What do you think?
Rate this book
Gotrek & Felix #1
Trollslayer
Author: William King
Paperback
Part of the 'Black Library Classics' series, this is presented in a large commercial format with striking cover art. Felix's worst fears are confirmed when he learns that Gotrek is a Trollslayer...
Publisher: Black Library
ISBN: 9781849705080
416 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
323 people are currently reading
2841 people want to read
About the author
William King
349 books715 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 391 reviews
February 3, 2023
Every now and then I venture into the tolkienesque Warhammer fantasy world.
In this novel we learn the beginnings of "Gotrek Gurnisson", a dwarf sworn to redeem his terrible sins by fighting and dying in glorious combat; and "Felix Jaeger", a human scholar pledged to immortalize this heroic death in a book, after the dwarf in an occasion saved his life.
What was most certainly going to be a quick suicide mission turns into a series of endless adventures against horrible beings and evil abominations; to poor Felix's dismay, who is constantly dragged into countless battles by this reckless suicidal dwarf, that seems never to finally die!
So I'm here, yet again, in the grip of another saga. The first of fourteen books, last time I checked. Yup, I don't learn. Entertaining from time to time, sometimes even funny. Not particularly recommendable, but good enough to spend some fantasy time.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1999] [320p] [Fantasy] [Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
De vez en cuando me aventuro en el mundo de fantasía tolkienesque de Warhammer.
En esta novela conocemos los comientos de "Gotrek Gurnisson", un enano que juró redimirse de sus terribles pecados luchando y muriendo en gloriosa batalla; y "Felix Jaeger", un humano escolar que juró inmortalizar esta heroica muerte en un libro, después de que el enano le salvara la vida en una oportunidad.
Lo que iba a ser certeramente una rápida misión suicida se convierte en una serie de interminables aventuras contra horribles seres y abominaciones del mal; para perjuicio del pobre Felix, que es constantemente arrastrado a innumerables batallas por este temerario enano suicida, que parece nunca finalmente morir!
Me veo pues, otra vez, en las fauces de otra saga. El primero de catorce libros, según me fijé la última vez. Sep, no aprendo. De a ratos entretenida, a veces hasta divertida. No particularmente recomendable, pero lo suficientemente buena para pasar un rato de fantasía.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1999] [320p] [Fantasía] [No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
In this novel we learn the beginnings of "Gotrek Gurnisson", a dwarf sworn to redeem his terrible sins by fighting and dying in glorious combat; and "Felix Jaeger", a human scholar pledged to immortalize this heroic death in a book, after the dwarf in an occasion saved his life.
What was most certainly going to be a quick suicide mission turns into a series of endless adventures against horrible beings and evil abominations; to poor Felix's dismay, who is constantly dragged into countless battles by this reckless suicidal dwarf, that seems never to finally die!
So I'm here, yet again, in the grip of another saga. The first of fourteen books, last time I checked. Yup, I don't learn. Entertaining from time to time, sometimes even funny. Not particularly recommendable, but good enough to spend some fantasy time.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1999] [320p] [Fantasy] [Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
De vez en cuando me aventuro en el mundo de fantasía tolkienesque de Warhammer.
En esta novela conocemos los comientos de "Gotrek Gurnisson", un enano que juró redimirse de sus terribles pecados luchando y muriendo en gloriosa batalla; y "Felix Jaeger", un humano escolar que juró inmortalizar esta heroica muerte en un libro, después de que el enano le salvara la vida en una oportunidad.
Lo que iba a ser certeramente una rápida misión suicida se convierte en una serie de interminables aventuras contra horribles seres y abominaciones del mal; para perjuicio del pobre Felix, que es constantemente arrastrado a innumerables batallas por este temerario enano suicida, que parece nunca finalmente morir!
Me veo pues, otra vez, en las fauces de otra saga. El primero de catorce libros, según me fijé la última vez. Sep, no aprendo. De a ratos entretenida, a veces hasta divertida. No particularmente recomendable, pero lo suficientemente buena para pasar un rato de fantasía.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1999] [320p] [Fantasía] [No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
December 13, 2017
So the time is the late 1980s, when I'm in the height of my D&D-and-other-RPG-buying-and-reading-(although-not-actually-much-playing) phase, and in the (hallowed) pages of Dragon Magazine I see a review for a new game called Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Which normally wouldn't mean too much to me -- D&D pretty much had the "vaguely quasi-medieval/lifted-from-Tolkien" niche filled for me. But the review was actually quite enthusiastic, and the cover of the book
had a dwarf with a bright orange mohawk bashing the hell out of something pretty orc-like. So I ordered a copy at my friendly neighborhood hobby store, and I read it and I was instantly transported -- yes, the setting was kind of bog-standard fake Europe -- in fact, the map was obviously modeled on actual historical Europe -- but there was an undercurrent of something more grand in the Chaos-tainted world it described. (And the maps of medieval villages and buildings actually looked like real medieval villages and buildings, with nary a whiff of 5-squares-to-the-inch graph paper at 10 feet to the square.)
So in addition to the book I bought a couple of the early adventures, which I also read & enjoyed, but that was about it.
So fast forward to 1999 or 2000 or so -- I knew that Warhammer was still a going concern (and that Warhammer 40,000 in particular was going like gangbusters), but had more of a presence in the UK than over here; and this was also the golden age (?) of the RPG tie-in novel; TSR (was it still TSR at that point?) had been publishing them by the truckload for the previous 15 years, and pretty much every single new role-playing game would also try to start its own novel line. And I'd picked up a few of the novels over the years, because they always sounded like exactly the sort of thing I'd want to read; but the actual execution of the books just never seemed to live up to the promise. But I walked into Uncle Hugo's and on the shelf I saw some Warhammer novels, and one of them was called Trollslayer and had a picture of a dwarf with an orange Mohawk; and when I started flipping through it, I decided it had to come home with me.
All of which is a very, very, very long (and quite possibly inaccurate) way of saying: This was a good book that does a fine job of capturing the flavor (excuse me -- flavour) of Warhammer's Old World. This first book is more of a linked series of short stories than a novel, but that's very much in keeping with the sword & sorcery tradition. The trollslayer in question is one Gotrek Gurnisson (trollslayers are dwarves who, to atone for some grievous offence, shave their hair into a Mohawk and set out to kill as many terrible beasties as they possibly can (ideally trolls) before dying in glorious battle); accompanying him as amanuensis is one Felix Jaeger, a human who has some skeletons in his own closet. This book chronicles some of their earlier adventures as they leave civilized lands and encounter all manner of Chaos cultists, beast-men, orcs and other horrors in their wanderings through Old World cities, wilderness and (in one particularly memorable tale) the ruins of an ancient dwarf city.
This is rich, bloody and atmospheric stuff.
had a dwarf with a bright orange mohawk bashing the hell out of something pretty orc-like. So I ordered a copy at my friendly neighborhood hobby store, and I read it and I was instantly transported -- yes, the setting was kind of bog-standard fake Europe -- in fact, the map was obviously modeled on actual historical Europe -- but there was an undercurrent of something more grand in the Chaos-tainted world it described. (And the maps of medieval villages and buildings actually looked like real medieval villages and buildings, with nary a whiff of 5-squares-to-the-inch graph paper at 10 feet to the square.)
So in addition to the book I bought a couple of the early adventures, which I also read & enjoyed, but that was about it.
So fast forward to 1999 or 2000 or so -- I knew that Warhammer was still a going concern (and that Warhammer 40,000 in particular was going like gangbusters), but had more of a presence in the UK than over here; and this was also the golden age (?) of the RPG tie-in novel; TSR (was it still TSR at that point?) had been publishing them by the truckload for the previous 15 years, and pretty much every single new role-playing game would also try to start its own novel line. And I'd picked up a few of the novels over the years, because they always sounded like exactly the sort of thing I'd want to read; but the actual execution of the books just never seemed to live up to the promise. But I walked into Uncle Hugo's and on the shelf I saw some Warhammer novels, and one of them was called Trollslayer and had a picture of a dwarf with an orange Mohawk; and when I started flipping through it, I decided it had to come home with me.
All of which is a very, very, very long (and quite possibly inaccurate) way of saying: This was a good book that does a fine job of capturing the flavor (excuse me -- flavour) of Warhammer's Old World. This first book is more of a linked series of short stories than a novel, but that's very much in keeping with the sword & sorcery tradition. The trollslayer in question is one Gotrek Gurnisson (trollslayers are dwarves who, to atone for some grievous offence, shave their hair into a Mohawk and set out to kill as many terrible beasties as they possibly can (ideally trolls) before dying in glorious battle); accompanying him as amanuensis is one Felix Jaeger, a human who has some skeletons in his own closet. This book chronicles some of their earlier adventures as they leave civilized lands and encounter all manner of Chaos cultists, beast-men, orcs and other horrors in their wanderings through Old World cities, wilderness and (in one particularly memorable tale) the ruins of an ancient dwarf city.
This is rich, bloody and atmospheric stuff.
August 24, 2014
When it's dark outside and the day comes to an end the world goes silent at the reviewer's home. But sometimes, if you listen carefully you can hear some voices. Want to take a closer look?
Come and follow me into the attic to a cupboard. Inside the cupboard there are lots of books, games and comics. But what is that? Do you hear the tiny voices coming from 3 cardboard boxes? Let us listen in on what the tiny tin dwarves have to say:
"Is it dark yet?" asked the Clan Warrior.
"It's always dark in here, stupid gnome! And since 18 years I have your bloody axe in my face, so I can't see a thing!" retorted the Iron Breaker.
"I wish I had your problems. You're lying on top of the pile, I'm down below at the bottom of the box with your weight adding to my discomfort with every passing day," said a voice from below.
"Shut up, Rune Priest. You're not even painted yet," said the Clan Warrior.
"Yeah," added the Iron Breaker "instead of complaining tell us a story."
"One of Sigmar's priests and the Empire?" inquired the Rune Priest.
"Booh!" screamed the army of tin dwarves.
"Maybe something about the time when the elves split up in high elves and dark elves?" asked the spiritual leader.
"If you say the e-word one more time, I swear I come down there and split your skull with my axe!" screamed the Clan Warrior.
"That would be a relief for my face," stated the Iron Breaker.
"Well, what about the stories about the famous dwarven slayer Gotrek and his human companion Felix?" asked the Rune Priest.
A loud cheer went up from a second box, where the 10 slayer figurines started chanting "Slayers, slayers, slayers!"
"Thanks, priest. You woke up the mad men...well done," grumbled the Clan Warrior.
"Well, Gotrek and Felix it is then," admited the Iron Breaker.
"There stories aren't half-bad. Lots of action, demons, monsters and gore," said the Clan Warrior.
"Although there is a lack of character development, interesting female characters or a huge overarching plot. It's more a collection of short stories," mused the Rune Priest.
"I'm here within you, you dilly-dally foptard, for 20 years and you never developed a character, so shut up and tell the damn story before the slayers never stop chanting!" rebuked the Clan Warrior.
And so the Rune Priest told one of theclassical dwarf tales from the Warhammer universe. It was still dark, the axe still remained in the Iron Breakers face, but at least the slayers seemed to be happy for a while.
So let's leave the dwarves to their story telling and return to our own world. But maybe we're going to visit them again sometime.
Come and follow me into the attic to a cupboard. Inside the cupboard there are lots of books, games and comics. But what is that? Do you hear the tiny voices coming from 3 cardboard boxes? Let us listen in on what the tiny tin dwarves have to say:
"Is it dark yet?" asked the Clan Warrior.
"It's always dark in here, stupid gnome! And since 18 years I have your bloody axe in my face, so I can't see a thing!" retorted the Iron Breaker.
"I wish I had your problems. You're lying on top of the pile, I'm down below at the bottom of the box with your weight adding to my discomfort with every passing day," said a voice from below.
"Shut up, Rune Priest. You're not even painted yet," said the Clan Warrior.
"Yeah," added the Iron Breaker "instead of complaining tell us a story."
"One of Sigmar's priests and the Empire?" inquired the Rune Priest.
"Booh!" screamed the army of tin dwarves.
"Maybe something about the time when the elves split up in high elves and dark elves?" asked the spiritual leader.
"If you say the e-word one more time, I swear I come down there and split your skull with my axe!" screamed the Clan Warrior.
"That would be a relief for my face," stated the Iron Breaker.
"Well, what about the stories about the famous dwarven slayer Gotrek and his human companion Felix?" asked the Rune Priest.
A loud cheer went up from a second box, where the 10 slayer figurines started chanting "Slayers, slayers, slayers!"
"Thanks, priest. You woke up the mad men...well done," grumbled the Clan Warrior.
"Well, Gotrek and Felix it is then," admited the Iron Breaker.
"There stories aren't half-bad. Lots of action, demons, monsters and gore," said the Clan Warrior.
"Although there is a lack of character development, interesting female characters or a huge overarching plot. It's more a collection of short stories," mused the Rune Priest.
"I'm here within you, you dilly-dally foptard, for 20 years and you never developed a character, so shut up and tell the damn story before the slayers never stop chanting!" rebuked the Clan Warrior.
And so the Rune Priest told one of theclassical dwarf tales from the Warhammer universe. It was still dark, the axe still remained in the Iron Breakers face, but at least the slayers seemed to be happy for a while.
So let's leave the dwarves to their story telling and return to our own world. But maybe we're going to visit them again sometime.
May 5, 2021
Tipo warhammer (dicen, que no he leído ninguno) donde seguimos al héroe este de cresta roja sobre la cabeza -Gotrek-que va dejándonos batallitas a un ritmo muy ágil y divertido. Y Felix es el cronista, que bastante tiene con salir vivo de los entuertos.
Nos aparecen "monstruos, demonios, brujos, mutantes, orcos y seres aun peores" mientras vamos pasando de historia en historia. Prosa sencillita pero que cumple para lo que es la novela.
En realidad sería un 7/10.
Nos aparecen "monstruos, demonios, brujos, mutantes, orcos y seres aun peores" mientras vamos pasando de historia en historia. Prosa sencillita pero que cumple para lo que es la novela.
En realidad sería un 7/10.
February 1, 2016
This is very standard "Tolkien-esqe" Fantasy. A world filled with dwarves, men, and some evil. Our main characters inevitably find themselves "walking the path" of their hero journey to some great unknown. Structurally the book is setup as a series of adventures or short stories. It actually reads a bit like pulp fiction, since you can almost picture the stories as a weekly or monthly release. With the way the book is written there is no definite end point that our heroes are striving for. We just go from adventure to adventure.
While the overall world is pretty hum-drum, the two main characters are actually pretty fun to read and make for an interesting pair. Very much the odd couple, we have the raging dwarf who wants to meet his glorious end and then we have the educated human with all of his human faults trying to document the dwarf's final hours.
Overall this is not a literary masterpiece, but it is a fun read and it is light. If you are looking for something to dive into to whet your palate for some good old fantasy then this should scratch your itch. Just don't expect to find anything you haven't seen before.
While the overall world is pretty hum-drum, the two main characters are actually pretty fun to read and make for an interesting pair. Very much the odd couple, we have the raging dwarf who wants to meet his glorious end and then we have the educated human with all of his human faults trying to document the dwarf's final hours.
Overall this is not a literary masterpiece, but it is a fun read and it is light. If you are looking for something to dive into to whet your palate for some good old fantasy then this should scratch your itch. Just don't expect to find anything you haven't seen before.
May 15, 2019
A collection of stories with a very strong sword & sorcery feel.
The stories were pretty good, but a major flaw with this collection is that there isn't enough Gotrek. I found him infinitely more interesting than Felix, and yet this collection might as well be called "Felix and Sometimes Gotrek". Either Gotrek disappears for most of the story, or gets incapacitated, or we just simply see things from Felix's point of view without getting any input or information about what Gotrek is doing at all. I mean, what sounds more interesting: A berserk Dwarf warrior with a mohawk and a death wish, or a normal dude that is afraid most of the time and complains about everything?
The stories were pretty good, but a major flaw with this collection is that there isn't enough Gotrek. I found him infinitely more interesting than Felix, and yet this collection might as well be called "Felix and Sometimes Gotrek". Either Gotrek disappears for most of the story, or gets incapacitated, or we just simply see things from Felix's point of view without getting any input or information about what Gotrek is doing at all. I mean, what sounds more interesting: A berserk Dwarf warrior with a mohawk and a death wish, or a normal dude that is afraid most of the time and complains about everything?
November 12, 2024
Repetitivo hasta decir basta. Siendo totalmente reacio a leer Warhammer, me dejé llevar por mí pasión por los enanos y decidí darle una oportunidad. Lo único que medio salva a este libro de relatos sin apenas continuidad ni conexión entre ellos es este mismo personaje, Gotrek. Todo lo demás es repetitivo, simple, predecible y poco interesante. Un paseo por el universo Warhammer del que solo recordaré el gesto de Gotrek pasando el pulgar por el filo de su hacha cuando se avecinan problemas, todo lo demás caerá en el olvido, como mis ganas de continuar con esta saga.
February 2, 2019
Las manos y puños en este libro vienen en dos tamaños: como una bandeja de boda y como un jamón. El esquema de todos los relatos es bien parecido (posada/encuentro + pelea + ligero misterio + pelea final y remordimiento).
Me lo he leído en un rato, me he reído dos ratos y estoy buscando el reglamento de warhammer sexta edición. Yo qué sé.
Me lo he leído en un rato, me he reído dos ratos y estoy buscando el reglamento de warhammer sexta edición. Yo qué sé.
October 20, 2020
A lot of the reviews I have seen shirk away from giving Trollslayer a 5 out of 5 because it is an 'episodic' story. Ordinarily that just means 'this is a short story collection masquerading as a novel' (much like 'Ghostmaker' of the Gaunt's Ghost's series). Trollslayer is certainly not a short story collection.
What this 'episodic' story is, is a masterpiece of grim, dark, oppressive fantasy fiction. Yes, some of the chapters are complete stories or mini-adventures in their own rights, but they are all a part of a much larger narrative within the book rather than just each chapter broken up by 'oh, this reminds of me of the time ...' Again ... I'm looking at the shoddy links in the Gaunt's Ghost series.
William King has, in this one book, achieved what many writers for the Black Library never actually achieve. They say they write grimdark fiction and they try to get that across with excessive gore and violence, but King gets that point across with beautiful writing, incredible scene-setting skills and the raw talent for not only writing, but creating, atmosphere.
Trollslayer has long been thought of a great entry point into the Warhammer Fantasy series and it wasn't until I re-read it that I see why. In this novel they introduce you, if not in person, but in description, to many of the factions within the Warhammer Universe and the delicate balance upon which most relations between factions hang.
Not only is this the novel to kickstart your Warhammer Fantasy adventure, it's the start of the series that will form one heck of a solid back bone as to any reader's understanding of the Warhammer Fantasy universe. Things like this are the main reason why Age of Sigmar will never reach the beautifully crafted levels that the Old World reached. There is nothing that wraps its arms around you and welcomes you to the world in that setting, there is only confusion.
I kind of went off-track there ... but reading a book set in the Old World just angers me that Age of Sigmar exists. Anyway, back to Trollslayer.
King creates very believable and enjoyable characters throughout, even those that feature as background noise to the main setting have the feel of men, women and children that you would expect to see in a fantasy world of this sort and it makes the whole reading experience easier.
The speech, a notoriously difficult part of any novel-writing experience, is wonderful and the banter between characters is not only easy and free-flowing, but believable and realistic. There are no pitfalls where the author just decides to throw in unrealistic/unhuman-like conversation solely to pad out the word count, nor is there the awkward 'character randomly explains plot by guessing stuff out loud to his companion' that is often a frustrating aspect of some fantasy novels I have come across in my time.
The long and the short of this review is: Not only is this a well-crafted and wonderfully written novel, it's one where everything just fits perfectly.
What this 'episodic' story is, is a masterpiece of grim, dark, oppressive fantasy fiction. Yes, some of the chapters are complete stories or mini-adventures in their own rights, but they are all a part of a much larger narrative within the book rather than just each chapter broken up by 'oh, this reminds of me of the time ...' Again ... I'm looking at the shoddy links in the Gaunt's Ghost series.
William King has, in this one book, achieved what many writers for the Black Library never actually achieve. They say they write grimdark fiction and they try to get that across with excessive gore and violence, but King gets that point across with beautiful writing, incredible scene-setting skills and the raw talent for not only writing, but creating, atmosphere.
Trollslayer has long been thought of a great entry point into the Warhammer Fantasy series and it wasn't until I re-read it that I see why. In this novel they introduce you, if not in person, but in description, to many of the factions within the Warhammer Universe and the delicate balance upon which most relations between factions hang.
Not only is this the novel to kickstart your Warhammer Fantasy adventure, it's the start of the series that will form one heck of a solid back bone as to any reader's understanding of the Warhammer Fantasy universe. Things like this are the main reason why Age of Sigmar will never reach the beautifully crafted levels that the Old World reached. There is nothing that wraps its arms around you and welcomes you to the world in that setting, there is only confusion.
I kind of went off-track there ... but reading a book set in the Old World just angers me that Age of Sigmar exists. Anyway, back to Trollslayer.
King creates very believable and enjoyable characters throughout, even those that feature as background noise to the main setting have the feel of men, women and children that you would expect to see in a fantasy world of this sort and it makes the whole reading experience easier.
The speech, a notoriously difficult part of any novel-writing experience, is wonderful and the banter between characters is not only easy and free-flowing, but believable and realistic. There are no pitfalls where the author just decides to throw in unrealistic/unhuman-like conversation solely to pad out the word count, nor is there the awkward 'character randomly explains plot by guessing stuff out loud to his companion' that is often a frustrating aspect of some fantasy novels I have come across in my time.
The long and the short of this review is: Not only is this a well-crafted and wonderfully written novel, it's one where everything just fits perfectly.
May 20, 2020
Jeeeeeeežiškove husličky toto bolo trápenie. 7 príbehov o Gotrekovi a Felixovi ... všetky rovnaké. Keby to bol jeden tak tomu dám kľudne aj 4.
Nerozumiem prečo som to vlastne dočítaval ... možno preto, že nakoniec už som čítal len každú piatu vetu.
Gotrek je trpaslík, ktorý hľadá hrdinskú smrť (klišé jak hovädo), Felix je bojovník, učenec a bard ktorý má zaznamenať trpaslíkové hrdinstvo (klišé jak dve hoväda) a tak cestujú, chlemtajú pivo a zabíjaju príšery (klišé jak stádo hoviad ... jak všetky hovädá na svete, ...ktoré stoja jedno druhému na chrbte a tvoria obrovskú hovädskú pyramídu, a to najvrchnejšie sa v exosfére vyhýba satelitom a bučí do celého vesmíru jak strašné klišé to je!)
Zlo a príšery sú na svete iba kvôli tomu aby mal koho Gotrek zabíjať. Žiadne poslanie, žiadna logika, žiaden cieľ ... ešte je variant, že celý ich svet je vlastne v okolí tej jednej cesty po ktorej kráčali (tzv. slížozem? Na chrbte dvoch mravcov, ktorí plávajú vesmírom stojac ... na tom poslednom hoväde ktoré bučí: KLIŠÉÉÉ) a preto na nich tie príšery vždy narazili.
Takže každý príbeh je viac-menej o tom, že si tak idú a zrazu DRB! netvor! Niekoľkými vecami si v tejto chvíli môžete byť istí. Gotrek povie Felixovi: človíčku. Vyskúša prstom ostrie svojej sekery a poreže sa. Felix zamrzne na mieste strachom. Ked sa reštartne, tak mu znecitlivejú ruky od odrážania nepriateľských rán. Premýšľa pri tom, čo tam robí a ako sa dostal do tejto situácie a ako mu bolo lepšie/horšie pred tým ... a 241 ďalších rovnakých vecí.
Nepomáha ani to, že zlý boh sa volá Slaanesh ... čo mi vždy evokovalo slanečky v oleji ... a ono ťažko sa človeku berie vážne zlý boh temnoty a sexu a neviem čoho, keď si ho spojí s malou rybičkou ... Musíme zachrániť mesto! ... lebo je v područí kožky zo zavináča .... haaaaahahahaha :)))
Nerozumiem prečo som to vlastne dočítaval ... možno preto, že nakoniec už som čítal len každú piatu vetu.
Gotrek je trpaslík, ktorý hľadá hrdinskú smrť (klišé jak hovädo), Felix je bojovník, učenec a bard ktorý má zaznamenať trpaslíkové hrdinstvo (klišé jak dve hoväda) a tak cestujú, chlemtajú pivo a zabíjaju príšery (klišé jak stádo hoviad ... jak všetky hovädá na svete, ...ktoré stoja jedno druhému na chrbte a tvoria obrovskú hovädskú pyramídu, a to najvrchnejšie sa v exosfére vyhýba satelitom a bučí do celého vesmíru jak strašné klišé to je!)
Zlo a príšery sú na svete iba kvôli tomu aby mal koho Gotrek zabíjať. Žiadne poslanie, žiadna logika, žiaden cieľ ... ešte je variant, že celý ich svet je vlastne v okolí tej jednej cesty po ktorej kráčali (tzv. slížozem? Na chrbte dvoch mravcov, ktorí plávajú vesmírom stojac ... na tom poslednom hoväde ktoré bučí: KLIŠÉÉÉ) a preto na nich tie príšery vždy narazili.
Takže každý príbeh je viac-menej o tom, že si tak idú a zrazu DRB! netvor! Niekoľkými vecami si v tejto chvíli môžete byť istí. Gotrek povie Felixovi: človíčku. Vyskúša prstom ostrie svojej sekery a poreže sa. Felix zamrzne na mieste strachom. Ked sa reštartne, tak mu znecitlivejú ruky od odrážania nepriateľských rán. Premýšľa pri tom, čo tam robí a ako sa dostal do tejto situácie a ako mu bolo lepšie/horšie pred tým ... a 241 ďalších rovnakých vecí.
Nepomáha ani to, že zlý boh sa volá Slaanesh ... čo mi vždy evokovalo slanečky v oleji ... a ono ťažko sa človeku berie vážne zlý boh temnoty a sexu a neviem čoho, keď si ho spojí s malou rybičkou ... Musíme zachrániť mesto! ... lebo je v područí kožky zo zavináča .... haaaaahahahaha :)))
April 5, 2019
"Manling, you’re going to be the death of me!”
Before I dive into my ramblings, I thought I should mention that while this is a book review for ‘Trollslayer’ it turned into a musing upon other novels in the series. Well the first twelve novels any way. Not sure how that happened, but it did.
Gotrek, a Dwarf Trollslayer is a really hard character to like. You can’t relate to him well (unless your wielding a magical axe – if you do your awesome!). This is mainly as Warhammer fantasy generally revolves around non-human personas. It doesn’t help the realm is slowly being eaten up by Chaos, which makes for a rather [un]pleasant dire and bleak worlds. Think I messed up the meaning of words there, oh well, welcome to the Old World. So, the ‘Old World’ as it was called is essentially being eroded by all the bad and evil forces you can imagine (Chaos, Greekskins, Vampires, Undead, Dark Elves etc). Annihilation is inevitable to the realm of the Empire, those Dwarves in their mountain holds and their best friends the High Elves who tend to Ulthuan, while sipping, well, whatever Elves drink, in their lofty palaces - "We do not care for the troubles of mortals" - a typical throwaway comment by Elves, everywhere and is a mantra of Elves in any lore, honest. It’s a case of ‘how long can we hold the tide’ instead of ‘we can hold and win.’ For me personally, I love this about Warhammer fantasy stories. The bleak and unremitting characters and the unforgiving world they reside in. It’s grim-dark at it’s best in my opinion.
This, for me, make characters in Warhammer Fantasy who are really one dimensional – this isn’t a negative as you know exactly what to expect from Black Library novels. The best way I can describe Gotrek is ‘always forward, no questions, no remorse and no compassion. Felix helps centre the duo in a more humanistic way. So yes, Gotrek is a hard persona to like at times – he hacks, slashes and bashes skulls in. That’s his only remit. It’s a hard world after all! As I’ve mentioned this is balanced out with his oath bound companion Felix. He is rather humorous though another deeply flawed person. ‘Trollslayer’ helps set up the basis of the future novels – Felix, angry with his affluent parents and feeling pressured to continue in a family career he has no interest in – gets drunk and stumbles across Gotrek one day. Whereupon he swears an oath to follow Gotrek – it’s a little more involved than that, but trying to stay spoiler free here. Felix becomes Gotrek’s ‘remembrancer’ so he will record his deeds of heroism and valour, until his eventual doom. Felix, plainly around to give Gotrek dariness some much needed grounding. While the dwarf is slaying (literally) hundreds of foes such as, Greenskins, daemons and trolls (funnily enough). Felix stays at the background at first, but then later on fights at the dour dwarf’s side, dolling out some choice banter and more thoughts from a human’s perspective. Well without that it would just be wall-to-wall slayer-porn. I suppose, from the readers point of view, you either love or hate this type of archetypal characteristics. I personally struggled with the way Gotreks’s is so stone-wall as a character, that I found myself drawn to Felix more and more. I mean everyone loves the wise-cracking sidekick.
To the story proper, ‘Trollslayer’ is a collection of short stories that introduce both title characters. The first is called ‘Geheiminsnacht’, this one was about human sacrifice (scary stuff!) to their Chaos gods. Another upon Gotrek and Felix’s backstory in regards how they met and to reasons why Felix swears that oath to Felix – it’s all rather amusing, especially during a military parade and a very drunk Gotrek. So, their backstory really is fleshed out over the course of William King’s novels (the first six novels I believe). The most interesting story ‘Wolf Riders’ from ‘Trollslayer’ focuses on character progression which reveals Gotrek’s flaws and possibly more interesting his desires for the future – which are basic, but you get some insight into the dwarf. The same can be said for Felix. While the duo found themselves offering their services to a Duke making his way to the Border Princes after having his land seized. Felix falls in love (rather to quickly) – love and Warhammer, an interesting combination. Anyway, it just felt awkward at best. Having said this, throughout Felix’s tenure with Gotrek, it can be a rather emotional ride, it’s a regular occurrence for Felix anyway. Leaping forward here, I feel Nathan Long (who pens the second six novels after William King) really delves into Felix’s emotions, desires and the things he doesn’t want – a rich, uncaring family for one. The continuation from ‘Wolf Riders’ is ‘The Dark Beneath the World’ whereupon they go on a quest with a zealous fanatic called Aldebrand for Zauberlich, a heirlorm of the Templars of the Fiery Hearts. Spewing trolls are afoot in this one, it’s a rather good one, mixing some lore about Karak Eight Peaks with some laughable moments involving Alderbrand. I mentioned Kat before, she appears in ‘Blood and Darkness’ it’s a rather bleak story but while passing through Drakwald Forest they stumble across a sole survivor of a beastman attack, Kat. Kat is a recurring character and one I personally really like, given that her story is actually both harrowing but very Warhammer[ish]. There are a few other stories such as ‘The Mark of Slaanesh’ which looks a how the populace of the Empire become cultists and one other called ‘The Mutant Master’ it’s like Swamp Thing but is controlled by a master… cunning!
So, what I didn’t like. Well, Gotrek to be frank. He just comes across boring. I’ve mentioned previously how I feel he is just one thing and nothing else. That changes much later in the series, but sheez. ‘Just. Be. Interesting.’ Nothing really happens throughout the first six novels – of course ‘things; happen, but Gotrek doesn’t develop as a character. I mean he loses an eye, gets knocked out, stabbed etc, but these are generally afterthoughts for the reader as there’s no real character progression with the Trollslayer. It doesn’t help as he is pretty much invulnerable, to anything (apart from magic, but even then, still invulnerable). It’s his rune axe you see. It just makes the fear of death as redundant. He hardly get’s injured, apart from losing his eye in ‘Trollslayer’. As I’ve mentioned, Felix really helps to deflect that Gotrek is just so bland. Though after a while even Felix’s humour and wit really struggled to draw my attention. At times (I hate doing this) I was precis reading as I knew how the fights were going to end. This sadly transferred to both characters. Felix’s continual musings about ‘what-ifs-buts’ were pointless in the end, for me anyway.
That’s not to say the novels are bad. Blimey, that previous paragraph sounds ranty. There’s a lot of positives though and they outweigh the negative. They are exactly what you should expect from Warhammer fantasy novels. Well those that are written well. William King really helps to bring to life the Warhammer world, especially during Gotrek’s and Felix’s struggles with Grey Seer Thanqual – who is bloody funny himself. The Grey Seer is highly amusing for me – Nuln’s never seen a comedian like him. Nathan Long excels at his attempt to give some rather lacking characters to the ensembled cast – like Ulkira, who is brilliant. The tried and tested formula of a climactic battle works fine. It’s just, at times, the characters get bogged down by the endless conflicts. However, when they are interesting it’s generally involving their companions. Ulkria, is particularly appealing as she challenges both Gotrek and Felix. There are a few others including Kat, who makes several appearances, as well as the wizard. I should mention Ulkria got her own series, also written by Nathan Long.
What both King and Long do well is convey the realities of battle and war – which should be expected given the setting, but it’s done so well. Some times they don’t face insurmountable odds, other’s like the Greater Daemon they face in ‘Daemonslayer’ or the twisted dragon from ‘Dragonslayer’ really give the reader some idea of the sheer malice and evil they face. Wait till the Slaanesh wizard twins later, oomph! This is surely what Warhammer is about, right? The battles, the type of character that Gotrek is, these are to be expected, I was just hoping for a little more character progression with Gotrek, which sadly doesn’t really happen until the twilight novels.
I’m not going to go in-depth into each novel as I kind of feel I owe them a review on their own, which is something I’ll get around to one day. Expect lots of fighting, battles with some humour thrown in and you can’t go wrong. I will say, these novels aren’t timeless, but they are a good read for what they are.
Before I dive into my ramblings, I thought I should mention that while this is a book review for ‘Trollslayer’ it turned into a musing upon other novels in the series. Well the first twelve novels any way. Not sure how that happened, but it did.
Gotrek, a Dwarf Trollslayer is a really hard character to like. You can’t relate to him well (unless your wielding a magical axe – if you do your awesome!). This is mainly as Warhammer fantasy generally revolves around non-human personas. It doesn’t help the realm is slowly being eaten up by Chaos, which makes for a rather [un]pleasant dire and bleak worlds. Think I messed up the meaning of words there, oh well, welcome to the Old World. So, the ‘Old World’ as it was called is essentially being eroded by all the bad and evil forces you can imagine (Chaos, Greekskins, Vampires, Undead, Dark Elves etc). Annihilation is inevitable to the realm of the Empire, those Dwarves in their mountain holds and their best friends the High Elves who tend to Ulthuan, while sipping, well, whatever Elves drink, in their lofty palaces - "We do not care for the troubles of mortals" - a typical throwaway comment by Elves, everywhere and is a mantra of Elves in any lore, honest. It’s a case of ‘how long can we hold the tide’ instead of ‘we can hold and win.’ For me personally, I love this about Warhammer fantasy stories. The bleak and unremitting characters and the unforgiving world they reside in. It’s grim-dark at it’s best in my opinion.
This, for me, make characters in Warhammer Fantasy who are really one dimensional – this isn’t a negative as you know exactly what to expect from Black Library novels. The best way I can describe Gotrek is ‘always forward, no questions, no remorse and no compassion. Felix helps centre the duo in a more humanistic way. So yes, Gotrek is a hard persona to like at times – he hacks, slashes and bashes skulls in. That’s his only remit. It’s a hard world after all! As I’ve mentioned this is balanced out with his oath bound companion Felix. He is rather humorous though another deeply flawed person. ‘Trollslayer’ helps set up the basis of the future novels – Felix, angry with his affluent parents and feeling pressured to continue in a family career he has no interest in – gets drunk and stumbles across Gotrek one day. Whereupon he swears an oath to follow Gotrek – it’s a little more involved than that, but trying to stay spoiler free here. Felix becomes Gotrek’s ‘remembrancer’ so he will record his deeds of heroism and valour, until his eventual doom. Felix, plainly around to give Gotrek dariness some much needed grounding. While the dwarf is slaying (literally) hundreds of foes such as, Greenskins, daemons and trolls (funnily enough). Felix stays at the background at first, but then later on fights at the dour dwarf’s side, dolling out some choice banter and more thoughts from a human’s perspective. Well without that it would just be wall-to-wall slayer-porn. I suppose, from the readers point of view, you either love or hate this type of archetypal characteristics. I personally struggled with the way Gotreks’s is so stone-wall as a character, that I found myself drawn to Felix more and more. I mean everyone loves the wise-cracking sidekick.
To the story proper, ‘Trollslayer’ is a collection of short stories that introduce both title characters. The first is called ‘Geheiminsnacht’, this one was about human sacrifice (scary stuff!) to their Chaos gods. Another upon Gotrek and Felix’s backstory in regards how they met and to reasons why Felix swears that oath to Felix – it’s all rather amusing, especially during a military parade and a very drunk Gotrek. So, their backstory really is fleshed out over the course of William King’s novels (the first six novels I believe). The most interesting story ‘Wolf Riders’ from ‘Trollslayer’ focuses on character progression which reveals Gotrek’s flaws and possibly more interesting his desires for the future – which are basic, but you get some insight into the dwarf. The same can be said for Felix. While the duo found themselves offering their services to a Duke making his way to the Border Princes after having his land seized. Felix falls in love (rather to quickly) – love and Warhammer, an interesting combination. Anyway, it just felt awkward at best. Having said this, throughout Felix’s tenure with Gotrek, it can be a rather emotional ride, it’s a regular occurrence for Felix anyway. Leaping forward here, I feel Nathan Long (who pens the second six novels after William King) really delves into Felix’s emotions, desires and the things he doesn’t want – a rich, uncaring family for one. The continuation from ‘Wolf Riders’ is ‘The Dark Beneath the World’ whereupon they go on a quest with a zealous fanatic called Aldebrand for Zauberlich, a heirlorm of the Templars of the Fiery Hearts. Spewing trolls are afoot in this one, it’s a rather good one, mixing some lore about Karak Eight Peaks with some laughable moments involving Alderbrand. I mentioned Kat before, she appears in ‘Blood and Darkness’ it’s a rather bleak story but while passing through Drakwald Forest they stumble across a sole survivor of a beastman attack, Kat. Kat is a recurring character and one I personally really like, given that her story is actually both harrowing but very Warhammer[ish]. There are a few other stories such as ‘The Mark of Slaanesh’ which looks a how the populace of the Empire become cultists and one other called ‘The Mutant Master’ it’s like Swamp Thing but is controlled by a master… cunning!
So, what I didn’t like. Well, Gotrek to be frank. He just comes across boring. I’ve mentioned previously how I feel he is just one thing and nothing else. That changes much later in the series, but sheez. ‘Just. Be. Interesting.’ Nothing really happens throughout the first six novels – of course ‘things; happen, but Gotrek doesn’t develop as a character. I mean he loses an eye, gets knocked out, stabbed etc, but these are generally afterthoughts for the reader as there’s no real character progression with the Trollslayer. It doesn’t help as he is pretty much invulnerable, to anything (apart from magic, but even then, still invulnerable). It’s his rune axe you see. It just makes the fear of death as redundant. He hardly get’s injured, apart from losing his eye in ‘Trollslayer’. As I’ve mentioned, Felix really helps to deflect that Gotrek is just so bland. Though after a while even Felix’s humour and wit really struggled to draw my attention. At times (I hate doing this) I was precis reading as I knew how the fights were going to end. This sadly transferred to both characters. Felix’s continual musings about ‘what-ifs-buts’ were pointless in the end, for me anyway.
That’s not to say the novels are bad. Blimey, that previous paragraph sounds ranty. There’s a lot of positives though and they outweigh the negative. They are exactly what you should expect from Warhammer fantasy novels. Well those that are written well. William King really helps to bring to life the Warhammer world, especially during Gotrek’s and Felix’s struggles with Grey Seer Thanqual – who is bloody funny himself. The Grey Seer is highly amusing for me – Nuln’s never seen a comedian like him. Nathan Long excels at his attempt to give some rather lacking characters to the ensembled cast – like Ulkira, who is brilliant. The tried and tested formula of a climactic battle works fine. It’s just, at times, the characters get bogged down by the endless conflicts. However, when they are interesting it’s generally involving their companions. Ulkria, is particularly appealing as she challenges both Gotrek and Felix. There are a few others including Kat, who makes several appearances, as well as the wizard. I should mention Ulkria got her own series, also written by Nathan Long.
What both King and Long do well is convey the realities of battle and war – which should be expected given the setting, but it’s done so well. Some times they don’t face insurmountable odds, other’s like the Greater Daemon they face in ‘Daemonslayer’ or the twisted dragon from ‘Dragonslayer’ really give the reader some idea of the sheer malice and evil they face. Wait till the Slaanesh wizard twins later, oomph! This is surely what Warhammer is about, right? The battles, the type of character that Gotrek is, these are to be expected, I was just hoping for a little more character progression with Gotrek, which sadly doesn’t really happen until the twilight novels.
I’m not going to go in-depth into each novel as I kind of feel I owe them a review on their own, which is something I’ll get around to one day. Expect lots of fighting, battles with some humour thrown in and you can’t go wrong. I will say, these novels aren’t timeless, but they are a good read for what they are.
April 1, 2022
A fun and exciting sword and sorcery styled adventure that is elevated by some of the best audio narration I’ve ever heard.
Had I read Trollslayer as a regular book, I’d have probably given it three stars. But listening to it brings the characters and action to life in a way the simplistic prose alone could never manage.
Had I read Trollslayer as a regular book, I’d have probably given it three stars. But listening to it brings the characters and action to life in a way the simplistic prose alone could never manage.
February 13, 2022
This book was just a fun time all around. I did the audiobook and Keebles narration is amazing. I love both Gotrek and Felix and the book is pretty episodic with each chapter being a different monster or dilemma. Highly recommend for people looking to get into warhammer without the crazy commitment some other warhammer series require.
January 22, 2023
Sometimes you’re tired and you don’t want to cook or clean. So you hit the drive thru and order a Number 3 with large fries and a Dr. Pepper. It doesn’t change your life, it doesn’t make you better, but it’s exactly what you need.
That’s this book.
That’s this book.
November 16, 2025
Back to the classics again, I wanted another look at where it all started! Something I love in this book os you can really feel the RPG roots, there were times I almost felt the dice rolls but it flows so well you'd never know! It does feel a bit like it's finding it's feet, scattershot short stories that touch onto a higher purpose in the end, but the characters and the themes feel well established and their early explorations are a joy to behold!
February 3, 2021
It's a shame that this is more like a collection of short stories than a novel, because King's writing is certainly good enough to have carried an actual narrative. Instead what we get is a lot of repetition - how many times can Felix draw back his cloak to free his sword arm? Once per chapter, apparently - and a handful of rushed pieces of character development. There's also a noticeable tendency to use adverbs extensively and egregiously.
October 28, 2022
A satisfactory collection of short stories that introduce us to Gotrek and Felix, two of the seminal characters of the Warhammer Fantasy universe. I found some of the stories in this better than others, and the text does feel a bit dated, but a sufficiently entertaining batch of dark fantasy short stories that get one of Black Library's longest running series underway...
October 20, 2022
Such a fun palette cleanser between some pretty dark and dense books I've been reading lately. Keeble's narration is really freaking good, and I look forward to the subsequent books. I've never really paid attention to anything Warhammer related prior, but this series is right up my alley already and I can recommend the audio pretty heavily just from the first book. Some great character development for being a more "random quest" heavy book, and very entertaining action scenes.
July 28, 2024
Great adventures!
July 18, 2020
4.5 - Bueno, esta si que fue una sorpresa que me gusto mucho.
Primero: Hay que aclarar que yo NUNCA jugué o leí nada del mundo de Warhammer antes. Conocí estos libros por los videos de El Geek Furioso de la Literatura.
Segundo: ¿Es necesario saber algo de Warhammer para leerlo? No me parece sumamente necesario. capaz algunas cosas podrían disfrutarse más, pero no significa que no vas a entender nada de lo que pasa. El libro explica las cosas lo suficiente para que cualquier persona pueda entender.
Ahora. Entre en el libro solo conociendo una cosa: Gotrek y Felix.
Esperaba encontrarme algo pesado y que me iba a resultar lento de leer. Fue todo lo contrario. Fue muy entretenido y disfrute bastante de leerlo.
Además fue la lectura que me sacó del reading slump en el que estaba.
Primero: Hay que aclarar que yo NUNCA jugué o leí nada del mundo de Warhammer antes. Conocí estos libros por los videos de El Geek Furioso de la Literatura.
Segundo: ¿Es necesario saber algo de Warhammer para leerlo? No me parece sumamente necesario. capaz algunas cosas podrían disfrutarse más, pero no significa que no vas a entender nada de lo que pasa. El libro explica las cosas lo suficiente para que cualquier persona pueda entender.
Ahora. Entre en el libro solo conociendo una cosa: Gotrek y Felix.
Esperaba encontrarme algo pesado y que me iba a resultar lento de leer. Fue todo lo contrario. Fue muy entretenido y disfrute bastante de leerlo.
Además fue la lectura que me sacó del reading slump en el que estaba.
January 23, 2010
A great start to a great series. This is more of a collection of short stories, including a reworking of the original short story King created the characters for, long long ago. The stories all form a running period of time in the characters lives, from shortly after meeting and travelling together, up until the start of the next book.
The characterisations are great, two truly classic figures in the Warhammer world. The adventures are each short but diverse, giving you a lot of short snippets of a greater style of epic to come.
The characterisations are great, two truly classic figures in the Warhammer world. The adventures are each short but diverse, giving you a lot of short snippets of a greater style of epic to come.
October 5, 2019
Not bad, some short stories about Felix Jaeger & Gotrek Gurnisson in the Warhammer fantasy universe. Some were better than others, but after just having read The Stormlight Archive Trilogy by B. Sanderson this one failed to impress me.
July 19, 2021
A decent fantasy novel set in the dark and sometimes humorous warhammer setting. The characters and setting really shine in this novel. I particularly enjoyed the short story approach as it allowed the interplay of the characters to flow. A recommended read for all fantasy fans.
July 17, 2024
A nice little collection of short adventures. Um... Dwarf sized adventures.
Read
November 13, 2025Awesome read I think I've found my favorite duo in Warhammer fantasy
March 26, 2022
Cuando me regalaron este libro por mi cumpleaños, allá por el siglo pasado, no era muy fan del mundo de ficción de Warhammer, siempre me han gustado más otros mundos de fantasía. El libro pese a cogerlo con "desgana" me sorprendió gratamente, es una historia curiosa, llena de trepidante acción, un sin fin de aventuras y por supuesto, mucha emoción de la mano de dos héroes. Si mal no recuerdo, pues hace demasiados años de su lectura, Gotrek es el auténtico enano encarnizado, de flagrante cresta carmesí, dispuesto a morir por encima de todo, por cumplir su sentido del honor, misión o tarea, por el contrario, Félix se encargará de inmortalizar en papel, la gloriosa y salvaje muerte de Gotrek. En cuanto terminé el libro, no continué con la saga, pues de joven, no era muy propenso a centrarme en la lectura y ahora, por suerte o desgracia, me atraen otro escenarios de ciencia ficción. Pero si me gustaría destacar, lo que siempre se me quedará grabado en la memoria, que no es otra que su representación física, moral y salvaje de Gotrek; Es crestado puntiagudo y bermellón, las imponentes y enraizadas trenzas de su barba, la bestialidad de sus ataques, y las proezas con su hacha (que no recuerdo si era de un filo o dos). Aunque no lo crean, mi "representación" mental de un enano guerrero, siempre, siempre, se asemeja a Gotrek Gurnisson.
February 17, 2025
After consuming dozens, perhaps hundreds, of (mostly audio-) books set in grim darkness of the far future Warhammer 40,000 setting, I was probably long overdue a diversion into the Warhammer Fantasy setting. And in what better company to learn about this new (old) world than Gotrek the reckless dwarf seeking an honourable death in battle with evildoers and his buddy Felix, a studenty/poety type who in theory should be doing more scribing and recording than your actual fighting?
I first encountered these brash heroes in the pages of White Dwarf magazine in the early 90s, and a little research tells reveals that this book, first published in 1999 and presented as the first in the lengthy Gotrek and Felix series, contains a collection of original material and short stories dating back as far as 1988. The stories themselves tend to involve a stop at an inn leading to tales of local trouble and eventual embroilment with some variety of chaos cultists. If it all feels a little Witcheresque then there are definitely similarities. The humour here is a little more understated and the character development a little lighter, but the overall presentation is very fun, if disposable. Further evidence that William King is writer whose work deserves greater recognition outside of the Warhammer fanbase.
I first encountered these brash heroes in the pages of White Dwarf magazine in the early 90s, and a little research tells reveals that this book, first published in 1999 and presented as the first in the lengthy Gotrek and Felix series, contains a collection of original material and short stories dating back as far as 1988. The stories themselves tend to involve a stop at an inn leading to tales of local trouble and eventual embroilment with some variety of chaos cultists. If it all feels a little Witcheresque then there are definitely similarities. The humour here is a little more understated and the character development a little lighter, but the overall presentation is very fun, if disposable. Further evidence that William King is writer whose work deserves greater recognition outside of the Warhammer fanbase.
March 7, 2020
After enjoying reading the original book 10 years ago I thought I'd give a try the newly released audiobook version of Trollslayer and can say it also works brilliantly in this format too!
This first book in the Gotrex and Felix series is a collection of short stories in the form of diary entries being read out by Felix about his adventures with Gotrex. This format proves to work really well in the audiobook format and each story works well as a mini adventures.
It doesn't hit the full 5 stars sadly however as some of the short stories were just not upto the same level of storytelling as the full length stories in the later books in the series.
I would recommend a listen and hoping that Games Workshop release the next books in the series soon (especially Daemonslayer!)
This first book in the Gotrex and Felix series is a collection of short stories in the form of diary entries being read out by Felix about his adventures with Gotrex. This format proves to work really well in the audiobook format and each story works well as a mini adventures.
It doesn't hit the full 5 stars sadly however as some of the short stories were just not upto the same level of storytelling as the full length stories in the later books in the series.
I would recommend a listen and hoping that Games Workshop release the next books in the series soon (especially Daemonslayer!)
February 26, 2025
This is what everyone says before going in to it, but because this is a collection of short stories, the traction you’d want doesn’t really materialise.
I thought I’d love this since I loved the two short story Witcher novels - in fact, that’s one of my favourite things about that series. Those are all thematically impactful and diverse stories, though. These just sound like episodes to a tv show. I know it gets better but this felt closer to my eventually-negative experience with Vampire Hunter D (whose world I loved equally as Warhammer fantasy, but whose storytelling never varied) than The Witcher.
I liked the last few stories the most for sure, but I’ll have to continue the series because I know it deserves respect as the most popular Warhammer Fantasy story.
I thought I’d love this since I loved the two short story Witcher novels - in fact, that’s one of my favourite things about that series. Those are all thematically impactful and diverse stories, though. These just sound like episodes to a tv show. I know it gets better but this felt closer to my eventually-negative experience with Vampire Hunter D (whose world I loved equally as Warhammer fantasy, but whose storytelling never varied) than The Witcher.
I liked the last few stories the most for sure, but I’ll have to continue the series because I know it deserves respect as the most popular Warhammer Fantasy story.
January 29, 2019
Trollslayer recounts the exploits of Gotrek Gurnisson, a dwarf bound by the slayer oath to meet his doom in combat, and Felix Jaeger, a human merchant sworn to write down the good and mighty deeds of his companion. The book is formatted into a series of short stories, each revolving around some misfortune the pair find themselves, be it running afoul of some Chaos cultists or doggedly pursued by an orc warband. Overall, Trollslayer serves as a great entry point into the Warhammer universe, with Felix acting as a window into the world through which the reader can take in the dangers from a more grounded perspective.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 391 reviews