Jack Yeovil is a pseudonym for popular genre authour Kim Newman, writer of the
Anno Dracula series and
Life's Lottery, among other works. He's a clever innovator of the form with a knack for creating fascinating alternate histories, homaging film without ripping it off blatantly, and getting inside the heads of a variety of characters. You can see why he might be ashamed of his game fiction, but according to interviews the pseudonym was Games Workshop's idea and he's glad to have them to announce his identity on the backs of new editions like this one.
Silver Nails is an anthology bringing three of Yeovil's out-of-print short stories back into print, along with two heretofore unseen pieces, all set in the Warhammer fantasy universe and featuring the main players of his novels Drachenfels, Beasts In Velvet, and Genevieve Undead. Since these stories tie into the novels there's obviously more work and less appeal for those who haven't read those books. I'd reccomend Beasts In Velvet as a better starting point; KM Curow's review sums up its strong points better than I could.
The cover depicts Yeovil's star character, the vampire Genevieve, apparently in the midst of a blazing inferno. Her eyeteeth and fingerknives are out, there's blood on her hands and lips, her eyes are red and hair blonde. That's right, blonde, the way it's described in the stories. Other artists have felt the need to give Genevieve darker hair for maximum gothic appeal, but not here. The flames appear to have turned her dress into a mini, but at least she isn't holding a big phallic sword and flashing cleavage, as on the cover of the latest edition of Drachenfels. Of course there are other details which conflict with the text, but that's par for the course with the Black Library. What I'm saying is that it doesn't look too embarrassing on my bookshelf and that's all I ask.
Red Thirst, the first story, was originally published in a collection of the same name. Set during a gap in the plot of Drachenfels, it features the star of that book, Genevieve Dieudonné, and a mercenary named Vukotich. They become victims of a Moral Crusade which is called the 'Company of Killjoys' behind its collective back, and the two undesirables are thrown together during their escape. Together they stumble onto a larger threat than the Killjoys, masterminded by the Cathayan Chaos cultist D'ien Ching, another recurring character who features in Beasts In Velvet. While I'm amused by the concept of Moral Crusaders trying to clean up the gritty Old World -- next they'll forcibly spread tinsel and kittens over the World of Darkness -- and any detail about Cathay is welcomed -- especially when delivered through a mad wack fu master like D'ien Ching -- the climax feels rushed and ends on a weak note, Vukotich is one of Yeovil's less fleshed-out characters, and the descriptions of magic aren't at all evocative. As a chapter of Warhammer background for gamers it's excellent, but as a story it's nothing special.
No Gold In The Grey Mountains was first published in Wolf Riders. Set at around the same time as Red Thirst, it details what happened to the Fortress of Drachenfels while it was left lacking a permanent tenant, inclunding the intrusion of a band of outlaws who are hunted by another occupant. As always in this genre, the outlaws turn on each other as well, making for what would normally be a formulaic piece of claustrophobic haunted house horror. Two things save it; an unexpected and amusing twist ending, and a character named Rotwang. How can you not like that?
Last of the reprints is The Ignorant Armies, again from a collection of the same name. It tells the backstory of Johann von Mecklenburg from Beasts In Velvet, a young nobleman and future Elector who leaves his estate to hunt down the Chaos warband which kidnapped his brother Wolf. He does this in the company of Vukotich from Red Thirst, who gets the injection of personality he deserves while still remaining mysterious. Johann and Vukotich's nightmare journey takes them to strange places filled with strange characters, reaching its climax at a place on the edge of the Chaos Wastes called the Battle at the Top of the World. Yeovil excels at the macabre and grotesque and outdoes himself in describing this field of corpses, the setting for constant battles among the servants of Chaos, home to a unique and twisted group of corpse-looters. One of these is a dwarf who lived through being impaled by a sword, considering himself lucky enough that the blade missed any organs, he doesn't expect to survive its removal and so wears a leather harness to hold the weapon safely in place. These kind of bizarre touches and eyeball kicks are the story's saving grace, giving it the appropriate 'savage fantasy' feel.
The fourth story, Warhawk, was written years ago but rejected by GW. For the life of me I can't see why, it's easily the best story in the collection. Warhawk is a murder mystery set in the city of Altdorf featuring 'Filthy' Harald Kleindeinst and Rosanna Ophuls the scryer, from Beasts In Velvet. There are spoilers in this story for that one, which it's a kind of sequel to. The plot concerns the investigation of a serial killer who commits murders using a trained hawk, and would make perfect material for a scenario. Altdorf's not a nice city and the subject matter isn't that pleasant either but there's a strong current of black humour that is the trademark of good Warhammer, especially evident in the main character who's obviously part Dirty Harry with maybe a whiff of Judge Dredd as well.
The humour is turned up a notch in The Ibby The Fish Factor, a completely new story of Genevieve in Altdorf. At a couple of points the jokes undercut the more serious scenes, but not enough to cause major damage. The plot seems to partly be an attempt to bring the fiction's setting closer to the game's, concerning a crackdown on the Undead taking place in the city which either forces them further underground or out altogether. It's always been a sticking point among fans that the Yeovil books show a setting in which vampires are merely distrusted rather than loathed, where they can operate their own tavern in Altdorf and move freely among society if they happen to save somebody important. Without contradicting the earlier books The Ibby The Fish Factor suggests ways of bringing the two settings closer together.
The two last and best stories share a setting which is described in some detail. This is of special interest to WFRPers, as Altdorf has been left very vague in the supplements which mention it. With Yeovil's information and some of the illustrations I think I can place a lot more landmarks on the rough map from The Enemy Within Volume 1, as well as having a good idea of the political layout of the city. In the absence of a supplement describing the area this is the next best thing.
So: Warhammer fans looking for a detailed look at some areas of the setting that haven't been covered in as much detail as they deserve (Altdorf and Cathay in particular) will find it here, and fans of savage, pulpy, tongue-in-cheek fantasy or Newman's other work will be well-served as well -- although they'd do better to try one of the novels first.
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