Customer Reviews

Beasts in Velvet (Warhammer)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

As good or beter than Newman's previous Warhammer novel, "Drachenfels". A nobleman, a psychic and a police detective must track down a "Jack the Ripper" style killer who is praying upon prostitutes in a fantasy city. The action is fast, the chapters short and the tension steadily mounts. There are plenty of red-herrings and plot twists which keep the reader guessing until the very end.

Very innovative. Bears more in common with thrillers like "Red Dragon" or "DaVinci Code" than "Lord of the Rings" or "The Wheel of Time". Also very humerous. The detective is named "Filthy Harold" and he's clearly modelled after Dirty Harry. Instead of a Magnum, Harold carries a "Magnin"--a large throwing knife made by "Magnin the Steelsmith".

One piece of advice. Read "Drachenfels" first. Although not a direct sequel, this book refers to the events of "Drachenfels" and gives away the ending of that book.

To my opinion plots are overrated. Almost everyone in this genre is stealing from his predecessors. Even the great Tolkien borrowed from the Nordic myths and other sources (anyone who feels offended can ignore the last sentence). But no matter how chewed down or trivial the plot is an adequate author will make the difference. Jack Yeovil scores far above adequate.

The story is a gothic mystery / detective style, embedded into the fantasy world of Warhammer. There is a maniac woman-slaughtering beast (jack the ripper style). A noble protecting his brother, an uncorrupted green cop, a psychic and a tough ex-cop trying to bring him to justice. Around them there is a score of minor colorful characters to serve as the prime suspects. Even though we have seen this kind of detective story a thousand times or more (on books and on TV) and even though it is not too tough to figure out the killer, the story still manages to capture the imagination. Jack Yeovil knows how to draw vivid likable characters and how to keep up suspense and intensive rhythm. There was even a nice and an unexpected twist at the end as a bonus.
For anyone who is fan of Warhammer this is an excellent buy to your collection

Jack Yeovil/Kim Newman introduced me to the Warhammer world, and I have been hooked since.

Although his work is hardly typical of Black Library literature, his two novels Drachenfels and Beasts in Velvet (and to a lesser extent his short stories) contributed immensely to fleshing out the fantasy universe and paved the way for many other authors to draw from the characters and places, not to mention the overall atmosphere of Warhammer, that awoke in his imaginative mind in the late eighties and nineties.

Beasts in Velvet is perhaps his most impressive contribution, a tight two-hundred page read featuring a fast-paced plot (duels, murders, riots, gang wars, investigations...), a good fifteen vivid and richly developed characters, and managing to bring the Imperial city of Altdorf to life, even if it is shrouded in a thick fog for most of the novel. A map of Altdorf, which can easily be found online, makes the reading even more enjoyable.

Easily worth five stars.

This is a rather generic murder mystery set in the world of Warhammer fantasy. It is included as the third novel in the excellent The Vampire Genevieve omnibus, although it hardly involves Genevieve at all. The principle character is Johann von Mecklenburg, an aristocrat that we've met in previous books. The story involves Johann and a few other characters trying to solve the mystery behind a spree of gruesome murders. Suspicions are spread around a number of side characters, keeping the reader guessing as to who may be the real killer.

While you get some pretty graphic violence and a unique look into the psyche of some twisted individuals (something that Yeovil is so good at), this book just didn't grab my attention like most other Warhammer books have. Predictable and with somewhat flat characters, BEASTS IN VELVET doesn't live up to Yeovil's other work.