Death and Dishonour

by Nick Kyme, Lindsey Priestley (Editor), Alex Davis (Editor)

The Warhammer world is filled with great heroes, and defined by honour and survival against the odds. But sometimes these values are overridden, and death and dishonour prevail. This collection contains nine new stories featuring some of Warhammer's most legendary heroes including Gotrek and Felix, Florin and Lorenzo and Brunner the Bounty Hunter.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Anthologies

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Nick Kyme (b. 1977) writes mostly for Black Library. His credits include the popular Salamanders series and several audio dramas.

Reviews

[Matthew Burton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Here, we have an outstanding collection of short stories from the Warhammer universe. Each of the writers is clearly at the top of the game as the stories only get better and better. If you are into dark fantasies featuring deranged and evil sorcery, gritty heroes who are morally grey, as well as truck loads of honour(honor?) then this is definitely for you. If you are already a Warhammer fan, it is undoubtedly a must-read because it includes some fan favorites like Gotrek & Felix and Brunner the Bounty Hunter (my favorite). Regardless if you know about the back stories, you can still read these, which I found particularly appealing. If you think you are prepared, join a trek across the Old World, where the forces of Chaos and the Wild went to war and where wild creatures stalk amongst the forests and icy wastelands. It's a world that takes more than luck to survive. How will you fare?

[D'Ailleurs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice anthology of stories from the Old World, some of them featuring celebrities of the Warhammer universe like the notorious Brunner the boundy hunter and the famed Gotrek and Felix. Embroided with the famed Warhammer grimness, the stories are full of death, tragedies and an ongoing feeling of futility, as if darkness lingers above the heroes whatever they do. And although some of them are hit ("Rest Eternal", "Broken Blood" and "A Judgement of Crows") some other are a total miss ("The Assassin's Dilemma", "Noblesse Oblige"), all of them have the "Black Library" quality (we give the fans what they want"). To conclude its a nice medieval fantasy anthology, that you will enjoy even if you are oblivious of the Warhammer world.

[Paulo "paper books only" · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contents
First of all let me tell you that I've not read them all. Some of the stories are linked with some series. I want to fully enjoy them so I will read these stories as I read the novels. In the correct order I might say.

Red Snow’ – Nathan Long (Feature Gotrek and Felix)
‘The Assassin’s Dilemma’ – David Earle
‘Rest Eternal’ – Anthony Reynolds (Part of the Brettonian duology)
‘The Miracle at Berlau’ – Darius Hinks (small story linked with the novel Warrior Priest)
‘Noblesse Oblige’ – Robert Earl (Florin and Lorenzo story)
‘The Last Ride of Heiner Rothstein’ – Ross O’Brien
‘Broken Blood’ – Paul Kearney
‘The Judgement of Crows’ – Chris Wraight (One character appear in Masters of Magic)
‘Wolfshead’ – C.L. Werner (Brunner short story)

Review
Black Library books are always interesting. Maybe I just enjoy so much that I rarely see a bad book but I've yet to read 25% of all imput by them so... This was an interesting short story collection.

Starting with ‘The Assassin’s Dilemma’ – David Earle which suprises me. Since it's not a regular writer I always have some doubts but David Earle weaved a nice skaven story. Fully of betrayal and double edged missions you can't go very wrong. It's not the best of the bunch but It's sure is a nice one. Skaven at their best. Maybe Earle as a future in Black Library. I would like to read something more from him. (7.5/10)

‘The Miracle at Berlau’ – Darius Hinks - Knowing that this tale linked with Warrior Priest I was in doubt of reading it but I'm glad I did it. A tale of redemption and a tale that tells us that the past never leaves us if we don't confront it. It was a nice tale of back and forward on the like of the Jakobb. I felt wanting to read Warrior Priest. All priests are not zealots and can have a dark heart full of guilt and sadness. These priest was handled well and the ending was good. (8.5/10)

‘The Last Ride of Heiner Rothstein’ – Ross O’Brien - An interesting tale but at the same time difficult to understand and it felt.. odd?. The returning of the Rothstein is not what it seems. If in the beggining the writer gives us some impression in the end we are taken aback of the "illusion" that have befall the riders. As I said it's odd and it felt strange. Maybe a second read now that I know the end will work better. (6/10)

‘Broken Blood’ – Paul Kearney is a good tale. It reminds me of Dan Abnett's Rider of the Dead. Two brothers are on two sides of the war. One fights as a champion of a Chaos army and the other wants to kill him. This tale is quite good and I think I felt drawn with both brothers. The battles scenes are quite good. I can see Kearney writing more books on warhammer universe. It sure fells like he is writing for a long time. (9/10)

‘The Judgement of Crows’ – Chris Wraight - This was an interesting return of Katerina of the Amethysts Order. In the Masters of Magic book she was an important character and I said that she deserved a own book. Alas that didn't happen but at least a short story. I must say that I prefered the Katerina of the book. It had different ambitions and ideas. This one she didn't felt right. Almost too nice... (almost). In these tale an Amethyst Wizard is needed to help a besieged town from the undead. The tales tell of another wizard that help the town a century ago. The priests of the town are too frightening that they enlist the aid of a wizard (which they don't trust... and Amethyst for that matter). The ending was quite good even if predictable. Nice tale. (7.5/10)

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anthology of short stories in the Warhammer Fantasy setting. These stories are a great representation of said setting and the grit, grime and debased evil and courage written here collects those themes. The writers are all top notch and the stories are just good stuff for you head if you like dark and gritty fantasy. Great stuff!

Note: A couple of these stories, three in total I believe, feature main
Characters who have their own novels. BONUS !

Danny

[Marc · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not the most impressive collection of short stories. I'm not sure if the writing is objectively getting weaker or if I'm looking for something more. If one of my favorite universe's cannot hold my attention, I'm hoping it's the former.

[Bruce · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. Like all anthologies, some stories are better than others. I especially enjoyed the entries by Paul Kearney and C.L. Werner.

[Tomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some stories are hit and miss. Some seem like they could be more developed in there own book with to many characters to make a solid short story. Typical Warhammer , Chaos and corruption.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great short story collection of dark fantasy reading for the commute to work. Finally!