Age of the Undead: A Zombicide Black Plague Novel

Zombicide Universe

by C.L. Werner

In a fantasy realm shattered by the zombie apocalypse, a bold Knight must enlist unlikely allies while discovering the source of undead corruption, in this darkly humorous adventure from the bestselling game range, Black Plague

When Knight Alaric von Mertz loses his family to a ravenous zombie horde, he swears revenge on the necromancer responsible. But a quest forvengeance is no easy matter in a world overrun by the walking dead. Joined by a sharp-tongued rogue, a witch hunter with secret knowledge, a novice wizard, and a dwarfdemolition master, Alaric’s journey leads him from magical fire moats to the zombie-ridden catacombs of the witch hunters to uncover a spell book of insurmountable power. As zombies claw and bite, Alaric fears he will never avenge his family. For in this age of the undead, betrayal and magic lurk around every corner, spelling either doom or salvation for them all.

Genres: Horror, Fantasy

336 pages, Paperback

Published June 21, 2022

Reviews

[Dani (piggindani_reads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zombies? Yes, please.
Book cover with WoW vibes as well as zombies? HELL YEAH!
Seriously, the moment I saw the cover, I knew I had to read it.
And I am so glad I did.
Since rediscovering my love of reading, fantasy has become one of my favourite genres, and this book is not only fantasy but fantasy with zombies!! What's not to love?!
Add an unlikely group of misfits thrown together as the only known survivors of the Zombie Apocolypse results in a perfect combination for the most EPIC of adventures!

Once again, I've never played the game, so all I can base my opinions on is the writing style, story and characters.
I fricking loved this book! The pages are full to bursting (like some of the zombies in this book. Lol) with action, adventure, and perilous mini-quests with a splattering of humour and banter that keeps you fully engaged page after page.

The level of detail and description is brain-illant (brilliant. forgive my poor zombie humour. Lol). It's not only easy to visualise a mallet smashing a zombie's skull to smithereens, but the smells come to life too. It all adds to the gruesome imagery that sets this book apart from others.

I have to say that my favourite part has to be the characters.
Individually they have their charms, characteristics and flaws that make them easy to like, but when they converse with each other, either in small groups or together, you get a true sense of who they are. Mistrust and suspicion slowly turn into respect and admiration and proves you can't judge a book by its cover. I love a morally grey character, so you won't be surprised to find out my favourite is Gaiseric. He is your typical cheeky, lovable rogue. And the relationship he has with Helchen is *chef's kiss* I love it.

There is a twist that is a little predictable, but meh, I kind of like feeling smug that I knew that was going to happen.

Thank you so much, TheBooknetwork.co.uk and Acolyte books, for the arc ebook in return for an honest review.

[Jeremy Fowler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Zombicide rides again with this historic Middle Ages zombie plague! This was a super fresh take on the classic zombie adventure that we have come to expect. This story follows rogue necromancers as they attempt to combat the witch hunters tracking them across the land.

This story felt like it could have been a DND campaign but that made it even more fun to follow! I enjoyed it and I think it has a lot to offer readers of all ages. It was a bit of a slow burn but I have come to expect that with high fantasy books and this story really felt like that. Check it out!






Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

[Josh Simons · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn’t care for it much. Very little tension despite being filled with zombies. I didn’t care much about the survivors. HATED the character Ratbag and his rumpuz dialogue. Despite being a fan of the game, the book was a chore.

[Charlie Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quality hack and slash, sword and sorcery at its best! I love the game this book is based on, so the world building was quick to grasp and the rules of the realm felt natural. I enjoyed the characters and their growth which surprised me, as the game is a beer and pretzels co-op.
Werner struck gold with this and I hope this turns into a long series! If you’ve played the game Zombicide! Black Plague, this book will add some great color to your future sessions. If you HAVE NOT played the game, this book will still make sense and be a fun read. And go play the game!

[Myles · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Conan the Cimmerian style sword and sorcery style fantasy mixed with necromancers and zombies, what more could you want?

A group of heroes consisting of a knight, a rogue, a witch Hunter, a mage, a dwarf demolitions expert, and an orc with his canine companion team up in Zombicide Black Plague Age of the Undead. A necromancer has spread the black plague causing zombies to rise up under his command.

Werner has managed to capture the magic of the Zombicide Black Plague board games perfectly, while still creating a story that is original and separates itself enough from its source material. Our heroes are forced to save themselves, protect others they find along the way, and stop the zombie outbreak. The book uses typical enemies from the board game such as runners and abominations.

Even if you are not a Zombicide fan, this is still a fantastic story with a medieval setting, featuring fantastic and well written characters, action, and betrayal.

[Siobhain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been a fan of zombie media for a long time, from watching the original black and white George Romero to playing Resident Evil on the PS1 I was exposed to the world of zombies and have enjoyed them ever since. It might seem like a strange thing to say but there is so much more than guts and gore with survival horror. Zombicide is probably one of my favourite board games dealing with this, even more so than The Walking Dead ones. Add to that the Black Plague and they have managed to merge two of my favourite things, zombies and high fantasy! So of course I was excited when I learnt about this entry into the growing Zombicide tie-ins!

As always Aconyte and C.L Warner have done wonders at bringing a game to life in the form of tie-in fiction. From the first page of the prologue C.L Warner does what they do best and brings the world to life. All our senses are invoked, including smell! Anyone who knows me knows I have a pet hate of people in horror, especially survival horror ignoring the sense of smell. Thankfully so far both Zombicide titles have done just this to great effect!

I found that the narrative was paced perfectly and gave the sense not only of the game it is inspired from but also a bit like the start of a D & D (or your preferred roleplaying game) party. We meet a mix match of survivors who each bring their own unique skills to the ‘team’. Of course, with these skills come conflict, something C.L Warner manages wonderfully and this is one of the main things I love about survival horror be it games, fiction or other forms of media. You get and find people from all walks of life suddenly having to work together, if they can, to survive. It doesn’t take long for the conflicts to arise and while they may not escalate too far the simmering of them continues throughout in a lot of cases which I found keeps the tension and pace of the plot.

Speaking of the characters, they are all wonderful! Each one had a chance to shine and evolve throughout the novel. Of course I was biased to a certain rogue and wizard but all of the characters drew me in. I never like to spoil the story in my reviews but I will say that Warner was able to make me fall in love with the wizard’s familiar in just a few lines! Being a zombie novel it’s safe to say that maybe not everyone will make it but that never affected the characters in the story. That is to say Warner spent time on even those who may not make it right to the end which in turn makes it all the more emotional (especially if you are like me) when we do lose them.

The only downside to this book is there isn’t more of it! I was so invested in the setting and characters that I want, no need, to know what happens next. Thankfully there is an opening for another novel and I will keep everything crossed there is. Honestly, it had all that you could want from a zombie novel! Gore, horror, conflicts of the group, growing tense and more. It is a must read for fans of zombies and horror, fantasy horror and of course the zombicide games. I just really, really hope there is a second one!

I was given a copy of this book for free as part of the book tour and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

The ebook of this title became available on the 7th June with the hard copies due to release on the 14th. If you love zombies, fantasy, action, gore or zombicide this is one you do not want to miss.

[Adam Selby-Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

It seems like every few months, publisher Aconyte Books – rapidly taking multiple genres by storm at the moment – announces that they have the license to another awesome boardgame or role-playing game that they can use to develop some more of their incredibly high-quality tie-in fiction. They began with stalwarts like Arkham Horror and Legend of the Five Rings, two properties that still form a key part of their portfolio, but the publisher quickly expanded with a wide variety of licenses across numerous genres – from sci-fi games like Twilight Imperium and Terraforming Mars, to fast-paced apocalyptic boardgame Pandemic, and even the popular CCG KeyForge. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed reading and reviewing the titles that Aconyte have published based on those properties, particularly the way that the publisher has carefully matched authors with properties, resulting in brilliant reads like Josh Reynolds’ Wrath of N’Kai or Marie Brennan’s The Night Parade of 100 Demons, and am always eager to see what is next in their ever-expanding lineup. So when they announced a range of novels based on the popular Zombicide boardgame, I couldn’t wait to see what they would do with the license – especially since the fast-paced, gory zombie apocalypse boardgame has a variety of spin-offs that send it into space and even the medieval period.  

The first novel in the series, Josh Reynolds’ Last Resort, was a streamlined, action-packed and gore-soaked tribute to the ‘contemporary’ Zombicide setting that I thoroughly enjoyed, which set a high standard to follow. While I missed out on grabbing a review copy of Tim Waggoners’ Planet Havoc novel, which took place in the futuristic Zombicide Invader setting, fortunately I was in time to snag a review copy of the forthcoming Age of the Undead novel, set in the medieval-themed Zombicide: Black Plague and written by one of my favourite Black Library alumnus, C.L. Werner. Werner is the author of some of the best fantasy-themed fiction ever published by Black Library, including the darkly humorous Thanquol and Boneripper series, as well as some fantastic stories involving the Dwarf-like Kharadron Overlords, and of course the cult classic Marius Thulman – Witch Hunter series. Werner is a master of the fantasy genre, and I was greatly looking forward to seeing what he could do with Zombicide: Black Plague as a setting. My intrigue was only heightened by the superbly grisly cover art, and a back-cover blurb that promised a vengeful Knight gathering together a motley band of allies to defeat a sorcerous necromancer responsible for unleashing a zombie apocalypse upon his homeland. I couldn’t wait to see what Werner had in store for me, and dived straight into the novel as soon as I could. 

Age of the Undead opens with a classic Werner prologue, in which he deftly lays out the cause of the afore-mentioned zombie apocalypse and how it spread across the land, banished and defamed necromancers rallying together to uncover ancient and twisted occult artifacts in order to raise an army of the undead. When the undead horde massacres a living army raised to put it down, the corpses of the knights and peasants only further bolstering it, those few survivors flee the battlefield and look for shelter elsewhere. Protagonist Alaric von Metz, a gallant knight, races back to the village of Mertz and his family’s castle – only to find its fearsome defences battered down and its defenders slaughtered to a man. The only survivor is charismatic thief Gaiseric, stuck in the castle dungeons and barely able to outwit the undead infesting the castle; when the two meet, they soon discover that the zombie horde that attacked the castle was raised by the terrifying necromancer Brunon Gogol, and Alaric swears his revenge. But first the two men must escape the castle and its zombie inhabitants and find refuge, gathering together supplies and allies with the ultimate aim of killing Gogol and ending the zombie menace. As they travel through a country now transformed into a land inhabited by shambling corpses, they’ll find themselves fighting a desperate rearguard action to survive in a major town fallen to the dead, infiltrating a secretive facility operated by Witchfinders and guarded by fiendishly complex and deadly Dwarf-built traps, and encounter both necromancers and mysterious wizards with hidden agendas – all of which could spell their death or undeath.

One of the greatest strength of Age of the Undead are the characters found in the novel, with Werner clearly drawing upon his extensive Warhammer Fantasy and Age of Sigmar experience to craft a group of instantly-recognizable, yet distinctive characters that he deftly fleshes out into fully-developed protagonists as the novel progresses. Indeed, one of the most impressive elements of the novel is how each major character feels like they could be the protagonist of their own story within the Zombicide: Black Plague setting, despite the fact that several of them are not encountered until nearly half-way through the narrative. Alaric wrestles with the clashing nature of his duty to avenge the butchering of his family and retainers, as well as the need to protect his new friends and accomplish a mission that could save the lives of those left alive in much of the country, and Gaiseric has a neat arc where his career as a charming yet unrepentant thief finds new purpose in defusing many of the lethal traps and countermeasures facing the group. I think Witchfinder Helchen is a particularly engaging character, and I really enjoyed the way in which Werner had the apocalyptic events of the narrative – and the morally ambiguous and even compromising decisions she has to make along the way – fray at the edges of her iron resolve and monochrome worldview until she’s something quite different in the last chapter of the novel. Without wishing to spoil too much more about the plot, there are some other genuinely original and engaging characters that pop up in the plot as it progresses: the relationship between the wizard Hulmul and his magical familiar is something I haven’t really seen before, and an orcish character and his pet wolf that appear later on provide some amusing comic relief. The characters are supported by a fast-paced, blood-soaked narrative that hurls the small group against unrelenting hordes of zombies, with Werner deftly ensuring that each ‘special’ type of undead the group faces is nicely differentiated from the ‘common’ zombies that constitute the bulk of the shambling corpses, leading to some distinctly hair-raising and action-packed sequences, particularly towards the end of the story.

Age of the Undead is an atmospheric, blood-soaked & action-packed zombie-fest from C.L. Werner that perfectly meshes with the Zombicide: Black Plague setting, and demonstrates why Werner is such a prolific and popular author. His characters are deftly crafted and well-developed, there’s a carefully-developed atmosphere of quiet desperation and short, violent bursts of undead violence that permeates the entire narrative, and Werner manages to expand upon the overarching Zombicide setting while also imbuing it with his own unique take on the setting as a whole, creating something both unique and original. Age of the Undead ends with some intriguing plot points left dangling tantalizingly in front of us as readers, and I can only hope that Werner and Aconyte work together on future novels in the Zombicide series – and any other I.P.s that Werner might be interested in as well

[Michael Botterill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been provided with an advance copy of the new Zombicide: Black Plague book, Age of the Undead by C.L. Werner, published by Aconyte Books, so here is the honest review I promised in exchange for the book.

So here is an important disclaimer which is always important to put out there first. I have a casual work contact with Asmodee to demonstrate board games for them in stores and at conventions. Asmodee being the parent company of Aconyte the publisher.

I am also friend with Mr Werner on Facebook, however I am sure for him that’s more about connecting with fans rather than being one of my best buds, that said he is actually a really nice guy.

I am going to try my best to not let that cloud my judgement in this review, but I accept that subconsciously it might.

So let’s crack on with a review then!

What is Zombicide
Zombicide is a co-op adventure game set in a post zombie apocalyptic world, created by Guillotine Games and published by CMON.

Its someone of a Kickstarter success story and Black Plague is the standalone fantasy/medieval spinoff, but alas I do not own this version of the game.

The Story
The story sees a plague of the undead sweep over the land, and survivor of a battle against the horde, Alaric von Mertz, returns home to find its fallen to the ravenous zombies.

Swearing revenge on the necromancer responsible for his families deaths, he joins up with a rogueish thief, a witch hunter, a wizard, an Orc, a master dualist and a dwarven demolitions expert, as they make their way to a city, where they hope to find answers.

Unfortunately, the city has also fallen, and they find themselves drawn into a quest to maintain the protections for a refuge of survivors, by raiding the vault of the fortress of the cities branch of witch hunters.

But the undead lurk in every corner of the city!

Conclusion
The first thing that drew me into this book was the cover, its absolutely amazing, with World of Warcraft/Pathfinder vibes that just made me so keen to read it.

This story reads very much like a D&D campaign, and its just works so well, a group of misfits, forced to work together, despite mistrust and some bad history, as they kick down doors, kill the undead and loot the treasure.

Sounds daft, but it does read like that, but its not a bad thing, its so enjoyable to read, because it reminds me of so many nights as a 14 year old, drinking Virgin Cola and eating Wotsits in my pals bedroom as me and my friends delve into dungeons to complete an epic quest!

My only criticism, is that at times, the witch hunter, felt very much like the same character type from Warhammer books, and perhaps thats just me being more familiar with those books and the authors long history of writing in that IP that makes me associate his style with it.

Look, just go buy this book, its just such a kick arse read and I was super happy to get the opportunity to read it.

5 out of 5 Stars!

[Peter Buckmaster · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised when I realised this is written by CL Werner, the same chap who wrote The Tainted Heart. Age of the Undead shows Werner can write very well in a variety of tones (I've just started Briardark, which reinforces this opinion). I bought the book because I enjoy playing Zombiecide: Black Plague with my family (we've bought a fair bit of the extension stuff!).
Basically, if you like the game, you'll enjoy the book, I would say. Werner brings in the many elements of the game without making it feel like he's checking boxes. Walkers, Runners, Abominations, all present and correct! And a variety of heroes with varying motivations beyond survival, and a nice dollop of gore and undead mayhem.
Books, TV shows and films based on games have a fairly poor success rate, but I'd count this amongst the hits. A quick read that is fun but also has enough tension and decent characterisation that you do care for those battling the zombies.

[Chelsea-anne Kennedy · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the moment I saw this cover I knew I had to read it. We follow an unlikely band of heroes as they try fight of the zombie hordes caused by necromancers. A wizard, witchhunter, knight, orc and thief who don't all get along but put aside there differences to fight the undead. I found the characters to be well written and each had their own personality and unique skills. This book is a tie in of the board game but feels like a story of its own merit. I couldn't help but turn the pages to find out how our heroes would get out of each situation. The only disappointment was that it wasn't long enough. I wanted to spend more time in this world, luckily the end is framed in a way we could get more novels. Fingers crossed for those. Its a fun read and if you love zombies or magic give it a go.

I was given a copy of this book for free as part of the book tour and I am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

The ebook of this title became available on the 7th June with the hard copies being released today the 14th. If you love zombies, fantasy, action, gore or zombicide this is one you do not want to miss.

[Sean Danganan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great story based off and built into the lore of the board game counter part. Each band of misfit that slowly started to build out the party brought a unique skill in order to overcome the challenges present and ultimately defeat the quest. The humor was great and imagery of the zombie killings was very vivid with lots of creative kills.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a pleasant surprise, wasn't sure what to expect going in but I really loved this.

Exemplifies the best parts of zombie fiction with a great cast of characters and some unique fantasy elements.

C.L. Werner writes some really compelling character moments that were genuinely unexpected with certain characters learning to expand their worldview.

[Sue Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Age of the undead by C. L. Werner.
A Zombicide: Black Plauge Novel Book 3.
In a fantasy realm shattered by the zombie apocalypse, a bold Knight must enlist unlikely allies while discovering the source of undead corruption.
A good read. Likeable and unlikeable characters. I loved the cover. 4*.

[Eddie Harrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought going in that this book based off a board game would be a cheap cash grab. Couldn’t be further from the truth. The story and characters are all fantastically written. This is such a great fantasy novel on its own and cannot wait for the next

[Tacitus · Rating 2 out of 5]

About what I expected from a novel based on a zombie boardgame, nothing more, nothing less.

Lots of action, but also gore. Low character development and intrigue. The heroes were constantly bickering with each other in what felt like shallow TV-reality-show drama. However, there were moments when the shared hardships drew them together, but it never felt deep or meaningful.

[Chris W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rats are scarier than crows!
The first half of the book did not include a lot of action. This stretch was an average 3 star.
When I came into the second half of the book the action started to pick up, and I was considering a 4 star... But, even if the second half of non stop action was better, when I had finished the book I did not still feel like I had gotten very close to the characters - maybe excluding the knight. That the book ended in a cliffhanger (or two) actually worked as a negative for me. Also, I was annoyed that the personages on the cover did not reflect how the characters within the book was described, i.e. the knight in a helmet with a diamond shaped shield and the orc being dark green with a mattock weapon.
C.L. Werner is not at all a bad writer - just not a great one. So far I have given his other works twelve 3 star reviews and five 4 star reviews. This one adds to the 3 star list.