Witch Finder

Matthias Thulmann: Witch Hunter #2

by C.L. Werner

Within the shadows of the grim medieval Old World, the sinister agents of darkness plot the downfall of the civilised realms. Their numbers are unknown and their masters can only be guessed at, but they are legion and they are deadly. To combat the insidious threat, the Old World has drawn upon the services of witch hunters -- ruthless men who have dedicated their lives to hunting down the evil with the land The author of the Brunner novels, CL Werner, showed off the talents of witch hunter Mathias Thulmann in the first novel in this series, "Witch Hunter," Now Thulmann is back and the stakes are even higher

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, High Fantasy, Novels

253 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2005

Reviews

[Jason Ray Carney · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great Warhammer Fantasy novel that features Nurgle, the Skaven, vampires, and noir intrigue. Thulmann, the main character, is similar in spirit to Robert E. Howard's famous "Solomon Kane" character, but he is not a carbon copy. He is distinct. For example, Thulmann is less fanatical than Kane and ever-so-slightly makes exceptions to his rigid Sigmarite principles; he also has a sidekick, Streng, who joyfully foils the Witch Hunter's piety with profanity. This novel features a plague conspiracy in the city of Wurtbad that encompasses several subplots. It feels unique in the amount of POV villains. We witness the decline of the Baron as he is embraced by Nurgle. We follow the necromancer, Carandini, and his Necrarch comrade-in-darkness, Sibbechai. We learn about the fate of Gregor Klausner, the heir of the Klausner line treated in the previous novel, *Witch Hunter.* We learn about Grey Seer Skilk and his plottings with morbid Herr Doktor Weichs. There are so many cool elements of the dark fantasy Warhammer setting that are lovingly brought in. Werner's such a skilled storyteller. His ability to craft complex and enthralling plots and braid them all together in an ever-so-satisfying climax/spectacle impresses here.

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

So how much does Mathias Thulmann resemble Solomon Kane? Somewhat. Kane spends his time in the borderlands of the world, channeling his disturbingly ecstatic relationship to violence and digging out the elder troubles. Thulmann travels the heart of the empire, digging out the rot within, a rot intent on destroying human civilization. While Thulmann is clearly a zealot, one never gets the impression that he's outright nuts.

This is a lean, efficiently-told story, and while the plot can't quite be considered intricate, there are quite a few wheels--I think I counted five separate subplots at one point, all sprung from one or two sources--and these all grind with a grim inevitability toward an impressive collision. Any one of these could have been a full book in itself, yet Werner packs them all in here, not a word wasted.

The intriguing viewpoint of the human adversaries is that the Chaos aspects of the setting, the Dark Gods and mutation-causing warpstone, are not evil or inimical: that they represent natural forces which humanity as yet cannot control or understand. This was a neat justification for humans intent on tomfoolery with such things.

I also want to hear more about the skaven, the ratlike adversaries of humanity, whose worldview is completely antagonistic and terrifying beyond Peter Jackson's imaginings of orcs.

[Tomáš Drako · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tak toto bola mocná nálož čistokrvnej temnej fantasy.
Bolo tam všetko čo očakávam od temneho Warhammer sveta. Nechutné chaosom znasilnene kreatúry, prekliata skavenská rasa, upíri, plus celé je to obalené do príjemného morom zasiahnutého mesta.
Tento raz sa musí lovec čarodejníc riadne obraciať

[Adam · Rating 2 out of 5]

"In the grim medieval Old World, the dreaded Witch Hunters are feared above all others. These tyrannical individuals are tasked with hunting out evil throughout the towns and villages, using whatever means they find necessary in order to destroy those foolish enough to ally with the Dark Powers. Counted amongst the most zealous of the Witch Hunters is Mathias Thulmann, a ruthless individual whose exploits are recounted to scare citizens of the Empire."

Yeah, yeah... any more lies they want to tell us? Think of witch-hunter, no, READ what they say about witch hunters, then run it through knigtly-virtues filter and you get Mathias Thulmann - the lonely righteous fighter that has conscience, is in fact a symbol of justice, the only witch-hunter that will treat you well, and is badass only when it really doesn't matter (when he wants a room to sleep in or a coach to ride in).

One of the worst books from the world of Warhammer I've ever read (Konrad trilogy is among them). After the first book from the Mathias Thulmann trilogy I had mixed feelings, but this one was just too much... I don't have the energy to write anything more than that the characters were boring, the story wasn't interesting at all, and the ending was just horrifyingly bad - who wants about 5 villains at the same place at the same time in a free4all battle?! Yeah, it may sound cool, but is most definitely not...

[Billisonthewagon · Rating 3 out of 5]

In terms of prose, tone, and overall just "getting" the setting of Warhammer Fantasy, CL Werner continues to the one of the best.

This book finds Mathias Thulman continuing the search for evil Dr Weichs in the plague stricken city of Wurtbad.

This book almost literally has it all: Skaven, necromancers, chaos corruption, vampires, plagues, political intrigue, magical books, semi love interests. If this sounds like a bit too much for 200 pages you aren't entirely wrong. A lot of the setup in this book kind of ends flatly, and arguably nothing would have been lost by excising some of these plots. One, in particular, being the character from the previous book returning as a vampire. Which was setup as something important in the last book, and addressed in this book, but it does not end up feeling important or necessary at all. If I had to guess, I think CL Werner likes the idea of violence being sudden and shocking, and people not always dying purposeful deaths, but while that might tonally appropriate for the Warhammer universe, it can sometimes feel thematically unexciting for an actual story.

When you hit the last 20 or so pages you will probably find yourself thinking "There's no possible way he ties this all up in this amount of time?" And the answer is, he makes a bold effort. Some of it is obviously saved for the next book, but a lot of shit just happens quite rapid fire.

Mathias himself hasn't evolved much as a character. We see more of a good and noble side in this book, trying and ultimately failing to save a tower filled with innocent people from being burned down. He finds himself connecting with the tough daughter of a local magistrate as well. There are some hints at her being a love interest, but it ulimately doesn't really go anywhere either.

All in all, I mean, there's not much to say for such a fast paced and short book. The action is somewhat fun, and writing is on point for hitting the Warhammer tone, but nothing of much importance happens and very and much of what is resolved could have been resolved in the previous book. I think I am starting to see some of the restraints of Warhammer fiction after reading close to a dozen in the past year. Very little is allowed to change or impact the world. It's much more about "flavor" and exploring the edges of the world, than landing in the center with powerful world changing events and characters. That's fine, Warhammer still feels more fleshed out than nearly all other fantasy worlds. With so many hands stirring the pot obviously it should, but sometimes I do find myself wanting bigger earth shattering things to happen from time to time. That may just be in the book I am choosing to read, so we will see as I go forward exploring this universe.

[Peter Rybarczyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very different from the first one but once again, is just an ideal book to read in bus/plane/train, etc. like With Hunter.
The plot and characters are interesting again but you don't need to focus on them and you can take a break anytime. The story is much more "epic" than the first one, this time there is not some village and castle but the entire town at stake. There is much more blood and death, less mystery but this shows the second side of the Warhammer World. Where Dark Powers are a real danger, not only myths.

[Iain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Solid though rather lackluster. Weichs is surprisingly weak given the build up to this point, the Skaven are surprisingly strong, the incredibly powerful vampire ... not powerful when it counts, and Thulman is unevenly portrayed throughout.

Not a bad story, but not a good one either.

Will read the final story in the trilogy because it's between the same covers - but were it a separate book I don't know that I'd care to.

[NerdyReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice, quick read to add to the warhammer mythos. Although the book may have too many characters (especially villains) for it's short length it manages to wrap up nicely at the end with an awesome battle of Skaven, vampires, zombies and humans in the middle. Pretty epic.

[Matthew Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and dark tale, with an impressive roster of overlapping threats and a wonderfully chaotic finale.

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good middle book in the trilogy, full of twists and turns

[Adrian Dumitru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good! Action packed , autentic warhammer !

[NekroRider · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars - will post thoughts later

[Maetco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very different from the first book Witch Hunter. The first was basically a murder mystery where the reader was also solving the mystery in Finder the reader mainly observes the events as an all seeing entity. This does not make the book worse but maybe a bit duller. The book does a good job in showing how different aspects relate and affect each other to the reader while the characters remain oblivious. The main character becomes significantly deeper but in the same time starts to lose his charisma due to becoming more like a knight in a shining armour. The second part of Thulmann trilogy is still grim and enjoyable but has less to surprise the reader. One thing I really have started to like about the trilogy is that the writer is not afraid to do whatever he likes with the plot and the characters.

[Macamboy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this one. Good intro to the Witch Hunters of the Warhammer universe.

[Matt Kruse · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad for a Warhammer novel, but a bit over the top. Werner clearly tried to fit too many story lines together, and decided to resolve several of them in about 10 pages towards the end,.

[Biscuitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and the others in the series, its fun, action packed, darkly humorous and overall a good read.