Manslayer

Gotrek & Felix #9

by Nathan Long

Reunited with their old friend, the insane dwarf engineer Malakai Makaisson, Gotrek and Felix travel once again on his mighty airship The Spirit of Grungni as they head north to join in the war against the vast hordes of Chaos that threaten the lands of men. But when a series of suspicious accidents threaten to end their journey prematurely - and permanently - it becomes clear that saboteurs are at work. Gotrek and Felix must work quickly to find the culprits before it's too late.

Read it because
Old friends and new challenges await the infamous duo as they try to unravel a mystery (not their strong suit – they're better at fighting than thinking) that threatens to destroy them and doom thousands.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Audiobook, Science Fiction Fantasy, Novels, High Fantasy, Dark Fantasy

289 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Nathan Long is a screen and prose writer, with two movies, one Saturday-morning adventure series, and a handful of live-action and animated TV episodes to his name, as well as eleven fantasy novels and several award-winning short stories.

He hails from Pennsylvania, where he grew up, went to school, and played in various punk and rock-a-billy bands, before following his writing dreams to Hollywood - where he now writes novels full time - and still occasionally plays in bands.

His latest novel is Jane Carver of Waar, available March 6th from Night Shade Books. Visit his blog at www.sabrepunk.com.

Reviews

[Cornelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

As funny as usual and of course a bit trashy. The last fight chapter, though, is far too long and could have been easily reduced to the half number of pages. Some annoying grammar, spelling and vocabulary mistakes.

[Bartek Maciej · Rating 3 out of 5]

Generalnie spoko książka w klimacie Warhammerowym. Tylko trzy gwiazdki ponieważ finałowa walka ciągnęła się tak długo, że odechciało mi się czytać i tylko przekartkowałem ostatnie chyba 10 stron. Poza tym wątek Urliki jakoś kulał, przeć tą książką przeczytałem trylogie Urliki i te historie się nie spinają. Ale poza tym ok, Gotrek zabija (prawie) wszystkich, Felix przezwycięża strach inzawsze podąża za Zabójcą, Imperium jest w niebezpieczeństwie, a Chaos czai się w najmniej spodziewanym miejscu 😃

[Jozua · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it for Gotrek and Felix, their dialogue and fighting scenes.

The story isn't great and the return of a certain character that forgot more of what she learned makes me want to give this a 2... Almost no continuity from the other trilogy makes the character the worst thing in the entire Warhammer franchise (of what I have read so far). She could have been amazing... What a waste.

[Grzegorz Szopinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, better than last two books.

[Tomáš Šváb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nevěřte zrzkům

[Wren · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of the only Gotrek and Felix books where I had a problem with something or in this case someone. And that person is Ulrika, I liked her in the previous books. This tough as nails email character that took no sh*t and always had something to say, not to mention could handle herself well in any given situation.

Then she became a Vampire and things took a turn, I loved the idea of it as it just worked well into the plotline, everything she believed in was turned on its head, how could she let herself live with what she is? It leaves you on a cliff hanger for her story and stupidly I never connected the dots and realised that the Ulrika the Vampire trilogy was about her 🤪 needless to say I purchased those books and will soon be reading them.

The problem is that in this book her personality has completely changed and I didn't like her knew cocky attitude, she became like a stereotypical female lead in a run of the mill vampire show, went from this awesome character to someone who know has all this arrogance just because she's a Vampire now, kinda annoyed me what with her sarcastic comments and constant looks and glares at Felix, just felt like a different character to the one I'd gotten used to 🤷🏼‍♂️

Other than that small thing this book was awesome 🙌🏻🙏🏻

[Jason Ray Carney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my second Nathan Long Gotrek and Felix novels. I read all the ones by William King. I think Nathan Long is doing a great job. This one was great. The only issue I have is the epic battle at the conclusion that ran almost 80 pages (in my edition). I need breathers and atmosphere between battles. I don’t want to spoil anything but there were some compelling unexpected moments that were handled excellently.

[Luke Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Out of all the Gotrek and Felix novels, this is probably among my favourites: the cloak and dagger element as the pair strive to unearth a treacherous conspiracy was so engaging, and even with the cover art spoiling the identity of the main villain ahead of time, there's still plenty of surprises, along with the usual mix of action and black humour...

"Stopping at the city of Nuln en route to the siege at Middenheim, Gotrek Gurnisson, determined to find his death in battle against the daemon hordes of Archaon, and his Rememberer Felix Jaegar reunite with their old comrade Malakai Makaisson, who offers to convey them to Middenheim, where he's due to deliver a consignment of cannons to the city's defenders. But when a series of accidents and mishaps orchestrated by a mysterious Chaos cult determined to sabotage the Imperial war effort leave the pair unable to leave, it becomes a race against time to stop the cult's apocalyptic endgame...

[Johnny Hammond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book that has everything you could want! The Slayer dwarf Gotrek and Felix return to save the empire from conspiracy of epic scale with vampires, chaos worshippers and demons. We get to visit again with characters from the past books with is great and heartbreaking at the same time. If you haven’t read this series I highly recommend it.

[Gilbert Stack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this title was ingenious for this series. We’ve had eight monsters in the title so far (Trolls, Dragons, Daemons, Orcs, Giants, Vampires, Beasts, and Skaven) and in book 9 Nathan reminds us that man can be quite the monster as well.

The plot revolves around Gotrek and Felix’s efforts to get to the front in the new war against Chaos. Their journey takes them through Nuln and for the first time in twenty years, Felix sees his brother who has (unknown to Felix) been publishing his journals as adventure stories which no one believes are true. As the reader can imagine, everyone’s going to have a chance to learn how real they are.

The plot revolves around the theft of a barge-load of black powder needed for cannon at the front. Gotrek and Felix seem to be the only ones making progress in finding it, which angers the watch into castigating them for all of the damage caused in their battles. The watch is a conundrum throughout the story. Are they just protecting their turf or are they actually aiding the chaos cults trying to burn down Nuln and its gunnery school?

This book is packed with fights and the return of characters from when William King wrote the series. The most important of these is Felix’s former lover (now turned into a vampire), Ulrika. I thought Long handled this obviously painful reunion very well and it added a lot to the story. In addition, the threat is very well drawn and I was totally satisfied with the ending which actually makes the reader think about what life must be like in the world of Warhammer.

I do have one complaint, but it’s of the Warhammer universe, not of Nathan Long’s book. Chaos causes mutations. They pop up in tons of the novels. I find it difficult to believe that a world in this serious of a struggle doesn’t routinely make people strip down to be examined for mutation since such mutations always lead to the mutant joining the side of chaos.

If you liked this review, you can find more at www.gilbertstack.com/reviews.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I could not help but feel to have witnessed Gotrek and Felix wander into a Necromunda setting. The underhive feel, the emphasis on foundries that supply the empire, the living conditions in the slums, the impact of radical preachers, the random mutation and persecution; all of it felt more at home in the warhammer 40k universe then Warhammer.

That is not to say I did not like it, but still. I would not want to live in warhammer fantasy world empire, but I would not picture it as bad as Nathan Long does. The weird thing is, is that he never actually wrote a 40k book. How weird is that?

Still if I have to have some criticism, a few hints and suggestions were made that I guess were supposed to be picked up again in later novels but they never did, a shame for it would have made a tease but I know now it will never come to fruition. A fun book to read tough even if the cover does give away a mayor plot point.

[L.I.T. Tarassenko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook. Would have been 3 stars but Jonatahan Keeble's narration earns it another star. This was better than Orcslayer, but I still prefer King to Long, and miss King. That said, I think that Long can be funnier than King sometimes, and there were some very funny moments in this like in Orcslayer. I especially enjoyed the part near the start where Felix discovers his brother has been publishing the journals he has been sending home as cheap novels--very meta and the interaction with Gotrek around this is brilliant. Also loved the parts where Felix goes for a ride on a gyrocopter and uses a parachute for the first time. And the return of Thanquol at the end...amazing! Jonathan Keeble's narration of that scene alone is worth the price of admission... Onwards to Elfslayer!

[Luis Sparklefury · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although so far I'm liking how Long's contributions to the series actually seem to be more narrative focused than King's entries, which often felt far more like a series of interconnected butcherings with a big monster at the end and some excuse for it all to happen, this one suffered a little.
The plot is good, although the 'twist' was hideously obvious and someone as astute, experienced, and learned as Felix should have had a better time figuring it out. Also I feel like Long consistently tends to downplay Felix' own talent as a fighter compared to King - despite having twenty years experience in the interim.
Plus there's the odd character assassination of Otto...

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is the 6th? book of the series. Each book stands alone but there is some introduction of the characters and background. This book also brings in a character that was from a previous book with some background. I might have enjoyed this more having familiarity with first books. The writing is just so-so and the story development is sub-par. I was hoping for more but it was more of a simple mystery. Otherwise, I liked the Empire theme.

[Jake Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gotrek & Felix return to Nuln only to find chaos in the heart of the Empire's armoury.

The writer has changed, the tone has changed but the story unfolds as expected if in a somewhat more bombastic way. Gotrek is a much more troubled character and Felix "hasn't aged a day." Old friends and enemies are liberally spread through this one. It's a real nostalgia tour, but then the two of them have been out of the Empire for the best part of 20 years.

[Christopher Dodds · Rating 5 out of 5]

As ever I've enjoyed reading a Gotrek and Felix novel and this one was no exception. It had a far darker story than the previous ones but this one had more of a personal story for Felix who is re- united with his brother and his family while also dealing with cultists and their evil plan to destroy the forces of good who are gathering to stop the forces of chaos who planning to destroy Middenheim.

[Yuriy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Эта часть, пожалуй, мне понравилась больше предыдущей. История с заговором всё-таки сильнее захватывает, чем бесконечное брожение по гномьим туннелям. Опять же, приятно вернуться к знакомому городскому сеттингу и увидеть уже появлявшегося в серии персонажа.

Из претензий могу выделить финальный (хотя пожалуй и не главный) плоттвист, который виден за половину книги. Ну и финальная часть сильно затянута, она правда могла бы быть покороче без потери смысла.

[Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely the weakest plot in the series so far, but still having a lot of fun with the series and the audiobooks read by Jonathan Keeble are fantastic.

Also very happy with Nathan Long continuing the series, just wish Gotrek and Felix had more interesting stuff to do in this one. Some good returning characters and get a good look at the Empire from the inside.

[Peter Cox · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun entry! Nice to see some old faces and locations. I am impressed that despite this being the 9th entry in the series the characters still give off the sense of JUST getting the job done. The "by the skin of their teeth" nature of the adventures is one of the things that makes this series so enjoyable.

[Destinybladez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely one of the worst weeks Felix has had so far. His brother now hates him. The Empire is still coping about Skaven not being a thing. Nuln thinks him and Gotrek are chaos worshippers or insane. He has to come to terms with Ulrika being a vampire

He dangles on a gyrocopter with nothing but a rope while he still has a wound near his ribs.

I enjoyed this more than Orcslayer

[Zameer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Long's writing excels in its portrayal of camaraderie and the witty exchanges between characters, offering moments of respite within the somber fantasy setting. The narrative explores profound themes of loyalty, betrayal, and the consequences of war.

"Manslayer" represents a significant improvement compared to Mr. Long's earlier contributions to the series.

[C Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good until the end, where it loses a star for the ending. I realize that there is a mystique in them being outlaws and on the run but the way it happened was too forced and relied on portraying too many people as utter morons. The final boss fight was a bit lame as well.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

almost there ...can't stop reading the series now

[Aidan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second read through of this book. Just all around enjoyable.

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Felix finds a lost love while stopping a plot by cultists.

[Iain · Rating 5 out of 5]

For whatever reason, this is just the sort of Felix & Gotrek adventure I prefer. Recommended for fans of Skavenslayer and other urban settings.

[Andrew Alvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Returning to an old local and meeting characters old and new, Long keeps serving up solid new material starring Black Librarys' most famous duo.

[Collin Winkowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

No complicated stuff like usual! Just good ol’ Gotrek and Felix.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

out of the frying pan into the fire. Again and again.

[Jakob · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best Gotrek & Felix book since no. 2 and 3.

The final battle was not really my taste but the story in general, as well as meeting some old characters, and being back in Nuln was great.