The Konrad Saga

Konrad #1-3

by David S. Garnett, David Ferring (Pseudonym)

Against a backdrop of war, a young man struggles to unravel his destiny in the Warhammer world.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction

608 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

David S. Garnett (born 1947) is a UK science fiction author and editor whose novels include Cosmic Carousel, Stargonauts and Bikini Planet. He edited a paperback anthology revival of Michael Moorcock's New Worlds magazine, two Zenith anthologies of original British SF stories, and three Orbit Science Fiction Yearbooks.

Reviews

[Ed C]

This is truly an epic saga in the Warhammer world. At times I did wonder where indeed it was going, but it managed to steer itself well through many adventures that tie into an over-riding theme that Konrad must confront at the finalé.

Ferring is a good enough writer, and the story had its ups and downs for me, but overall it was enjoyable. A great variety of characters, both friends and foe, all of who were well portrayed and realistic, from the heroic to the self-serving, to the much stanger things in the world.

A grand view of the world, in a whistle-stop tour, travelling from far-spread places on this chaotic journey of fate, and an insight into some of the more interesting parts of Warhammer: Chaos warbands, the skaven, dark magic, small village life, chaos cultists, Middenheim, Aldorf, Marienburg, Erringrad, the Kislev borders... and even the myserious Wasteland. A true trip through the mundane and the wonderous in the world.

The ending can be called questionable, but I myself actually liked it. I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions, but the short-sharp ending did manage to tie up a lot very quickly, much quicker than I'd expected, and leaves a few mysteries for the ages. Some things in life just aren't meant to be known, especially when it comes to Chaos, and this saga drives that home.

The only thing that was hard to swallow in this omnibus is that it very accurately reprints the three original books, including the opening chapter of the 2nd and 3rd. These chapters are rewritings of the end of the previous book by way of a recap into the story after a several year break in publication. Not exact copies, but a slightly different narrative. As such, I felt compelled to read them in case something new came to light, but I'm sure they are more than skippable if it pains you to reread what you've just read, or do as I did and take a break between books to ulatise the recap and make it easier to read.

But all in all, a great epic, definately worth holding on through some of the ups and downs in the story for the conclusion. The last three or four chapters had me glued in once the strands of fate were all pointing towards the mysterious end.

[Adam Nicol]

Before we get into the thoughts and musings of this particular experience, let us first peer back to the early days of Warhammer. During the halcyon final years of the 1980s, David Pringle, co-editor of GW Books and editor of highly-regarded magazine Interzone, used his various contacts to draw upon a pool of authors and creators that would be classed as being “above” such content. Remember, this predates even the Boxtree Books connection, and as such is something of a surprising move and one that the Dungeons & Dragons editors had not been able to manoeuvrer around to. One such author was David S. Garnett, who had revived the classic New Wave SF magazine New Worlds as an anthology series and was not exactly well known for his writing work. It’s interesting that Garnett (writing here as David Ferring) follows the trend of these early Warhammer writers in using a pseudonym*

Konrad, Shadowbreed and Warblade sit in good company, being part of the first run of true Warhammer Novels, alongside Drachenfels, The Orfeo Trilogy, Ignorant Armies (Felix and Gotrek’s first appearance) and Beasts in Velvet.

It does not hold up to those other entries in any form.

Read the full review here: https://www.thefluffenhammer.com/arti...

[Graeme Marden]

I wanted to re-read these books from my childhood as I couldn't remember how the series ended.

It was an enjoyable read, hasn't lost any of its older Warhammer charm and was a fun trip down memory lane.

Shame there wasn't more books after this one as it is left very open (which is probably why I couldn't remember how it ended originally!

Give it a read though, you wont be disappointed

[Arthur B]

Starts out promising (the first half of book 1 is as good as the series gets) but then rapidly declines in quality. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/200...

[Shaylan]

Konrad really is the definition of wrong place at the wrong time. BUT ALSO somehow the luckiest person ever but…not? This man is really out here just getting himself out of a bad situation and falling head first into another one.

[Helmut]

Warhammer's Finest

Na, das war mal wieder ein echter Brecher aus der Black Library. Mit das beste, was zu Warhammer veröffentlicht wurde - reicht fast an Gotrek und Felix ran.

Besonders "Shadowbreed", das zweite Buch der Trilogie, finde ich absolut herausragend: Die Geschichte vom Bronze Knight ist irre, und sowohl stilistisch als auch sprachlich eine echte Perle - die Fremdartigkeit kommt super rüber. Dazu die Reise mit den Khorne-Anhängern und die Gespräche mit Kastring. Ein Highlight für Warhammer.

Damit ist der Höhepunkt erreicht, und das dritte Buch, "Warblade" kann leider nicht ganz daran anknüpfen - ist aber trotzdem sehr lesenswert.
Über den Schluss möchte ich nichts sagen, aber da die Trilogie schon einige Jahre auf dem Buckel hat und die drei Teile immer relativ kurz aufeinander folgten, ist es wohl kein Cliffhanger, sondern beabsichtigt. Aber schließlich geht es hier um Fantasy - da gehört ein bisschen Phantasie auch dazu.

[Martin Rice]

Throughly enjoyed this re-read of an old yarn obviously written at a time were the lore was in a state of flux as it give Sigmars mum a name and as far as I can recall in the time of legends by Graham Mcneil she isn't named? anyways good old read even mentions a knight of Albion ;) yup it's OLD lol pick it up of amazon I don't think you'll be dissapointed.

[Robin]

surprisingly good