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Gotrek & Felix #5
Beastslayer
Gotrek & Felix Book 5
Chaos gathers at Praag. War is coming, so of course that's where Gotrek wants to be. Can he find his mighty doom at the hands of the servants of the Dark Gods? And if he does, will Felix survive for long enough to record it?
READ IT BECAUSE
They've fought daemons and dragons, skaven and monsters untold – what's next for Warhammer's dynamic duo? How about an entire Chaos army, led by an invincible warrior and a pair of sorcerous brothers who can see the future, and Gotrek's doom with it.
THE STORY
Gotrek and Felix: unsung heroes of the Empire, or nothing more than common thieves and murderers? The truth perhaps lies somewhere in between, and depends entirely upon whom you ask…
The storm clouds are gathering over the icy city of Praag as the evil forces of Chaos lay murderous siege to the frozen lands of Kislev. Standing between the massed hordes of darkness and the city's destruction are dwarf slayer Gotrek Gurnisson and his sworn human companion, Felix Jaeger. But Gotrek's quest to die a heroic death in battle may soon be granted as the enemy advance to claim the city for their dark gods.
Chaos gathers at Praag. War is coming, so of course that's where Gotrek wants to be. Can he find his mighty doom at the hands of the servants of the Dark Gods? And if he does, will Felix survive for long enough to record it?
READ IT BECAUSE
They've fought daemons and dragons, skaven and monsters untold – what's next for Warhammer's dynamic duo? How about an entire Chaos army, led by an invincible warrior and a pair of sorcerous brothers who can see the future, and Gotrek's doom with it.
THE STORY
Gotrek and Felix: unsung heroes of the Empire, or nothing more than common thieves and murderers? The truth perhaps lies somewhere in between, and depends entirely upon whom you ask…
The storm clouds are gathering over the icy city of Praag as the evil forces of Chaos lay murderous siege to the frozen lands of Kislev. Standing between the massed hordes of darkness and the city's destruction are dwarf slayer Gotrek Gurnisson and his sworn human companion, Felix Jaeger. But Gotrek's quest to die a heroic death in battle may soon be granted as the enemy advance to claim the city for their dark gods.
273 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
45 people are currently reading
649 people want to read
About the author
William King
310 books710 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 90 reviews
June 12, 2010
Insidious. That's what this is. Like that packet of sweets that, once you've started... I don't know why, but it took me up to this book, which is book 5 in the series, to realize that there is virtually no character development as far as Gotrek is concerned. This makes perfect sense, since, though the story does not make use of a first person narrative, it is told from the viewpoint of the rememberer, Felix Jaeger. Gotrek remains an enigma. I can't remember ever getting a glimpse of what goes on inside his head. Felix, on the other hand, is another story. His metamorphosis from the almost effeminate poet in the first book to battle hardened warrior-poet (if you will) and heroic swordsman has been handled deftly and expertly over the continuation of the series. Beastslayer opens with the siege of Praag by the massive chaos army assembled under Arek Daemonclaw. This plot line is an overflow from book 4, Dragonslayer. The sense of brooding menace King instills in this installment is truly impressive. Overall there isn't all that much that sets this novel apart from its predecessors, but I really enjoyed reading it. It's just a cracking read, what.
The story itself involves war between the chaos army, and the army of Kislev, with some subplots about treachery and other ditties to keep things juicy. Once again, the supporting characters are a treat. Snorri Nosebiter being one I especially enjoy. Be warned though: it is a rather grim and gory piece of work, although not especially more so than the rest of the series.
Warhammer fans should leave with smiles plastered on their faces, wondering how their heads got shaven and tattooed.
The story itself involves war between the chaos army, and the army of Kislev, with some subplots about treachery and other ditties to keep things juicy. Once again, the supporting characters are a treat. Snorri Nosebiter being one I especially enjoy. Be warned though: it is a rather grim and gory piece of work, although not especially more so than the rest of the series.
Warhammer fans should leave with smiles plastered on their faces, wondering how their heads got shaven and tattooed.
February 7, 2020
This is one of the best Gotrek and Felix novels I’ve read. I have officially read five because I read one out of order. I read Orcslayer, which is technically the 8th in the series.
Beastslayer features an army of Chaos warriors and beastmen as the antagonist. The Chaos army is sieging the Kislevite city of Praag, which is a great setting. It is the site of a previous chaos siege and so is haunted by the previous soldiers who died. Also, it is a paranoid city that is festering with Chaos-cultist activity. The "enemy within" is a great element of the siege conflict.
The general of the Chaos army is Arek Daemonclaw. Daemonclaw has two advisors, powerful sorcerer brothers who are twins: Lhoigor Goldenrod and Kelmain Blackstaff. All three of these villains are compelling. Arek is trying to fight against a prophecy that predicts his doom. Lhoigor and Kelmain are plotting against their leader, who they see as a headstrong, ineffective, and in need of being replaced.
In addition to Gotrek and Felix there are excellent characters: the other dwarven slayers, Snorri Nosebiter, Bjorni, and Ulli, as well as Max Schreiber the Bright Wizar,d and Ulrika, the Kislevite princess.
The focus on a single, epic siege gave the novel a satisfying cohesion. There were so many cool moments. The Chaos Moon, Morrslieb, swollen over the city of Praag just before the siege, is so memorable. I only give this nove 4/5 because it ends too abruptly for my tastes. Still, this is excellent Warhammer Fantasy fiction.
Beastslayer features an army of Chaos warriors and beastmen as the antagonist. The Chaos army is sieging the Kislevite city of Praag, which is a great setting. It is the site of a previous chaos siege and so is haunted by the previous soldiers who died. Also, it is a paranoid city that is festering with Chaos-cultist activity. The "enemy within" is a great element of the siege conflict.
The general of the Chaos army is Arek Daemonclaw. Daemonclaw has two advisors, powerful sorcerer brothers who are twins: Lhoigor Goldenrod and Kelmain Blackstaff. All three of these villains are compelling. Arek is trying to fight against a prophecy that predicts his doom. Lhoigor and Kelmain are plotting against their leader, who they see as a headstrong, ineffective, and in need of being replaced.
In addition to Gotrek and Felix there are excellent characters: the other dwarven slayers, Snorri Nosebiter, Bjorni, and Ulli, as well as Max Schreiber the Bright Wizar,d and Ulrika, the Kislevite princess.
The focus on a single, epic siege gave the novel a satisfying cohesion. There were so many cool moments. The Chaos Moon, Morrslieb, swollen over the city of Praag just before the siege, is so memorable. I only give this nove 4/5 because it ends too abruptly for my tastes. Still, this is excellent Warhammer Fantasy fiction.
May 13, 2024
We start this one in Praag as the Hordes of Chaos begin to close in on the once battled city. With all of the original characters all ready for action (some more than others… looking at you Bjorni), the blood will run but will it be the Slayers or the horde?
At the beginning, this was a slower start than the rest of the series but I kept reading. We actually get more back story on some of the characters and I love that. Not only that but the claustrophobia that King writes is remarkable. The battle scene… perfection!
Moving on to #6. 5/5.
At the beginning, this was a slower start than the rest of the series but I kept reading. We actually get more back story on some of the characters and I love that. Not only that but the claustrophobia that King writes is remarkable. The battle scene… perfection!
Moving on to #6. 5/5.
September 5, 2022
I loved this book. But then I love the Gotrek and Felix series. And I think each book is just a bit better than the previous one. One I really appreciate is how William King keeps adding to the story. All the Slayer books are so far true to the stories before. We know the story Gotrek’s ax, we saw how Felix found his sword, we saw Felix find love, lose it, find it again, and lose it again (maybe). The supporting characters that have appeared in earlier books are still here and relevant(at least some are). I feel this book is really just part three to a large story that started with Daemonslayer. I already have Vampireslayer in my hand to see if that’s so. But I digress. Below may contain spoilers so beware.
This particular focuses on a massive chaos incursion and a siege of Praag. We see the same characters from the last two books as well as Gotrek and Felix. There is a new antagonist in a chaos warlord. We see a deeper view in the powers of substance of chaos through this warlord and his minions. I do think the warlord is a bit shallow but not to the point of one dimensional. But he’s no Thanquol, who naturally has a minor to major part to play in the story. We see Ulrika once again appear as an important major character and her turbulent relationship with Felix is one of my favorite parts of the story. I feel it gives both of them depth. But this story is really about the battle and leading up to it. I love books about sieges so I am biased but I must say that I throughly enjoyed this fictional account. We had the lead up, the worries of the populace, the treacherous groups trying to bring down the city from the inside. And we had the heroic reinforcements just in the nick of time. I could have done with a few changes. The lecherous dwarf slayer for example. But he didn’t irritate me enough to remove a star. I do want to emphasize how much I enjoy the big battle. It was exciting and I appreciate the detail regarding the actual siege tools and defenses. Like the other books a quick read and a great continuation of the overall Gotrek and Felix story
This particular focuses on a massive chaos incursion and a siege of Praag. We see the same characters from the last two books as well as Gotrek and Felix. There is a new antagonist in a chaos warlord. We see a deeper view in the powers of substance of chaos through this warlord and his minions. I do think the warlord is a bit shallow but not to the point of one dimensional. But he’s no Thanquol, who naturally has a minor to major part to play in the story. We see Ulrika once again appear as an important major character and her turbulent relationship with Felix is one of my favorite parts of the story. I feel it gives both of them depth. But this story is really about the battle and leading up to it. I love books about sieges so I am biased but I must say that I throughly enjoyed this fictional account. We had the lead up, the worries of the populace, the treacherous groups trying to bring down the city from the inside. And we had the heroic reinforcements just in the nick of time. I could have done with a few changes. The lecherous dwarf slayer for example. But he didn’t irritate me enough to remove a star. I do want to emphasize how much I enjoy the big battle. It was exciting and I appreciate the detail regarding the actual siege tools and defenses. Like the other books a quick read and a great continuation of the overall Gotrek and Felix story
July 21, 2025
Wyznawcy demonów atakują mury miasta Kiesleva. Posoka leje się strumieniami. Gotrek ociera umalowaną krwią twarz i rzuca - zapraszam na więcej, przeklęte pomioty chaosu. Tylko teraz czekam na większy opór !
Uwielbiam tą serię. Rozwój postaci z książki na książkę jest zaskakująco znaczny, a obserwowanie Felixa, który z niepewnego siebie towarzysza broni, staje się równorzędnym zabójcą potworów, wywołuje ojcowskie poczucie spełnienia.
Poza tym to po prostu więcej tego samego, tym razem w oblężonym przez armię demona Areka mieście skazanym na zagładę. Lekkie pióro i świetny głos Balazsa to aspekty, przez które nie można się oderwać od lektury.
Uwielbiam tą serię. Rozwój postaci z książki na książkę jest zaskakująco znaczny, a obserwowanie Felixa, który z niepewnego siebie towarzysza broni, staje się równorzędnym zabójcą potworów, wywołuje ojcowskie poczucie spełnienia.
Poza tym to po prostu więcej tego samego, tym razem w oblężonym przez armię demona Areka mieście skazanym na zagładę. Lekkie pióro i świetny głos Balazsa to aspekty, przez które nie można się oderwać od lektury.
December 14, 2024
Πραγματικό έπος. Οι σκηνές μάχης καθως και τα τοπία που περιγράφονται με τόσο μεράκι αποτελούν τους πυλώνες της σειράς. Η ανάπτυξη των χαρακτήρων και η αφοσίωση στην εξέλιξη του καθένα μέσα από τις μεταξύ τους τριβές και φιλίες είναι κάτι πολύ ευχάριστο. Επιτομή του βιβλίου η κλέφτη ματιά στο παρελθόν του Γκόντρεκ, κάτι που ελπίζουμε να δούμε ξανά και στο μέλλον καθώς παραμένει ο πιο καλά κρυμμένος βασικός χαρακτήρας της σειράς.
April 3, 2024
King's style of telling Gotrek's story has become ever thinner, and now it became exceptionally repetitive, especially in the end. That aside, the awesome saga continues, and it is unbelievable how King manages to keep putting one impossible feat of the Slayer on top of the former.
September 16, 2024
Jak ja lubię te klasyczne przygody w świecie Warhammera 😊 Tylko imię "Arek" dla wodza hordy chaosu trochę przeszkadzało w powadze sytuacji 😅
February 24, 2020
Návštěva chaosáckých turistů v krásném městě Praag
November 10, 2021
A nice climax of what felt like the first season of Gotrek & Felix stories. Great siege, just enough drama, and a neat way to make a whole bunch of different threads come together at the end in what I would call a Tom Clancyesque fashion. I will not be getting any more of these as I can only see it going downhill from this point and there is quite enough disappointment in my life already.
July 29, 2023
De lo mejor junto al primero de los libros.
January 2, 2024
Better thank the previous but it starts getting repetitive
March 5, 2024
I am a huge slut for a good fantasy siege novel, and this one was a good time. Mostly because of the characters we've come to know and love, or at least enjoy, over the last few books though tbh.
The siege itself was a little disappointing. Some fun moments and cool scenes of heroism and battle, but it's wrapped up fast, there's not much in the way of hijinks and fucking around with each other, and the stakes never really get that high.
Still a fun romp though.
The siege itself was a little disappointing. Some fun moments and cool scenes of heroism and battle, but it's wrapped up fast, there's not much in the way of hijinks and fucking around with each other, and the stakes never really get that high.
Still a fun romp though.
January 7, 2022
Beastslayer caps off a longer story arch that has been running in the background of the Gotrek and Felix series since at least its third instalment. Spurred by arcane eldritch forces, the mightiest Chaos army in centuries - led by the invincible Aric Demonclaw - disgorges itself from the Chaos wastes and lays siege to Praag, the first bastion of civilisation against the tides of Chaos.
Having seen the start of this horde on their trip into the wastes, it falls to Gotek, Felix and their companions collected over the series to warn the Kislevites of Praag and fight alongside them against this Chaos horde.
I first read Beastslayer when I was young, I don’t remember exactly when but I was an early teenager at the oldest. The powerful sorcerous twins who guide Aric Demonclaw have lodged themselves in my imagination ever since as some of my favourite fantasy characters.
As a result, I have a long-held nostalgic love of the Gotrek series. This book has all the classic features of the series with ferocious adrenaline-packed battle scenes, the stoic Slayers scything their way through monstrous enemies and Felix’s reluctant heroism.
In a sense, then, I find it very difficult to be objective about this book. I loved it as a return to the past, made fresh by 20(ish) years of distance.
That said, I can see this book is not perfect. In particular, its insistence on flicking between multiple points of view becomes tiring and breaks up both the flow and atmosphere of the novel. The central focus of the novel is the siege of Praag. The sense of claustrophobia and desperation of citizens trapped within its walls and facing certain death is well done but all too often left to drop away as we flick to points of view outside the city.
Take, as a comparison, the siege of Helm’s Deep in the Lord of the Rings. There, Gandalf’s reappearance with the riders of Rohan is a miraculous beam of sunlight breaking through the storm clouds. We share in the defenders’ surprise and relief. Here, we know the reinforcements are coming because we frequently flick to their point of view for, largely, pointless snippets of dialogue.
I hate to say it, but Grey Seer Thanquol is also an unnecessary distraction here. I love the Grey Seer and the Skaven. They bring real and skillfully balanced humour to these novels which is extremely welcome and unusual for Black Library novels. Unfortunately, in this novel, Thanquol’s sub-plot does nothing important for the main story and doesn’t even really resolve itself in any satisfactory way. It just serves to take us away from the main action of the book for a few pages. I assume that he will become relevant again later in the series, but I think the continuation of his story could have been handled better here.
Ultimately, however, these are minor gripes. I’m talking about what would have made the novel better rather than outlining fatal floors. I really enjoyed this book. I think anyone who is a fan of the series will too. However, these structural issues mean that I would guess, if you are less familiar with the Gotrek series or the wider universe, there probably are better fantasy books you’ll get more out of.
Having seen the start of this horde on their trip into the wastes, it falls to Gotek, Felix and their companions collected over the series to warn the Kislevites of Praag and fight alongside them against this Chaos horde.
I first read Beastslayer when I was young, I don’t remember exactly when but I was an early teenager at the oldest. The powerful sorcerous twins who guide Aric Demonclaw have lodged themselves in my imagination ever since as some of my favourite fantasy characters.
As a result, I have a long-held nostalgic love of the Gotrek series. This book has all the classic features of the series with ferocious adrenaline-packed battle scenes, the stoic Slayers scything their way through monstrous enemies and Felix’s reluctant heroism.
In a sense, then, I find it very difficult to be objective about this book. I loved it as a return to the past, made fresh by 20(ish) years of distance.
That said, I can see this book is not perfect. In particular, its insistence on flicking between multiple points of view becomes tiring and breaks up both the flow and atmosphere of the novel. The central focus of the novel is the siege of Praag. The sense of claustrophobia and desperation of citizens trapped within its walls and facing certain death is well done but all too often left to drop away as we flick to points of view outside the city.
Take, as a comparison, the siege of Helm’s Deep in the Lord of the Rings. There, Gandalf’s reappearance with the riders of Rohan is a miraculous beam of sunlight breaking through the storm clouds. We share in the defenders’ surprise and relief. Here, we know the reinforcements are coming because we frequently flick to their point of view for, largely, pointless snippets of dialogue.
I hate to say it, but Grey Seer Thanquol is also an unnecessary distraction here. I love the Grey Seer and the Skaven. They bring real and skillfully balanced humour to these novels which is extremely welcome and unusual for Black Library novels. Unfortunately, in this novel, Thanquol’s sub-plot does nothing important for the main story and doesn’t even really resolve itself in any satisfactory way. It just serves to take us away from the main action of the book for a few pages. I assume that he will become relevant again later in the series, but I think the continuation of his story could have been handled better here.
Ultimately, however, these are minor gripes. I’m talking about what would have made the novel better rather than outlining fatal floors. I really enjoyed this book. I think anyone who is a fan of the series will too. However, these structural issues mean that I would guess, if you are less familiar with the Gotrek series or the wider universe, there probably are better fantasy books you’ll get more out of.
January 30, 2019
I devoured the Gotrek and Felix sagas when I was younger and actively played Warhammer, the game that the novel portrays. Of all the many tomes from the Black Library that I got my hands on, I distinctly remember this series being one of the best. So I decided to retread the world of Warhammer as a (slightly better read) adult. What I found wasn't too great. The characters of Gotrek and Felix are great. Their adventures together always make for a fun read, but it was the reading portion of this book that I take issue with, not the characters in it.
William King, for whatever reason, despises dialog. Entire pages of this book fly by only accompanied by the thoughts of each character. If you separated all the lines of dialog between the characters from the rest of the book, I doubt you'd have more than fifteen pages out of a novel that's closer to 300. Instead of talking or SHOWING their character traits or the events of the siege, King TELLS the reader what each character feels and why by trapping us within the thought process of each character. I would imagine there is so little dialog because the characters are constantly lost in their own thoughts.
Speaking of characters, there are many and they are mostly pretty thin. Felix is the most fleshed out of all of them, mostly because the reader spends so much time inside his mind. I'm not sure why things are falling apart with his girlfriend, and apparently King isn't either because he never bothers to tell us. The same thing happens with his girlfriend in Skavenslayer. Felix meets girl. Felix likes girl. Girl slowly drifts apart. Felix has no idea why, but boy does he spend a lot of not really thinking about it. Instead of ever having a conversation, he just sits around and lets events occur to him. He is a very passive protagonist.
As far as the other characters go, I'm not sure why Grey Seer Thanquol is still in this book at all. At no point does he interact with the main characters, and the his actions don't impact them in any way. His POV doesn't even add a new dimension to the story. Everything the reader learns about magic is explained by Max, and the revolt in the skaven city starts and falls apart with only a few paragraphs of explanation.
The ending is especially poor. Within a page of the siege ending, King abruptly ends the book with a cliched "and thus ended the things that I was writing about." Taken as a whole, Gotrek and Felix are likable characters, the action is enjoyable, but King's writing leaves a lot to be desired.
William King, for whatever reason, despises dialog. Entire pages of this book fly by only accompanied by the thoughts of each character. If you separated all the lines of dialog between the characters from the rest of the book, I doubt you'd have more than fifteen pages out of a novel that's closer to 300. Instead of talking or SHOWING their character traits or the events of the siege, King TELLS the reader what each character feels and why by trapping us within the thought process of each character. I would imagine there is so little dialog because the characters are constantly lost in their own thoughts.
Speaking of characters, there are many and they are mostly pretty thin. Felix is the most fleshed out of all of them, mostly because the reader spends so much time inside his mind. I'm not sure why things are falling apart with his girlfriend, and apparently King isn't either because he never bothers to tell us. The same thing happens with his girlfriend in Skavenslayer. Felix meets girl. Felix likes girl. Girl slowly drifts apart. Felix has no idea why, but boy does he spend a lot of not really thinking about it. Instead of ever having a conversation, he just sits around and lets events occur to him. He is a very passive protagonist.
As far as the other characters go, I'm not sure why Grey Seer Thanquol is still in this book at all. At no point does he interact with the main characters, and the his actions don't impact them in any way. His POV doesn't even add a new dimension to the story. Everything the reader learns about magic is explained by Max, and the revolt in the skaven city starts and falls apart with only a few paragraphs of explanation.
The ending is especially poor. Within a page of the siege ending, King abruptly ends the book with a cliched "and thus ended the things that I was writing about." Taken as a whole, Gotrek and Felix are likable characters, the action is enjoyable, but King's writing leaves a lot to be desired.
January 14, 2022
Rating of 4.5.
Reviewed as part of my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read. For my latest Throwback Thursday I continue to examine the awesome and exciting Gotrek and Felix series from the Warhammer Fantasy range with the fifth book, Beastslayer by William King.
After their harrowing journey to the Chaos Wastes and their epic quest to slay a monstrous dragon, Slayer Gotrek Gurnisson and his chronicler Felix Jaeger continue their adventures throughout the Old Realm. Once again determined to journey to the most dangerous place possible, Gotrek and Felix find themselves within the Kislev city of Prague, the great fortress city that serves as a bulwark between the Chaos Wastes and the civilised realms of man. However, this mighty city is in mortal danger as a massive horde of Chaos descends upon it, led by the fearsome Arek Daemonclaw.
Arek, a ferocious and cunning war leader and sorcerer is determined to destroy Prague and lead his forces throughout Kislev and down into the Empire. To carry out his goals, Arek has amassed one of the greatest armies of Chaos ever seen, filled with Northern marauders, elite warriors blessed by the dark gods of Chaos, beastmen, mutants, monsters, daemons and two sorcerers of unimaginable power. Their victory over the people of Kislev seems certain, but Gotrek and Felix are used to fighting such impossible odds.
Accompanied by several powerful friends and allies, Gotrek and Felix are resolute in their determination to save Prague and kill as many followers of Chaos as possible. However, their opponents are well aware of the threat these two companions represent and are doing everything in their power to destroy them. Forced to confront both the massive army outside the walls and treacherous cultists from within who are led by a powerful member of the Prague court, can even Gotrek and Felix survive this latest attack from hell?
This was another thrilling and fun entry in the Gotrek and Felix series that I had a fantastic time reading. Beastslayer has another great, action-packed story, and it was awesome to see the series’ two protagonists embark on another epic adventure.
To see the full review, click on the link below:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2022/01/14/...
For other exciting reviews and content, check out my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/
Reviewed as part of my Throwback Thursday series, where I republish old reviews, review books I have read before or review older books I have only just had a chance to read. For my latest Throwback Thursday I continue to examine the awesome and exciting Gotrek and Felix series from the Warhammer Fantasy range with the fifth book, Beastslayer by William King.
After their harrowing journey to the Chaos Wastes and their epic quest to slay a monstrous dragon, Slayer Gotrek Gurnisson and his chronicler Felix Jaeger continue their adventures throughout the Old Realm. Once again determined to journey to the most dangerous place possible, Gotrek and Felix find themselves within the Kislev city of Prague, the great fortress city that serves as a bulwark between the Chaos Wastes and the civilised realms of man. However, this mighty city is in mortal danger as a massive horde of Chaos descends upon it, led by the fearsome Arek Daemonclaw.
Arek, a ferocious and cunning war leader and sorcerer is determined to destroy Prague and lead his forces throughout Kislev and down into the Empire. To carry out his goals, Arek has amassed one of the greatest armies of Chaos ever seen, filled with Northern marauders, elite warriors blessed by the dark gods of Chaos, beastmen, mutants, monsters, daemons and two sorcerers of unimaginable power. Their victory over the people of Kislev seems certain, but Gotrek and Felix are used to fighting such impossible odds.
Accompanied by several powerful friends and allies, Gotrek and Felix are resolute in their determination to save Prague and kill as many followers of Chaos as possible. However, their opponents are well aware of the threat these two companions represent and are doing everything in their power to destroy them. Forced to confront both the massive army outside the walls and treacherous cultists from within who are led by a powerful member of the Prague court, can even Gotrek and Felix survive this latest attack from hell?
This was another thrilling and fun entry in the Gotrek and Felix series that I had a fantastic time reading. Beastslayer has another great, action-packed story, and it was awesome to see the series’ two protagonists embark on another epic adventure.
To see the full review, click on the link below:
https://unseenlibrary.com/2022/01/14/...
For other exciting reviews and content, check out my blog at:
https://unseenlibrary.com/
September 5, 2024
William King's Beastslayer is a satisfying culmination to the only real "arc" in his run of Gotrek and Felix novels. Picking pretty much straight off from Dragonslayer, our dwindling band of heroes find themselves in the city of Praag bracing for a siege by the army of Tzeentchian warlord Arek Daemonclaw.
Was that too many proper nouns? Probably. I think if you've made it this far in the review you're already a little familiar with the Warhammer setting, otherwise, welcome! This is book 5 in a whole series of pulp novels about the adventures of a doom-seeking dwarf named Gotrek and his warrior poet human companion Felix. For my money, King's arc from Daemonslayer to Beastslayer is a high point for Warhammer literature. The setting is given a great deal of space to thrive, and King keeps the protagonists shifting from spot to spot so he can put a delicious amount of detail into describing parts of the Old World that don't usually get love in the setting. For Beastslayer, that's spending more time in Kislev, basically medieval Poland-Lithuania with a seasoning of Bohemia and Russia.
It's a good time. Our heroes plus Felix's sometime lover Ulrika, rival and wizard Max, and a cluster of other slayers round out the band. Funnily enough, of the cast, Arek the villain gets more character development than most of the heroes. He even learns more about Gotrek than any of the main cast get to know, which is a decidedly strange way of handling such important episodes in Gotrek's life.
The siege is mostly well paced, with drama and tension building as each side tries a bit of this and that, and relief armies both planned and inadvertent converge on the city. When the final battle arrives its boisterous and as chaotic as expected. There's not a lot of shocks here, but King's usual slashing bloody style holds up decently on my umpteenth reread.
In some ways, this is the end of King's run. Vampireslayer and especially Giantslayer peter out the story, winnowing down the cast and effectively resetting the board for the next author Nathan Long. In that regard, Beastslayer's both well worth picking up as a fan of the series and as a bit of a goodbye.
Was that too many proper nouns? Probably. I think if you've made it this far in the review you're already a little familiar with the Warhammer setting, otherwise, welcome! This is book 5 in a whole series of pulp novels about the adventures of a doom-seeking dwarf named Gotrek and his warrior poet human companion Felix. For my money, King's arc from Daemonslayer to Beastslayer is a high point for Warhammer literature. The setting is given a great deal of space to thrive, and King keeps the protagonists shifting from spot to spot so he can put a delicious amount of detail into describing parts of the Old World that don't usually get love in the setting. For Beastslayer, that's spending more time in Kislev, basically medieval Poland-Lithuania with a seasoning of Bohemia and Russia.
It's a good time. Our heroes plus Felix's sometime lover Ulrika, rival and wizard Max, and a cluster of other slayers round out the band. Funnily enough, of the cast, Arek the villain gets more character development than most of the heroes. He even learns more about Gotrek than any of the main cast get to know, which is a decidedly strange way of handling such important episodes in Gotrek's life.
The siege is mostly well paced, with drama and tension building as each side tries a bit of this and that, and relief armies both planned and inadvertent converge on the city. When the final battle arrives its boisterous and as chaotic as expected. There's not a lot of shocks here, but King's usual slashing bloody style holds up decently on my umpteenth reread.
In some ways, this is the end of King's run. Vampireslayer and especially Giantslayer peter out the story, winnowing down the cast and effectively resetting the board for the next author Nathan Long. In that regard, Beastslayer's both well worth picking up as a fan of the series and as a bit of a goodbye.
July 20, 2022
In my view, this was the weakest of the Gotrek & Felix books so far. The story lacked focus. It was about a huge battle and the anticipation and build-up towards it, but it felt like the author was straining to find things for our heroes to do before the actual battle begins. I've been wondering since Daemonslayer why Thanquol and the other Skaven were still in this series and now it turns out William King didn't know himself, and they end up being fairly superfluous but they still need closure to their storyline. As a result of these things, there were too many plotlines going on at once in this book, and inevitably, most of them were resolved in a hasty and fairly unsatisfactory manner. Nevertheless, once the actual battle begins, the action is glorious, unbelievably violent and extremely immersive. It reaches an epic crescendo and then BAM. Book over. No aftermath, no epilogue. That's it.
I'm looking forward to Vampireslayer, though. I love William King's ability to bring subtlety, life and depth to the characters and their inner thoughts even in the midst of a ridiculously over the top adventure full of kitschy monsters and gore. With vampires added to the mix, this should be amazing.
I'm looking forward to Vampireslayer, though. I love William King's ability to bring subtlety, life and depth to the characters and their inner thoughts even in the midst of a ridiculously over the top adventure full of kitschy monsters and gore. With vampires added to the mix, this should be amazing.
May 14, 2025
When I think of Gotrek and Felix, phrases like:
"Gotrek traced the edge of his huge rune carved axe with his thumb, drawing a single bead of ruby red blood."
"Felix knew that he was going to die"
"Felix struck out with his dragon hilted sword"
"With one, then two swipes of his axe, the men fell dead in gory pieces as Gotrek cleft through them like a hot knife through butter"
"Felix wondedered again why he ever agreed to join the slayer on his mad quest for a mighty doom"
This book delivers. The same Gotrek and Felix, filled with intrigue, comedy, romance, adventure, intimidation, and exhilarating tavern-brawl battles masterly narrated by Jonathan Keeble. It's not something that will grow your mind, but its damn entertaining literature like a Keanu Reeves shooter flick. So entertaining if fact that I've limited myself to not being able to read two in a row.
My only complaints is that the duo have left behind the life of the ordinary adventurer for the never ending power creep of fighting greater and greater odds at the end of times. Also, there are parts of the romance I find distasteful.
"Gotrek traced the edge of his huge rune carved axe with his thumb, drawing a single bead of ruby red blood."
"Felix knew that he was going to die"
"Felix struck out with his dragon hilted sword"
"With one, then two swipes of his axe, the men fell dead in gory pieces as Gotrek cleft through them like a hot knife through butter"
"Felix wondedered again why he ever agreed to join the slayer on his mad quest for a mighty doom"
This book delivers. The same Gotrek and Felix, filled with intrigue, comedy, romance, adventure, intimidation, and exhilarating tavern-brawl battles masterly narrated by Jonathan Keeble. It's not something that will grow your mind, but its damn entertaining literature like a Keanu Reeves shooter flick. So entertaining if fact that I've limited myself to not being able to read two in a row.
My only complaints is that the duo have left behind the life of the ordinary adventurer for the never ending power creep of fighting greater and greater odds at the end of times. Also, there are parts of the romance I find distasteful.
February 27, 2023
First off, more Gotrek and Felix, yay.
The strength of the Gotrek and Felix series isn't the characters, i don't think that's a very big secret. The true strength lies in the exploration of the fascinating and in-depth world of warhammer fantasy, and these books shine the most when they take the reader to faraways places and describe those places in detail.
Sadly, this book fails on that front for me. Gotrek and Felix join the Defense of Praag as the city is besieged by chaos cultists and beastmen. Sadly, the worldbuilding here retreads many of the same ideas that we have already seen in skavenslayer. Big human city under siege, funny little plots to weaken the city yada yada yada. This makes the book feel samey and it fails to truly offer anything new.
One positive point i have to admit though, and that saves it from being a total bore is the inclusion of a wider group acting with Gotrek and Felix that was built in the last book and gets to have some nice character interactions here. Unfortunately, this group includes the Romance between Felix and Ulrika, which causes me great physical and mental pain. It just doesn't work and it had me cringing many times.
Regardless, at least the battles are fun and the worldbuilding has at least a little bit to offer. The weakest G&F novel for me so far though. Read it if you want to get the whole story, but don't expect too much.
The strength of the Gotrek and Felix series isn't the characters, i don't think that's a very big secret. The true strength lies in the exploration of the fascinating and in-depth world of warhammer fantasy, and these books shine the most when they take the reader to faraways places and describe those places in detail.
Sadly, this book fails on that front for me. Gotrek and Felix join the Defense of Praag as the city is besieged by chaos cultists and beastmen. Sadly, the worldbuilding here retreads many of the same ideas that we have already seen in skavenslayer. Big human city under siege, funny little plots to weaken the city yada yada yada. This makes the book feel samey and it fails to truly offer anything new.
One positive point i have to admit though, and that saves it from being a total bore is the inclusion of a wider group acting with Gotrek and Felix that was built in the last book and gets to have some nice character interactions here. Unfortunately, this group includes the Romance between Felix and Ulrika, which causes me great physical and mental pain. It just doesn't work and it had me cringing many times.
Regardless, at least the battles are fun and the worldbuilding has at least a little bit to offer. The weakest G&F novel for me so far though. Read it if you want to get the whole story, but don't expect too much.
February 2, 2021
The first of the massive Chaos armies has reached the walls of Praag and nothing appears to be able to stand in its way—nothing that is, but everyone’s favorite dwarven slayer, Gotrek, and his human friend, Felix. As if the army outside the walls is not bad enough, there are numerous traitors inside the walls as well—many of whom have set their minds to the task of killing Gotrek and Felix because the enemy commander has had a vision that they could defeat him. The novel is a dizzying mess of plots and attacks instantly clarified with Gotrek’s axe and Felix’s sword.
The supporting cast of extra slayers, a mage, and Felix’s girlfriend, a martially puissant noblewoman, all have strong roles in the book as well. Everything is on the line this time, not just for the Gotrek and Felix, but for the entire city and the human civilization beyond it.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
The supporting cast of extra slayers, a mage, and Felix’s girlfriend, a martially puissant noblewoman, all have strong roles in the book as well. Everything is on the line this time, not just for the Gotrek and Felix, but for the entire city and the human civilization beyond it.
If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.
October 21, 2020
I almost gave this one two stars. This is far from Tolkienesque, and you’ll certainly never encounter it in a literary fantasy course, but for the most part they are fun and enjoyable.
This one features an incursion by a massive army of chaos followers and an epic siege worthy of a Total War Warhammer campaign.
My problem is that it is just getting too predictable. I knew how it was going to end a quarter of the way in. And I swear, every single battle and fight over the last three books, Felix “reaches a level of skill in combat that he never thought possible” and I’m wondering just how crappy a swordsman he must have been to begin with to have grown so much. Insert sarcastic eye roll here.
Really, I just want more from Gotrek’s point of view. He is far less whiny and emotional.
This one features an incursion by a massive army of chaos followers and an epic siege worthy of a Total War Warhammer campaign.
My problem is that it is just getting too predictable. I knew how it was going to end a quarter of the way in. And I swear, every single battle and fight over the last three books, Felix “reaches a level of skill in combat that he never thought possible” and I’m wondering just how crappy a swordsman he must have been to begin with to have grown so much. Insert sarcastic eye roll here.
Really, I just want more from Gotrek’s point of view. He is far less whiny and emotional.
January 3, 2022
A good grimdark adventure in a city under siege. I definitely liked this more than the previous couple of entries in the series.
Despite almost the entirety of the novel taking place in the city of Praag, enough locations and characters are met within the city to keep the story interesting. Jumping perspective to the Chaos leaders besieging the city is also fun. As usual, I found myself skimming over the whirlwind of fantasy violence at the end. What can I say, I'm here for the adventure, tragedy, drama, and humor.
On that note, some of the previous books have really great, cheesy romance arcs, which I am disappointed to say this novel most entirely abstains from. I believe the narrative spends more time with the love interest's dad than with Ulrika herself, who literally sleeps through most of this book. It's a shame; Daemonslayer went to some effort to introduce Ulrika and now it feels the author just does not care about her.
Despite almost the entirety of the novel taking place in the city of Praag, enough locations and characters are met within the city to keep the story interesting. Jumping perspective to the Chaos leaders besieging the city is also fun. As usual, I found myself skimming over the whirlwind of fantasy violence at the end. What can I say, I'm here for the adventure, tragedy, drama, and humor.
On that note, some of the previous books have really great, cheesy romance arcs, which I am disappointed to say this novel most entirely abstains from. I believe the narrative spends more time with the love interest's dad than with Ulrika herself, who literally sleeps through most of this book. It's a shame; Daemonslayer went to some effort to introduce Ulrika and now it feels the author just does not care about her.
July 2, 2022
This was the first Gotrek and Felix book I read back in grade school. I was excited to revisit it, I remembered it being pretty fun.
Rereading it as an adult, i'm not certain it quite works. There is a lot that was pretty good here, but the plot is a bit disjointed from packing a lot of various elements in, ghosts, cultists, chaos, skaven, it all sort of combines together into a mish mash that doesn't always flow well.
Some of the strongest parts are Gotrek and Felix doing what they do best, fighting monsters during the siege, and Thanquol's meglomania. But there are other parts that absolutely drag...
Rereading it as an adult, i'm not certain it quite works. There is a lot that was pretty good here, but the plot is a bit disjointed from packing a lot of various elements in, ghosts, cultists, chaos, skaven, it all sort of combines together into a mish mash that doesn't always flow well.
Some of the strongest parts are Gotrek and Felix doing what they do best, fighting monsters during the siege, and Thanquol's meglomania. But there are other parts that absolutely drag...
August 1, 2023
Although quick and fun enough, like the entries before it, King's prose leaves much to be desired. Story lines and characters aren't fleshed out enough. You had one plot line of a traitor, which was actually a good plot line, but then it goes absolutely nowhere as the traitor dies for apparently no reason at all and that plotline ends... the ending is rushed like all King's endings. A paragraph literally sums up the ending as if king wasn't aloud to reach another page in the count. It leaves much to be desired and leaves re-read ability at a zero for me. This series is only for the die hard warhammer fans and I can't wait to start the books in the series that are written by others.
July 20, 2021
A return to form from Dragonslayer and a return to the charming adventures of Gotrek and Felix. This felt like a parallel to Skavenslayer with the pair besieged by a huge chaos army instead of Skaven. I'm so glad that the stupid love triangle was not as prominent, because just like Dragonslayer the few chapters with it in were positively eye rolling. The charcters are so well written, the narrative is imaginative, I love this book series. The audible narration is also one of the best there is.
December 24, 2022
This book was the culmination of the last 2 books of the series and felt like it. I was worried that an entire story taking place in a siege would be dull but it wasn't as King found ways to keep you invested. The thing I enjoyed most was the insight into the villains of the tale and how in many cases it was their own fatal flaws that facilitated their downfall. Still schlocky fantasy but this one felt like the best of the series so far to me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 7, 2023
What is it about: Surviving a Siege.
Prose: Simplistic and repetitive.
Characters: One-dimensional.
Pacing: Quick.
Plot: One foreseeable Twist, straightforward plot.
Magic: Yes.
Worldbuilding: Well, it's Warhammer.
For readers of: Pulp Fantasy.
Recommend: Look, it's not great literature, and it will never be. But if you like the Warhammerworld. and reading without thinking too much, this is for you.
Prose: Simplistic and repetitive.
Characters: One-dimensional.
Pacing: Quick.
Plot: One foreseeable Twist, straightforward plot.
Magic: Yes.
Worldbuilding: Well, it's Warhammer.
For readers of: Pulp Fantasy.
Recommend: Look, it's not great literature, and it will never be. But if you like the Warhammerworld. and reading without thinking too much, this is for you.
March 15, 2025
It's all been building to this.
The most important chaos story for warhammer fantasy is the Seige of Praag, originally from the Realm of Chaos books.
This is essentially Seige of Praag 2 Electric Boogaloo. We get to see two sides of the original seiges impact on the setting. We see the scars on the city that have lasted for 250 years be torn open again. We see the horror of facing down an endless horde of evil.
The most important chaos story for warhammer fantasy is the Seige of Praag, originally from the Realm of Chaos books.
This is essentially Seige of Praag 2 Electric Boogaloo. We get to see two sides of the original seiges impact on the setting. We see the scars on the city that have lasted for 250 years be torn open again. We see the horror of facing down an endless horde of evil.
January 16, 2019
Vojska Chaosu si brúsia zuby na mesto Praag. Naši známi Gotrek a Felix sa zapájajú do obrany. A bude to masaker. Majú čo robiť aj spoza hraideb, aj meste.
Zatiaľ sa mi táto kniha najviac páčila. Prelínaníe dejových liniek ma nerušilo a finále bolo epické. Vlastne, aj som čakal že bude.
Táto fantasy séria má rozhodne čo ešte povedať.
Zatiaľ sa mi táto kniha najviac páčila. Prelínaníe dejových liniek ma nerušilo a finále bolo epické. Vlastne, aj som čakal že bude.
Táto fantasy séria má rozhodne čo ešte povedať.
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