Second Hand – The Unseen Library

Hello all, some of you may have noticed that I haven’t been posting for a couple of weeks. Well there is no need to worry I have just been away on a much needed holiday and haven’t had much of a chance to do any writing. I just got back today and I thought I would celebrate by doing a book haul post. Specifically I thought I would do a post looking at all the second hand books I managed to grab while I was away.

So, it turns out that even when I’m on holiday I’m unable to stop thinking about books. Throughout my trip I visited several of Australia’s very best second-hand bookshops and spent a descent amount of time perusing the shelves and finding some awesome reads. I actually ended up with quite a collection of fantastic novels as a result, including quite a few Warhammer novels, which I have been rather enjoying lately. I am extremely happy with this book haul and it is going to keep me extremely busy for the next few months, although it looks like I’m not going to be short of content for my Throwback Thursday posts. So let us see what I managed to pick up.

Broken Honour by Robert Earl

Warhammer - Broken Honour Cover

The first book I managed to get was the fantastic and fun Warhammer Fantasy novel, Broken Honour by Robert Earl. This was an exciting and enjoyable novel about a group of prisoners who are released to act as mercenary soldiers against a rampaging army of beastman. I have already read and reviewed this awesome book and it ended up being a lot of fun.

Space Wolf by William King

Space Wolf Original Cover

I was also lucky enough early in my travels to find a copy of Space Wolf by William King. As the name suggest, this novel examines the legendary Space Marines chapter, the Space Wolves, and shows a young recruit as he encounters the trials and tribulations of becoming a Space Marine. I was quite excited to read this novel, especially after loving King’s Gotrek and Felix novels (make sure to check out my reviews for Trollslayer, Skavenslayer, Daemonslayer, Dragonslayer and Beastslayer), and this was another book that I have already managed to read. I deeply enjoyed Space Wolf and I will hopefully get a review up for it soon.

The Defence by Steve Cavanagh

The Defence Cover 2

I also picked up a copy of The Defence by Steve Cavanagh, the first book in his excellent Eddie Flynn series. I had a lot of fun reading the latest book in this series, The Devil’s Advocate, last year, and I look forward to going back and checking out how the series started.

Over the Edge by Jonathan Kellerman

Over the Edge Cover

Another series that I was quite keen to go back to the beginning of was the Alex Delaware series by Jonathan Kellerman. I have been deeply enjoying the latest entries in this series over the last couple of years (check out my reviews for The Wedding Guest, The Museum of Desire, Serpentine and City of the Dead), and I thought it would be good to see some of the earlier books. As such I ended up grabbing a copy of the third novel, Over the Edge, mainly because it had such an interesting story to it. These books tend to be pretty self-contained, so it should be pretty easy to dive into, and I am sure that I am going to get really addicted to this older mystery.

The Chronicles of Malus Darkblade – Volume One by Dan Abnett and Mike Lee

Malus Darkblade Volume 1 Cover

Back in the day I was a massive fan of the Malus Darkblade comics so I just had to grab a copy of this massive volume when I saw it. Containing the first couple of Malus Darkblade novels, this book will follow the titular Dark Elf as he journeys through the wilds attempting to find several ancient relics in order to reclaim his soul from a demon. Facing off against monsters, creatures of Chaos and his own treacherous people, this is an epic adventure series and I cannot wait to fully sink my teeth into it.

Van Horstmann by Ben Counter

Van Horstmann Cover

An interesting Warhammer Fantasy novel that sees a talented wizard go to the darkside and attempt to unleash a deadly dragon hidden under a magic school. Sounds like an excellent and fun read to me.

Kingsblade by Andy Clark

Kingsblade Cover

An entire book about the Imperial Knights (giant war walkers), yes please! Of course I am going to have a blast with this one.

Faith & Fire by James Swallow

Faith & Fire Cover

I have heard some great stuff about James Swallow’s writing and I cannot wait to see his take on the infamous Sisters of Battle in this awesome sounding novel.

Forged in Battle by Justin Hunter

Forged in Battle Cover

Another interesting soldier-focused book in the Warhammer Fantasy realm, Forged in Battle sounds like a fun and action-packed read that I will no doubt have an amazing time with.

Grudge Bearer by Gav Thorpe

Grudge Bearer Cover

I really love the Warhammer Fantasy dwarfs (who doesn’t), so picking up a novel about them attempting to settle one of their legendary grudges was a real no-brainer for me. Plus, it is written by the legendary Gav Thorpe so you know it is going to be good.

Oathbreaker by Nick Kyme

Oathbreaker Cover

The more the dwarves, the better!

Grey Seer by C. L. Werner

Grey Seer Cover

I was particularly happy to pick up a copy of Grey Seer by C. L. Werner as it sounds like an amazing read. Grey Seer focuses on the Skaven character of Grey Seer Thanquol, a legendary schemer and sorcerer who was a major antagonist of the early Gotrek and Felix novels. Grey Seer spins off from William King’s novels and sees Thanquol get dragged into some deadly Skaven politics. Thanquol was an exceedingly entertaining antagonist in the Gotrek and Felix books and I can’t wait to see what happens when they get a novel all to themself.

Runefang by C. L. Werner

Runefang Cover

A very fun book about a group of adventurers setting out into territory controlled by the undead in order to find one of the legendary Runefangs. This sounds like an extremely cool story, and I am very tempted to check it out as soon as possible.

The Konrad Trilogy by David Ferring

Konrad Saga Cover

I was lucky enough to find good quality copies of the entire Konrad saga, including Konrad, Warblade and Shadowbreed, and I look forward to reading them. One of the earlier Warhammer Fantasy series, the Konrad books sound like impressive fantasy adventures and I look forward to seeing how different the earlier books were to the more recent additions of this canon.

Space Marine by Ian Watson

Space Marine Cover

The final book I received was Space Marine by Ian Watson. Just like the Konrad novels, Space Marine was one of the earliest novels in the entire Warhammer 40,000 canon, and shows a different side to the extended lore that was ironed out over the years. Following a group of Imperial Fist cadets, Space Marine has an intriguing story to it, and I am very curious to see the early days of the extended universe.

Well that’s the end of this latest Book Haul post. As you can see I have quite a bit of reading to do at the moment thanks to all these awesome books that have come in. Let me know which of the above you are most interested in and make sure to check back in a few weeks to see my reviews of them.

I just published a Book Haul post about some of the awesome new releases I have recently received, but I have also been lucky enough to grab some amazing second-hand novels in the last week. Most of these second-hand books were obtained from Canberra’s annual Lifeline Book Fair (great to see it up again), and included several amazing Warhammer novels that I have been really getting into recently. In addition, I also just received a very cool second-hand comic from America that I have been trying to get for a long time, which made me extremely happy. Because of that, I thought I would quickly take the time to highlight these fantastic second-hand books in another, special book haul post.

Warhammer: Dragonslayer by William King

Dragonslayer Cover

So the first entry of this haul kind of indicates the shopping trip I had as I picked up a bunch of books in the awesome Gotrek and Felix series. I have had a fantastic time getting into this Warhammer Fantasy series in 2021 as I read the first three books, Trollslayer, Skavenslayer and Daemonslayer. All three of these novels were extremely fun and I had an absolute blast getting through them. As such, when I saw paperback copies of several entries in this series I just had to grab them in order to read throughout the next year. The first of these is Dragonslayer which follows on from the events of Daemonslayer. I have actually started reading this fun book, and it has a great story that sees our protagonists fighting a dragon (unsurprisingly). This should be an extremely cool novel and I look forward to getting through it.

Warhammer 40,000: Deathwatch: Xenos Hunters – Anthology

Deathwatch - Xenos Hunters

Another awesome book I was drawn to at the Book Fair was the amazing Warhammer 40,000 anthology, Deathwatch: Xenos Hunters. This book contains a collection of short stories that follow the elite Space Marine alien hunters, Deathwatch, as they unleash bloody vengeance across the galaxy. I had a lot of fun with the previous Deathwatch book I checked out, Deathwatch: Shadowbreaker by Steve Parker (who has a couple of stories in this anthology), and I cannot wait to see what outstanding adventures are contained in this anthology.

Warhammer: Beastslayer by William King

Beastslayer Cover

The next Gotrek and Felix novel that I grabbed was the fifth book in the series, Beastslayer. This fun book, which I will hopefully read soon, follows the protagonists as they find themselves in the midst of a bloody battle against the forces of Chaos. Set to be a epic siege novel, Beastslayer should be a great deal of fun and I look forward to reading it.

Warhammer 40,000: Lord of the Night by Simon Spurrier

Lord of the Night Cover

I was also very lucky to find a copy of the very cool sounding Lord of the Night by Simon Spurrier. This impressive Warhammer 40,000 novel will follow a thrilling battle between a group of imperial Inquisitors and some Chaos Space Marines as they fight for the soul of a planet and attempt to recover a dangerous artifact. This sounds like an extremely interesting piece of Warhammer 40,000 fiction and I cannot wait to check it out.

Warhammer: Giantslayer by William King

Giantslayer Cover

The final Warhammer book I grabbed was the seventh Gotrek and Felix novel, Giantslayer. While I was a little annoyed to miss out on the sixth book, Vampireslayer (it disappeared right after I saw it, it was heartbreaking), I was happy to get this cool novel. Giantslayer will follow the protagonists as they end up in the middle of an ancient island, fighting giants, magic users and all manner of other enemies. This should be another fun read and I look forward to checking it out throughout the year.

Usagi Yojimbo: Volume 12: Grasscutter by Stan Sakai

Usagi Yojimbo - Grasscutter

The last second-hand item I recently received was the 12th volume of the exceptional Usagi Yojimbo series by Stan Sakai, Grasscutter. I have been trying to get a copy of Grasscutter for years as it was the only gap in my Usagi Yojimbo collection, and luckily I was just able to get a copy from overseas. This cool comic contains the first, whole-volume story arc that brings together nearly all the series’ supporting characters in an epic battle for the future of this version of Japan. An epic comic that was a lot of fun to read, I am really glad that I finally have Grasscutter and that my collection is now complete.

Well, that is the end of this second Book Haul post. I was really happy to grab all of the above second-hand books and it was great to give some of these older volumes a new home. I think that all of these books/comics are going to appear in Throwback Thursday posts in the future and I cannot wait to see how all of them turn out. Based on their author, their franchise or my prior experiences with the series, I already know I am going to deeply enjoy them all, and it will be fun getting through them all. Make sure to value the humble second-hand book, and if you have the opportunity to support events like the Lifeline Bookfair, it is well worth the effort.