Beginner's Guide: The BEST Books to Learn About Warhammer Fantasy and Age of Sigmar Lore

[@DrkTide7]

All of the G&F books are great. Gives you a little taste of everything with some decent humor throughout.

[@ataridc]

honestly G&F seems like a cheap way to answer this question. There are so many better books. I'd suggest finding a corner of the world that interests you and reading the books about that area and then branching out from there. The problem with G&F is Warhammer is at its best as dark fantasy, but reading G&F books means the main characters are always safe until the very last book. It removes a pretty important component to what makes Black Library fiction appealing.

[@DrkTide7]

@@ataridc I actually agree with you as a longtime fan of the lore. But the truth is that a lot of people just like the G&F way of storytelling in the universe, especially as a newcomer. Warhammer is grim, dark and DENSE. G&F make it not seem that way. But yeah I’m with you because that’s where I got started by only focusing on one thing/faction - deep diving into 40K Vulcan and the Salamanders hyper specifically ultimately lead me to be a warhammer fantasy fan years later randomly. I didn’t even know warhammer fantasy was a thing lol. Now I prefer it.

[@Gusseig]

King's depiction of the Skaven is my favorite so far: their narcisistic paranoia is hilarious.

[@TheDarthMarko]

They are great when King was writing, later ones are pure garbage.

[@Fastwinstondoom]

King's G&F books are great, Nathan Long just either didn't understand what made the books great or decided he knew better... either way, the books take a SHARP downturn in quality with him as the author. Not read the ones by Reynolds and Guymer but based on their other works I don't have much hope for those either.

[@Planewalker1999]

Just finished all the Gotrek and Felix novels last month. It was an incredible journey. I think another great series to understand the dark elves and some chaos is the Malus Darkblade novels. Lots of dark humor and edginess.

[@Dwarfurious]

I like to think there is a really overworked blacksmith whose whole role in dark elf society is adding spikes to things.

[@Planewalker1999]

@@Dwarfurious 100% dwarf slaves

[@angryguineapig4323]

Ulrika the vampire slayer omnibus is also nice be cos its a side story of gotrek and felix.

[@Cirinwe]

I'd also recommend the Age of Sigmar Gotrek books - they have a really neat way of introducing the world(s) through Gotrek's eyes, and having a totally different character in the place of Felix changes up the dynamic in a really fun way.

[@avenger1312]

100% agree, it is going to be very interesting to see where it goes after the ending of the last book.

[@Dwarfurious]

you're leaving out that the new character is an elf *spits*

[@WAGYUFILMS]

I worked with Jonathan Keeble (who reads gotrek and felix) on our film Older Gods (trailer on channel) . Amazing actor. Lovely guy. His audio book readings are amazing. He has very different voices and can actually do accents. He's so good I think you don't even need him to say 'said gotrek etc' as you know exactly which character is talking because of the particular voice jonathan chose. I agree with the loremaster! Great omnibus and great on audio too.

[@davidarobertsfilm]

Love his voice acting

[@user-jp3oz5ip8y]

Yeah he's really good. Jealous you met him!

[@talesfromtheoldworld510]

Agree. He's the best warhammer narrator by FAR. He also does a lot of 40k if you are interested in that kind of thing haha

[@SgtBotBot]

More videos like this please! Ones discussing good books for each race would be great and also a 'so you read Oaths and Conquests and what to know more'

[@deadlyydude5522]

We need more warhammer fantasy audiobooks on audible. Right now it’s pretty much just Gotrek and Felix (the first 5) and the end times books. It’s a shame too because there’s about a million 40k and AoS audiobooks on there. All of which are brilliantly voice acted

[@jakewu8268]

Agree with you. Also the Gotrek & Felix books are available in audiobook format up to Orcslayer now which is like 8 books deep into the series. So they still have 4 more books. I do wonder if they will put the short stories you find in the Omnibuses on Audible at some point as well.

[@cb4n]

The Vampire Genevieve novels are on Audible. It's definitely a bit of Olderhammer with some lore differences that might be a little jarring at first for folks mostly familiar with the latest editions, but they are excellent books overall. Drachenfels, Detlef Sierck, Johann von Mecklenburg, Vukotich, Rosanna Ophuls and Genevieve herself are some of my favorite characters in all of Warhammer Fantasy. The recordings are high quality too. I definitely recommend them. I agree overall though, we need more Warhammer Fantasy novels on Audible

[@Skaar101]

The very first Warhammer Fantasy novel I read, and the thing that started my love for Warhammer setting, is “Palace of the Plague Lord” by C.L. Werner. It’s one of those few books told from a chaos perspective and it doesn’t just toss you into the deep end with all the chaos lore. It’s definitely a hero’s journey kind of story, and even if the main character is part of the settings “big bad”, you still end up rooting for them all the way to the end. Also the ending is satisfyingly chaosy if you know what I mean.

[@charlesdickens1803]

Great video. There are so many Warhammer books, of all kinds of different qualities, that it's often really hard to know where to start. So a video like this where you go a bit more in-depth on what the books are about really helps. Wouldn't mind seeing more videos like this, with you talking about, reviewing, or recommending Warhammer literature.

[@The_13th_Hussar]

My personal favorite Warhammer fantasy book is the Brunner The Bounty Hunter Omnibus by C.L. Werner, I also think its a great book to start with. It has fantastic action, good pacing, a cool main lead, and witty jokes. Brunner also travels throughout a large portion of the old world and his adventures are smaller scale and more personal then say the stories about Teclis or Thorgrim.

[@angryguineapig4323]

The best part about that omnibus is that you think how can a solo human survive in a world like that. And the writher made it that brunner is never lets say overpowered, he is just smart and has good gear/survival skills.

[@Manlikepegasus]

Do more of this Sotek, and I also think book reviews would be a cool thing for the channel. Also maybe rankings of books. Keep up the good work all father

[@Weavole]

The first two Witcher books is kinda like how the first book of G&F, where they both are short story books and then the novels is when an over all story is being told. I kinda like short stories in different parts of a world because they can show the world the author is building better than when you’re following a single story.

[@benbricio8407]

I loved this! Now could you do one specifically for Lizardmen/seraphon?

[@psoforce]

I've been waiting for a video like this! I also want to recommend anything read by Emma Gregory for those interested in AoS - specifically anything involving Neferata as the way Emma Gregory portrays her is, imo, always a 5 star performance. You also can't go wrong with things read by Jonathan Keeble, Richard Reed, or Andrew James Spooner. All of them do such fantastic performances!

[@tonisauna-aho3899]

That description of G&F series was so accurate and heartfelt. Can second every word.

[@Darinsss]

Really appreciate this, ty. I've been working my way through the gotrek and felix series and was looking for followup recommendations.

[@pedroluizfreitas4943]

I would like very much to see more videos like this! I am one of the people that has asked you about Warhammer Fantasy books before, so any piece of content related to it is very much appreciated!

[@N11Ckk123472]

So glad to hear Blackhearts get a shout out, its such a great read that I don't see get mentioned enough. The "average joe" perspective you get definitely gives a whole new outlook on the warhammer bad guys. Also the characters are fantastic. Theres an audiobook on youtube, starting with "Valnir's Bane"

[@Janembu]

Question about remeberancer, if they are meant to document their death, how do they get away to do so if the foe killed the one being witnessed? Wouldn’t they target them afterward too, especially if Chaos, Skaven or Greenskin?

[@calebbarnhouse496]

@Loremaster of Sotek the main advantage Felix would have if someone killed gotrek is that since he's a pretty fast guy he could get lucky and escape

[@MrRasta3600]

As someone who has only ready a small handful of Warhammer books across 40k and fantasy this is a great video. I'll give these a look when I finish The Devastation of Baal.

[@jakewu8268]

This will be most helpful for newcomers yes!

[@guitarjacksonblue]

Thank you Sotek. Just two days ago I was on the blacklibrary, looking for novels to deepen my WFRP Lorebackground with. Wasnt able to decide between some german translations or the original and what topic to pick. Helped a lot ♡

[@thelastsatyr]

PLEASE some videos about best books for specific races! I'm researching about High Elves and it's been a pain, so that would help a LOT.

[@Cifer77]

Man I've been waiting on this for years. Every time I research some Warhammer books to get started on, I can never decide on where to start. Now that I get a recommendation from you, ordering right now.

[@cb4n]

Excellent video! I'd definitely like to see more, especially your recommendations for Warhammer Fantasy books. I started collecting them when Total War Warhammer came out and have so many unread on my shelves that it can be hard to decide what to read next

[@SireAymeri]

Thank you for the presentation. I really enjoyed hearing you talk about the different aspects of the books you loved. I would be happy to watch more of these videos in the future.

[@augustocarnevale1900]

I loved the gotrek aos series, my favorite aos novel at the moment is lord of vultures

[@dayman4152]

Thank you so much, I have been so lost where to start

[@ghostparty2062]

Damn. Iv been debating reading gotrek and felix but had so many doubts so started the age of madness trilogy. Now youve youve convinced me to read them but iv now got three books to get through first 😂

[@ElectronicChateau]

I'm halfway through the Blackhearts omnibus now and it's brilliant, check it out if you got nothing to read.

[@archmageeldran2567]

Good episode and I appreciate it that you took the time to explain and include AoS. As others have suggested I do think an occasional episode covering books that focus on specific factions would work the best.in my opinion.

[@chrisspink8873]

Nice I’ve been asking for this for a while! Thanks!

[@bulwyf2572]

The Malus Darkblade series is great for WHF. I also love the Dwarf books collected in Masters of Stone and Steel omnibus and the War of the Beard books. All the Gotrek and Felix books are great. The Von Carstein series of books is also excellent.

[@Frase909]

Nice! Not read any of these but I loved The Malus Darkblade chronicles. Definitely adding these to my reading list!

[@paulbestwick2426]

Funnily enough, pulled out my copy of G&F O1 last week, thinking that I need to read it again. Nice timing Sotek.

[@julianruiz1248]

Gotrek and Felix are the best. Its what got me interested in Warhammer fantasy and age of sigmar

[@sirkaos777]

So I have Audible for a lot of books Warhammer fantasy, 40k, Aliens, Predator. It is awesome! About a month ago now I had been loving Gotrek & Felix on Audible and so got the omnibus 1 and 2 paperbacks and I sh*t you not Blackhearts come in today as part of my black library celebration thing (buy any book get this free(but to get free shipping I needed to spend $100) Got Sons of Sanguinius omnibus, Fabius Bile omnibus and The vorbis conspiracy as well.

[@retrorentsal8348]

I've been having an absolute blast reading the Warhammer Chronicles. Great starting point for warhammer fantasy. The Legend of Sigmar, The Rise of Nagash, The Vampire Wars. Absolutely PHENOMENAL omnibuses

[@angryguineapig4323]

The first lets say 100 pages of The rise of nagash wheir pretty boring in my opinion. There where many times that i wanted to switch books. In the end especial the nagash/skaven part is a really good read. I wouldn't recommend that book to a new reader tho.

[@retrorentsal8348]

@@angryguineapig4323 Definitely fair. I think starting out with the Legend of Sigmar got me so invested in the world lore that I didn't care, but I DO remember the first 100 pages being a real slog (but holy WOW does that book pick up once he gets to Nagashizzar)

[@jakewu8268]

I had a blast reading through the Legend of Sigmar omnibus, the Rise of Nagash had its moments but it took way too long for me to finish. I’m currently reading the Vampire Wars and it’s been alright so far. Really like the dread humans feel when they are seeing or fighting a horde of undead and the it gives a good insight into what vampires are like.

[@WhispearsofPadme]

Thank you so much, i actually googled yesterday where to get started lol, thank you good sir!

[@hotlikerobot09]

I needed something to finish after the Eisenhorn series time to hop back into fantasy!

[@Mixen9408]

As a newcomer i really felt that the Grotek and Felix stories were a god jumping on point. Depsite now knowing that much i never felt that that i got out of the story. It propably did help alot that i have had read alot of fantasy before and had kinda good experinces with navigating in bigger universes like Marvel and DC. xD Buuuut and i know this will be understood. nd do not get me wrong. Warhammer has something i find interesting and i love the big fandom it has and how positively it has affected thousands of people. :D How ever the only let downs i have with the Warhammer litteratur is actually something the book Oath and Conquest really made clear and most of the 40K novels and short stories i have read. The characters in WH are most of time really flat and if they have some, it is only the WANT and most of the books are most of the time plot rather than character driven and there are alot of telling instead of showing, which is quite a turn off point, when you have read Brandon Sanderson. However i get it. It is the charm of the literature side of it. You read it more for the lore and world building and the fun aventure. But a the same time it is fun to read some brain candy fantasy and sci fi (40K) in operiods were i am tired but stil want to read. :)

[@madskristiansen]

The storm cast eternals sounds like Murphy from RoboCop. That's cool.

[@patrickmcginty3234]

Great video. I really hope you make more videos about books you recommend that take place in either Fantasy or Age of Sigmar.

[@korh9739]

THANKS I NEEDS THIS FOR MY WHF CAMPAINGS

[@TheKolboShow]

The Malus Darkblade novels have a lot of outdated lore but I personally recommend them for anyone who is interested in the Dark Elves of Warhammer Fantasy. It also helps that they are honestly really funny. The dark tone of Malus's story and the ridiculous edgyness of the Druchii is balanced out by how hilarious some of the events can be. ( just ignore book number six ) Also I will definitely check out Blackhearts when I can.

[@filippovezzoni386]

Yay that’s me! I’m the guy who wants more AoS!

[@jwin1829]

Definitely more videos like this. Thank you!

[@LcUlric]

I mean, I'll probaly end up collecting all the books either way. But yeah, I'd love to see more of these

[@nagashtheundyingking4404]

honestly i recommend Gotrex and Felix to people who have no interest in Warhammer specifically but just wants a fantasy series to read or listen to btw the Audiobook is fantastic going all the way til Giantslayer on audible so far when writing this comment.

[@denkweeni7450]

Tamurkhan. Good warm up before Glottkin(end times).

[@cheesus7672]

More videos of this kind !

[@Dwarfurious]

Elf Slayer is the best Gotrek and Felix books, not only because of the massive amount of elf slaying but it really ups the stakes and has personal implications for Felix and has a lot of great humor and dead elves but also the Skaven show up and a lot of elves die and a COUCH IS A COWARDS WEAPON!

[@krankarvolund7771]

One of the stories that shows how strange dwarves minds are is in Orcs Slayers, because it's about helping a fortress of dwarves to retake their fortress against orcs. And in that story, Gotrek meet an old friend of him, but they treat each other almost like ennemies, because Gotrek accuse the other of being an oathbreaker, and his friend Hamnir, is of course very offended by that, and says he wasn't, it's Gotrek who's stupid. And in the end, we find out that their friendship, that lasted decades as they were mercenaries, had fallen apart because of a book of poetry worth something like a shilling, that Hamnir received from a girl. He considered it a personal gift from someone he hooked up with, Gotrek considered it a part of the loot and so said it should be split between the other members of the group. And because Hamnir refused to split half of a shilling, they hated each other for a century XD And when Felix do the logical thing, literally splitting the book in half with his sword to cut their bullshit, they became super pals again like nothing happened XD

[@calebbarnhouse496]

Just short king moments

[@itaske2402]

Would definitely love more book recommendations however it is you wanna go about that would be great 👍

[@richtheunstable3359]

Genevieve undead, Rider's of the dead and the two Malus darkblade omnibusses.

[@legiovicta6759]

I grew up reading Gotrek and Felix. They were like my Harry Potter as a child/teenager. Cannot recommend them enough

[@Whightknight16]

recently read the First Omnibus and this video is uploaded shortly after.... coincidence? either way I'm buying the Second Omnibus and reading the full Gotrek and Felix series and am tempted to find the rest of the Warhammer Chronicles

[@adamjenkins9237]

Great video dude! I'd love to hear more age of sigmar lore! :)

[@chadroy16]

More of everything please

[@bubyCZ]

Re-release of blackhearts from Nathan Long (half of Gotrek and Felix)? ... once Jonathan Keeble finishes narrating Gotrek and Felix series, I hope he is gonna do Blackhearts! Sounds interesting. More AUDIOBOOKS from WHF. No time for physical books anymore, but audible saved me. Went through 49 books in a year lol

[@llllSNEAKllll]

I wish i could get Oaths & Conquests in paperback or hardback, but it seems its only available in Kindle and I can't find it in Black Library

[@k.s.bennett9923]

This video was very helpful thank you 👍

[@VaultBoy1300]

I would love your favorite books about the dwarfs and duardin (Fantasy AND AoS) !

[@iloveblood51789]

Thank you this is useful

[@user-uw6mk5tr9p]

wonderful! thank you

[@thatman5484]

If only GW would do audio of the Ynnari books or the Malus series

[@Lakefront_Khan]

Have you read Godeater's Son? It's definitely one of the best AoS stories I've read.

[@avenger1312]

I would love to see your take on Gotrek in AOS?

[@hadrurus01]

You can hear Tyrion speak of the realms that eventually becomes age of Sigmar in giant slayer. At least that’s exactly what it sounded like to me.

[@tairasayo]

Just say, that William King is just a great writer )) He did this also for 40k. Major up for me is that author tries to stay by rules and common sense. And not allow grimdark, rule of cool, and such to rule the narrative.

[@heydudes6639]

Does anyone know where I can get the 3rd and 4th gotrek and Felix omnibus, I can seem to find them anywhere

[@archmageeldran2567]

They are on Amazon in kindle format. Should also be on the black library website

[@pmratpoison]

hey sotek! a long-form book-review type series with plot summary and commentary would be just peachy don't you think?

[@Dwarfurious]

aww oaths and conquests isnt available on audible and seems to only be on kindle for the link. Oh well imma grab the new Bad Loon Rising on audible instead

[@keyanklupacs6333]

Please check out mathias thulman witch hunter novels and brunner the bounty hunter.

[@krankarvolund7771]

One weird thing about how Gotrek lost his eye, is it's agianst a bunch of gobelins. And there's something weird about that legendary slayer that will batlle major demons, to lose an eye against wolf riders XD

[@calebbarnhouse496]

Major deamons wanted to go into melee

[@MisterDragon]

TOP 3 BOOKS ABOUT LIZARDMEN! (Or Seraphon)

[@jjtalas]

I really like the Stormcasts more than Space Marines, they are so much more relatable and flawed than most people think. They can be anyone and their destiny will always be tragic, they know it and still they fight.

[@Kelvryn]

Im fairly new to warhammer but I'd like to know are warhammer and warhammer 40k seperate things or are they related?

[@74arcath]

Tnx for this Vid, really nice and helpful

[@JAnubis117]

Bro I need help with following the story line. It’s so frustrating. Can anyone help me?

[@hawkoddly3326]

Would love to have a series of, like here's the intro to learning more about x faction: here's their lore overview, their major characters, and the books to get to know them better.

[@calebbarnhouse496]

The best way to learn about any faction is always the army book, lore overview of the entire race, the major characters are normally those that are in there

[@hawkoddly3326]

@@calebbarnhouse496 except army books aren’t the easiest thing to find as they are no longer in print

[@calebbarnhouse496]

@@hawkoddly3326 pdfs are easy and free

[@LaidBackGuy]

Kinda sad tried to find blackhearts on audible but was there

[@FrostyMourne92]

Great video more like this please.

[@allenwhite7947]

Go for the most meh like I did, Endtimes!!!

[@monthlyscoopltd]

I would argue, that there is no such thing as good in Warhammer or Warhammer 40k either. The order factions are a bunch of militaristic, power-hungry and intolerant zealots with very fixed ways and usually non-compatible codes, that do their bit to keep the world dark and in perpetual war.

[@MultiRoths]

I only wish it was easier to get hands on the older Warhammer Chronicles books in paperback... Eight Peaks is pretty much nonexistent anywhere on the internet.