Thursday, 16 January 2014

Gotrek and Felix 4th omnibus (Elfslayer, Shamanslayer, Zombieslayer)

The 4th omnibus see's Nathan Long become far more comfortable with his Gotrek and Felix writing, or rather, he settles into a medium where the story feels much more like a Gotrek and Felix novel should, and thus you can enjoy the story instead of feeling like a slightly less than Gotrek and Felix are playing out before you.


Elfslayer takes Gotrek and Felix via Marenburg, and then beyond, as unsurprisingly they find themselves involved with Elves (of the less nice kind). Obviously I don't want to give to much away, but if you enjoyed the banter between Teclis and Gotrek in Giantslayer then you'll definitely enjoy this. Elves have the potential to be much tougher appoints than your average human, and when you think that some of those he fights are born kills who've lived for hundreds of years training day in day out to be lethal it's all the more satisfying when he kicks ass. It also sees the return of two characters from the past both who make an enjoyable addition to the story. Elfslayer is kind of where I wish Giantslayer and lead directly onto, though without a lot of the back story it might not make any sense. Likeliness is if you've read all the stories this far you'll definitely enjoy this one.

Elfslayer 8/10


Shamanslayer see's the commencement of a story arc involving Gotrek and Felix and the return of another 2 important Gotrek and Felix characters. One of them we haven't seen since the original Trollslayer, and I think it's a sign of Nathan's growing skill that he reinvents them in the way he does. Overall for me that particular arc is the more interesting then the end result of the story, though in truth Shamanslayer and Zomebieslayer are tied/linked quite closely, and could be argued to be all part of the same story. Shamanslayers main protagonist are a horde of beastmen, and they've got a nifty trick up their sleeve which if used in a human city could spell the doom of the Empire.  It also includes a little side story involving Karaghul, and it's nice to see the special blade get it's own attention in the novel. Overall the story is probably better than Manslayer, but not as good as Elfslayer. Still very much worth a read, just wish he had continued with the Gotrek novels, who knows maybe he will come back to finish the story he was trying to tell.

Shamanslayer 7.5/10



Zomebieslayer is currently the last novel written by Nathan Long, and is a hell of a novel if you like the whole siege warfare/never ending horde appeal of the Undead. Caught after the events of Shamanslayer, Gotrek, Felix and co end up at Castle Reikgard, and important bastion against the forces arrayed against the Empire. If it falls death will surely come to the Empire, but how can the defenders stand against the horde outside of their walls when thing start happening which is undermining the defence, leading to questions about what is really going on at Castle Reikgard. Zombieslayer has elements of Beastslayer (siege warfare) to the story, but has a definitely different feel from say, Vampireslayer, which based on the name might have been what people were expecting. Overall it was a good story, though a bit bleak at points, but does that really surprise you when you see undead and siege beside each other?


Zombieslayer 8/10 if you love siege warfare, zombies and the undead and can face a very bleak ending. Otherwise probably a 7.5

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