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Warhammer Fantasy
Magestorm
Lord Archaon's dark hordes of Chaos are rampaging across the Old World and all good men of the Empire must heed the call to fight against the encroaching evil. Standing to the fore is fire wizard Gerhart Brennend - a loner whose mysterious past is drenched in tragedy. As the Storm of Chaos approaches the Imperial City of Wolfenburg, a desperate battle looms and blood will be spilled like never before! Wolfenburg must not fall!
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 2004
About the author
Jonathan Green
272 books161 followersJonathan Green is a writer of speculative fiction, with more than seventy books to his name. Well known for his contributions to the Fighting Fantasy range of adventure gamebooks, he has also written fiction for such diverse properties as Doctor Who, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, Sonic the Hedgehog, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Moshi Monsters, LEGO, Judge Dredd and Robin of Sherwood.
He is the creator of the Pax Britannia series for Abaddon Books and has written eight novels, and numerous short stories, set within this steampunk universe, featuring the debonair dandy adventurer Ulysses Quicksilver. He is also the author of an increasing number of non-fiction titles, including the award-winning YOU ARE THE HERO – A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.
He has recently taken to editing and compiling short story anthologies, including the critically-acclaimed GAME OVER and SHARKPUNK, published by Snowbooks, and the forthcoming Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu.
To find out more about his current projects visit www.JonathanGreenAuthor.com and follow him on Twitter @jonathangreen.
He is the creator of the Pax Britannia series for Abaddon Books and has written eight novels, and numerous short stories, set within this steampunk universe, featuring the debonair dandy adventurer Ulysses Quicksilver. He is also the author of an increasing number of non-fiction titles, including the award-winning YOU ARE THE HERO – A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.
He has recently taken to editing and compiling short story anthologies, including the critically-acclaimed GAME OVER and SHARKPUNK, published by Snowbooks, and the forthcoming Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu.
To find out more about his current projects visit www.JonathanGreenAuthor.com and follow him on Twitter @jonathangreen.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 9, 2026
Maybe 2.5??
I was in the mood to read a one off Fantasy novel and this one has been on my shelf for a while, so I decided to give it a whirl. Technically my second Warhammer Fantasy book. I really loved the first, but after I thought about the book more and more... well... it started to lose more stars. For the most part the novel did manage to scratch that itch of a one off shorter story set in the Old World of Warhammer, but this book had some really serious glaring issues that, for me, just are unforgiveable.
First off, there are way too many characters in this short of a novel. First we encounter Gerhart Brennend the Pyromancer mage we meet at the beginning and then we jump to another character... at this point not alarming. I'm sure their stories will converge... but then a third shows up, then a fourth, and at this point it's getting a bit much for a story that is only 250 pages. Especially since it seems like these other tales have gotten in the way of being able to actually finish the main arc.
This novel starts off with wizarding battle between Gerhart and another mage, who's name I can't remember. The battle was fairly well written, but part of the problem with it is that we really didn't have much of an idea about why they were fighting, so at that juncture it was hard to get into. I remember being confused and wondering if it was two friends having a duel, because they said "old friend" in the dialog, so I thought maybe they messing around. When one of them finally gets killed, then I knew they weren't... but I still didn't know why this battle was happening. Apparently, and I didn't explicitly learn this until later in the book, but I guess Gerhart's enemy had fallen to chaos. Now, maybe that was implied by the twin tail comet notes Gerhart took from the other guy, and maybe I just don't know enough Warhammer lore... but it would have been nice to have gotten that spelled out. Or, maybe I was just so confused I missed that part of the beginning, and no, this novel is not worth re-reading so I won't be checking.
Based on the description on the back of the book, this whole thing is supposed to culminate with the Siege of Wolfenburg. After Gerhart gets the documents, there is nothing to suggest he better get to Wolfenburg. Instead it feels like he is meandering through the countryside based on his "feelings" of where chaos is going or coming from? I really had a hard time figuring out this direction, because he went through a bunch of towns that were destroyed by a party of chaos, but he never once encounters the main army. So where did these people come from? I know they were fallen Sigmarites, but I was just so confused about where they came from and they seemed to have nothing to do with Wolfenburg. In fact, it made no sense that Gerhart would want to go there based on following these fallen followers of Sigmar.
Prior to this we are introduced to a Witchfinder who had been hunting an errant wizard. His search lead him to the ruined tower where Gerhart killed the other wizard. Now this is one of the few areas where the tales make sense, and Gerhart in the midst of trying to save a village from the fallen Sigmarites is then waylaid by the Witchfinder to be put on trial. I actually thought this part of the story was pretty great, because it showed the general dysfunction that a lot of things in Warhammer can often face.
Now it's time to introduce a totally new character, who's name I also forget, but they are a warrior priest of Sigmar and he's fighting the undead in some random village somewhere else. This characters story arc makes the least sense of anyone else's in this novel. He doesn't really converge the main scenario in any way shape or form except as a sort of after thought. He basically roams around saving people form various things until he has a small militia of 50 people. Now, you'd think maybe they'd go to Wolfenburg, but no... they never even have that on their radar. Instead they're just wandering around and end up fighting a bunch of beastmen. Which is all well and good, but then they wind up in no way to do anything for Wolfenburg, leaving me to wonder why this story arc is even here... It was almost as if there was a more grandiose tale Green had thought of, but just didn't have the time to write down for whatever reason.
So, Gerhart resolves things with the Witchfinder, now it's time to hightail it to Wolfenburg. Why? Reasons. He knows there's a big force of chaos about to descend onto the city and he wants the lords to muster their army and fight the chaos hordes head on. They bicker about this for a while and then the chaos hordes show up. One thing about this that I did think was cool was that Green brings us into the world of chaos a bit. He introduces yet another character the chaos wizard Verdhan. The problem with there being so many characters is you never get to know anyone, so we just get to see this guy preparing for things... cool, but not well developed.
Now Wolfenburg is under siege and the story of the siege happening is quite good. Actually just about all thing surrounding the battles were really good. Even the warrior priest of sigmar versus the beastmen was a good fight. Anyway, Wolfenburg knows they don't have enough people or resources to stop the chaos horde, but they know there was a cannon train on the way to the city. The lords send out Gerhart and new character Karl Reimann and his group to see what happened to them. Here we get a real treat as far as I'm concerned. This skirmish level battle between Gerhart and a wizard creating a Hellcannon. This was super cool stuff and probably the better part of this novel to be honest.
In the end, I think I feel more frustrated about this novel because it had the potential to be pretty good. Like Green had some solid and cool ideas. The story just feels wildly incoherent. There's too much stuff that doesn't really need to be in here, and all it did was sacrifice time for writing a better story. The last chapter just feels utterly disorganized so we don't even leave on a high note as readers. I really wanted to like this book, Green did a good job in crafting and describing the world. He even had very exciting battles! Which might be enough for the tabletop, but not so much if I'm going to read a full blown novel. I don't know, I'm not sure I'd recommend this to anyone in the end, maybe if you're Warhammer obsessed and want to read everything.
I was in the mood to read a one off Fantasy novel and this one has been on my shelf for a while, so I decided to give it a whirl. Technically my second Warhammer Fantasy book. I really loved the first, but after I thought about the book more and more... well... it started to lose more stars. For the most part the novel did manage to scratch that itch of a one off shorter story set in the Old World of Warhammer, but this book had some really serious glaring issues that, for me, just are unforgiveable.
First off, there are way too many characters in this short of a novel. First we encounter Gerhart Brennend the Pyromancer mage we meet at the beginning and then we jump to another character... at this point not alarming. I'm sure their stories will converge... but then a third shows up, then a fourth, and at this point it's getting a bit much for a story that is only 250 pages. Especially since it seems like these other tales have gotten in the way of being able to actually finish the main arc.
This novel starts off with wizarding battle between Gerhart and another mage, who's name I can't remember. The battle was fairly well written, but part of the problem with it is that we really didn't have much of an idea about why they were fighting, so at that juncture it was hard to get into. I remember being confused and wondering if it was two friends having a duel, because they said "old friend" in the dialog, so I thought maybe they messing around. When one of them finally gets killed, then I knew they weren't... but I still didn't know why this battle was happening. Apparently, and I didn't explicitly learn this until later in the book, but I guess Gerhart's enemy had fallen to chaos. Now, maybe that was implied by the twin tail comet notes Gerhart took from the other guy, and maybe I just don't know enough Warhammer lore... but it would have been nice to have gotten that spelled out. Or, maybe I was just so confused I missed that part of the beginning, and no, this novel is not worth re-reading so I won't be checking.
Based on the description on the back of the book, this whole thing is supposed to culminate with the Siege of Wolfenburg. After Gerhart gets the documents, there is nothing to suggest he better get to Wolfenburg. Instead it feels like he is meandering through the countryside based on his "feelings" of where chaos is going or coming from? I really had a hard time figuring out this direction, because he went through a bunch of towns that were destroyed by a party of chaos, but he never once encounters the main army. So where did these people come from? I know they were fallen Sigmarites, but I was just so confused about where they came from and they seemed to have nothing to do with Wolfenburg. In fact, it made no sense that Gerhart would want to go there based on following these fallen followers of Sigmar.
Prior to this we are introduced to a Witchfinder who had been hunting an errant wizard. His search lead him to the ruined tower where Gerhart killed the other wizard. Now this is one of the few areas where the tales make sense, and Gerhart in the midst of trying to save a village from the fallen Sigmarites is then waylaid by the Witchfinder to be put on trial. I actually thought this part of the story was pretty great, because it showed the general dysfunction that a lot of things in Warhammer can often face.
Now it's time to introduce a totally new character, who's name I also forget, but they are a warrior priest of Sigmar and he's fighting the undead in some random village somewhere else. This characters story arc makes the least sense of anyone else's in this novel. He doesn't really converge the main scenario in any way shape or form except as a sort of after thought. He basically roams around saving people form various things until he has a small militia of 50 people. Now, you'd think maybe they'd go to Wolfenburg, but no... they never even have that on their radar. Instead they're just wandering around and end up fighting a bunch of beastmen. Which is all well and good, but then they wind up in no way to do anything for Wolfenburg, leaving me to wonder why this story arc is even here... It was almost as if there was a more grandiose tale Green had thought of, but just didn't have the time to write down for whatever reason.
So, Gerhart resolves things with the Witchfinder, now it's time to hightail it to Wolfenburg. Why? Reasons. He knows there's a big force of chaos about to descend onto the city and he wants the lords to muster their army and fight the chaos hordes head on. They bicker about this for a while and then the chaos hordes show up. One thing about this that I did think was cool was that Green brings us into the world of chaos a bit. He introduces yet another character the chaos wizard Verdhan. The problem with there being so many characters is you never get to know anyone, so we just get to see this guy preparing for things... cool, but not well developed.
Now Wolfenburg is under siege and the story of the siege happening is quite good. Actually just about all thing surrounding the battles were really good. Even the warrior priest of sigmar versus the beastmen was a good fight. Anyway, Wolfenburg knows they don't have enough people or resources to stop the chaos horde, but they know there was a cannon train on the way to the city. The lords send out Gerhart and new character Karl Reimann and his group to see what happened to them. Here we get a real treat as far as I'm concerned. This skirmish level battle between Gerhart and a wizard creating a Hellcannon. This was super cool stuff and probably the better part of this novel to be honest.
In the end, I think I feel more frustrated about this novel because it had the potential to be pretty good. Like Green had some solid and cool ideas. The story just feels wildly incoherent. There's too much stuff that doesn't really need to be in here, and all it did was sacrifice time for writing a better story. The last chapter just feels utterly disorganized so we don't even leave on a high note as readers. I really wanted to like this book, Green did a good job in crafting and describing the world. He even had very exciting battles! Which might be enough for the tabletop, but not so much if I'm going to read a full blown novel. I don't know, I'm not sure I'd recommend this to anyone in the end, maybe if you're Warhammer obsessed and want to read everything.
February 3, 2021
It's a short book, that's a big plus. I've been able to finish it before it the story bored me too much. Next plus and the main reason for 2 stars are pretty good environment and spell descriptions, nice think if you are Game Master.
And that's all, there are too many characters, and most of them are irrelevant. The plot is messy, the ending comes quickly and leaves the reader with the feeling "and... that's it? why other plots have been described there...".
In summary, if you are looking for a book to read on train/plane etc. it's an option, not the best one but pretty ok.
And that's all, there are too many characters, and most of them are irrelevant. The plot is messy, the ending comes quickly and leaves the reader with the feeling "and... that's it? why other plots have been described there...".
In summary, if you are looking for a book to read on train/plane etc. it's an option, not the best one but pretty ok.
April 8, 2023
Mejor de lo que esperaba, tengo que repetir y repetir que no me gusta nada Warhammer Fantasy, me parece muy aburrido en comparación con 40k, pero a pesar de eso, este libro si que me ha gustado. Creo que se centra en un buen personaje, con sus posibilidades en el combate. Creo que es un buen libro de fantasía que aunque tiene fallos esperados, no deja de ser divertido en lo que propone.
February 19, 2017
I don't think this book deserves one star, the lowest possible rating, but it wasn't a very good book. It earns one star simply for its environment descriptions, as I felt immersed while reading. The rest of the book was pretty boring. The pacing is weird. The story arcs converge at weird points. The ending was too sudden.
June 4, 2012
I always been a avid reader of Black Library titles. I have this book for some years but as others in my collection they are here for me to read but I have so many books that is hard to me to decide...
I had read two books by Jonathan Green. First was Necromancer and then I read Crusade for Armageddon. Both were good but somewhat dissapointing... Then he left and went to work with Abaddon. But I think he is back with a short-story in Legends of Space Marines. Maybe he is returning... I read in some forums and some reviews that people didn't like his work. Well... It wasn't all that bad. Necromancer was not a action oriented book. It was a good book set in a city and we deal with the way of the necromancers. It was had a good atmosphere. One of the best I have ever read.
This book is set in the year of 2521 with the siege of Wolfenburg by Surtha Lenk. Our hero is a pyromancer (a Fire Wizard) and he has a quest... To twarth the plans of Chaos. The beginning he is dueling another wizard that had fallen to Chaos influence. We met some witch hunters that due to their fanatic attitude see things the wrong way and capture him. Another important character is a Battle Priest that as he travels to the lands he smite the evil doers and at the same time get an "entourage". Both parties converge on Wolfenburg as the Chaos Hordes start to siege...
It was a good novel with several points of views but the most important was the main character. I think he was not that well portrayed and the mystery of being the way he is revealed in the last couple of pages but that didn't helped. I really didn't care about any of them... There are even some plots who have no purpose (the witch hunters vs magician). The battle scenes were the best part including the siege. As I had read about the Storm of Chaos I knew how it would end.
There are better novels out there. I am currently reading another book with Mages. Christ Wraight's Masters of Magic. So far so good. Better than this one but I am only at page 100 so anything can happen...
I had read two books by Jonathan Green. First was Necromancer and then I read Crusade for Armageddon. Both were good but somewhat dissapointing... Then he left and went to work with Abaddon. But I think he is back with a short-story in Legends of Space Marines. Maybe he is returning... I read in some forums and some reviews that people didn't like his work. Well... It wasn't all that bad. Necromancer was not a action oriented book. It was a good book set in a city and we deal with the way of the necromancers. It was had a good atmosphere. One of the best I have ever read.
This book is set in the year of 2521 with the siege of Wolfenburg by Surtha Lenk. Our hero is a pyromancer (a Fire Wizard) and he has a quest... To twarth the plans of Chaos. The beginning he is dueling another wizard that had fallen to Chaos influence. We met some witch hunters that due to their fanatic attitude see things the wrong way and capture him. Another important character is a Battle Priest that as he travels to the lands he smite the evil doers and at the same time get an "entourage". Both parties converge on Wolfenburg as the Chaos Hordes start to siege...
It was a good novel with several points of views but the most important was the main character. I think he was not that well portrayed and the mystery of being the way he is revealed in the last couple of pages but that didn't helped. I really didn't care about any of them... There are even some plots who have no purpose (the witch hunters vs magician). The battle scenes were the best part including the siege. As I had read about the Storm of Chaos I knew how it would end.
There are better novels out there. I am currently reading another book with Mages. Christ Wraight's Masters of Magic. So far so good. Better than this one but I am only at page 100 so anything can happen...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews