Product Description

Back by popular demand! The omnibus edition of Jack Yeovil's four classic Vampire Genevieve novels: Drachenfels, Genevieve Undead, Beasts in Velvet and Silver Nails.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #271342 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 768 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781844166749
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
Kim Newman is always a treat - The Guardian Engaging, breathlessly clever - SFX Strong and highly atmospheric fantasy - Starlog Jack Yeovil keeps up the high standard of excitement and entertainment - Enigma Most imaginitive writing; recommended - Interzone Yeovil excels at the macabre and grotesque - rpg.net Yeovil delivers a tale with bite and just a little humour that will keep you gripped from the moment you enter his world until you're spat out breathless and hungry for more at the end - Enigma

About the Author
 

Kim Newman is a multi award-winning, best-selling horror novelist and an enthusiastic pundit of sf writing. He is well-known for film and TV critiques, and is often described as one of Britain’s great eccentrics.

Customer Reviews

Clever, witty, not what you expect from a vampire or a Warhammer book
As I said in reviewing the hardcover, the editorial description implies you'll be getting a typical fantasy novel but don't believe it for a second. Genevieve is filled with pop culture references, clever twists and mercifully devoid of fantasy cliches.

The first novel in the collection Drachenfels opens with a group of mismatched heroes heading for the evil wizard's tower (YAWN) however they are messily killed in the first few pages and the story then skips ahead ten years and focuses on the big-budget play being produced to celebrate their triumph where the hero is a vain director and self-proclaimed genius.

The entire book is like that, what seem to be typical fantasy stories soon focus on daily life in a medieval world.

Pick it up you won't be disappointed.

A taste of Yeovil.. more darkly disturbing than most Warhammer fantasy.
Collecting all four of Jack Yeovil's Warhammer novels, this omnibus edition is well worth the price. Yeovil is known for his darkly disturbing, yet cynically humorous, style, and it is in full display here. The characters he creates in these novels are for the most part excellent, especially Genevieve herself. The way she is portrayed makes her impossible not to love, and its hard not to get frustrated when she is left out of a tale. You do not need to have any knowledge or interest in the Warhammer Fantasy world to enjoy this book, which could really be passed off in nearly any generic fantasy setting. One thing I would recommend: don't read this omnibus volume straight through. Give yourself breaks between the books to break up the occasional repetitive-seeming parts and to keep the freshness of the stories alive.

The first book, Drachenfels, was my personal favorite of the series. The book takes the form of a dark and gritty mystery (without the reader being sure of what the mystery to be solved really is) with classic elements of fantasy and spoof comedy. The characters are rich and believable (for a fantasy) while the storyline progresses smoothly without slowing down from the beginning to the dramatic conclusion (which has a totally unexpected and thrilling twist). The basic premise consists of a prince of the realm sponsoring a theatre production telling of his famous defeat of the dark and evil Constant Drachenfels. Genevieve played a role in the original feat and is invited back to participate in the play version. Twists and turns and mysterious happenings plague the production as hilarious characters scheme and plot for their own agendas. Yeovil keeps the reader engaged throughout the story. [5-stars]

Genevieve Undead, the second book in this volume is my least favorite of the four. It is actually composed of three independent short stories only loosely tied together. The three short stories don't develop to the same scope as DRACHENFELS. Nevertheless, this book is very enjoyable and won't disappoint Warhammer fans who're looking for something a bit darker than you get from most fantasy books. Many of the scenes here are downright disturbing. Still, this novel is mildly disappointing, not having much depth and not really contributing too much to Genevieve's character or the greater story of her life. [3-stars]

The third book, Beasts in Velvet, is a rather generic murder mystery and hardly involves Genevieve at all. The principle character is Johann von Mecklenburg, an aristocrat that you meet 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. Predictable and with somewhat flat characters, BEASTS IN VELVET doesn't live up to Yeovil's other work and is a bit out of place in this omnibus. [3-stars]

The final book, Silver Nails, finishes off this volume nicely. Made up of loosely-connected but still individual short stories, this book can be read one story at a time, or all together. These stories actually serve to connect all of the previous Genevieve stories contained in the omnibus. Some occur before, between, or after the stories in the other three books. Many of the characters from the rest of the series play prominent roles here, and the stories themselves are (mostly) top notch examples of Yeovil's writing. Adventure, mystery, and humor are intertwined with frankly disturbing scenes of love, evil, and just plain weirdness. You even get a cameo of the intrepid Gotrek and Felix in this one. The book ends with a rather disappointing conclusion to the overall story of Genevieve, but the main meat of this one is excellent. [5-stars]

Overall, this omnibus should be enjoyable by most fans of fantasy. Much different than most Warhammer books, this one doesn't require any interest in that world. Fans of dark mystery and vampires will especially like this one, but really anyone will find it enjoyable. Recommended.

The Best Warhammer/Warjammer 40K Volume that I have ever read.
Regarding the other author's remarks about the book going back and forth in time. Of course the book isn't in chronical sequence, but neither was William Faulkner's material in the Sound and the Fury! That's not to say that this book is high literature but its a great read that I polished off in a week.

Concerning the timeline there is some jumping and skipping but I think the author does it well he starts at one point in time goes forward jumps into the past and finally back into the present. Although this may sound confusing he actually does a great job of weaving the characters stories throughout time.

One of the most interesting things he does is he introduces a character in the present and may actually reveal more about the character by jumping into the past.

In terms of character development what the author does really makes sense he takes us on a journey and we get to learn about all the characters. Of course Genevieve is really a centerpiece. Although she isn't the primary character in all the stories she does serve as common thread that ties the plot together.

Also another great thing about the author's writing is that after a character finishes playing their role as a "main character" we often times get to see them in another story as a secondary character.

This is really an amazing book with way the author gives us so many different views of the same characters by writing about them from different perspectives.

The author is also great a setting up plot twists most of the time the author will create one expectation in the reader's mind and at the end of a particular story veer in a completely unexpected direction.

Sure the ending isn't perfect but I thought it wrapped up the series nicely. The ending has both a sense of closure and ambiguity.

This is by far the best series that I have read in the Warhammer and Warhammer 40K universe.