Wolf Riders

Warhammer

by David Pringle

The "Warhammer" world is a land of grim fantasy and perilous adventure, threatened by the Dark Powers. This anthology of eight stories features Gotrek the troll-slayer, his human companion Felix, and the halfling investigator Sam Warble.

Genres: Fantasy, Canon

236 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

Reviews

[Dickydavis · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must have asked for this book for Christmas either the year it came out or the year after; I would have been 10 or 11. My heart wants to give if 5 stars, as this is one of my favourite books ever, but I realise that it transported me as a kid so to read it now as an adult I might not feel the same way.

That said, the title story is an atmospheric belter, No Gold In The Grey Mountains scared me to death, Pulg's Carnival is a ton of fun, and I think there might only be one duff story in there but it's name escapes me, and fortunately it's so short that it doesn't matter. If you want some really, REALLY good pulp fantasy to read, you won't get any better than this. I read this book so many times as a kid, you'd think I'd remember all the story titles!!

[CleverMird · Rating 4 out of 5]

I reviewed Ignorant Armies a few months ago and absolutely loved it. In fact, I believe it was tied with The Secret History for my favorite read of 2023. So looking at my TBR pile and finding another Warhammer Fantasy short story collection edited by David Pringle, I had high hopes. And while Wolf Riders doesn’t quite live up to its predecessor, it’s still well worth the read.

Like Ignorant Armies, this book takes place in the grim and perilous lands of the Warhammer Fantasy universe, a Tolkien-esque world with an early Renaissance flair. The eight stories cover a range of settings and topics and although the focus on the malevolent Chaos Gods is downplayed, there is slightly more attention given to non-human characters to balance it out.

“Wolf Riders” – The return of Gotrek and Felix, the Dwarf-and-Human duo from the opening story of Ignorant Armies, this time guarding a group of human refugees through a dangerous mountain journey as bad luck seems to stalk the caravan.

“The Tilean Rat” – A Halfling is hired by a mysterious Elven woman to look for the titular rat statue, supposedly of only sentimental value.

“The Phantom of Yremy” – A mysterious thief stalks the streets of a Bretonnian town, seemingly with a vendetta against the magistrate.

“Cry of the Beast” – A young man and his adopted father find an Elven girl washed up on the beach after a shipwreck

“No Gold in the Gray Mountains” – Bandits hiding out in an abandoned, supposedly-haunted castle abduct a young noblewoman and must figure out how to keep her alive long enough to ransom her

“The Hammer of the Stars” – A schoolboy and his friends suspect trouble when exotic strangers come to town.

“Pulg’s Grand Carnival” – Seeking a place where he isn’t outcast, a young albino is persuaded to join a carnival run by the charismatic but airheaded Pulg, but a local businessman is out to get rid of Pulg and his carnival by any means necessary.

“The Way of the Witchfinder” – A servant of one of the Gods of Law sets out on his first mission.

Of the stories, “Tilean Rat” was probably my favorite. In addition to homages to the classic film noir The Maltese Falcon, the story was just a lot of fun, with twists and turns and a brisk, lively pace that made it an easy read. The last two stories, however, are by far the weakest of the bunch, with “Pulg’s Grand Carnival” being too long and having an unimpressive climax, and “Way of the Witchfinder” being too short to properly develop the characters or action.

Gotrek and Felix’s return offers a lot of new development to their characters and dynamic and while I preferred “Geheimnisnacht”, it was also one of the more enjoyable stories in the bunch.

This book was pretty solid. I doubt that it will become a great favorite of mine, but each story was engaging and several of them are well worth rereading.

Warnings: As is typical for the setting, expect plenty of violence and some light body horror, as well as spatters of animal cruelty.

[Michael Dodd · Rating 3 out of 5]

First published way back in the mists of time (well…1990), years before Black Library as a publisher existed, Wolf Riders is an anthology of short stories set in the Warhammer Old World, and is a little…different to more modern Warhammer stories. A little over 200 pages long, it contains eight stories from seven different authors, including familiar names like William King and Sandy Mitchell, and features fan-favourites Gotrek and Felix alongside a range of less well-known characters like halfling investigator Sam Warble and various assorted heroes and ne’er do wells, plus an appearance of the haunted castle Drachenfels.

These are Warhammer stories in the vein of so many early, often pre-Black Library tales, where the Old World was pretty much fully formed geographically, but perhaps didn’t have its full identity yet. Most of these are solid stories, but it’s worth thinking of this anthology as a time capsule demonstrating the sorts of stories and inspirations Warhammer was founded upon, rather than a representation of what it ended up as. It’s definitely worth seeking out if you can find a copy, especially for long-term Warhammer fans after a bit of endearing nostalgia, but William King’s Gotrek and Felix story is probably the only one of these tales that will really last in the memory.

Read the full review at https://www.trackofwords.com/2018/08/...

[Francisco · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the earliest Warhammer books, and the first anthology of short stories set in the Warhammer Fantasy universe, and one which introduced some characters that would become iconic in that universe right in the first story.

This first story is the titular Wolf Riders which brings us Gotrek and Felix, a team composed of a Dwarf slayer with a death wish and his reluctant chronicler which would eventually have some 20 books dedicated to them in this universe. 

Also back to this universe is Jack Yeovil (a pen name of the great Kim Newman) with a second story, No Gold in the Grey Mountains, set in Drachenfels, after the Vampire Genevieve story of the same name. If there is something distinguishing these books from other Fantasy franchises of the time is just how terribly bleak they are. Few stories end well, most end in horrible death, madness or mutilation, and feel more like a grimdark horror book than anything coming out of the D&D universe at this time, for example. This is also symptomatic of a big difference between British and American approaches to fantasy. This is dark. My edition from GW books has added illustrations that really bring out the grimness in the stories. Great stuff.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Gold In The Grey Mountains by Kim Newman

He sure does love that castle. This is an excellent short story. Absolutely stripped back to the bone. It’s all killer and no filler.

[Ela Bělíková · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not Total War

[Bartek Maciej · Rating 3 out of 5]

generalnie takie sobie, poza opowiadaniem o gotreku nic szczególnie fajnego

[Paulo "paper books only" · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wolf Riders - William King (Trollslayer)
The Tilean Rat - Sandy Mitchell
The Phantom of Yremy - Brian Craig
Cry of the Beast - Ralph T. Castle
No Gold in the Grey Mounains - Jack Yeovil (Silver Nails)
The Hammer of the Stars - Pete Garratt (Not Re-Released)
Pulg's Grand Carnival - Simon Ounsley (Not Re-Released)
The Way of the Witchfinder - Brian Craig (Not Re-Released)

Review

This book had several good stories but besides them it was not an excelent book. Of course Wolf Riders is the best story on this book. This is the second story where felix gets in love and this time they battle not the chaos cultists of the first story but a goblin army with a band of humans. 9.5/10



There are other interesting stories but nothing that my mind will forget in a couple of months/years. Tilean Rat a parody of the The Maltese Falcon and has an halfling detective. This story didn't bring anything new to the warhammer world. An halfling detective hired by an elven lady to capture a rat statue. Interesting. The Phanton of Yremy by Brian Craig is another of those tales which I will soon forget. At least it passes in Bretonnia (the same happened on the previous anthology with The Gardener of Pavarron). It kind of remind me of Poe's mysteries and remind me that I must read Poe. Cry of the Beast is a werewolf tale that didn't catch the gothic warhammer feeling. Then a Jack Yeovil tale that I will read later on. Then Hammer of Stars and Pulg''s Grand Carnival didn't impress me as well. The last one was The Way of Witchfinder by Craig and it's a tale of Law vs Chaos. It' set on.... Bretonnia (suprised you there didn't I?) and it's a tale about old Bretonnia when it was full of corruption and things like that. Since then Bretonnia changed to a place full of shinning knights and so on. It's a good tale and pretty small.

Conclusion
If you love warhammer and want to read all stories then go for it. If you like warhammer but doesn't need to read all stories then skip these one. The Laughter of the Dark Gods has the best stories. (Along with Trollslayer and Silver Nails). The drawings are a nice touch and I am sorry that these new tales don't have them.

[Roman Kurys · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I didn't know what to actually expect from this book. This was my first foray into the world of Warhammer and at the end of it all, I think it was ok.

This is a compilation of 8 stories that are not really related to one another in any way other then they are all happening in Warhammer world. I think the book is aimed at people who have played Warhammer games or painted the figures or have basic understanding of Warhammer. I didn't, but after looking through the map included with the book and reading the stories it really gives you a general idea what Warhammer is all about.

A pretty morbid fantasy world with a strange system of government and secular authorities acting on their own, with magic being very alive and well.

William King's "Wolf Riders" and Jack Yeovil's "No Gold in the Grey Mountains" definitely made the book for me. Those two stories made the book worth reading.

Other stories were mediocre at best.

Pulg's Grand Carnival doesn't even feel like a finished tale, just kind of just ends as if author couldn't think of how to continue.

Overall I feel 3 stars was what this book deserved, given 25% of it I enjoyed greatly, 50% was ok, and last 25% were a waste of time.

Wouldn't suggest reading unless you're into Warhammer or trying to get more lore about Warhammer. Personally, I'm interested to see more about the lore, so will probably read some more Warhammer books sometimes later in the year.


Roman

[Pavel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Jedna z prvních sbírek fantasy povídek, která u nás po listopadu vyšla. O nějakém Warhammeru tehdy nikdo netušil a knížka šla mezi kamarády z ruky do ruky. Ale i po té době si myslím, že je to hodně kvalitní výběr. Dostatečně pestrý námětově i stylově.

[Timothy Deraps · Rating 1 out of 5]

I did not like this book! It was boring.

[Love of Hopeless Causes · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Tilean Rat," by Sandy Mitchell is great. It features Buttermere Warble a halfling detective. "No Gold in the Grey Mountains," has stuck with me.

[Jesse Callaghan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collection of stories of varying quality. Fairly representative of the Oldworld setting from the 3rd - 5th edition era.