Newman does an excellent job telling everyone's side of the same story and you can invest in each one of them.  I also liked the clever structure of the book which was divided into five acts, just the same as Detlefs play in the novel. 

This is far better than most of the recent stuff that i have read and if you can get over the fact that the citizens of the Empire tolerate (barley) Vampires in their midst and its not illegal to be a mutant then you can almost fit it into the modern day fluff.  Good luck trying to fit in the fact that Karl Franz is married and has a son Luitpold and even a daughter though.  I actually think it would be a good thing and i am not sure if its mentioned in modern fluff so do they exist or not?

Karl Franz, Family Man....maybe

Also it discusses the age old question in a fantasy setting, is a human midget classed as a dwarf?  According to the dwarfs of the warhammer world, no they are not.

So our first foray into Warhammer fiction is complete with an excellent murder mystery story that was excellently written.  I would happily recommend this to non warhammer fans as well.  The pacing is good, the characters are varied and the story is excellent. I found it really difficult to put down, thinking one more chapter just so i could see what happened next.  The only thing that let it down was the final battle at the end which i felt was a bit anti climatic but that is nitpicking.  Glad to see though that my initial thoughts that the older generation of books are still the best is off to a good start!

Rating - 9/10