Vampire Wars: The Von Carstein Trilogy (Warhammer Novels) [Paperback]

Steven Savile (Author)

Book Description

Series: Warhammer Novels | Publication Date: May 6, 2008

The Von Carsteins are the most infamous vampires to stalk the Warhammer Old World. This three-book saga chronicles their rise and fall in one bumper omnibus edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

British author Steven Savile is an expert in cult fiction, having written for a wide variety of sf series, including Star Wars, fantasy and horror stories. He won the L Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future award in 2002, and has been nominated three times for the Bram Stoker award. He currently lives in Stockholm, Sweden.

Product Details

• Paperback: 768 pages
• Publisher: Games Workshop (May 6, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844165396
• ISBN-13: 978-1844165391
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #514,604 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A lifelong genre fan, Steven Savile has written for Doctor Who, Torchwood, Primeval, Stargate, Guild Wars, Warhammer, Slaine, Star Wars and the Jurassic Park series, as well as Fantastic TV, a critical study of 50 years worth of science fiction on television. In 2009 won the International Media Tie-In Writer's Scribe Award for his original novel Primeval: Shadow of the Jaguar. Steven has sold over quarter of a million books worldwide, won multiple awards, including the Writers of the Future and Scribe Award, and is a number one bestseller in the United Kingdom.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars dark gothic horror, August 10, 2008

By 

A. Kobeski "book worm" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Vampire Wars: The Von Carstein Trilogy (Warhammer Novels) (Paperback)

I am well into the second book of this trilogy and I like it very much. It is dark gothic horror in a world where people are basically thought of as food for the vampires. It is late middle age life in Germany with its petty principalities and struggles for power both in the human world and vampire world. Very dark and moody as there doesn't seem to be much hope to conquer the vampire menace. A sort of allegory for the time of plaques that attacked humanity during history in which religion was useless and there seemed to be no end to the day to day horrors of living. If you like your stories dark this should appeal to you. Wish there was more stuff like this to read. I went into this book blindly and am glad I did.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This was a great vampire epic!, December 4, 2008

By 

Tom Z (Buffalo, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Vampire Wars: The Von Carstein Trilogy (Warhammer Novels) (Paperback)

Background: 1) I have no interest in Warhammer, and I certainly have never played the game. 2)There have been so many awful Vampire books written, I always end up comparing everything to Bram Stoker.

I thought Twilight was a decent Vampire book, it was well written and there was substantial character development, although it was more like Bram Stoker "light". This epic by Steven Seville was the complete opposite end of the spectrum. This book had a constant barrage of gore--far beyond that of Stoker. If you like books that are overly embellished and leave little to the imagination then you should stick with Anne Rice, or maybe skip the genre altogether and read James Joyce. There have only been a couple of Vamp books that qualify as literary genius.

I am not so sure why some people say it was very poorly written. I thought the writing was fine compared to most horror writers. I am sure the writing style or level had to appeal to gamers whose target audience comprises of 18-25 year olds. The book was not overly wordy like the Anne Rice novels and the pacing was much quicker than Stoker.

I would recommend this book as one of my favorite gore filled vampire novels. I think some folks are turned off because of the Warhammer affiliation, but this book holds its own.

I tried to find the author's three Stoker Award nominations, it would be great if they were posted here somewhere...I wouldn't mind reading those as well.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fine Gothic Fantasy, November 17, 2008

By 

W. J. Molinar "God of Tomes" (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vampire Wars: The Von Carstein Trilogy (Warhammer Novels) (Paperback)

As a big Vampire Counts fan and former addicted player of Warhammer, I am a bit biased when it comes to this type of book. But, hey, this is why we read what we read, is it not?

I found the style very interesting. The author has a way of bringing you into this dark world with confidence. There is a grim brutality to the world and I enjoyed that a great deal. I have always wanted to see in more depth the history of the von Carsteins as they are my favorite of the bloodline powers and this book delivered.

As other reviewers have noted, there is a bit of disjointed flow to the narrative but this is a huge amount of history/time to cover in a novel, even trilogy of novels. It is not a history book, it is a story. Written with this in mind, I think he did a good job of conveying what happened. I would have liked a bit more character developement(too many come and go without knowing them well enough) but I think with the time and space he had availible, he did a solid job.