Genevieve Novels

[benvoliothefirst]

Sorry about the thread necromancy, but I just finished the collected Genevieve novels and wanted to share my two cents. Trevy and Jon are spot on, in some of the novels Genevieve is just a supporting character, but it's fun to play spot-the-literary-allusion, I personally found Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde, Phantom of the Opera, and to a lesser extent Silence of the Lambs.

It's fun to think of this period in Warhammer history as the "wild west" of the fiction, where people were making the rules up as they went. And since the End Times, I fell in love with Drachenfels, so it's fun to imagine what could have been and what other characters from the early days could maybe one day make an appearance.

Whatever happened to Karl-Franz' son Luitpold? This is the first time I've seen him mentioned anywhere.

 

[Irisado]

Since the original topic was last posted in eight years ago, I've split your post into a new topic. We do normally allow older topics to be revived when adding relevant information, such as this, but eight years is such a long time ago, a new thread seems more suitable, so please continue to the discussion here :).

You raise an interesting question about Luitpold because I'd never heard of him either. A bit of quick research didn't turn up much information about what happened to this character either. Either way, the novels as a group look very interesting and you've certainly made me think about reading them.

 

[benvoliothefirst]

Fair enough Irisado!

I figure every time there's a direction in the fiction that I don't like, I'm totally comfortable imagining that as a 'timeline split' and making up stories from there. In the novels it seems like Karl-Franz is pretty milquetoast and poor Luitpold grew up with some serious trauma, so it's interesting to wonder about what kind of Emperor he would've made, especially if he came of age during the End Times. If Karl-Franz becomes Sigmar incarnate, what does that make his son?

 

[Disciple of Nagash]

I agree the novels from that time period are really interesting, as so some extent that clash with later established canon. But it was fun to see the authors trying to take a step forward with things that were not clearly established.

Drachenfels was one of my favourite bad guys, and I'd have loved to have learned more about him, have him as a more fleshed out character in the wider warhammer world. Considering how he was described in the novel, he was clearly meant to be a character of immense power.

As for Luitpold, nothing ever really came of him. As the WHFB didn't really progress further until the end times, so such child characters didn't really grow and develop as far as I am aware.

 

[benvoliothefirst]

After being overwhelmed by all the different characters in the novel at first, I was pleasantly surprised that it sort of "all comes together at the end." Most of the different groups cross over into each others' narratives, it's a satisfying ending. I keep getting surprised by this thing.

 

[Disciple of Nagash]

Yes, the stories do well in bringing everything together. I found the Genevieve novels very enjoyable and still one of my favourite WHFB reads. Genevieve was a nice change to the normal sadistic bloodthirsty monsters that vampires are portrayed as.

 

[Irisado]

This is why I really want to read the book. I like complex vampire characters who are not just evil sadistic killers. I am interested in the idea of vampires actually helping out humans. There's no rule that says all vampires should want to destroy humanity and bring about the end of the living. Some actually prefer to live in the shadows and not build empires.

 

[Disciple of Nagash]

Shades of grey (not the horrible book) is my preferred storytelling style. It is much more interesting to me with subtle nuances rather than just "he's a vampire, he's automatically evil".

It is one of the reasons why I liked Vlad von Carstein as a character, as whilst he was ruthless he was also fair to an extent, will to create a kingdom and look after his human subjects.

If you've not read the book @Irisado I'd really recommend it. It be a bit off in places, especially some of the first novels as they can clash a little bit with later established canon. But still an excellent read.

 

[Irisado]

I found a copy of all four novels in one book on Amazon, but at £57 new it's too expensive, unfortunately. I can get a copy of Drachenfells new for around £10. There are lots of cheap used copies, but if there's one thing that I hate it is used books. How much of a role does Genevieve actually play? I've read some critique that she is not prominent enough in Drachenfels and that it is overhyped. Other comment is much more positive. Amazon reviews can be hit and miss though, so I thought I'd ask here for a more thorough analysis :).

 

[Disciple of Nagash]

She might not always be at the forefront continuously throughout the novels, but I found her involvement to be well balanced - I'd certainly recommend reading them...not for £57 though!

Typically, the Genevieve novels tend to be a more rounded cast, rather than just solely focusing on her with a supporting cast. I personally don't see that as much of an issue. You do get to know some of her backstory, and perhaps she doesn't develop as much as she could in the novels, it could be argued that as a vampiric character her personality is relatively static

 

[Irisado]

Thanks for the information. I've gone ahead and ordered Drachenfels for £11, which was the cheapest that I could get it new. I do like the sound of a short extract that I read. It feels a little like an Advanced Heroquest adventure, so it should suit me.

 

[Gederas]

Feels weird necro'ing a topic so soon after I made an account, but for people still interested in the Genevieve novels, they actually released an omnibus of all of the Genevieve novels early this year under Black Library's new "Warhammer Horror" imprint.

 

[Disciple of Nagash]

Necro'ing is what we do! Certainly appreciate the heads up, I need to pick those novels up again, please tell me they do them in hard back!

 

[Gederas]

Necro'ing is what we do! Certainly appreciate the heads up, I need to pick those novels up again, please tell me they do them in hard back!

Seems GW/Black Library only do the omnibus editions in paperback. Hardbacks now seem to be exclusive for new novel (or novella) releases, or the odd anthology (see: Sabbat War (A Sabbat Worlds Anthology) which is a hardback)

 

[Disciple of Nagash]

Hmm, looks like I'll have to look second hand then, although I don't know if they ever did come out in hard back

 

[Irisado]

Feels weird necro'ing a topic so soon after I made an account, but for people still interested in the Genevieve novels, they actually released an omnibus of all of the Genevieve novels early this year under Black Library's new "Warhammer Horror" imprint.

This particular board has been so low in activity that a topic from 2018 still counts as recent enough for thread necromancy not to be an issue.

After reading the first book, I was so disappointed by the predictable nature of the plot that I am not going to read any more of them. It was so easy to work out who the villain was and what was going to happen. The distinct lack of magic throughout was also uninspiring for me. I'm glad that others enjoy the series though :).

 

[Disciple of Nagash]

To be fair yes it was a very easy read, but it was from the very early days of warhammer, so what probably feels predictable now was likely fresh and exciting back then!