Jack Yeovil's (alias Kim Newman) Drachenfels.
Softback. £4.99. Boxtree

Would you believe it if we said here's an RPG spinoff worth reading on its own account?

Well believe it - the impossible has happened! Kim Newman (for it is he) has subverted the Warhammer game universe into an intelligent light-hearted fantasy romp.

Detlef Sierck - playwright - is sprung out of the pokey on the condition he recreates an aging Prince's greatest victory - the defeat of the Great Enchanter. Reassembling the original party of questors which did for the Dark Lord, the play is staged for the Emperor's quality in the ruins of the Enchanter's fortress.

And of course, meanwhile, the ancient evil is subverting the proceedings. The tongue-in-cheek humour which enlivens the book isn't in the Douglas Adams mould, more that of a Kirk Douglas pirate swashbuckler translated into print.

To give you some idea of the flavour, there's another book on the way, this one featuring the adventures of the Empire's premiere watchman - Dirty Harold. Shockingly readable!

Let's hope its enough to make Weis & Hickman throw in the towel and go back to their old job of producing the Donny Osmond show.

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