Reading Nate Crowley’s fantastic 40k novella Severed I was reminded that Warhammer fiction isn’t generally known for its humour. The clue is in the title, really (WARhammer), and certainly Warhammer 40,000 is renowned for being properly dark. The commonly-used term grimdark comes from a core tenet of 40k, after all – “in the grim darkness of the far future there is only war”. In amongst the grim, the dark and the downright nasty, however, I think there’s room for a bit of humour now and then, and certain authors – Nate included – seem to have the knack for adding a little (or a lot, in some cases) of levity into some ot their Warhammer stories.
In this article I thought I’d pick some good examples, for anyone who’s keen to try something a little different. Once you start looking for these sorts of stories there are actually more than you might expect, and I’m not going to go into loads of detail about every single one. Instead, I’ll highlight a few of the best examples (in my opinion), including suggestions for where to start with those stories, and then throw in a handful of further quick ideas for anyone who still wants more. Without further ado, let’s start with the obvious example…
Ciaphas Cain – Sandy Mitchell
Part Flashman, part Blackadder, somehow entirely 40k, Commissar Cain is unquestionably the most enduring example of how to make comedy work in context of Warhammer. Crammed full of puns, pithy dialogue, Gunner Jurgen’s malodorous presence, Inquisitor Vail’s dry sarcasm and Cain’s own deeply-ingrained sense of self preservation, these stories put humour at the forefront without sacrificing the fast-paced action or brutal violence you’d expect from 40k. You can positively feel the twinkle in Mitchell’s eye when reading these (keep an eye out for the super-cheeky wordplay with some of the planet names, for example)!
If you haven’t already read these, you can start pretty much wherever you want in the series as they’re not really a linear story, although for the sake of completion the best place is probably the first book – For the Emperor. Both this and book two (Caves of Ice) are now available in audiobook as well, but if you prefer the written word you can find them – plus book three and some short stories – in the anthology Ciaphas Cain: Hero of the Imperium. To hear a few of Sandy’s thoughts about Cain, check out my Rapid Fire interview with him about the latest novel, Choose Your Enemies.
Hamilcar – David Guymer
The loud, brash, deeply immodest Lord Castellant of the Astral Templars isn’t exactly the Age of Sigmar equivalent of Ciaphas Cain, but the analogy isn’t too bad. He’s much more of an overt hero, but he has a similar sort of wit, and like Cain offers a wry look at the world around him which stands in contrast to the usual examples of the Stormcast archetype (although Zephacleas Beast-Bane isn’t too dissimilar). Look beyond the brazen facade, however, and Hamilcar also has a pleasing connection to the mortal characters around him, and his strong sense of humour never overpowers the story – he’s endearing, not overbearing.
I’d suggest starting off with the novel Hamilcar: Champion of The Gods if you want to check out some of these stories, although if you’d prefer to begin with a short story then I’d go with Force of Personality, as that feels like the one in which Guymer properly gets the character’s voice right. There’s also the audio drama The Palace of Memory, which has a fabulous performance by Steve Conlin as Hamilcar.
Lukas the Trickster – Josh Reynolds
The character of Lukas – a thinly-veiled 40k equivalent of Loki – has been part of the Space Wolves background for years, but it wasn’t until Josh’s 2016 The Art of Provocation audio drama that his particular brand of sly, prank-playing troublemaking was properly established in Black Library fiction. Josh put it better than I could, in a 2017 interview I did with him: “he’s a character who exists to take the traditions and cultural underpinnings of a tribe or group of people, and throw them into the air to cause them to question themselves, and question what they’ve always believed.” He’s not always cracking jokes and winding people up like in the audio, but everything we’ve seen of him has been full of snark and sly wit.
For full-on laugh-out-loud antics The Art of Provocation is where to go, but the novel Lukas the Trickster gives a more rounded overview of his character, and sees him facing up against the dark eldar Duke Sliscus who brings his own brand of dark (in a different way) humour to the table. Both are well worth checking out.
The Red Sunz – Guy Haley
Depending on who’s writing them, orks (and orcs, and orruks) can vary wildly on the spectrum from terrifying monstrosities to silly slapstick, but Guy Haley knows just how to find the right balance, and his Red Sunz stories are fantastic. As Guy said in a Rapid Fire interview, “Orks are…like Tom and Jerry, only where people actually get hurt. The trick is to remember while you’re penning the latest comedy grot-slap that Orks are huge, dangerous creatures who would torture you to death for fun, then eat you, probably while you were still alive.” They’re brilliantly, horrifyingly entertaining in any format, but it’s in audio that they really work, in my opinion.
If you want the full picture then check out all of the stories (so far) featuring these characters – Engine of Mork, Evil Sun Rising and Klaw of Mork were the original three, with Klaw of Mork a relatively early audio drama, which is fun…but not quite to the standard you might expect these days. Prophets of Waaagh!, however – a three-part audio made up of The End of Daze, Bozgat’s Big Adventure and The Waaagh! Faker – is absolutely magnificent, and (so far) in my opinion it’s the finest piece of greenskin fiction Black Library have published.
Blood Bowl
Moving away from specific characters towards stories in a particular setting, Blood Bowl – a strange not-quite-Warhammer-Old-World in which conflicts are decided on the pitch – is tailor made for…well, if not quite comedy then certainly humour. There’s something innately silly about orcs, dwarfs, elves and all the other fantasy races battling it out in what’s effectively a mangled version of American Football, and whether the sport itself takes centre stage or is merely the backdrop it provides all sorts of opportunities for hilarity. It’s perhaps the least Warhammer-y of all the settings, but don’t let that fool you. For all the daft humour, it can still get very dark very quickly!
I’ve never actually read the original Blood Bowl books by Matt Forbeck, so I can’t comment on how well they work, but I can wholeheartedly recommend the more recent Death on the Pitch anthology, which contains twelve Blood Bowl short stories from ten different authors. I’ve reviewed all of these stories individually (plus another one which featured in Inferno! Volume 3), and you can find all of those reviews here. You could also check out Nick Kyme’s Blood Bowl comic (from Titan) More Guts, More Glory – here’s an interview I did with Nick about it.
Anything featuring skaven
I’ve talked about specific characters, orks, and even Blood Bowl, but if there’s one Warhammer faction which is set up perfectly for humour and dark comedy it’s the skaven – cowardly rat-men who are, largely, individually inept but capable of great and horrifying things in large numbers. From William King’s (and subsequently CL Werner’s) Grey Seer Thanquol to David Guymer’s Queek Headtaker, by way of countless devious warlords, warlock engineers, packmasters, assassins, Archpustulents and other cunning, skulking vermin, Warhammer is full of menacing monstrosities whose devious plans largely (though not always) fall apart due to incompetence, treachery, paranoia or the accidental involvement of mightier heroes. There’s really very little as entertaining as a good skaven story.
You’ve got so much to choose from here that it’s tricky to know where to start. In terms of recent stories you could try David Guymer’s The Unlamented Archpustulent of Clan Morbidus or CL Werner’s No Honour Among Vermin (both short stories), or alternatively dig into the Warhammer Chronicles back-catalogue with almost any of William King’s Gotrek and Felix novels (probably start with Skavenslayer), CL Werner’s Grey Seer Thanquol novels, or David Guymer’s Headtaker.
Honourable mentions
I could keep going with more recommendations, but time is of the essence for both you as a reader and me as a writer, so I’ll go with just a quick run-through of a few other characters, series and stories which are worth checking out. This entire article was inspired by reading Severed by Nate Crowley, whose style is very much rooted in dark humour, so I would recommend that novella but also Nate’s fantastic short story The Enemy of My Enemy. Sticking with 40k, in my opinion Belisarius Cawl is turning into one of the most entertaining and deftly amusing characters in the setting – see his appearances in Guy’s Dark Imperium novels and The Great Work – while Fabius Bile is just oozing dry wit (along with lots of other horrible things) in Josh Reynolds’ various novels, short stories and audio.
Necromunda, as a setting, lends itself well to humour – you could check out any of the old Kal Jerico stories but for more modern work try Josh Reynolds’ Sinner’s Bounty or even Denny Flowers’ Caleb Cursebound stories – The Hand of Harrow and Low Lives. In terms of Age of Sigmar, I’ve mentioned Gotrek already but I would strongly recommend you check out the recent Realmslayer audios for more modern examples of the particular joy which that character brings. Darius Hinks’ Ghoulslayer too, in fact, for some typically fantastic dialogue from the angriest dwarf imaginable. For something a bit shorter and less well-known, Eric Gregory’s Gloomspite Gitz short story Bossgrot is utterly fabulous, and features such brilliant lines as “COWARDS! SEND YOUR BEST AND I’LL GIVE ‘IM A POINTY ENDING!” – author’s own capital letters, not mine.
I’ll finish off by pointing out that even in books which you might not class as overtly funny, both Warhammer/Age of Sigmar and 40k stories are littered with individual characters, or just certain moments, which add a little humour into otherwise grim and dark stories. A recent 40k example is Chetta, the protagonist of Mike Brooks’ Rites of Passage, who’s an absolute joy to read about and reels off many a sharply funny retort. I can’t think of any Old World Warhammer examples (other than Gotrek) off the top of my head (although I’m sure there are plenty), but the relationship between Zephacleas and Gordrakk in Josh Reynolds’ Age of Sigmar novel Fury of Gork is hilarious, while even in properly dark stories like Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Night Lords trilogy or Dan Abnett’s Gaunt’s Ghosts stories there are wonderful moments of levity which balance out the darkness a little. Just try reading Ayatani Zweil’s dialogue without grinning!
So there you have it, a relatively quick – and certainly not exhaustive – run-down of where you can find a little humour to leaven your Black Library reading. I’d love to hear what your favourite characters are for adding levity into Warhammer, or those moments which really just make you crack up every time you read them. Let me know in the comments below, or come find me on Twitter!
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