The Ambassador Chronicles (Warhammer) [Paperback]

Graham McNeill (Author)

Book Description

Series: Warhammer Novels | Publication Date: August 9, 2005

A City in the wilderness...Chaos at the gates...A killer on the loose...A retired warrior takes up the sword once more...Collected for the first time in one volume, this great value omnibus contains both of Graham McNeill's epic fantasy novels The Ambassador and Ursun's Teeth. A darkness creeps over the Old World. Everything is tainted with despair and decay. Fear and superstition rule the lives of the faceless masses, and in the shadows, the foul gods of Chaos gibber and shriek, dreaming of the day when all living things bow to them. With his military career coming to an end, General Kasper von Velten thinks he's been put out to pasture when his new assignment as an ambassador to the distant frozen land of Kislev comes through. However, with the unspeakable hordes of Chaos at the walls and a brutal killer at loose in the city, it looks like this may not be the quiet retirement that he expected. Kaspar must use all his skills as a warrior and a statesman to survive.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Superior dark fantasy from the pen of Graham McNeill' - Locus; 'Great characters, truck loads of intrigue and an amazing sense of pace.' - Enigma Magazine

Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Games Workshop (August 9, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844161994
• ISBN-13: 978-1844161997
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #212,110 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Hailing from Scotland, Graham McNeill narrowly escaped a career in Surveyinh to join Games Workshop, where he worked for six years as a games developer. In addition to many novels, including False Gods, Fulgrim and Mechanicum for the prestigious Hoeus Hersey series, Graham has written a host of sf and fantasy short stories. He lives in Nottingham, UK.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Quick review with no spoilers, July 7, 2009

By 

Mosquito007 (Alaska, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ambassador Chronicles (Warhammer) (Paperback)

I see this book seems to have some negative reviews, so I felt compelled to write a quick review to say that I actually really enjoyed this book.

The style of this book is more of a mystery book (murder mystery that is) then a hack and slash fantasy adventure.
And I think that might throw some people off that are used to some of the more action orientated Warhammer books.

But what I thought was interesting about this book was the fact that the main character was an old guy. And it made for some interesting situations when he was faced with bigger, stronger, faster foes that there was no way that he could possibly defeat. I kept thinking, how is he going to survive this encounter?

The main hero nice change of pace from all those young whippersnappers that are usually running around and fantasy books.

I know that they probably never will, but this is a book that I think would make an interesting movie.

The one negative thing that I can think of is that sometimes a little bit too much time was spent explaining (in detail) what the characters were wearing.
Such as something similar to the following (with a slightly exaggerated tone added by me),

.....he was wearing knee-high black boots, with gold trim around the heels and the emblem of a Griffin emblazoned on the toes. And a pair of blue pants and a red cape and some leather gloves that looked to be the consistency of some sort of leather and had the appearance.........

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nice - .Actually the author preface was the best part., August 10, 2006

By 

Oren Shochat "Oren Shochat" (Qadima Israel) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Ambassador Chronicles (Warhammer) (Paperback)

Plot - Ex-general, Kaspar von something, finds himself as ambassador representing the empire in Kislev. His job is to coordinate the war on chaos efforts between the Tsarina and the Emperor. The editorial review says it's about court politics; I guess the guy who wrote it didn't actually read the book. The plot mostly evolves around Kaspar hunting down a serial killer and trying to stop a vicious chaos worshippers design to harm Kislev from within.
The fact that the readers know in advance who's pulling the threads, pretty much ruins it.

Characters - The main character, the ambassador, was convincingly done. Kaspar is an honorable, brave man with just enough dark qualities to balance a rounded character. Most other minor characters surrounding him were nicely done too. I came to like the brave Panther Knight (captain of Kaspar's personal bodyguards), the alcoholic Pavel (coward and a hero), the dual natured manic serial killer, the cynic and brave pharmacist/healer/surgeon, the notorious criminal and his assassin and others.
It's impressive that a writer can bring to life so many memorable and round minor characters.
On the downside the main antagonist was ridiculously flat. It annoyed me that we didn't chance to understand the antagonist motives.
One major disappointment, as a warhammer fan, I thought that a plot involving Kislev politics will include deeper insight to the life of the mysterious and intriguing ice-queen. It didn't, and that's a big miss IMO. Her majesty remains a minor - pretty flat - character (though her role in the events is crucial).

Writing - Professionally done. Nothing brilliant, no memorable dialogs or amazing action scenes (except for an inspiring part, where a rat-catcher is killed by a skaven), but it has good enough flow not to annoy.

Action - Action is important part in Warhammer novels. This book have some nice action scenes, but nothing memorable that we didn't see before.

Summery - A decent read for any warhammer fan, don't expect too much though and you won't be disappointed.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Book to buy, October 9, 2009

By 

SoldierMan (Custer, WI United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ambassador Chronicles (Warhammer) (Paperback)

It is fantastic reading. Hard to put it down.
And again, not a happy ending but that's the Warhammer World
and our's - it is not meant to be happy.