Guardians of the Forest (Warhammer Novels) [Mass Market Paperback]

Graham McNeill (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 27, 2005 | Series: Warhammer Novels

The Dark Forest of Athel Loren, home of the Wood Elves, is a place of mystery and danger, a place no mortal man dares enter. Leofric, a noble knight of Bretonnia, has been raised since birth to shun and fear the forest and its enigmatic denizens. But a beastman plot to corrupt the sacred places of Athel Loren throws Leofric into an uneasy alliance with the wood elf Kyarno as they battle the invasion. If the Beastmen succeed, not only will the elves and their forest home be wiped off the face of the earth, but the destructive spirits of the forest will be unleashed to lay waste to all Bretonnia.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Superior dark fantasy from the pen of Graham McNeill - Locus

About the Author

Graham McNeill works for Games Workshop as a games developer and has written some of the Black Library's most popular fiction. He lives in Nottingham.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Games Workshop (September 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844162354
• ISBN-13: 978-1844162352
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #269,245 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

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Guardians of the Forest will please Fantasy Readers!!, October 21, 2005

By 

Eric the Red (Sunny California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guardians of the Forest (Warhammer Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

This novel - for the most part - was very good. Full of magical places and beings that makes it a fun-filled and never dull read.

The dark chaos monsters, although cool and exciting to read, came off reading kinda half-cocked. It seemed as if the writer was going to make more characterization out of them - but didn't.

Although filled with lots of cool imagery, along with some excellent characters - both human and elf - a lot of the scenes came off seeming kinda glossed over. As if the writer had a deadline to meet.

This is still a very worthy read, despite the various problems I spotted. Liked to have seen this as a series or trilogy, so as not to feel so rushed in certain areas of storyline and characterization.

This author obviously has a good grasp on fantasy elements. And does a decent job at writing battle scenes. But some of the battle scenes were not too clear, nor well balanced for my tastes.

The different clans of elves were a treat. Unfortunately, the human main character seems to pale by comparison. That's a shame. I liked Leofric. But he came across as letting himself be pushed around for such a great human warrior. Didn't like that.

And also, if the human was so outclassed as a fighter as compared to the elves...then why at the final battle scene can he all the sudden outfight most elves...?

Still worth the read.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars How great are elves, March 20, 2007

By 

MrBooks (Southern Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guardians of the Forest (Warhammer Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

Though this was a reasonable fantasy novel I found that the author spent to much time talking about how the wood elves were better then humans at everything (which is why I dont have alot of love for elf centric books).

Despite the "elves are so much better at X" I did like the way the book made the wood elves seem alien. These elves were more then the long-lived pretty people I've found in many fantasy novles.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Lots of elves but no passion, December 9, 2005

By 

Max - See all my reviews

This review is from: Guardians of the Forest (Warhammer Novels) (Mass Market Paperback)

First of all, let me just say that I'm not the biggest fan of elves and abhor elf-worship in books. That said, good writing in what I read is what matters more regardless of the inclusion of elves or the lack of. I gave three stars cuz in listing and describing the elf types, the book does a good job but at times it read like butter spread too thin over too much bread and doesn't dig in that extra inch to hold my attention. The forest where the story takes place in was a little too fantastical and didn't mesh with the grim feel of the Warhammer world. Almost felt like I was in never, never land rather than the Old World at times. Plus the main character, Leofric allowed himself to be pushed around too much for a veteran Knight of Brettonia. I couldn't respect him and so couldn't feel fo him. Author must've been given too much to cover in one book.