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Warhammer Fantasy
Hammers of Ulric by Dan Abnett
As the forces of evil gather around the ancient mountain fortress of Middenheim, City of the White Wolf, only the Templar Knights of Ulric, led by Wolf Company Commander Ganz, stand between the city and ultimate annihilation. Original.
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First published October 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
September 20, 2019
I enjoyed this a lot more than most the reviewers I looked at. That's weird. I thought it would be the other way around.
I have tried many times over the years to get into one of those long fantasy game tie-in series with 100 or 150 titles--the kind written by multiple people--and I just can't do it. I'll sort of like one or two titles and try others, and I always end up thinking it wasn't worth my time, that they aren't fun, that they fall flat. They usually feel like imitation fantasy, with half the enjoyment and all of the tedium. It's disappointing, because I think if I did like them, I would have a huge library of stuff to look forward to. You know, if you were on a desert island and had to pick just one series, wouldn't it be good to get a really long one?
Not if they are no good.
I had never read any Warhammer ones but finally got curious enough to overcome my misgivings and take a look, and I really liked this first one. Good news! Then I read reviews and found most people didn't like it for the reasons I did.
So, like I say, weird.
Anyway, for my money, it works. I like how this novel begins as if it's a series of short stories. I like how they gradually come together as a whole novel. I like how I am interested in many of the characters. (That is ALWAYS the downfall for me with the other series--I never care about the characters at all. They're always universally horrible people or colorless, boring, and unsympathetic. Not my thing, obviously.) I like how the characters work together, supporting one another, becoming allies. I like how it's not all action, but has a little romance, a little horror, a little of this and that. I like how, when the action builds, it builds a lot.
Books out of multi-author series for me in the past have always been 2/5 stars, or 3/5. I had hopes this would be a 3 or even a 4. But I really liked it! It was fun! What else could I ask for? All the stars.
I thought it was clever. I enjoyed picking it up. Other people felt different. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. But since I bought one of those omnibus books with two more novels in it, I'm gonna try to do it wrong a couple more times.
Looking forward to it.
I have tried many times over the years to get into one of those long fantasy game tie-in series with 100 or 150 titles--the kind written by multiple people--and I just can't do it. I'll sort of like one or two titles and try others, and I always end up thinking it wasn't worth my time, that they aren't fun, that they fall flat. They usually feel like imitation fantasy, with half the enjoyment and all of the tedium. It's disappointing, because I think if I did like them, I would have a huge library of stuff to look forward to. You know, if you were on a desert island and had to pick just one series, wouldn't it be good to get a really long one?
Not if they are no good.
I had never read any Warhammer ones but finally got curious enough to overcome my misgivings and take a look, and I really liked this first one. Good news! Then I read reviews and found most people didn't like it for the reasons I did.
So, like I say, weird.
Anyway, for my money, it works. I like how this novel begins as if it's a series of short stories. I like how they gradually come together as a whole novel. I like how I am interested in many of the characters. (That is ALWAYS the downfall for me with the other series--I never care about the characters at all. They're always universally horrible people or colorless, boring, and unsympathetic. Not my thing, obviously.) I like how the characters work together, supporting one another, becoming allies. I like how it's not all action, but has a little romance, a little horror, a little of this and that. I like how, when the action builds, it builds a lot.
Books out of multi-author series for me in the past have always been 2/5 stars, or 3/5. I had hopes this would be a 3 or even a 4. But I really liked it! It was fun! What else could I ask for? All the stars.
I thought it was clever. I enjoyed picking it up. Other people felt different. Maybe I'm doing it wrong. But since I bought one of those omnibus books with two more novels in it, I'm gonna try to do it wrong a couple more times.
Looking forward to it.
October 5, 2014
-Trama coral bajo franquicia.-
Género. Narrativa Fantástica.
Lo que nos cuenta. La vida y muerte de los distintos miembros de la Compañía de Lobos Blancos, caballeros al servicio del templo de Ulric en Middenheim que de una u otra forma están perdiendo la gloria y la fama dentro del destacamento, la de un sacerdote de Morr de pasado alejado de la espiritualidad pero con una tragedia a cuestas y la de un delincuente de los barrios bajos de la ciudad que entabla una extraña relación con un joven ladrón de carácter dulcemente inmaduro y dotado de capacidades casi sobrenaturales para el oficio se van a ver entrecruzadas mientras se descubre que algo huele a podrido en Middenheim.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
Género. Narrativa Fantástica.
Lo que nos cuenta. La vida y muerte de los distintos miembros de la Compañía de Lobos Blancos, caballeros al servicio del templo de Ulric en Middenheim que de una u otra forma están perdiendo la gloria y la fama dentro del destacamento, la de un sacerdote de Morr de pasado alejado de la espiritualidad pero con una tragedia a cuestas y la de un delincuente de los barrios bajos de la ciudad que entabla una extraña relación con un joven ladrón de carácter dulcemente inmaduro y dotado de capacidades casi sobrenaturales para el oficio se van a ver entrecruzadas mientras se descubre que algo huele a podrido en Middenheim.
¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:
http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...
December 31, 2016
Extraordinary storytelling isn't something you normally expect from joint-effort novels, but this book turned out to be a nice surprise. Being my first Warhammer novel, I dont really know how it compares to the others, but I was really impressed. The world of Warhammer is just what I've been looking for. Mature fantasy in a dark and magical world. Good vs. Evil and intriguing characters that dont really fit into either of those categories. If other Warhammer novels are as good as this one, I'll be reading many more.
Hammers of Ulric is an exciting and fun book to read. The story line is intense and suspensful, the characters are awesome. The whole story is full of mayhem and destruction, even some of my favorite characters meet brutal ends (which makes the story more realistic and interesting). The White Wolves of Ulric are nearly unstoppable and really fun to read about. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for some hack-and-slash/dark fantasy adventure.
Hammers of Ulric is an exciting and fun book to read. The story line is intense and suspensful, the characters are awesome. The whole story is full of mayhem and destruction, even some of my favorite characters meet brutal ends (which makes the story more realistic and interesting). The White Wolves of Ulric are nearly unstoppable and really fun to read about. I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for some hack-and-slash/dark fantasy adventure.
August 24, 2020
While this is an older book in regards to the timeline for the Warhammer books, this was quite enjoyable. The book is divided in sections and made up of novellas and short stories, they are combined seamlessly to tell a larger story about the Wolf Templars and their adventures in and around city and its danger. There were three distinct stories being told but they combined into a consistent voice showing different perspectives. Building to the climax tale, each story gave just enough insight into what was coming next and built on the tension throughout the narrative. The action was grim and exciting with scenes of emotional connection and character interaction.
While being part of the genre of game-related fiction, this didn't fall into the trap of writing about the game but stayed true to telling a great story that just happened to be set in Warhammer.
While being part of the genre of game-related fiction, this didn't fall into the trap of writing about the game but stayed true to telling a great story that just happened to be set in Warhammer.
February 12, 2012
Avoid!
This book was dreadful. Simply dreadful.
Which is a shame as one of my favourite areas in Warhammer is the City of the White Wolf, the closest thing to Minas Tirith in the Empire. It was originally the focus of a Warhammer supplement by veteran designer Carl Sargent as well as the setting of an excellent adventure, Power Behind the Throne - the last canon entry in the Enemy Within campaign. Much like Marienburg a lot of the city's stories should write themselves.
Enter the authors, Dan Abnett, his wife and James Wallis, author of the excellent Marks of Chaos series and the reason that I read this 'book'. One of my friends exclaimed surprise that I hated it as she is a fan of Dan Abnett's 2000 AD material.
I got this book in an anthology of "Dan Abnett Warhammer Fantasy Novels". Abnett is one of the more prolific Warhammer 40,000 book authors - which I assume his 2000 AD experience translates better into. I was however a bit put out - these novels are all co-written with author people who do not appear on the cover. Seems a bit shocking to me.
The book consists of short-stories that were originally in Games Workshop's fiction magazine. Later on the stories are shoe-horned into an overall arc-story that is supposed to tie all the threads together.
The first story relates to the titular Knights of the White Wolves. In the foreward they are described by Abnett as "proto-space marines" and it really shows in their lack of personalities. I could just as easily describe the cast of a cliched war movie or Charlie Sheen's Hot Shots - there's the gambler, the Porthos-like drunk, the fresh-faced new recruit, the veteran traumatised by a failed mission and can't kill anymore but like Miguel Ferrier in Hot Shots will be cheerfully slaughtering enemies by the end of the first story thanks to the new recruit, the commander on his first mission.
I can summarise the plot of the first story - the knights lost their last sortie against some beastmen. Their colours were taken and their leader was slain. Now they ride off and kill the beastmen with only a few minor casualties - one of whom had it coming anyroads. End of story. No real twists. The descriptive prose doesn't hang particularly well in my opinion but it is a very short story.
The highlight of this novel is the second and fifth stories by James Wallis. They involve a priest of Morr who investigates crimes and prefers to use his brain and underworld connections rather than his muscle. These sections are well-worth reading and really are the saving grace of the novels. There are some twists, I didn't see them coming - you might though, but the overall descriptive prose drips with atmosphere.
Needless to say when the death priest character is later parcelled off to Abnett's main narrative he is borrowing knives from the Wolves and charging a horde of cultists.
The third story involves a kid who is naturally invisible, and a thief he befriends. All is sweetness and light as the thief gets the kid to steal for him and pay his qutoa to the Underkings (thieves' guild). Eventually they do a job to rob a cult that nearly get them both killed, with the kid sacrificing himself to let the thief get away to safety, as he was the kid's only real friend. Awww.
This doesn't seem very Warhammery to me and it is not explained why the kid goes unseen by most people. I would assume it is a mutation of some sort but the story doesn't bother to explain this. Sadly that's not the only thing relating to this kid that is not explained...
Story Four sees the Knights of the White Wolf dealing with the evacuation of a manor and some ghosts. Some of the dead knights are replaced with new knights, but for the most part they're all interchangable. This story also introduces my least favourite character in the story, Lenya the milk maid, who becomes a love interest for one of the new knights.
Story Six, curiously starting hours before the end of story four, is the story of the milk maid. Having arrived in Middenheim she starts looking for her long-lost brother. Pretty much the entire cast of the novel, the Knights of the Wolf, the death priest and even the thief from story 3 all bend over backwards to help her, despite the fact she acts like a bitch to the knights, and the thief has no real motivation for trying to help her.
As she drags various characters through Middenheim I spent the story going, "The brother will turn out to have been the invisible kid."
Guess what the twist was? Lucky she met the one guy in the massive city who knew him. This also make little sense - Lenya knows her brother has this 'gift', that people don't notice him and really it should make looking for a man no-one can remember a futile effort.
Story Seven is I suspect the beginning of the chapters written to make this into a novel. The knights of yawn go and fight an undead beastie that has half-inched every organisation in Middenheim's sacred items. The story ends with the beastie being knocked flying by a warhammer and flying off, vowing vengeance...
which it gets in Story 9, getting a new body.
A but let's not forget Story 8! The milkmaid sends her knight-lover and his buddy to rough up and capture the thief who saw her brother die. That's it really. It ends with him being understandibly pissed off with them.
Story 10 is the exciting conclusion. Well the conclusion.
The undead liche from Story 7, with his cult (from story 3) have cursed the city. Plague runs rife, a war with Bretonnia looms and people are going mad and murdering each other. The knights of the wolf investigate - getting the entire cast together. The thief even returns to help, despite again having no motivation to do so, leading the knights and death priest to where the kid died - the Cult's Headquarters. They fight through traps and encounter the cult, described as "hundreds of worshippers down there, robed, kneeling, wailing out a turgid prayer".
They also have a dragon tucked away there. Yes really!
So what do our heroes, a mere 15 or so knights and a death priest do? Sneak? Come up with a plan? Nope - they charge. And win with only minor (i.e. unnamed characters only die) casualties. The Grim and Perilous world of Warhammer eh! Everyone faces off with the liche, who can even explain all the unresolved plot-threads in the novel and even tries to tie together all the earlier magazine stories.
Meanwhile milk-maid and an injured knight decide the others are in danger so they ride across the city, pausing only at the Sacred Flame of Ulric (the central holy site mentioned exactly once in the book, back in story 1) to set his warhammer on fire. They then ride across town, finding the cult HQ (which remember the thief had to lead them to), getting through all the traps just in time to stand up to the liche. Milk-maid Mary Sue takes the flaming warhammer off her knight-escort and kills it with a well-aimed throw. Incidentally how goes is a two-handed warhammer as a thrown weapon? In this book it seems to act like a boomerang.
Not to be outdone in illogic and cliche, thief-boy inexplicably gains the kid from story 3's invisibility power and uses it to find the weakspot in the dragon, killing it and earning his spurs as a knight. The story ends with a Twilight-situation between the urban-milkmaid and her two paramours - the thief she had roughed up and the knight she's treated like crap all the way through the later parts of the novel.
Overall this novel is cliched, boring and heavily reliant on ridiculous combat situations where our heroes always seem to emerge unscathed. Logic is left out in the cold, while deus-ex-machina is the order of the day.
This book was dreadful. Simply dreadful.
Which is a shame as one of my favourite areas in Warhammer is the City of the White Wolf, the closest thing to Minas Tirith in the Empire. It was originally the focus of a Warhammer supplement by veteran designer Carl Sargent as well as the setting of an excellent adventure, Power Behind the Throne - the last canon entry in the Enemy Within campaign. Much like Marienburg a lot of the city's stories should write themselves.
Enter the authors, Dan Abnett, his wife and James Wallis, author of the excellent Marks of Chaos series and the reason that I read this 'book'. One of my friends exclaimed surprise that I hated it as she is a fan of Dan Abnett's 2000 AD material.
I got this book in an anthology of "Dan Abnett Warhammer Fantasy Novels". Abnett is one of the more prolific Warhammer 40,000 book authors - which I assume his 2000 AD experience translates better into. I was however a bit put out - these novels are all co-written with author people who do not appear on the cover. Seems a bit shocking to me.
The book consists of short-stories that were originally in Games Workshop's fiction magazine. Later on the stories are shoe-horned into an overall arc-story that is supposed to tie all the threads together.
The first story relates to the titular Knights of the White Wolves. In the foreward they are described by Abnett as "proto-space marines" and it really shows in their lack of personalities. I could just as easily describe the cast of a cliched war movie or Charlie Sheen's Hot Shots - there's the gambler, the Porthos-like drunk, the fresh-faced new recruit, the veteran traumatised by a failed mission and can't kill anymore but like Miguel Ferrier in Hot Shots will be cheerfully slaughtering enemies by the end of the first story thanks to the new recruit, the commander on his first mission.
I can summarise the plot of the first story - the knights lost their last sortie against some beastmen. Their colours were taken and their leader was slain. Now they ride off and kill the beastmen with only a few minor casualties - one of whom had it coming anyroads. End of story. No real twists. The descriptive prose doesn't hang particularly well in my opinion but it is a very short story.
The highlight of this novel is the second and fifth stories by James Wallis. They involve a priest of Morr who investigates crimes and prefers to use his brain and underworld connections rather than his muscle. These sections are well-worth reading and really are the saving grace of the novels. There are some twists, I didn't see them coming - you might though, but the overall descriptive prose drips with atmosphere.
Needless to say when the death priest character is later parcelled off to Abnett's main narrative he is borrowing knives from the Wolves and charging a horde of cultists.
The third story involves a kid who is naturally invisible, and a thief he befriends. All is sweetness and light as the thief gets the kid to steal for him and pay his qutoa to the Underkings (thieves' guild). Eventually they do a job to rob a cult that nearly get them both killed, with the kid sacrificing himself to let the thief get away to safety, as he was the kid's only real friend. Awww.
This doesn't seem very Warhammery to me and it is not explained why the kid goes unseen by most people. I would assume it is a mutation of some sort but the story doesn't bother to explain this. Sadly that's not the only thing relating to this kid that is not explained...
Story Four sees the Knights of the White Wolf dealing with the evacuation of a manor and some ghosts. Some of the dead knights are replaced with new knights, but for the most part they're all interchangable. This story also introduces my least favourite character in the story, Lenya the milk maid, who becomes a love interest for one of the new knights.
Story Six, curiously starting hours before the end of story four, is the story of the milk maid. Having arrived in Middenheim she starts looking for her long-lost brother. Pretty much the entire cast of the novel, the Knights of the Wolf, the death priest and even the thief from story 3 all bend over backwards to help her, despite the fact she acts like a bitch to the knights, and the thief has no real motivation for trying to help her.
As she drags various characters through Middenheim I spent the story going, "The brother will turn out to have been the invisible kid."
Guess what the twist was? Lucky she met the one guy in the massive city who knew him. This also make little sense - Lenya knows her brother has this 'gift', that people don't notice him and really it should make looking for a man no-one can remember a futile effort.
Story Seven is I suspect the beginning of the chapters written to make this into a novel. The knights of yawn go and fight an undead beastie that has half-inched every organisation in Middenheim's sacred items. The story ends with the beastie being knocked flying by a warhammer and flying off, vowing vengeance...
which it gets in Story 9, getting a new body.
A but let's not forget Story 8! The milkmaid sends her knight-lover and his buddy to rough up and capture the thief who saw her brother die. That's it really. It ends with him being understandibly pissed off with them.
Story 10 is the exciting conclusion. Well the conclusion.
The undead liche from Story 7, with his cult (from story 3) have cursed the city. Plague runs rife, a war with Bretonnia looms and people are going mad and murdering each other. The knights of the wolf investigate - getting the entire cast together. The thief even returns to help, despite again having no motivation to do so, leading the knights and death priest to where the kid died - the Cult's Headquarters. They fight through traps and encounter the cult, described as "hundreds of worshippers down there, robed, kneeling, wailing out a turgid prayer".
They also have a dragon tucked away there. Yes really!
So what do our heroes, a mere 15 or so knights and a death priest do? Sneak? Come up with a plan? Nope - they charge. And win with only minor (i.e. unnamed characters only die) casualties. The Grim and Perilous world of Warhammer eh! Everyone faces off with the liche, who can even explain all the unresolved plot-threads in the novel and even tries to tie together all the earlier magazine stories.
Meanwhile milk-maid and an injured knight decide the others are in danger so they ride across the city, pausing only at the Sacred Flame of Ulric (the central holy site mentioned exactly once in the book, back in story 1) to set his warhammer on fire. They then ride across town, finding the cult HQ (which remember the thief had to lead them to), getting through all the traps just in time to stand up to the liche. Milk-maid Mary Sue takes the flaming warhammer off her knight-escort and kills it with a well-aimed throw. Incidentally how goes is a two-handed warhammer as a thrown weapon? In this book it seems to act like a boomerang.
Not to be outdone in illogic and cliche, thief-boy inexplicably gains the kid from story 3's invisibility power and uses it to find the weakspot in the dragon, killing it and earning his spurs as a knight. The story ends with a Twilight-situation between the urban-milkmaid and her two paramours - the thief she had roughed up and the knight she's treated like crap all the way through the later parts of the novel.
Overall this novel is cliched, boring and heavily reliant on ridiculous combat situations where our heroes always seem to emerge unscathed. Logic is left out in the cold, while deus-ex-machina is the order of the day.
February 20, 2025
So my father is a big Warhammer fan and we saw that in the library and ofc he made me take it 🙄 (jk i actually did want to read it)
It was a very fun read. I really enjoyed reading about the Wolves. Some parts were a little boring but overall big hammers and action got me hooked I'm ngl
It was a very fun read. I really enjoyed reading about the Wolves. Some parts were a little boring but overall big hammers and action got me hooked I'm ngl
September 4, 2021
Не мав жо��них очікувань щодо цієї книги і тому в підсумку отримав несподіване задоволення від читання. Різні лінії сюжету, які об'єднуються згодом у зловісній історії, героїзм, темне фентезі.. Ден Абнет дійсно гарний автор у різних всесвітах фентезі.
May 31, 2021
Great short stories set in Middenheim which form one coherent story at the end of the book.
May 29, 2023
This story was originally published as a series of seemingly unconnected short stories in Games Workshop's "Inferno" short-story monthly magazine, with an eventual reveal that the stories were all arcs within a larger tale* set in the same city in Warhammer's "Old World". This means that when collected into one volume the first few chapters, which each have very different tones and largely correspond to a short story setting-development-twist-conclusion format, feel rather disconnected and in my case led to me feeling I was 'slogging' through the book for about the first 50%, but then the arcs began coming together and this turned into a very fast-paced adventure, with an interesting cast already well-established.
*A trick also pulled by 2000AD some years ago with their "Trifecta" storyline, with three stories all set in the Judge Dredd Mega-City One setting unexpectedly coming together.
*A trick also pulled by 2000AD some years ago with their "Trifecta" storyline, with three stories all set in the Judge Dredd Mega-City One setting unexpectedly coming together.
September 17, 2019
This book was ok, and the reason for that was because without knowing it until I read a previous review it’s about a bunch of short stories by different authors that tie in together at the end. This is the first Warhammer book I’ve read that is done this way and I was kind of meh... the stories where good but once I found out they planned to all connect at the end I felt better about the book. The characters were great and I loved the character development and the ending damn good the way they stories all tied in together.
I’ve previously stated that I’ve yet to read a bad Warhammer book and this one was definitely good 🙌🏻🙏🏻
I’ve previously stated that I’ve yet to read a bad Warhammer book and this one was definitely good 🙌🏻🙏🏻
January 10, 2021
The book is worth reading, but do not expect something mindblowing. Personally, I like the structure of books, multiple short stories combined into one bigger plot with an excellent finale.
Unfortunately, because of this structure and the fact that three authors created it, there is plenty of small plot holes and some inconsequences. They are negligible but irritating.
On the other hand, it was one of the best books I have read from the Warhammer universe describing Imperial city life and structure, and not Altdorf or Marienburg, but mighty Middenheim, the City of the White Wolf.
Unfortunately, because of this structure and the fact that three authors created it, there is plenty of small plot holes and some inconsequences. They are negligible but irritating.
On the other hand, it was one of the best books I have read from the Warhammer universe describing Imperial city life and structure, and not Altdorf or Marienburg, but mighty Middenheim, the City of the White Wolf.
August 22, 2021
I read this as part of the larger anthology, "Thunder and Steel." While I loved Wallis' priest of Morr and enjoyed Vincent's character Wheezer, I found Abnett's work outstayed its welcome - to the point that I found the anthology hard to finish as Abnett drew together the threads of the various stories.
December 26, 2017
Trocha sa to vielko, bolo tám pár chluchých miest, ale inak spokojnosť s ďalšou knihou zo sveta Warhammeru.
July 24, 2019
There was a lot to do with people who aren't the Knights and it dragged for it
March 3, 2020
One of my favourite Warhammer novels
August 20, 2021
Love these kinds of books, Very similar to "Casting Fortune" by John M. Ford
December 29, 2024
Knížka má skvělý spád, postupně si zamilujete postavy a u konce zjišťujete, že se nemůžete odtrhnout v obavách o jejich wellbeing. Parádní.
September 1, 2025
My old man pulp fantasy era is in full effect
December 11, 2011
Pour vous mettre en contexte, ça faisais plus d'un an et demis que j'avais arrêter de lire des roman car, à l'époque, je considérais que sa prenait trop de temps à lire et que quand le livre décevait trop, on ne pouvait récupérer les heures perdus.
Bien que les comic book me gardait bien occupé, il est venu un temps que même les comic book devenait moins bon. Grand fan de Spider-Man je n'avais pas manqué un # depuis la moitié de la saga des Clones. La série bien qu'intéressante commençais à perdre des plumes et à cause de cela je commençais à me cherche de nouveaux intérêts.
Cette année là j'avais décider d'afficher ma marginalité en essayant les choix moins populaires et en sortant du cadre tant apprécié d'une population que je jugeais sans goût. Étant un fan de jeux de rôle, je m'était équipé avec le jeu Vampire The Masquerade. Bien qu'intéressant, après 1 an de jeux intense, je suis venu au bout de ma quête et mes joueurs demandaient de jouer à un jeu médiéval. Étant un nouveau marginal, je ne voulais pas m'acheter D&D 2nd edition, j'ai donc opté pour Warhammer; fin de la mise en contexte.
Donc par une belle journée d'été je vais dans un nouveau magasin qui ouvrait ses porte à Victoriaville: Orthanc La Forteresse. Voulant encourager le propriétaire j'ai décidé d'acheter ce livre car je voulais en savoir plus sur le monde de Warhammer à travers les romans. Je n'avais jamais vraiment lu de roman autre que lier à des films jusqu'à maintenant, mais je me disais que je devais commencer à quelque part.
Je me suis donc installé sur mon lit un soir de pluie et j'ai commencé à lire. Ça ne m'a pas pris 1 heure et j'étais déjà embarqué dans ce roman à la fois simple mais efficace. L'histoire relate les événement de vie de 3 personnages distinct (un prêtre de Morr, un Voleur et Templar of the White Wolf) dans la ville du Loup Blanc: Middenheim. Tous et chacun font face aux ennemis de l'empire et combatte bravement sans récompense, au risque d'être blessé voir même tué.
Écriture efficace, personnages attachants, héro puissants et fluidité d'histoire qui se termine avec tous les personnages au même endroit. Comme premier livre de Warhammer, c'était pour moi une découverte majeure. Une porte vers un nouveau monde qui allait être ma passion pour les années à venir.
Si vous n'avez jamais lu de roman de Warhammer et que vous connaisser la base du monde, ce roman est une excellente case départ. Je le recommande à toute personne aimant la fantasy et qui veulent découvrir ce qu'est vraiment le Grim Fantasy.
Bien que les comic book me gardait bien occupé, il est venu un temps que même les comic book devenait moins bon. Grand fan de Spider-Man je n'avais pas manqué un # depuis la moitié de la saga des Clones. La série bien qu'intéressante commençais à perdre des plumes et à cause de cela je commençais à me cherche de nouveaux intérêts.
Cette année là j'avais décider d'afficher ma marginalité en essayant les choix moins populaires et en sortant du cadre tant apprécié d'une population que je jugeais sans goût. Étant un fan de jeux de rôle, je m'était équipé avec le jeu Vampire The Masquerade. Bien qu'intéressant, après 1 an de jeux intense, je suis venu au bout de ma quête et mes joueurs demandaient de jouer à un jeu médiéval. Étant un nouveau marginal, je ne voulais pas m'acheter D&D 2nd edition, j'ai donc opté pour Warhammer; fin de la mise en contexte.
Donc par une belle journée d'été je vais dans un nouveau magasin qui ouvrait ses porte à Victoriaville: Orthanc La Forteresse. Voulant encourager le propriétaire j'ai décidé d'acheter ce livre car je voulais en savoir plus sur le monde de Warhammer à travers les romans. Je n'avais jamais vraiment lu de roman autre que lier à des films jusqu'à maintenant, mais je me disais que je devais commencer à quelque part.
Je me suis donc installé sur mon lit un soir de pluie et j'ai commencé à lire. Ça ne m'a pas pris 1 heure et j'étais déjà embarqué dans ce roman à la fois simple mais efficace. L'histoire relate les événement de vie de 3 personnages distinct (un prêtre de Morr, un Voleur et Templar of the White Wolf) dans la ville du Loup Blanc: Middenheim. Tous et chacun font face aux ennemis de l'empire et combatte bravement sans récompense, au risque d'être blessé voir même tué.
Écriture efficace, personnages attachants, héro puissants et fluidité d'histoire qui se termine avec tous les personnages au même endroit. Comme premier livre de Warhammer, c'était pour moi une découverte majeure. Une porte vers un nouveau monde qui allait être ma passion pour les années à venir.
Si vous n'avez jamais lu de roman de Warhammer et que vous connaisser la base du monde, ce roman est une excellente case départ. Je le recommande à toute personne aimant la fantasy et qui veulent découvrir ce qu'est vraiment le Grim Fantasy.
June 21, 2020
Some of his best work.
January 15, 2009
Basically...another work by Abnett that applies his skill from the Ghosts to the Old Worlde, in other words...a great book that could have very easily turned into a series had he decided to do so. Hammer's is your traditional fight against evil with the heroes winning with of course the people dying who you invariably knew would.
I enjoyed it a lot, a good before-falling asleep book. It does not pack the substance of some of his other works, such as character development or deep relationships, however, it is one book, so he really does not have the time to do so.
I would rank it as high as some other's like Gilead's Blood, Rider's of the Dead, etc.
I do recommend that if you did enjoy this then pick up William King's Gotreck and Felix, great Old Worlde stories that are what a true fantasy series are all about.
I enjoyed it a lot, a good before-falling asleep book. It does not pack the substance of some of his other works, such as character development or deep relationships, however, it is one book, so he really does not have the time to do so.
I would rank it as high as some other's like Gilead's Blood, Rider's of the Dead, etc.
I do recommend that if you did enjoy this then pick up William King's Gotreck and Felix, great Old Worlde stories that are what a true fantasy series are all about.
November 1, 2010
The book is definitely worth reading. It presents itself as collection of short stories interconnecting at global arc. Therefore, reader is not exhausted by the same persons in action. It's even more interesting when you see the consequences of previous arcs on global. There is plenty of action too. However, it has some kind of Warhammer universe trademark - at the certain point of book everyone around begin to die at great numbers, but I believe if you have acquaintance with other Warhammer series as well it will not frustrate you.
February 11, 2012
Entertaining and engrossing,in the forward Abnett describes the Wolf Templars as 'proto-Space Marines' and I think that encapsulates them perfectly, at least as many of the stereotypical 'tough grim fighting men'. Not to say this is a bad thing, but it's also very easy to read parts of the novel with the 40k context. I enjoyed the priest of Morr as well, a brother Caedfael type in some ways, but reminiscent of the gritty types of investigators in well-written crime fiction.
Overall I'd recommend this book to WH fans and fans of pulpy fantasy in general.
Overall I'd recommend this book to WH fans and fans of pulpy fantasy in general.
June 19, 2021
Action and mystery from the star! Brilliant with a cast of characters that are all three-dimensional dimensional and not what you expect! Hammers of Ulric will keep you guessing from the start now it is going to go! The plot has layers upon layers and has the feel of mystery throughout that combines to make Mordheim into a city the at feels very lived! The White Wolves, Panthers, Thieves etc make for an diverse group of characters and you never know what may happen such a group! Brilliant Crisp Five! Highly Recommended! Get it When You Can! :D
August 22, 2021
I read this as part of the larger anthology, "Thunder and Steel." While I loved Wallis' priest of Morr and enjoyed Vincent's character Wheezer, I found Abnett's work outstayed its welcome - to the point that I found the anthology hard to finish as Abnett drew together the threads of the various stories.
May 31, 2013
Přemýšlel jsem. Jestli čtyři, nebo pět hvězdiček... Tohle si zaslouží pět. Bavilo mě to od začátku až do konce. Překvapivý vývoj událostí, nemožnost předvídat děj - tohle všechno tam bylo. Pro jednou zase naprostá spokojenost.
January 6, 2009
Fantastic battles with memorable warriors always an intricate part of Warhammer books...
February 21, 2018
Fantastic book. It took two read throughs after ten years to fully appreciate the interwoven storylines. This is one of those books where you shouldn’t judge it by its cover.
March 14, 2016
Loved this book. Great read
July 24, 2019
An excellent collaboration of 3 different authors and 3 different stories, all culminating into a grande finale. Totally worth reading, one of the best in the warhammer universe.
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