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Necromunda
Status Deadzone
In the nightmare industrial underworld of Necromunda, brutal gangs clash in desperate battles to increase their standing with the rich decadent families who occupy the uppermost spire of the teeming hive city. Every day in the Underhive brings danger, battle and untold horrors, a few of which are covered in this anthology of Necromunda short stories. From Nathan Creed's attempts to hunt buried treasure beneath the sump to desperate clashes between rival gangs, this is a must-read collection of action-packed tales.
CONTENTS
Badland Skelter's Downhive Monster Show by Matthew Farrer
Bad Spirits by Jonathan Green
A World Above, The Daemon Bottle & Rat in the Walls by Alex Hammond
Descent by Simon Jowett
Rites of Passage by Gordon Rennie
Sisters by Neil Rutledge
The Day of Thirst & The Lake by Tully R. Summers
Mark of a Warrior by Richard Williams
Read it Because
It's full of bite-sized chunks of Underhive action, many of which haven't seen the light of day for years, making it the perfect way to celebrate the release of a new edition of Necromunda!
299 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 1, 2000
11 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
About the author
Marc Gascoigne
101 books62 followersPublisher, editor, designer – a lifetime in books. Previously publisher of Aconyte, Angry Robot, Black Library, and Solaris. Before that, responsible for a whole bookcase worth of books, both fiction and non-fiction, tie-ins and original works, as well as games design, journalism, computer game scripting, etc. Winner of both the World Fantasy Award and British Fantasy Award.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 2, 2023
Status: Deadzone is the first book published in the Necromunda setting and it's a collection of short stories that seem to have been published in Games Workshop's Inferno! Magazine in the late 90's. Necromunda is a sub-setting of the Warhammer 40k universe. Basically, the game developers wanted something more in the way of blending a cyberpunk feel with Mad Max I would say. In aesthetic it rather feels like a resurrection of their Dark Future setting which kicked off with Route 666. Dark Future had gangs and high speed car chases, which was extremely Mad Max inspired (Dark Future spawned out of another game called Battle Cars mind you), but it was its own setting. I think they wanted to bring that feel back, because it is super fun, but in trying to make it a bit more successful they tied into the wildly popular game Warhammer 40,000.
All the creators really did was take a lot of these elements and just create a game set on a single planet in the Warhammer 40k universe. In this case we find ourselves on the hive world Necromunda. These planets are necessary in the Imperium because it provides important resources for the military machine conquering and fighting in the Warhammer 40k setting. Since we get to focus our time on a single world, though, we can dive deeper into the inner workings of that area. What is the political structure? What is the economy like? In this regard it starts to feel a lot more like the usual Blade Runner or William Gibson novel. The Necromunda Rulebook board game (1995), however, focuses much more on just the gang warfare of the lower levels of the hive. This gives it that post-apocalyptic Mad Max vibe as you play the game in the rotting bowels of the Underhive. Once again, Games Workshop has tried to blend as many things as possible into a single setting, much like they tried to blend every single Sci-Fi concept into Warhammer 40k. Sometimes I think it is absolutely overkill in 40k, but I have to admit, I think it rather works for the Necromunda setting. Necromunda is gritty and dark gang warfare in a really interesting environment, which makes the whole thing really fun to play.
This first batch of stories were short tie-in stories and even though the game came out in 1995, the first story didn't hit until 1997. One of the interesting things about Necromunda when these stories were first being written is that in 1995, I think Games Workshop just wanted to make a game based on rival gangs, so when writing the stories there wasn't really a lot of lore baggage that authors had to worry about like those writing for 40k.
A World Above (May 1998) , The Daemon Bottle (July 1997), Rat in the Walls (September 1999) by Alex Hammond
Interestingly the first story in this anthology is not the first story written for the Necromunda setting. The first story written in Necromunda, is by Alex Hammond, but it is his second story in this anthology. A World Above first appeared in Inferno! Issue 6 and it doesn't seem to have much to do with The Daemon Bottle, which makes it more maddening that the stories aren't in order, and what's worse Rat in the Walls does have to do with A World Above and it comes much later in the anthology. I really wish they had grouped things together in a more sensible fashion... I realize that it gives it that magazine issue feel, where you read a different short story in between Hammond's stories, but when reading an anthology like this, it's annoying.
That complaint aside, A World Above introduces us to the character Knife Edge Liz of the Escher gang and a leader of her own little team. This story feels extremely inspired by The Most Dangerous Game, although, it ends up feeling more like Ice-T's movie Surviving the Game (which I thought was an entertaining movie for what it was). Essentially, some of the nobles have been working with a Hive merchant of sorts to set up hunting scenarios where they get to hunt some "underhive scum" as they put it. The gangs are enticed into traps by a go-between because he hires the gangs to go somewhere for a job, but it turns out to be an ambush by the nobles. In this case, they just aren't prepared for Liz.
One of the things Hammond does that is interesting for the Necromunda setting is the battle in this story takes place in the upper Spires of the city. Most of the Necromunda world is set in the Hive or lower, rarely the Spires where the nobles live. So, to bring a gang warfare element to the upper echelons of the city is pretty different. The story is fast paced and action packed. Once it gets going I really enjoyed it, my one complaint is that Hammond tried to sort of re-create the battle in this weird flash-back styled setting, which can work, but I think it felt a bit convoluted at times since it was such a short tale. After this, readers are probably better off skipping to Rat in the Walls.
With Rat in the Walls I will say that I actually found the story a bit unexpected in the way it turns out. First off, I expected it to be a sort of revenge hunt based on the first story, and it is that, but it's a bit more. Liz finds out a man named Ran Lo is the noble behind the hunts in the Underhive, so she's seeking them. Remember though, she's been heavily injured and while stalking around in the upper levels she winds up passing out and is discovered! Now, I'd expect her to be strung up and killed immediately, however, her discoverer heals her and everything! The reason is steeped in political intrigue of the noble caste, which I wasn't expecting at all based on the first foray into Necromunda. I won't give it away, as it was a good twist. My one complaint is that at the beginning the story feels a bit haphazard as Liz is wandering around, but once we get into the meat of the story it even outs quite a bit. The ending of the story was fine, but it's got basically the same ending as The Daemon Bottle and it just seems like Hammond can think of only one ending.
The Daemon Bottle is the first story published in the Necromunda setting, but appears on the middle of this anthology. I have to say, it wasn't a very good story, so I can see when arranging this book they started us off with A World Above. The Daemon Bottle is told from a first person perspective and is the story of a half-rat half-man named Sarak. He's a weak and sniveling character that has gotten himself into some rather hot water with a gang leader. He owes the man money and can't pay, so instead he sends Sarak on a dangerous job to kill off someone that stands in the way of his trade. The problem is the person is with the wretched people that live deeper in the Hive, so it's not even in the Underhive. These are the rejects and mutants of the more civilized society, but they are a nuisance and raid trade caravans from time to time, thus Sarak, is tasked with helping. It may seem like Sarak is a bad choice, but the fact that he's half-rat can help him blend into this area of the hive a little bit more, the problem is Sarak is a little more intelligent and he's not a full brainless mutant like the others.
It was an okay first story, the "Daemon Bottle" name refers to the popular drink Wildsnake, which causes hallucinations to the drinker. It's basically Absynth, but back in the original games development they allowed a little bit more leeway and in this story Sarak has managed to tap into the realms of Chaos. We don't really get to see that fact until the very end of the story and it's not something they kept in the stories or game of the future, but in this initial tale... we have an interestingly unique thing for Necromunda.
The Day of Thirst (May 1998) by Tully R. Summers
This was first published in Inferno! Magazine #6. I've read through all the Hammond material first and I'm rather glad I did because he wrote the earliest story and his other two are related. So, now I'm going back and reading The Day of Thirst.
Initially I didn't think this was going to be a first person perspective story, but after a couple pages it suddenly shifts and we, the reader, realize we've been hearing the story through the lens of a bartender. It's very unusual to bring the bartender along on any kind of adventure and in that regard this story is rather unique, because the bartender gets roped into a conflict when another man is sorely needed. Basically, one of the patrons gets into a fight with an Escher gang and vows to fight them. Since he's down a man, they enlist the bartender to round out the crew. Naturally, in the game of Necromunda skirmishes there is a specific size of the gang you face off against, so this is clearly in need of accommodating the rules of the game. The Escher gang presented in this story is highly unusual. They are, sort of, performing rituals of blood to feed creatures or something. It has a lot of Lovecraftian vibes in that regard, with the leader reading from something akin to the Necronomicon. It's strange to me, because it seems more like the Redemptionists would be doing this sort of thing, but it might be a bit in character for the Escher with their penchant for genetic engineering and creating creatures.
This story really does read like a blow by blow report of someone playing the game Necromunda. In that regard, it's a rather forgettable story and certainly doesn't stand out very much. The problem is that the story was so short there's no real way to get to know any of the characters. And since we're mostly here for some semblance of action, all we're going to get is an action report. Summers does try to round things up a little bit more, but once the conflict starts, it's just a small conflict in the realms of Necromunda.
Bad Spirits (November 1997) by Jonathan Green
This story was originally published in Inferno! Magazine #3. I rather enjoyed this short story, it's a bit longer than the prior story by Summers, so that might have something to do with it. Green's take on a Necromunda short, felt more compelling in pretty in line with the setting. The one thing that strikes me in the first stories so far is that almost none of the stories have to do with gang warfare... not in the spirit of playing the actual game at least. The other strange feature, is aside from the story arc concerning Liz in the first story, every single story so far has had ratskin characters or involves dealing with them. It's like the authors thought this was really what set Necromunda apart from other settings, so these creatures must be involved in everything! I'm not sure how realistic that is, given how prejudice regular people are supposed to be against them. I've got nothing against the ratskin characters, but I'm just saying there's more to this setting than them to make it feel "different".
In this story we follow a bounty hunter named Creed and thankfully this is not told in the first person! I don't mind first person too much, but I feel like an overabundance of what I read lately is first person and I tire of it. Anyway, Creed has been hired to do a job, and weirdly we never really get too much insight into what his job is for a while, but as far as I can tell this story doesn't really take place in the Underhive. It takes place on the outskirts and uncovering secrets in an old mine. Archeotech is pretty sought after in the realms of Warhammer 40k and Necromunda is an old occupied planet dating back before the Dark Age of Technology, so it stands to reason there may be some treasures out the somewhere. The miner in the story thinks he's found such a cash, but something is massively going wrong.
The main problem stems from the fact that the Ratskins and the Van Saar have teamed up to plunder the mine... but in addition to that they may uncovered something in the deep. In some ways that whole concept feels very Tolkien. However, there is certainly no Balrog waiting in the depths. When Creed goes to investigate, naturally, a firefight breaks out. Amidst this the "monster" appears and at first the description felt like it might be a Penitent Engine, which would have been pretty awesome, but alas, the author never says.
In the end, I think Green wrote a fun and fast paced story. It's still pretty early in the days of Necromunda, so I understand why maybe some material isn't as fleshed out. However, I was pleased to see a gang other than Escher show up in major battles.
Badlands Skelter's Downhive Monster Show (March, 1999) by Matthew Farrer
This story originally appeared in Inferno! Magazine #11. At first I was worried I wouldn't be very into this tale. Skelter's Downhive Monster Show is basically a circus type of concept that travels from town to town. They have acrobatics, strong men, and other acts as well, but one of the big draws are the exotic creatures they've captured in various places in the Underhive and probably lower. Now, I'm not exactly big on circus stories, so I wasn't immediately taken with the tale, but it does get pretty decent by the end.
Skelter and his crew are entering a town they've never visited before, Fever's Break, trying to expand their reach to new areas. Unfortunately for them, the town has quite a few members of the Cawdor gang. And worse, they've somehow run afoul of Redemptionists, even though it is never explicitly stated that is what they are. According to the Redemptionists, the circus will be too much of a distraction for the population when they could be better off spending their time praying to the Emperor. The Redemptionists have little recourse due to the fact that Skelter carries the proper paper work giving him license to practice. I'm sure you can gather what happens next, given the fact that this is Necromunda and it's all about gang warfare.
The story is pretty well done and I did enjoy it by the end. Once things really kick off it was quite exciting. However, unlike some really good short stories where I want more, I was pretty happy with where this ended. It's a short sweet tale and it doesn't really leave us salivating for more or anything.
Mark of a Warrior (July, 2000) by Richard Williams
This story originally appeared in Inferno! Magazine #19. This story was on the much shorter side of things and features a gang perspective many other authors seem to not discuss. Firstly, it's about the Goliaths gang and from what I've read so far, it seems to be the gang that is left out a bit. Maybe they are an oversimplified archetype of bruisers or something, so people don't find as much substance there. Williams tried to give it a bit more depth in this story of a young recruit trying to pass a test to get into the Goliaths gang.
This story is told in the first person and it makes a lot of sense to do it that way in this case. This gives us insight into the delusions of grandeur only a young person would dream up, not to mention doing so in a potentially dangerous situation. It serves to high light how young the character really is, so in that way there is a bit of a brutality to asking a young person to fight for their lives in the hopes to prove themselves worthy. It's a one dimensional story really and Williams does a good job of not waxing too poetic or taking too dense of a take on the information, instead he sticks to the main tale he wants to tell and when it is done, it's done. It's a good tale of what youth's expectations are and what reality is ready to actually serve up. In the end, it's not the best story in the anthology, but it's not terrible or anything.
Rites of Passage (January, 1998) by Gordon Rennie
This story originally appeared in Inferno! Magazine #4. Rites of Passage is another story about recruits similar to Mark of a Warrior except this story features House Orlock. It's a similar test where they expect the juves to take on a battle in the Underhive in order to be allowed into the gang officially. The intended battle was a brawl with other gangers, but this story ends up being similar to the Goliath's tale where they end up coming across a single opponent. Granted it's not a monster of the lower levels of the Hive, instead it's a monster from the upper levels a Spyrer.
I think the nature of Spyrer's have changed over time and they don't seem to be mentioned in the 2018 edition of the game so far. I rather like their incarnation in the middle era of 2005 or so where they are treated like a special forces group for nobles to send into the Hive and lower solving delicate problems. In this earlier version they seem to be strung out hunters that go into the Underhive simply to rack up a body count for reasons. So, in our story the Orlock juves are walking into a massacre, where they think they'll be equally matched against other fighters, only to find out everyone has been slaughtered by a near invincible spyrer. The juves in the story have their own issues and in some respects couldn't get of their own way in the face of the spyrer, so the story was alright. It felt like I had just read a story like this, so it seemed a tad repetitive. In the end I think I liked this one a little bit better than Mark of a Warrior.
Sisters (January, 1999) by Neil Rutledge
The table of contents in the front of the book is actually incorrect and Sisters appears before the The Lake in the printing.
This story originally appeared in Inferno! Magazine #10. This is another story featuring the Escher gang and this story was actually pretty well done. It actually felt like it had a character in it beyond just having someone get into a skirmish. We follow an aging Escher named Blades, the leader of her gang, to clean up an issue. The problem is that a zombie seems to have wandered into her territory. She resolves the problem and it was pretty solid Necromundan fun.
The Lake (November, 1998) by Tully R. Summers
This story originally appeared in Inferno! Magazine #9. This story was okay, kind of strange. Hunting spider eyes, but being turned into a genetic anomaly instead.
Descent by Simon Jowett
Unlike the prior tales, this closing novella is unique to this anthology. This novella wasn't very good at all. It felt very haphazardly written as if the author lost track of his own writing and suddenly remembered where he was. He tries to jump around with time a lot and it's extremely confusing the way he does it. The main character is named Kayne... I can't read it as anything but Kanye. Kayne seeks to find the Hunting party he left in the Underhive, but encounters dangerous Archaeotech instead.
All the creators really did was take a lot of these elements and just create a game set on a single planet in the Warhammer 40k universe. In this case we find ourselves on the hive world Necromunda. These planets are necessary in the Imperium because it provides important resources for the military machine conquering and fighting in the Warhammer 40k setting. Since we get to focus our time on a single world, though, we can dive deeper into the inner workings of that area. What is the political structure? What is the economy like? In this regard it starts to feel a lot more like the usual Blade Runner or William Gibson novel. The Necromunda Rulebook board game (1995), however, focuses much more on just the gang warfare of the lower levels of the hive. This gives it that post-apocalyptic Mad Max vibe as you play the game in the rotting bowels of the Underhive. Once again, Games Workshop has tried to blend as many things as possible into a single setting, much like they tried to blend every single Sci-Fi concept into Warhammer 40k. Sometimes I think it is absolutely overkill in 40k, but I have to admit, I think it rather works for the Necromunda setting. Necromunda is gritty and dark gang warfare in a really interesting environment, which makes the whole thing really fun to play.
This first batch of stories were short tie-in stories and even though the game came out in 1995, the first story didn't hit until 1997. One of the interesting things about Necromunda when these stories were first being written is that in 1995, I think Games Workshop just wanted to make a game based on rival gangs, so when writing the stories there wasn't really a lot of lore baggage that authors had to worry about like those writing for 40k.
A World Above (May 1998) , The Daemon Bottle (July 1997), Rat in the Walls (September 1999) by Alex Hammond
Interestingly the first story in this anthology is not the first story written for the Necromunda setting. The first story written in Necromunda, is by Alex Hammond, but it is his second story in this anthology. A World Above first appeared in Inferno! Issue 6 and it doesn't seem to have much to do with The Daemon Bottle, which makes it more maddening that the stories aren't in order, and what's worse Rat in the Walls does have to do with A World Above and it comes much later in the anthology. I really wish they had grouped things together in a more sensible fashion... I realize that it gives it that magazine issue feel, where you read a different short story in between Hammond's stories, but when reading an anthology like this, it's annoying.
That complaint aside, A World Above introduces us to the character Knife Edge Liz of the Escher gang and a leader of her own little team. This story feels extremely inspired by The Most Dangerous Game, although, it ends up feeling more like Ice-T's movie Surviving the Game (which I thought was an entertaining movie for what it was). Essentially, some of the nobles have been working with a Hive merchant of sorts to set up hunting scenarios where they get to hunt some "underhive scum" as they put it. The gangs are enticed into traps by a go-between because he hires the gangs to go somewhere for a job, but it turns out to be an ambush by the nobles. In this case, they just aren't prepared for Liz.
One of the things Hammond does that is interesting for the Necromunda setting is the battle in this story takes place in the upper Spires of the city. Most of the Necromunda world is set in the Hive or lower, rarely the Spires where the nobles live. So, to bring a gang warfare element to the upper echelons of the city is pretty different. The story is fast paced and action packed. Once it gets going I really enjoyed it, my one complaint is that Hammond tried to sort of re-create the battle in this weird flash-back styled setting, which can work, but I think it felt a bit convoluted at times since it was such a short tale. After this, readers are probably better off skipping to Rat in the Walls.
With Rat in the Walls I will say that I actually found the story a bit unexpected in the way it turns out. First off, I expected it to be a sort of revenge hunt based on the first story, and it is that, but it's a bit more. Liz finds out a man named Ran Lo is the noble behind the hunts in the Underhive, so she's seeking them. Remember though, she's been heavily injured and while stalking around in the upper levels she winds up passing out and is discovered! Now, I'd expect her to be strung up and killed immediately, however, her discoverer heals her and everything! The reason is steeped in political intrigue of the noble caste, which I wasn't expecting at all based on the first foray into Necromunda. I won't give it away, as it was a good twist. My one complaint is that at the beginning the story feels a bit haphazard as Liz is wandering around, but once we get into the meat of the story it even outs quite a bit. The ending of the story was fine, but it's got basically the same ending as The Daemon Bottle and it just seems like Hammond can think of only one ending.
The Daemon Bottle is the first story published in the Necromunda setting, but appears on the middle of this anthology. I have to say, it wasn't a very good story, so I can see when arranging this book they started us off with A World Above. The Daemon Bottle is told from a first person perspective and is the story of a half-rat half-man named Sarak. He's a weak and sniveling character that has gotten himself into some rather hot water with a gang leader. He owes the man money and can't pay, so instead he sends Sarak on a dangerous job to kill off someone that stands in the way of his trade. The problem is the person is with the wretched people that live deeper in the Hive, so it's not even in the Underhive. These are the rejects and mutants of the more civilized society, but they are a nuisance and raid trade caravans from time to time, thus Sarak, is tasked with helping. It may seem like Sarak is a bad choice, but the fact that he's half-rat can help him blend into this area of the hive a little bit more, the problem is Sarak is a little more intelligent and he's not a full brainless mutant like the others.
It was an okay first story, the "Daemon Bottle" name refers to the popular drink Wildsnake, which causes hallucinations to the drinker. It's basically Absynth, but back in the original games development they allowed a little bit more leeway and in this story Sarak has managed to tap into the realms of Chaos. We don't really get to see that fact until the very end of the story and it's not something they kept in the stories or game of the future, but in this initial tale... we have an interestingly unique thing for Necromunda.
The Day of Thirst (May 1998) by Tully R. Summers
This was first published in Inferno! Magazine #6. I've read through all the Hammond material first and I'm rather glad I did because he wrote the earliest story and his other two are related. So, now I'm going back and reading The Day of Thirst.
Initially I didn't think this was going to be a first person perspective story, but after a couple pages it suddenly shifts and we, the reader, realize we've been hearing the story through the lens of a bartender. It's very unusual to bring the bartender along on any kind of adventure and in that regard this story is rather unique, because the bartender gets roped into a conflict when another man is sorely needed. Basically, one of the patrons gets into a fight with an Escher gang and vows to fight them. Since he's down a man, they enlist the bartender to round out the crew. Naturally, in the game of Necromunda skirmishes there is a specific size of the gang you face off against, so this is clearly in need of accommodating the rules of the game. The Escher gang presented in this story is highly unusual. They are, sort of, performing rituals of blood to feed creatures or something. It has a lot of Lovecraftian vibes in that regard, with the leader reading from something akin to the Necronomicon. It's strange to me, because it seems more like the Redemptionists would be doing this sort of thing, but it might be a bit in character for the Escher with their penchant for genetic engineering and creating creatures.
This story really does read like a blow by blow report of someone playing the game Necromunda. In that regard, it's a rather forgettable story and certainly doesn't stand out very much. The problem is that the story was so short there's no real way to get to know any of the characters. And since we're mostly here for some semblance of action, all we're going to get is an action report. Summers does try to round things up a little bit more, but once the conflict starts, it's just a small conflict in the realms of Necromunda.
Bad Spirits (November 1997) by Jonathan Green
This story was originally published in Inferno! Magazine #3. I rather enjoyed this short story, it's a bit longer than the prior story by Summers, so that might have something to do with it. Green's take on a Necromunda short, felt more compelling in pretty in line with the setting. The one thing that strikes me in the first stories so far is that almost none of the stories have to do with gang warfare... not in the spirit of playing the actual game at least. The other strange feature, is aside from the story arc concerning Liz in the first story, every single story so far has had ratskin characters or involves dealing with them. It's like the authors thought this was really what set Necromunda apart from other settings, so these creatures must be involved in everything! I'm not sure how realistic that is, given how prejudice regular people are supposed to be against them. I've got nothing against the ratskin characters, but I'm just saying there's more to this setting than them to make it feel "different".
In this story we follow a bounty hunter named Creed and thankfully this is not told in the first person! I don't mind first person too much, but I feel like an overabundance of what I read lately is first person and I tire of it. Anyway, Creed has been hired to do a job, and weirdly we never really get too much insight into what his job is for a while, but as far as I can tell this story doesn't really take place in the Underhive. It takes place on the outskirts and uncovering secrets in an old mine. Archeotech is pretty sought after in the realms of Warhammer 40k and Necromunda is an old occupied planet dating back before the Dark Age of Technology, so it stands to reason there may be some treasures out the somewhere. The miner in the story thinks he's found such a cash, but something is massively going wrong.
The main problem stems from the fact that the Ratskins and the Van Saar have teamed up to plunder the mine... but in addition to that they may uncovered something in the deep. In some ways that whole concept feels very Tolkien. However, there is certainly no Balrog waiting in the depths. When Creed goes to investigate, naturally, a firefight breaks out. Amidst this the "monster" appears and at first the description felt like it might be a Penitent Engine, which would have been pretty awesome, but alas, the author never says.
In the end, I think Green wrote a fun and fast paced story. It's still pretty early in the days of Necromunda, so I understand why maybe some material isn't as fleshed out. However, I was pleased to see a gang other than Escher show up in major battles.
Badlands Skelter's Downhive Monster Show (March, 1999) by Matthew Farrer
This story originally appeared in Inferno! Magazine #11. At first I was worried I wouldn't be very into this tale. Skelter's Downhive Monster Show is basically a circus type of concept that travels from town to town. They have acrobatics, strong men, and other acts as well, but one of the big draws are the exotic creatures they've captured in various places in the Underhive and probably lower. Now, I'm not exactly big on circus stories, so I wasn't immediately taken with the tale, but it does get pretty decent by the end.
Skelter and his crew are entering a town they've never visited before, Fever's Break, trying to expand their reach to new areas. Unfortunately for them, the town has quite a few members of the Cawdor gang. And worse, they've somehow run afoul of Redemptionists, even though it is never explicitly stated that is what they are. According to the Redemptionists, the circus will be too much of a distraction for the population when they could be better off spending their time praying to the Emperor. The Redemptionists have little recourse due to the fact that Skelter carries the proper paper work giving him license to practice. I'm sure you can gather what happens next, given the fact that this is Necromunda and it's all about gang warfare.
The story is pretty well done and I did enjoy it by the end. Once things really kick off it was quite exciting. However, unlike some really good short stories where I want more, I was pretty happy with where this ended. It's a short sweet tale and it doesn't really leave us salivating for more or anything.
Mark of a Warrior (July, 2000) by Richard Williams
This story originally appeared in Inferno! Magazine #19. This story was on the much shorter side of things and features a gang perspective many other authors seem to not discuss. Firstly, it's about the Goliaths gang and from what I've read so far, it seems to be the gang that is left out a bit. Maybe they are an oversimplified archetype of bruisers or something, so people don't find as much substance there. Williams tried to give it a bit more depth in this story of a young recruit trying to pass a test to get into the Goliaths gang.
This story is told in the first person and it makes a lot of sense to do it that way in this case. This gives us insight into the delusions of grandeur only a young person would dream up, not to mention doing so in a potentially dangerous situation. It serves to high light how young the character really is, so in that way there is a bit of a brutality to asking a young person to fight for their lives in the hopes to prove themselves worthy. It's a one dimensional story really and Williams does a good job of not waxing too poetic or taking too dense of a take on the information, instead he sticks to the main tale he wants to tell and when it is done, it's done. It's a good tale of what youth's expectations are and what reality is ready to actually serve up. In the end, it's not the best story in the anthology, but it's not terrible or anything.
Rites of Passage (January, 1998) by Gordon Rennie
This story originally appeared in Inferno! Magazine #4. Rites of Passage is another story about recruits similar to Mark of a Warrior except this story features House Orlock. It's a similar test where they expect the juves to take on a battle in the Underhive in order to be allowed into the gang officially. The intended battle was a brawl with other gangers, but this story ends up being similar to the Goliath's tale where they end up coming across a single opponent. Granted it's not a monster of the lower levels of the Hive, instead it's a monster from the upper levels a Spyrer.
I think the nature of Spyrer's have changed over time and they don't seem to be mentioned in the 2018 edition of the game so far. I rather like their incarnation in the middle era of 2005 or so where they are treated like a special forces group for nobles to send into the Hive and lower solving delicate problems. In this earlier version they seem to be strung out hunters that go into the Underhive simply to rack up a body count for reasons. So, in our story the Orlock juves are walking into a massacre, where they think they'll be equally matched against other fighters, only to find out everyone has been slaughtered by a near invincible spyrer. The juves in the story have their own issues and in some respects couldn't get of their own way in the face of the spyrer, so the story was alright. It felt like I had just read a story like this, so it seemed a tad repetitive. In the end I think I liked this one a little bit better than Mark of a Warrior.
Sisters (January, 1999) by Neil Rutledge
The table of contents in the front of the book is actually incorrect and Sisters appears before the The Lake in the printing.
This story originally appeared in Inferno! Magazine #10. This is another story featuring the Escher gang and this story was actually pretty well done. It actually felt like it had a character in it beyond just having someone get into a skirmish. We follow an aging Escher named Blades, the leader of her gang, to clean up an issue. The problem is that a zombie seems to have wandered into her territory. She resolves the problem and it was pretty solid Necromundan fun.
The Lake (November, 1998) by Tully R. Summers
This story originally appeared in Inferno! Magazine #9. This story was okay, kind of strange. Hunting spider eyes, but being turned into a genetic anomaly instead.
Descent by Simon Jowett
Unlike the prior tales, this closing novella is unique to this anthology. This novella wasn't very good at all. It felt very haphazardly written as if the author lost track of his own writing and suddenly remembered where he was. He tries to jump around with time a lot and it's extremely confusing the way he does it. The main character is named Kayne... I can't read it as anything but Kanye. Kayne seeks to find the Hunting party he left in the Underhive, but encounters dangerous Archaeotech instead.
April 12, 2013
A world Above This Story illustrates well the brutality of the Underhive. It is the story of a Ran Lo Spyrer hunt of Eschers, where the question of who is really hunting who has to be asked several times. It is told mostly from the perspective of the Escher gang, which works very well. This is an awesome look into the Underhive.
The Day of Thirst This is a Goliath vs Escher (Chaos Cult?) story. It's really good if pretty disturbing. It's all told in the second person which is very cool, if had to follow since very little besides Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style books story tell this way. It's a Goliath telling the story of the last encounter with these Escher to a new recruit. Hard to tell more without giving away too much, but it is very worth the 10 or so pages of reading.
Badlands Skelter's Downhive Monster Show This is kinda a Cawdor vs Scavvies story, but the Scavvies are very different than what you would expect from the rule book. They are carnies that seem to take a lot better care of themselves than the rules in the book imply. The thing that makes them seem like Scavvies is they have a spear gun toting Scalie, which leads to a wonderfully descriptive scene of spear gun's use. It also depicts nicely the problems of religious zealotry over actual skill. So far, my favorite story.
Mark of a Warrior A Goliath initiation story. A wannabe is sent into an abandoned mine to hunt a Millisaur armed with a stubgun & a knife. It has an amusing examination of all the stupid bits and bobbles that one will wear to look. Also a nice subtle self reference in the G40K stubgun. It really is a nice examination of one gang's initiation process and one wannabe's overconfident view being slapped in the face by reality.
The Daemon Bottle A half-breed Ratskin gets caught between Scavvies and Guilders. At first I thought this was going to be some sort of commentary on drinking, since the main character is a typical settlement dwelling drunk Ratskin. It may still be, but if it is the message is much subtler than I expected. The actual Daemon Bottle was different than I was expecting and the final resolution was very interesting with a nice twist.
Rites of Passage An Orlock initiation story (gone wrong) with a Spyrer, & Cawdor hate, & a sprinkling of Wyrd for flavor. This one is a more multilayered tragedy than the average Necro story. A group of Orlock juve wannabes are sent out to duke it out with some Cawdor juves when thinks go tragically wrong. Badness ensues and only one survives, sorta.
The Lake I liked this one a lot. It's story where a guilder pits a down on their luck Orlock gang against a Goliath gang with ultimately disastrous consequences for everyone (there's a nice amount of build up to this point). A dome is cracked open in a hive quake and it is found to contain an abundant number of spiders which are too temping a target to pass up. It was fun to see the author bring back a gang he used in a former story (the Goliath from The Day of Thirst), even if they were only a minor antagonist. Until this story I had thought wood would be far too rare to really make into the story, but some of the boats are made out of fungus wood, which is a source I had formerly not considered. Over all it was a good story with a very nice, mysteries of the 40k universe twist in it.
Sisters This is an Escher story (unsurprisingly). A particularly heartbreaking one. An Escher leader who feels like she is loosing her grip on her gang after the recent loss of a close friend goes out to hunt a zombie with a ratkskin. Nice twist in this one. Shows the lengths that gang leaders will got to protect their postion in the gang and the community.
Rat in the Walls Basically part 2 of "A World Above." Tells the Story of What happened to Liz once she got uphive. Hits the classic trope of cleaning up a thug to fit into high society for nefarious purposes. An awesome sequel.
The Day of Thirst This is a Goliath vs Escher (Chaos Cult?) story. It's really good if pretty disturbing. It's all told in the second person which is very cool, if had to follow since very little besides Choose-Your-Own-Adventure style books story tell this way. It's a Goliath telling the story of the last encounter with these Escher to a new recruit. Hard to tell more without giving away too much, but it is very worth the 10 or so pages of reading.
Badlands Skelter's Downhive Monster Show This is kinda a Cawdor vs Scavvies story, but the Scavvies are very different than what you would expect from the rule book. They are carnies that seem to take a lot better care of themselves than the rules in the book imply. The thing that makes them seem like Scavvies is they have a spear gun toting Scalie, which leads to a wonderfully descriptive scene of spear gun's use. It also depicts nicely the problems of religious zealotry over actual skill. So far, my favorite story.
Mark of a Warrior A Goliath initiation story. A wannabe is sent into an abandoned mine to hunt a Millisaur armed with a stubgun & a knife. It has an amusing examination of all the stupid bits and bobbles that one will wear to look. Also a nice subtle self reference in the G40K stubgun. It really is a nice examination of one gang's initiation process and one wannabe's overconfident view being slapped in the face by reality.
The Daemon Bottle A half-breed Ratskin gets caught between Scavvies and Guilders. At first I thought this was going to be some sort of commentary on drinking, since the main character is a typical settlement dwelling drunk Ratskin. It may still be, but if it is the message is much subtler than I expected. The actual Daemon Bottle was different than I was expecting and the final resolution was very interesting with a nice twist.
Rites of Passage An Orlock initiation story (gone wrong) with a Spyrer, & Cawdor hate, & a sprinkling of Wyrd for flavor. This one is a more multilayered tragedy than the average Necro story. A group of Orlock juve wannabes are sent out to duke it out with some Cawdor juves when thinks go tragically wrong. Badness ensues and only one survives, sorta.
The Lake I liked this one a lot. It's story where a guilder pits a down on their luck Orlock gang against a Goliath gang with ultimately disastrous consequences for everyone (there's a nice amount of build up to this point). A dome is cracked open in a hive quake and it is found to contain an abundant number of spiders which are too temping a target to pass up. It was fun to see the author bring back a gang he used in a former story (the Goliath from The Day of Thirst), even if they were only a minor antagonist. Until this story I had thought wood would be far too rare to really make into the story, but some of the boats are made out of fungus wood, which is a source I had formerly not considered. Over all it was a good story with a very nice, mysteries of the 40k universe twist in it.
Sisters This is an Escher story (unsurprisingly). A particularly heartbreaking one. An Escher leader who feels like she is loosing her grip on her gang after the recent loss of a close friend goes out to hunt a zombie with a ratkskin. Nice twist in this one. Shows the lengths that gang leaders will got to protect their postion in the gang and the community.
Rat in the Walls Basically part 2 of "A World Above." Tells the Story of What happened to Liz once she got uphive. Hits the classic trope of cleaning up a thug to fit into high society for nefarious purposes. An awesome sequel.
January 28, 2020
A review of Rats in the Walls by Alex Hammond
‘Oh dear. Call it a clash of cultures.’
Necromunda stories taking place ‘Uphive’ haven’t yet appeared all too often (even though the Downhivers themselves do get their chances at rubbing shoulders with the so-called Spyrers proper, now and then). However, this little tale’s militant, charismatic and savvy protagonist Knife Edge Liz gets a much steeper learning curve than her almost-namesake, Eliza Doolittle, did. But then her mysterious… “benefactor” from a certain noble house isn’t precisely Pygmalion (or a… fair godfather, for that matter), either – not many of ‘em left in the glittering Necromundan hive-spires, I guess… So, without much spoiling – trust me, it’s as great a tale from the earlier days of Necromunda as they get, and with that enjoyably classic feel to boot that some of the most recent BL works call up so well. The hive world setting really needs more along the same lines!
‘Oh dear. Call it a clash of cultures.’
Necromunda stories taking place ‘Uphive’ haven’t yet appeared all too often (even though the Downhivers themselves do get their chances at rubbing shoulders with the so-called Spyrers proper, now and then). However, this little tale’s militant, charismatic and savvy protagonist Knife Edge Liz gets a much steeper learning curve than her almost-namesake, Eliza Doolittle, did. But then her mysterious… “benefactor” from a certain noble house isn’t precisely Pygmalion (or a… fair godfather, for that matter), either – not many of ‘em left in the glittering Necromundan hive-spires, I guess… So, without much spoiling – trust me, it’s as great a tale from the earlier days of Necromunda as they get, and with that enjoyably classic feel to boot that some of the most recent BL works call up so well. The hive world setting really needs more along the same lines!
September 8, 2022
Another anthology read... this was not to be read in the near future BUT alas since I am reading anthologies I thought, well let us start with older ones and it was a disappointing.. on the authors behalf this was one of the first books published by Black Library so there's that - then another reason I will give credit is that Necromunda, although a place to play games, there was no fiction so they had some free space to invent some stuff (that's my opinion)...
So what are the tales , you've got your normal gang related stories, you got goliath vs blood coven (The day of the thirst ) which is one of my favorite; you've got cawdor vs scavies (Badlands Skelter's Downhive Monster Show); ratskin stories (The Demon Bottle), orlock (Rites of Passage)& Goliath (Mark of a Warrior) gang initiation among others... there is a two part story A world Above & Rat in the walls that deal with Liz
The last story, is a novella with 100 pages called Descent about a submarine's crew. IT was weird and I honestly didn't enjoy it.
Overall, there are some OK tales but nothing really amazing... there are others outdated (if you compare to newer Necromunda tales) which should not deterred because that's how the words evolve. Look at Bretonnian tales , there weren't that many but they were portrait some way and then after some updates they become quite honorable and different. It was strange but that's how this worlds evolve on a course of 40 years. You have to take in consideration hat this book was written in 2000 . the game system itself had been created in 1995 (with some rules in 1991 but the first edition game in 1995) so..
I wouldn't advice this to anyone unless you are like me and wants to read everything from Black Library :)
So what are the tales , you've got your normal gang related stories, you got goliath vs blood coven (The day of the thirst ) which is one of my favorite; you've got cawdor vs scavies (Badlands Skelter's Downhive Monster Show); ratskin stories (The Demon Bottle), orlock (Rites of Passage)& Goliath (Mark of a Warrior) gang initiation among others... there is a two part story A world Above & Rat in the walls that deal with Liz
The last story, is a novella with 100 pages called Descent about a submarine's crew. IT was weird and I honestly didn't enjoy it.
Overall, there are some OK tales but nothing really amazing... there are others outdated (if you compare to newer Necromunda tales) which should not deterred because that's how the words evolve. Look at Bretonnian tales , there weren't that many but they were portrait some way and then after some updates they become quite honorable and different. It was strange but that's how this worlds evolve on a course of 40 years. You have to take in consideration hat this book was written in 2000 . the game system itself had been created in 1995 (with some rules in 1991 but the first edition game in 1995) so..
I wouldn't advice this to anyone unless you are like me and wants to read everything from Black Library :)
October 9, 2024
As I delve further into the nostalgia of 90s Warhammer, or Oldhammer, I'm discovering a collection of novels which help carve out a detailed world of this amazing SciFi/fantasy universes (or 'universe' depending on who you ask, as some believe both Fantasy and 40k are a part of the same universe).
This book isn't so much a novel as it is an assortment of short stories and one novelette called Decent at the very end. Each story is a unique tale within the Necromunda hive city. We experience the hardships and struggles of individuals as they attempt to survive in the wastes of the Underhive and the cutthroat nature of society. Across the selection of short stories are elements of horror, drama, and comedy, all tied together by a single theme: what is someone willing to do to live for one more day.
What's great about this arrangement is that each story tells the perspectives of members of different factions. Escher, Goliath, Orlock, Ratskin, Scavvies. With Redemptions and Cawdor being the main antagonists for a few of the stories. It feels like no one is left out.
Overall editing wasn't this book's strong point. With two chapters in the index being labelled incorrectly, and various mistakes with using the wrong characters and spelling in some places.
The final novelette contains nineteen chapters in total. I found it particularly difficult to read as time jumps back and forth between chapters. I had to reread some sections multiple times as I would become very confused with the overall story, examples of this is when a character was most definitely dead in one chapter and was again very much alive in the next chapter. I honestly believe some chapters were muddled up during the editing process as the linear story made more sense when read out of order.
As frustrating a read this book could be at times, I still very much enjoyed it and would recommend it to any Necromunda fan despite giving it only three stars.
This book isn't so much a novel as it is an assortment of short stories and one novelette called Decent at the very end. Each story is a unique tale within the Necromunda hive city. We experience the hardships and struggles of individuals as they attempt to survive in the wastes of the Underhive and the cutthroat nature of society. Across the selection of short stories are elements of horror, drama, and comedy, all tied together by a single theme: what is someone willing to do to live for one more day.
What's great about this arrangement is that each story tells the perspectives of members of different factions. Escher, Goliath, Orlock, Ratskin, Scavvies. With Redemptions and Cawdor being the main antagonists for a few of the stories. It feels like no one is left out.
Overall editing wasn't this book's strong point. With two chapters in the index being labelled incorrectly, and various mistakes with using the wrong characters and spelling in some places.
The final novelette contains nineteen chapters in total. I found it particularly difficult to read as time jumps back and forth between chapters. I had to reread some sections multiple times as I would become very confused with the overall story, examples of this is when a character was most definitely dead in one chapter and was again very much alive in the next chapter. I honestly believe some chapters were muddled up during the editing process as the linear story made more sense when read out of order.
As frustrating a read this book could be at times, I still very much enjoyed it and would recommend it to any Necromunda fan despite giving it only three stars.
July 17, 2018
I recently read the best description of these necromunda underhive books which I will steal here. The Necromunda series are like westerns set in a futuristic setting, the underhive is the frontier, the gangers are either outlaws or the law, ratskins are natives and so on. The stories in the other necromunda books all contain classic western aspects such as the "seen better times town", "the saloon shout out" "the mysterious lone ranger" "the spooky tribal scout" and the gangs are the posse out for either revenge, glory, gold or to make a point.
This bundle however breaks with that and fails to get the same atmosphere. Westerns have need of time to set the mood, any good western has a few quiet times, tense stare downs and wondering about oneself in the bigger scheme of things. These stories don't have that and they all quickly boil down to action that feels stale, it just feels like it could be any other setting and lost any unique Necromunda feel. In itself they aren't bad stories, but when you compare them it becomes clear this is so much blander.
This bundle however breaks with that and fails to get the same atmosphere. Westerns have need of time to set the mood, any good western has a few quiet times, tense stare downs and wondering about oneself in the bigger scheme of things. These stories don't have that and they all quickly boil down to action that feels stale, it just feels like it could be any other setting and lost any unique Necromunda feel. In itself they aren't bad stories, but when you compare them it becomes clear this is so much blander.
March 6, 2024
Very enjoyable anthology series, being the first book published in the Necromunda setting, and ending in a unique novella.
The stories are quite eclectic, and while including lots of the classic hyper-violence typical of the 40k setting, many of the stories add unique elements of horror from one story to the next.
This was also the very first Necromunda book I read, and I've been hooked ever since.
The stories are quite eclectic, and while including lots of the classic hyper-violence typical of the 40k setting, many of the stories add unique elements of horror from one story to the next.
This was also the very first Necromunda book I read, and I've been hooked ever since.
February 24, 2018
I love short stories, I love Necromunda, this is the perfect combo.
September 12, 2015
This is a book I have had on my bookshelf, and have read many times since it came out. Between its covers is a collection of short stories set in a dystopian future where the life of the individual has little to no value. It is set on the remote planet of Necromunda in the year 40'000AD, in the seedy underbelly of the spire-city.
If you are a fan of movies like Bladerunner and Dreadd, then I highly recommend this book for your collection.
If you are a fan of movies like Bladerunner and Dreadd, then I highly recommend this book for your collection.
April 19, 2023
My review on Book Crossing, 2002: A collection of short stories set in the world of Necromunda, a nitty-gritty Mad Max style environment developed for the miniatures game of the same name by Games Workshop. The cover is awful; makes you ashamed to be seen reading it in more refined circles. However, a couple of the stories are great fun.
January 17, 2015
It was a good Anthology of stories that seemed inter connected and a really enjoyed some of them but others seemed a bit slow. I don't really like to read these sometimes because I prefer a straight up story.
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