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Warhammer Fantasy
Necromancer
The fall from grace of a physician who becomes a necromancer in an effort to raise the dead in order to fulfil his own megalomania and finds the true nature of terror.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
3 people are currently reading
146 people want to read
About the author
Jonathan Green
267 books159 followersJonathan Green is a writer of speculative fiction, with more than seventy books to his name. Well known for his contributions to the Fighting Fantasy range of adventure gamebooks, he has also written fiction for such diverse properties as Doctor Who, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Warhammer, Warhammer 40,000, Sonic the Hedgehog, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Moshi Monsters, LEGO, Judge Dredd and Robin of Sherwood.
He is the creator of the Pax Britannia series for Abaddon Books and has written eight novels, and numerous short stories, set within this steampunk universe, featuring the debonair dandy adventurer Ulysses Quicksilver. He is also the author of an increasing number of non-fiction titles, including the award-winning YOU ARE THE HERO – A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.
He has recently taken to editing and compiling short story anthologies, including the critically-acclaimed GAME OVER and SHARKPUNK, published by Snowbooks, and the forthcoming Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu.
To find out more about his current projects visit www.JonathanGreenAuthor.com and follow him on Twitter @jonathangreen.
He is the creator of the Pax Britannia series for Abaddon Books and has written eight novels, and numerous short stories, set within this steampunk universe, featuring the debonair dandy adventurer Ulysses Quicksilver. He is also the author of an increasing number of non-fiction titles, including the award-winning YOU ARE THE HERO – A History of Fighting Fantasy Gamebooks.
He has recently taken to editing and compiling short story anthologies, including the critically-acclaimed GAME OVER and SHARKPUNK, published by Snowbooks, and the forthcoming Shakespeare Vs Cthulhu.
To find out more about his current projects visit www.JonathanGreenAuthor.com and follow him on Twitter @jonathangreen.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 8, 2020
Fortunately for the people of Bögenhafen, during the Great Incursion of the Imperial year 2302, the invading armies of the north failed to reach as far south as the Reikland, although there was a rise in the activities of proscribed cults at the time and herds of beastmen ran amok throughout the forests, terrorizing the roads through for the best part of the year.
Jonathan Green's fifth novel, I've found an used copy for cheap on Amazon.uk together with many other old books from Black Library, is an excellent grimdark fantasy retelling of H.P. Lovecraft's Herbert West: Reanimator and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward with strong Mary Shelley's Frankenstein vibes.
It was midnight, when all the malevolent things in the world went about their evil work. It was the witching hour. It was the time of black magicians and necromancers.
It was the time of the corpse takers.
Necromancer chronicles the origin tale of 213 years old necromancer Deiter Heydrich, told from his point of view while confessing his past sins on death bed to a priest of Morr.
I enjoyed a lot this dark gothic fantasy tale about the fall from grace of young Dieter, obsessed with death since his mother passed away when he was a kid and growing up as the son of a cleric of the God of Death and Dreams, trying to help others becoming a physician and being pushed on darker paths by fate and a fanatical witch hunter.
Dieter was raving now. There was a manic quality to his demeanour. 'I think the library there holds the answers I'm looking for, the secret knowledge I've been searching for without really realising it. I think that in that library I'll find the means to put off death, delay it, prevent it; perhaps conquer it altogether!'
Erich stared back at Dieter aghast, not knowing what to
say.
Highly recommended to all fans of the Old World, gothic horror, and WFRP game-masters/players looking for insights about the clergy of Morr and a detailed, atmospheric, and well written city guide to use while playing Shadows over Bögenhafen or other adventures/campaigns set in that Empire mercantile town.
Sadly my pen and paper RPGs days are over since years, because this novel is filled with scenario ideas to use in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay or other ones.
A very entertaining gothic horror read, just stay away from it if you are looking for an action-packed Warhammer tale.
What had he done? He had killed a man. But more than that, he had murdered the man he had once considered to be his best, possibly his only, true friend.
Erich looked from the cooling corpse of Leopold Hanser to the white-faced Dieter Heydrich and smiled. It was a sick smile that in the lantern-light contorted his face into a grotesque daemonic visage.
'Well, now we have our body', he chuckled.
Kudos for cover illustration from artist Geoff Taylor.
May 30, 2013
I loved this book. It came as a bit of a surprise, because I didn't know it existed just a few days ago. Thx to the friend who recommend it!
Basically it follows a two timelines.
In first we see a frail old man, defeated by many years of living, carrying a heavy burden who came to dye in Morr's temple infirmary.
As a priest of Morr, who is God of death and dreams, it is priest Ludwik duty to ease old man's passage so he listens to his horrific and unbelievable confession.
In second timeline we see a young boy who just lost his mother and is condemned to live with his cold and austere father, who is also a priest of the dead God. So he grows up surrounded by death and decay. Thus further developing a natural talent that will one day connect him with eldritch currents that flow from all dead things.
Then this boy grows up and there his journey starts. He chooses to become apprentice to physician guild. He wants to combat death. This will take him through denying his natural affinity to embracing it, when those around him plot to exploit him.
Basically it follows a two timelines.
In first we see a frail old man, defeated by many years of living, carrying a heavy burden who came to dye in Morr's temple infirmary.
As a priest of Morr, who is God of death and dreams, it is priest Ludwik duty to ease old man's passage so he listens to his horrific and unbelievable confession.
In second timeline we see a young boy who just lost his mother and is condemned to live with his cold and austere father, who is also a priest of the dead God. So he grows up surrounded by death and decay. Thus further developing a natural talent that will one day connect him with eldritch currents that flow from all dead things.
Then this boy grows up and there his journey starts. He chooses to become apprentice to physician guild. He wants to combat death. This will take him through denying his natural affinity to embracing it, when those around him plot to exploit him.
September 14, 2022
This was a fun Warhammer Fantasy novel. It is about Dieter Heydrich, a young physician apprentice who starts out wanting to help people but, because of his innate connection with death, falls into the dark practice of necromancy. The atmosphere of the Empire in the Warhammer Old World is captured quite well. The writing style is very unique for a Black Library book. It's written as something like a pastiche of an 18th-c.. novel. It reminded me of Shelley's Frankenstein in pacing and narrative style (although this is not first-person throughout each chapter frame reminds the reader that the story is effectively a confession--like Frankenstein's). Although there are some brief Easter egg references to the Skaven, Witch Hunters, Imperial cities, etc., this novel is clearly focused on Dieter's dark descent (and not Warhammer source material). Although the Warhammer Old World setting "feeling" is spot on, the actual source material is used in a less than expected way for a Black Library novel. Is there a sequel to this? Does Dieter Heydrich show up in other novels? I hope so.
May 30, 2012
Necromancer deals with an interesting story of the ways of the necromancer.It starts has Father Ludwink a priest of Moor of 55 years old that comes into a cell where he was summon by another Brother of the order, Brother Matteus Oswald. The priests of Moor have the duty to easy the burden and make the passage from this life to the other more easily.The priests of Moor are used to be the confessors of the near-death. Even if that is not their work. Brother Matteus Oswald begins to told his story and begins telling his real name, his profression and his age. Deiter Heydrich a necromancer with 213 years.The story he is about to tell begins with his coming to the town of Bögenhafen to study the arts of physician. There he meet his roomate Erich Karlsen an student with several complains with the teaching methods of the Doktors. In school he befriends Leopold Hanser. He then becomes the personal pupil of the Headmaster Doktor/Professor Theodrus.He then learn about the Tale of the Corpse Taker. And after some several ocurrences he becomes interesting in the art of necromancy but not with the vile person he thinks of it. He wants to make people live longer, probably never die. He find a doktor The plague comes to the town and allows him and his friend Erich to learn more with dead corpses. Heydrich talk to a madman who seems to know about necromancy and lives in fear that the necromancer will come for him. Afterwards the templars are summon to the town to take care of this problem of body snatchers and they think Heydrich is behind this. But there is a turn of events and the madman is convicted for heresy. The friend of Heydrich founds him and Erich doing some expriments and Heydrich kills him and make expriments on him. The loving sister that Heydrich loved so much passed away, and Heydrich comes to a dilemna of raising her or not. But in the end he couldn't do it.Meanwhile Doktor Drakus, who is the man behind the plague and the necromancy practise, and the man Heydrich and Erich had spied before, reveals himself that he from time to time, change bodies with an healthier person. He tries to do it on Heydrich but is unsucceful. In the end we return to the confession where the father Oswald is taken aback from all events. In the end the real reason Heydrich was doing this was to take the father body and so he did.
About this book.. Well this was a different type of book. It had that sence of doom and gothic tales that we are accoustumed in warhammer but it was it. There was little or no action, not that it can't be good. It can. But I think the book should had something more. If I didn't know I would say that this was the first book of a series. Because the question is made. What happen to him in that 200 years. Well on the end I must say that It was the book I liked less in all warhammer fantasy set. But If you like a story where you can see a character development and the beggining of the necromancers I would advice it.
About this book.. Well this was a different type of book. It had that sence of doom and gothic tales that we are accoustumed in warhammer but it was it. There was little or no action, not that it can't be good. It can. But I think the book should had something more. If I didn't know I would say that this was the first book of a series. Because the question is made. What happen to him in that 200 years. Well on the end I must say that It was the book I liked less in all warhammer fantasy set. But If you like a story where you can see a character development and the beggining of the necromancers I would advice it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 31, 2025
Una historia dentro del mundo de Warhammer, que comienza con su protagonista agonizando a las puertas de la muerte contando cómo transcurrió su vida, desde su pertenencia al gremio de los médicos y cómo llegó a conocer las artes oscuras de la nigromancia… bien narrado y ambientado en el mundo fantástico-medieval de Warhammer, pero para mí le falta algo de profundidad a la historia.
March 4, 2015
This book was surprisingly hard to track down, being one of the Black Library's earlier printed works. But, I finally found it, and as I was interested in writing a story from a necromancer's POV, I dove right in.
Green crafts a really good story about the life of a young boy as he leaves home to become a physician. Since we've already met him on his death bed, we know he eventually becomes a necromancer, so already the reader knows this will be a story of corruption and such. Green does a fairly good job making the protagonist's story interesting. We see the things that motivate him, the excitement when he brushes the darker arts, and the reader can easily understand why, at times, he does what he does.
However, there ends up being more than one point where the protagonist does something that leaves the reader questioning his actions as they seem to go against everything he has been pursuing at the time. This, coupled with an almost stereotypical Frankenstein like trope character motivation slowly kills the story as it advances.
The story itself becomes less about being a necromancer than one about a youth struggling against his manipulative friend and his desire to suddenly control death. I found it very hard to believe that someone who was such a good student and carried such a fear of Necromancers would suddenly start animating the dead simply because he now believes he could cure anything. Raising the dead. The ONE thing necromancers do, and suddenly he thinks he's different than them. This would almost be believable if Green gave an adequate enough reason for the boy to think this way, but alas, there isn't enough at that point to warrant such a radical ignoring of the facts.
Still, there were more than enough elements within this book to make it interesting and enjoyable. If you are interested in reading something about a necromancer and how one becomes it, this book may be for you. I personally would have preferred more of his life as a necromancer, but all in all this was just as entertaining.
Green crafts a really good story about the life of a young boy as he leaves home to become a physician. Since we've already met him on his death bed, we know he eventually becomes a necromancer, so already the reader knows this will be a story of corruption and such. Green does a fairly good job making the protagonist's story interesting. We see the things that motivate him, the excitement when he brushes the darker arts, and the reader can easily understand why, at times, he does what he does.
However, there ends up being more than one point where the protagonist does something that leaves the reader questioning his actions as they seem to go against everything he has been pursuing at the time. This, coupled with an almost stereotypical Frankenstein like trope character motivation slowly kills the story as it advances.
The story itself becomes less about being a necromancer than one about a youth struggling against his manipulative friend and his desire to suddenly control death. I found it very hard to believe that someone who was such a good student and carried such a fear of Necromancers would suddenly start animating the dead simply because he now believes he could cure anything. Raising the dead. The ONE thing necromancers do, and suddenly he thinks he's different than them. This would almost be believable if Green gave an adequate enough reason for the boy to think this way, but alas, there isn't enough at that point to warrant such a radical ignoring of the facts.
Still, there were more than enough elements within this book to make it interesting and enjoyable. If you are interested in reading something about a necromancer and how one becomes it, this book may be for you. I personally would have preferred more of his life as a necromancer, but all in all this was just as entertaining.
June 11, 2016
It starts with so much Frankenstein it's almost too funny, but it does get to touch you eventually, with a very harsh, screwed up story of a boy growing up to find more power. Why, how and at what cost - is all a lovely little conspiracy plot. Would definitely read again.
August 7, 2025
‘Nigromante’ es una grata sorpresa, quizás porque mis expectativas con las novelas de Warhammer no suelen ser muy altas, fuera de sus principales autores como Dan Abnett, William King o Graham McNeill. Es una novela que se sale de la tónica habitual, ya que a diferencia de la mayoría, no se regodea en interminables batallas y sangrientas descripciones de combates protagonizados por personajes planos. En ‘Nigromante’, la trama se centra en el desarrollo de su protagonista, Dieter Haydrich, con un recorrido que abarca desde sus primeros pasos como estudiante de medicina hasta su conversión en infame nigromante.
La novela, aun estando enmarcada en el género fantástico al que pertenece la franquicia Warhammer, coquetea con el terror y tiene una clara inspiración en ‘Frankenstein’ y otros clásicos del género. Aunque introduce muchas referencias, guiños y menciones que enmarcan la narración en el Viejo Mundo de Warhammer, realmente podr��a ser una obra totalmente independiente, ambientada en un contexto medieval genérico.
Una de las cosas que más me ha gustado de ‘Nigromante’ es su carácter introspectivo, así como el intento que hace el autor de hacer creíbles las motivaciones del protagonista. Es muy interesante ver cómo, partiendo de una noble aspiración de estudiar medicina para ayudar a los demás, Dieter acaba degenerando más y más hasta convertirse en algo radicalmente distinto. Una caída en desgracia quizá demasiado rápida, que merecería la pena haberse desarrollado con más calma para resultar más creíble. Y es que toda la narración se intenta encajar en el transcurso de apenas un año, un tiempo probablemente insuficiente para mostrar una evolución tan grande. Hay alguna decisión que toma el protagonista que no resulta demasiado verosimil (quizás por esa premura en desarrollar el personaje).
Respecto al estilo, en general es ameno y fácil de seguir, a pesar de que tiene tendencia a abusar de los adjetivos (la versión en español está llena de erratas, pero eso es otra historia).
En resumen, una novela bastante digna. Entretenida y bastante al margen de lo habitual en la franquicia de Warhammer.
La novela, aun estando enmarcada en el género fantástico al que pertenece la franquicia Warhammer, coquetea con el terror y tiene una clara inspiración en ‘Frankenstein’ y otros clásicos del género. Aunque introduce muchas referencias, guiños y menciones que enmarcan la narración en el Viejo Mundo de Warhammer, realmente podr��a ser una obra totalmente independiente, ambientada en un contexto medieval genérico.
Una de las cosas que más me ha gustado de ‘Nigromante’ es su carácter introspectivo, así como el intento que hace el autor de hacer creíbles las motivaciones del protagonista. Es muy interesante ver cómo, partiendo de una noble aspiración de estudiar medicina para ayudar a los demás, Dieter acaba degenerando más y más hasta convertirse en algo radicalmente distinto. Una caída en desgracia quizá demasiado rápida, que merecería la pena haberse desarrollado con más calma para resultar más creíble. Y es que toda la narración se intenta encajar en el transcurso de apenas un año, un tiempo probablemente insuficiente para mostrar una evolución tan grande. Hay alguna decisión que toma el protagonista que no resulta demasiado verosimil (quizás por esa premura en desarrollar el personaje).
Respecto al estilo, en general es ameno y fácil de seguir, a pesar de que tiene tendencia a abusar de los adjetivos (la versión en español está llena de erratas, pero eso es otra historia).
En resumen, una novela bastante digna. Entretenida y bastante al margen de lo habitual en la franquicia de Warhammer.
February 5, 2025
Uffff…. Creo q después de 5 intentos, este ha sido el final de un libro suplicio de WHF.
Quitando un par de capítulos q se puede contar con la mano de un veterano de guerra manco y que le faltan tres dedos, el resto de capítulos no se salva y son cansino y agotadores mentalmente
Para los que sientan curiosidad por una de las primeras novelas q se publicaron en español de Warhammer, que prometía mucho pero que personalemnte ha sido como una carne chiclosa que por mucho que lo intentes y lo estés masticando, se hace bola y no consigues tragártelo
No voy a perder más el tiempo en esta novela 2/5
Quitando un par de capítulos q se puede contar con la mano de un veterano de guerra manco y que le faltan tres dedos, el resto de capítulos no se salva y son cansino y agotadores mentalmente
Para los que sientan curiosidad por una de las primeras novelas q se publicaron en español de Warhammer, que prometía mucho pero que personalemnte ha sido como una carne chiclosa que por mucho que lo intentes y lo estés masticando, se hace bola y no consigues tragártelo
No voy a perder más el tiempo en esta novela 2/5
August 21, 2020
I rarely comment on my books read, however, I felt that this one is worth saying something about.
I love the black library books, they're my guilty pleasure books that I really enjoy reading just for the dumb fun of them. However, I found Necromancer to be overly verbose, as if the author is trying to impress the reader with his overactive vocabulary and necessary overuse of adjectives. I'd give this one a swerve if you like reading the warhammer books for some enjoyable reading.
I read the tales of thanqual and boneripper recently and found them much more enjoyable to read than this.
I love the black library books, they're my guilty pleasure books that I really enjoy reading just for the dumb fun of them. However, I found Necromancer to be overly verbose, as if the author is trying to impress the reader with his overactive vocabulary and necessary overuse of adjectives. I'd give this one a swerve if you like reading the warhammer books for some enjoyable reading.
I read the tales of thanqual and boneripper recently and found them much more enjoyable to read than this.
April 11, 2023
Tal vez se centra demasiado en los orígenes del protagonista para mi gusto sin embargo las últimas páginas fueron muy satisfactorias aunque veía venir ese giro desde el principio.
Como curiosidad nunca creí que leería algo del universo Warhammer.
Como curiosidad nunca creí que leería algo del universo Warhammer.
December 26, 2020
Me costó engancharme al principio pero mejora y merece la pena por momentos.
Me gusta como esta redactado y el ritmo que toma.
Lo único que no me gusto es que te deja con ganas de saber más.
Me gusta como esta redactado y el ritmo que toma.
Lo único que no me gusto es que te deja con ganas de saber más.
April 6, 2025
Al principio es un poco lento, pero una vez coge ritmo acabas devorando el libro.
March 22, 2016
Meh. So much of early 40k/fantasy falls into this ... 'a little too on the nose' sort of story, and Jonathan Green is one of the worst perpetrators. Despite the AWESOME cover, this book is basically ... 'a decent guy is turned to evil because a witch hunter is a douche to him. It's almost as if the Empire CREATES ITS OWN MONSTERS.' Ho-hum.
June 21, 2016
A basic origin story, so it was pretty slow going. I think it might have been better told as aseries of flashbacks during something more interesting. Nod bad, just not great.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews