Brunner the Bounty Hunter: Omnibus [Paperback]

I picked this book in part because it's an Omnibus book and I LOVE the Warhammer Omnibus books. Just a look into my personality, but I'm willing to wait until a TV season has ended to watch them all at once. I tend to buy book series all at once or not at all. Having a series of books all in one place like this is my ideal scenario. I never want to worry about being able to find a copy of the next book or waiting to get it. I'd never heard of Brunner before. How did he do?

Brunner is essentially the Bobba Fett of the Warhammer universe. A highly skilled bounty hunter, he's in it for the gold, has a ton of tricks up his sleeve, and he doesn't particularly care who he has to go through to get the bounty. I found it very refreshing from your noble heroic characters; Brunner doesn't have what most of us would call a "fully functioning moral compass" and is more than happy to shoot a competitor in the back and ask questions later because it's less risk for him. He has his own set of morals he adheres to; it's just that most of those morals center around him getting paid.

I don't want to give away too much and spoil anything with what twists the book takes, but I can sum up a lot about Brunner in a few sentences. He's no thief. He's brutally practical, usually taking only the target's head back as proof. He takes a job for money and doesn't care the reason for it beyond that; whether in the right or in the wrong, you're doomed once there's a price on your head and he's on your trail. Lastly, if you come to his attention in any way it usually ends very badly for you.

The book is not at all what I expected, but that's not a bad thing. Three books make up this collection, Blood Money, Blood and Steel, and Blood of the Dragon. Blood Money is not exactly a novel so much as a collection of seven short stories, The Money-lender's Price, Wolfshead, Doom of Gnashrak, Blood Money, The Tyrant, Honour Among Vermin, and The Black Prince. For the most part, they're not related to each other. They're usually introduced through a story teller who's gained an audience with Brunner at his favorite bar and is writing down stories about him. If you like Sherlock Holmes style stories or Law & Order episodes that are just semi-stand alone stories, you'll like this style.

Blood & Steel continues telling chapters out of the bounty hunter's life, Beneath the Vaults, Sickhouse, Deathmark, and Where Walks the Mardagg. You won't see too much new here, but it's still more of the same great stuff from the first book.

If you like more in depth tales, Blood of the Dragon will be your favorite. This one is much longer and more involved than previous stories. It has more character development and also contains...spoiler...a dragon. Very cool.

I'm more than satisfied with this book. It's 768 pages and quite a good value for the price. If you like the classic Warhammer universe and you don't need to see the good guy constantly be a Boy Scout, then this is the book for you.

Never having read a previous entry in the Brunner stories or other work by CL Werner I was intrigued by this omnibus. I have read many Black Library books before this one (primarily Warhammer 40,000) and can say this book stacks up well with some of Black Library's leading authors (Graham McNeil, Dan Abnet, etc.)

First off this is a collection of short stories or novellas focusing on the adventuress of a bounty hunter named Brunner. Bits and pieces of his background is slowly revealed through these stories. Each story is a loosely related adventure that furthers the main background narrative along similar lines as the TV Show House. Similar to House each story is a stand alone adventure that introduces a new challenge or task for Brunner to overcome or undertake. The logic of the tail comes from the bits of background and character insight revealed in the telling of these stories. Over the course of several stories you start to get clarity on the greater tale of who Brunner is, how he came to be a bounty hunter, and what his motivations are. The stories themselves a good but the development of Brunner as a character is what drives the reader to tackle the next one.

If this is your first experience with Brunner you will enjoy it, if you have already read the stand alone books that make up the Omnibus there are several additionally stories that add to Brunners character development and flush out missing parts of the narrative. The aurthor's preface clearly delineates what the new additions are and why they were added. If you are a Brunner fan and are unsure whether the Omnibus is worth a purchase I suggest reading the preface at your local bookstore or library, if possible prior to buying.

All told I would absolutely recommend this book to any fan of Warhammer fantasy or fantasy fiction in general. The short story format (each ~30 pages) makes the book a great one for a quick read. The varied settings of each tale keep the story fresh and the variety of the adversaries should have something for anyone. In the first 1/3 of the book alone Brunner faces off against Ogres, rogue mercenaries, corrupt royalty, Skaven, Orks too name just a few.

I happened upon this book ( as well as a bunch of other Warhammer paperbacks) at a local store's going out of business sale. Fantasy makes up a very small portion of my reading list. In fact, to date I've only read about half a dozen Fantasy novels, three of which belonged to the Lord of the Rings Trilogy..the other belonging to Sean Russel's Swans War Triology..but I digress...

In any event I'm glad I decided to pick this one up. I've never read a Warhammer novel before. I've never read any of C L Werner's work. I've never even played warhammer. Count this book as a pleasant surprise.

Someone likened Brunner to be the 'Bobba Fett of the Warhammer universe'. I'd have to agree. Brunner is a bounty killer with a heart of stone. He'll use ANY means necessary to see his mission through and deliver his mark to any one of his numerous employers. To him, honor is a fool's notion. A notion that will get you killed. It's these 'principals' coupled with his dogged tenacity that make his name known and feared throughout the the Warhammer world.

This novel is an omniubus, a collection of short (and some not so short) stories. I enjoyed this because it gave the author free reign to touch upon a great many adventures. Scoundrels, thieves, undead vampires, ogres, ancient monsters, dragons, werewolves...Each story brings a new and different adventure and set of obstacles for the vengeful bounty killer to encounter...and conquer.

Now that I've read this I'm looking forward to delving deeper into the Warhammer novels. It's really a very interesting universe as C L Werner paints it. C L Werner, Warhammer and even the fantasy genre itself are all on my radar now. I'm late to the party but I'm glad I eventually discovered it.

Imaginative, well written, brutal, vivid. This book is fantastic.

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