Shared Universe Stories

I like Star Trek books. Big surprise, right? All you have to do is look at the titles of my posts and you'd see that. But I'm not all about Star Trek. I also love books set in the Star Wars and Warhammer 40k universes, as well as the Warhammer, DragonLance, and Forgotten Realms worlds. I simply love shared universes.

Shared universe settings allow multiple authors to write stories set in the same fictional world. I recently came across a post on /r/fantasy about Warhammer 40k books, and it was mostly negative. I don't get it. Sure, not every one of these books is a gem. I have some books sitting on the shelf that lost me completely (I hate being negative so I won't mention names), but the majority of the time I like them. There are some that are fun reads, and some that are down right great books. One of the great things I've discovered about these books is publishers often put out omnibus editions, which help me collect a whole trilogy at once, and also cut down on my costs. I'm going to spend a couple of posts running down some of my favorite shared universe stories, and I hope you will be inspired to check some of them out.

Warhammer

Cover Courtesy of Goodreads

 

My favorite stories in the Warhammer world are the Gotrek and Felix tales. There are currently 17 G&F novels, as well as a few spin offs featuring two of the recurring villans from the series, Ulrika the Vampire and Grey Seer Thanquol. The tales are a collection of tales written (within the story) by Felix Jaeger, a merchant's son who made a drunken vow to a dwarf that would change is life forever. He vowed to be the rememberer for a dwarf named Gotrek Gurnisson, the worst Slayer to ever live. To make up for a past shameful act Gotrek joined the Slayer sect, a group of dwarves dedicated to getting themselves killed while going out in a blaze of glory. Gotrek's biggest problem is he never dies, he's too good. So the pair spend years traveling the world and Felix chronicles the whole adventure.

 

The first book is more a collection of adventures, with not much holding them together. I almost stopped reading. Luckily, I had the first omnibus and I figured I may as well finish it. They get much better after that. There are recurring villains and a progression to the stories. I also loved the Gotrek and Felix Anthology, a collection of short stories. I've never finished a book without wanting more. There are currently 4 omnibuses on the market, so getting started on the series is easy, and these books are a great entrance into the Warhammer world. You don't need any prior knowledge and these books will provide a great introduction.