Witch Hunter

Matthias Thulmann: Witch Hunter #1

by C.L. Werner

The dreaded Witch Hunters -- including the legendary Mathias Thulmann -- hunt out evil throughout the towns and villages of the medieval Old World, ruthlessly suppressing any of those daring to ally themselves with the Dark Powers with any means at their disposal.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, High Fantasy, Horror, Novels

412 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Jason Ray Carney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I reall ly enjoyed this. I read it after reading several of the Gotrek and Felix novels. I was also playinf Warhammer: Total War. So, I wanted to explore the Warhammer Fantasy world more. This novel didn’t let me down. It is, believe it or not, much darker than the Gotrek and Felix novels. The Gotrek and Felix novels are grim fantasy. There are dwarves, orcs, wizards, and ale-soaked taverns. The Mathias Thulman novels are gothic fantasy (with an emphasis on the “gothic”). This particular one is structured less as a D&D adventure, i.e. heroes face off against monsters in a dungeon for treasure. Instead, it is structured like a detective novel, a murder mystery that the protagonist and his sidekick must solve. A strength of this novel, of course, is the dynamic main character. The reader thinks they get an understanding of Mathias but then he does something surprising: compassion, cruelty, show of intelligence, etc.. Indeed, the “wild card” nature of the protagonist is a source of the novel’s joy.

[NekroRider · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5-4.75/5 stars - Witch Hunter is the first book in the dark fantasy Mathias Thulmann trilogy set in the Warhammer Fantasy universe. Mathias is a ruthless and righteous witch hunter, although he is very much distinguished from the violently overzealous, needlessly cruel, or those who use their station to feed their greed. Witch hunters/Templars of Sigmar are an order of monster hunters founded to hunt and scour daemons, heretics, and magic from the realm. Their foes include vampires, witches, necromancers and all sorts of other monsters.

In Witch Hunter, Mathias has just finished hunting and burning a witch hired to commit a number of murders in town, when he is approached by the new Witch Finder General South and given a new assignment. He is sent to investigate the murders of a number of peasants in the remote district of Klausberg, a place ruled by a renowned family of witch hunters: the Klausners. The family insist a man-eating wolf is to blame, but Mathias and his brutal henchman Streng suspect more sinister forces.

The speed of this novel is pretty breakneck and hard to put down! After reading The Gathering, I wanted something to match the dark, supernatural atmosphere and got it in spades in the Witch Hunter! I'm excited to continue the adventure with Witch Finder! I would definitely recommend this book to fans of The Witcher books and games, especially the more Geralt-focused books and the video games. There are a lot of shared themes with the Witcher and points of comparison between Mathias and Geralt.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of fun witch hunter action. Very fun. =)

[Luke Lybert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting plot twists that get nowhere. Great dark setting though! 2 stars because of the insult to sourkraut.

[Peter Rybarczyk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool plane/bus/tax etc. type of book with interesting characters, basic but involving storyline set in Warhammer world and the main character is Witch Hunter!, one of most iconic Warhammer characters ever. Also, for me as Game Master, it's a mine of ideas about how to describe the grim and gory world of everlasting war, enough to see surroundings but not too much detailed.

In summary, It's a must-read for all Warhammer Fantasy fans, all others can easily skip it.
But, well, its gaming book ;)

[Peter Rybarczyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool plane/bus/tax etc. type of book with interesting characters, basic but involving storyline set in Warhammer world and the main character is Witch Hunter!, one of most iconic Warhammer characters ever. Also, for me as Game Master, it's a mine of ideas about how to describe the grim and gory world of everlasting war, enough to see surroundings but not too much detailed.

In summary, It's a must-read for all Warhammer Fantasy fans, all others can easily skip it.
But, well, its gaming book ;)

[Kirma Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fajn oddechovka ze světa Warhammeru. O akci zde není nouze, oceňuji detektivní zápletku a opravdu temnou atmosféru s naturalistickými popisy - díky tomu mi příběh plynul opravdu rychle a užila jsem si ho. Jen musím trochu vytknout klišé dialogy, kvůli kterým postavy působily ploše, v podstatě se nevyvíjí, máme tu takové to jasné "černobílé dobro/zlo" rozdělení, akci v podstatě dokáže čtenář predikovat. To ovšem nevadí a zkusím určitě i nadcházející díl, jelikož konec byl, samozřejmě, otevřený a nutí vás hned pokračovat :)

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great entry into the dark themes of the Warhammer universe. It is almost like a murder mystery novel. We see the vast political system of the empire, the devotion or corruption of its workers, complicated families, ancient history, and elements of different undead powers and how they interact with one another. This book could have a sequel but acts great as a stand-alone with one-shot characters. It is a good picture of the Warhammer universe. I would recommend this to any Warhammer fans.

[Steven Simmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book and I really wish I was able to find the omnibus without spending an arm and a leg for it. The story was interesting and had just enough turns to keep me guessing a few times. The ending wasn't what I expected but it was appropriate for this world. I am itching to get started on the next book but I have no clue when I will be able to find it without buying it digitally.

[David Strašák · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good book with nice worldbuilding that unfortunately did not really deliver near the end. There wasn't really a payoff - the book did not have a point and nothing much was solved.
The character of the witch hunter is an awesome one though and it was fun reading about him, though I would be more positive if the book was not just a setup for an another book.

[karen lopp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good stuff!

This was my intro into the world of Warhammer. I wasn't disappointed. Has everything I love...good guys, bad guys, vampires, demons and great story line. Can't wait to read Witch Finder next.

[Nyarlathotep · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Novel

CL Werner tells a riveting story. It is fast paced and action full. There are several plot twists that will keep you guessing. It is definitely worth reading.

[Patrick Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, it's pretty descriptive and runs at a fast pace. It's also pretty accurate to the world it's based in so I am looking forward to reading the other 2 books in this series

[THOMAS E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book

Got some nice twists and turns this book has. I don't have very much else to say about this book.

[Matthew Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strong dark fantasy offering, managing the often-difficult task of having the main protagonist be an antihero with a noble aim, against foes of both blackest evil and understandable foible.

[Tomáš Drako · Rating 4 out of 5]

Takéto temné fantasy sakra môžem.
Mám rád Warhammer príbehy na rôzne spôsoby. A tento mi prišiel ako temná detektívka líznutá fantaskom.

[Vojtech Sroub · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite enjoyable " crime like" tale of zealous Mathias Thullman. Great atmosphere through and through as always with Warhammer books. Easy fast read with good promise for future instalments.

[G. Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was pretty much the book that got me back into reading and writing in my 20s. The first book of this series is one of the best dark fantasies ever.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great start to the trilogy, hope it continues on

[Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly fun action. Sherlock but with vampires and daemons

[Lukas Dvoracek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Darker and more serious witcher

[Thea MacDonald · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have spent the last decade watching my partner play Warhammer on the PC, captivated by the detail of the world and how much time has been spent on its creation. Being a fantasy geek myself, I finally decided to get stuck into the Warhammer books and I was not disappointed. I started with the Witch Hunter season, which follows Matthius Thulmann, a Witch Hunter in the medieval old world who spends his life hunting evil, as is his purpose as a devotee of Sigmar.

This book’s theme is that of a gothic fantasy, whilst also being a murder mystery and a highly enjoyable read. The world building is famously detailed, unlike other fantasy books that take a while to warm up, I found myself captivated within the first couple of pages. Matthius is the classic anti-hero with noble aims and at times was darkly humorous. There are some fantastic secondary characters that make up his motley crew whilst he is in the village and these interactions made me laugh out loud at times.

The vastness of the Warhammer world felt quite daunting to start with, I feel I made the right decision with this book, and am anticipating great things from the Dwarfs when I embark on their journey in the coming days.

[Maetco · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read about how many people found the protagonist to be such an antihero and more or less an asshole and the book being very grim and gory. When I read the book I realized that these people just probably didn't know much about Warhammer and had no idea about the Witch Hunters in that world. Thulmann in this book is actually very generic Witch Hunter and the book is far from goryfest. This does not mean I didn't like it. The biggest problem most Warhammer novels have (IMHO) is that regardless how they start they always turn into a everyone against everyone gorefests. This might work well in a movie (or series) but not in a book. Witch Hunter is a lovely breeze of fresh air in this matter. Witch Hunter is basically a murder mystery / thriller in Warhammer setting. It has fairly well written characters, good plot and interesting events that mainly feel important even if they only affect few people.

[Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great story about a witch hunter, a type of investigator who can sometimes be more terrifying than the very beasts they hunt. The author does a great job of keeping one particular witch hunter, Mathias Thulmann, very close to that border of loving or hating him.

On the one hand, he is pretentious and mean. And on the other, concerned only with uncovering what evil that plagues the land. Very smart and good at what he does, but prone to human error.

Overall, a very good book that I could not find any real problems with.

[Brian Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I first got this book many years ago, it seemed like really good fantasy. This time around however, it's been a bit of a "plodder" and I had to push myself to finish it.

Warhammer fantasy novels always seem to be a bit hit-and-miss, and this just edges into the "hit" category, but it's a close call.

The witch hunter Matthias Thulmann is interrupted in his current quest to go and see what could be the cause of gruesome deaths in a small town. This leads him into the tangled web that the ruling family has woven and has to probe to find their secrets.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really into the gaming books - but this one struck me as interesting. Basically, the storyline is an alt-world setting for a pilgrim-garbed vampire-hunter. There's nothing new under the sun, but hey, that's pretty cool.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

First book in a series about Mathias Thulmann.

Interesting characters.

In the Warhammer fantasy setting, trust no one, because corruption is everywhere.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

characters were meh. story basic with a finish that felt like it was trying to hard. ending didn't feel 'realistic' for this type of world.

[Biscuitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and its sequels, its fun, action packed, darkly humorous and overall a good read.

[Douglas Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and unusual