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Gotrek & Felix #15

by Joshua Reynolds, Emilia Kazimierowicz (Translator)

Gotrek i Felix – niedocenieni bohaterowie Imperium czy może tylko zwykłe złodziejaszki i mordercy? Zapewne prawda leży pośrodku, całkowicie zależy od tego, kogo się spyta…
Podróżując w głąb tajemniczych krain południa w poszukiwaniu chwalebnej śmierci, Zabójca Gotrek Gurnisson i jego ludzki towarzysz Felix Jaeger, zostają uwikłani w konflikt zbrojny toczący się między zwaśnionymi królestwami. Pojmani przez zatrważającą Królową Khalidę, poszukiwacze przygód zostają zmuszeni do złożenia przysięgi i zmierzenia się z koszmarami spalonej słońcem Ziemi Umarłych… a umarli wcale nie spoczywają w pokoju.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Dark Fantasy

320 pages, Paperback

First published March 27, 2014

About the author

Josh Reynolds’ work has previously appeared in such anthologies as Historical Lovecraft from Innsmouth Free Press and Horror for the Holidays from Miskatonic River Press, and his novel, Knight of the Blazing Sun, is currently available from Black Library. He can be found at: http://joshuamreynolds.wordpress.com

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

Reviews

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 4 out of 5]

‘To get to that sword, you will have to fight every dead thing in the Southlands. Thus, I say to you, in performing this service, you may find what you seek above all else – death and doom.’
Gotrek stared at her for a moment, before suddenly relaxing. He gave a gap-toothed grin. ‘Well now, why didn’t you just say so?’

An excellent last tale to the long-spanning Gotrek and Felix saga before Games Workshop killed the grimdark Old World setting for the Sigmarines more high-fantasy Age of Sigmar one. Luckly GW, and hopely Black Library too, heard fans and apparently the fantasy setting upon the term grimdark was based on, is going to have new blazes of glory in next years.

"The dull blue light of the creeping dawn was spreading across the black sky when something woke Felix from his fitful slumber. He’d been dreaming of the squalling boneless things that he and Gotrek had faced in Blutdorf. The creatures, warped and twisted by foul magics, had been children, though he hadn’t known it at the time. Not until it was too late."

The Gotrek and Felix saga is a great intro to the Warhammer Old World setting, a dark and grim mix between Renaissance, Middle Ages, Tolkien's Middle-earth, Robert E Howard's Conan the Barbarian, Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion (the warping menace of Chaos Gods is essentially the same) and last but not least a great heavy-metal vibe.

‘You bet on how long it would take for the snake to eat me,’ Felix said, in disbelief.
‘No, manling, just on how far it’d get before you woke up,’ Gotrek said. ‘I wouldn’t have let it finish.’
‘Oh well, that’s all right then,’ Felix said acidly.

This series was an hit or miss for me, besides the two amazing Nathan Long's Ulrika the Vampire and Thanquol and Boneripper spin-off trilogies far better than their source material for me, but every time I've read about dwarf Slayer Gotrek Gurnisson and his "manling" Rememberer Felix Jaeger in these last twenty years it was like meeting again two old friends.

In that moment, he was back in Blutdorf, with the bodies of twisted and tortured children at his feet, and the laughter of the self-styled Mutant-Master ringing in his ears; he was in Praag, watching as the servants of Chaos rampaged through the city; he was in Sylvania, watching as Ulrika, red-eyed and fanged, left with her new mistress.

And this novel is a real good one, with the author developing and fleshing for good this couple of unlikely heroes, their opponents and the whole cast of characters, with long backstories of immortal undead queens and kings, vampires with a thing for blood and poetry, power-lust necromancer and much more.

He saw mountains fall and cities burn, and knew that there was no epic battle waiting for them at the climax of their tale, for he and Gotrek were not heroes out of an epic from the days of Sigmar. They would die amidst death, lost in a tide of fate, and all that they had accomplished, all that they had done, would be forgotten.

Gotrek and Felix never seemed like a couple of friends "Gimli and Legolas" style like in this book so different from the usual formula overabused in previous books:

• One or more villains scheme against the Empire or what else is the current duo faction.
• Gotrek & Felix argue/get drunk/get imprisoned somewhere.
• Felix unmasks the evil plot (after falling in love or bedding the only good looking human female character in the tale).
• One or more characters die (sometimes after betraying the duo).
• Gotrek's overpowered axe behead/cleave in two the villain(s).
• The End.

‘No,’ Felix said. He blinked bloody tears out of his eyes. He knew he’d made mistakes, he knew that all he’d written would be forgotten – all stories were – but he’d come too far, done too much to give up. He’d fight until his last breath left him, until he saw the Slayer fall, and if he followed him to whatever hell awaited Slayers and their Rememberers, then that was the way of it.

Here you have a thrilling tale of warring ancient undead kingdoms with our heroes caught in the middle, fun, twists and friendship, getting better and better every page, just my most favourite one in the saga.
My only complaint is abiut the part with Gotrek arriving just in time to save his partner from the vampires' nest, just too much deus ex machina for me.



It was mainly a good ride until it lasted, and sooner or later have to read the two novels set in the Death of Old World saga who blown up the Old World, and maybe the ones set in the Age of Sigmar because apparently Gotrek Gurnisson, a dwarf on a quest to find his Doom , is apparently just the worst Slayer ever having survived to an apocalypse, but there are still lots of other tales set in the grim and dark world of perilous adventures that was just waiting for me to be read on my overcrowded bookshelves before of that.

[Jirka Hiemer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tohle byla opravdu zábava. Pokud Felix s Gotrekem trochu ztráceli šťávu a místy už to bylo podobné, Josh Reynolds jim nyní vdechl nový život. Příběhu obou hrdinů prospěje přesun děje do "egyptského" prostředí mezi kostlivce, mumie, upírky a zombie. Trošku mě mrzí malé využité Octavie. A standardně už mi opravdu leze na nervy styl - Gotrek Nesmrtelný, Felix Chcípák. Pojďme si už přiznat, že by Felix přes dvacet let po boku Gotreka nepřežil, kdyby se neuměl ohánět mečem, tak už mu to konečně přiznejme, což? A full recenze zde http://www.fantasymag.cz/gotrek-felix...

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

High adventure in the lands of totally not Egypt! I enjoyed The Serpent Queen much more than Reynolds' previous Gotrek and Felix title, Road of Skulls, despite it sharing some of the same problems. Reynolds seems to want to ensure that all characters in his works are very fleshed out, which is fantastic for our heroes and their supporting cast, but can make the pace come to a screeching halt when we get a few chapters of a broody upstart vampire pouting about how she should be the one with the title of Serpent Queen, and not the mummy who's held it for however many thousands of years. Despite these roadblocks the rest of the novel is wonderful. The Tomb Kings provide both a unique motivating force, as well as giving a great deal of levity, be it from their slavelike devotion to their centuries old traditions, or from the boisterous pontifications of Antar (praise be unto he who foretells the future but chooses not to divulge to his lowly companions). The wilds of Lybaras give unique obstacles to overcome with feral ghouls creeping about and giant saurians to dodge around, much less the undead legion being mustered to try and conquer the Tomb Kings' holds. Overall I greatly enjoyed this novel, giving one last hurrah to the boys and girls of the dunes before Games Workshop went and blew it all up.

[Abhinav · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can read the full review over at my blog:

http://sonsofcorax.wordpress.com/2014...

Last year in January we had the first Gotrek & Felix novel after a gap of several long years. The series started off as short stories by William King that were eventually collected into a novel and became a trilogy, then a double trilogy and so on. Eventually, when William King left, Nathan Long was brought in and he enjoyed a good long run as well. But then the series lapsed and all we had for a while were more short stories and even some novellas, although they were primarily written by a new incoming group of authors. It was good stuff. But what we really needed was a full novel, and that’s what Josh Reynolds’ Road of Skulls did.

The new Gotrek & Felix novels, whether those written by Josh Reynolds or David Guymer, are set out of continuity, which means that they are not part of the main series and are set somewhere in between those adventures already published. Road of Skulls, the first in his new set of novels, was an absolute fantastic read and reminded me of why I loved the series in the first place. And now we have the third novel, The Serpent Queen, and it is every bit as good. It features some more out-of-continuity adventures but sets them in the Southlands, in the homelands of the Lizardmen and we see a conflict between Tomb Kings and Vampires. Pretty superb right out of the gate.

The opening of this novel sees the adventuring duo set off for the Southlands in search of gold, fame and doom. Well, Gotrek is looking for all of that, and Felix is just tagging along since he is sworn to record the Dwarf’s adventures and his death. Gotrek Gurnisson is a Slayer, a Dwarf who committed a grave sin and has been cast out of his hold and Dwarf society, except as and when he achieves redemption by dying a glorious death in battle. Slayers are an unruly and unpredictable lot, though they can be counted on to defend Dwarf honour when the situation calls for it. They have broken some oaths and even committed some grave sins, but once a Dwarf becomes a Slayer, his entire outlook changes. Gotrek once saved Felix and as recompense the poet struck a deal to be his Remembrancer, to follow him in his adventures all over the Old World and even beyond should the need call for it.

The latest adventure puts the duo in the fabled homeland of the fabled Lizardmen, humanoid Saurians who are said to have an entire culture and civilisation in those lands. There are mysteries and treasures to be found aplenty in these lands, and Gotrek has it in his head to die a glorious death fighting against the rumoured saurian monsters that are said to inhabit those lands. We start off with some great scenes set aboard a ship as the two travel to the Southlands. Reynolds establishes the camaraderie between the two characters right from the beginning and establishes their character and attitude as well. He already showed in Road of Skulls that he had a great grasp on these characters and he flexes those muscles yet again in this novel to tell a really rousing adventure.

Whether we have a naval battle between two armies of undead forces, or we have clashes between the forces of Vampire Lords and Tomb Kings, Reynolds is always in command of the plot and the characters. He draws in Queen Khalida of Lybaras, an ancient Tomb Kings principality, and Nitocris the Serpent Queen, a Vampire of the brood of the Lady of the Silver Pinnacle, to show how an ages old conflict from before the ascendance of Mankind and the Empire still has relevance today. Nitocris wants to gain entry into Lahmia on behalf of our Mistress and Queen Khalida stands between her and that goal, for Lybaras is the gateway into Nehekhara and to the Lahmian lands. Nitocris is aided by a necromancer named Octavia and her three Vampire brothers. To counter them, Khalida press-gangs Gotrek and Felix into her service, promising the former a great doom and the latter his life.

As I’ve said already, Reynolds gives Gotrek and Felix a fantastic outing in this novel. He knows the characters inside and out. While at times it seems that Felix is being a bit too reluctant and complaining too much, Gotrek’s enthusiasm and boisterousness more than makes up for all of that. Reynolds plays to both their strengths and he gives them both a hell of a lot of things to do, keeping them busy all throughout. Characters like Khalida and Nitocris also get a great outing, although Khalida gets far more development than Nitocris does, who often appears to be just a stock character.

In a surprising move, Reynolds shows Gotrek and Felix go up against a lot of different monsters, each of whom offers Gotrek a chance to fulfill his doom, to achieve his glorious death. In doing so, Reynolds shows off Gotrek’s fighting prowess most of all, and it is glorious. Not all these big scenes seem particularly necessary, but they offer a great amount of insight into Gotrek as a character, and even how easily he can get distracted, which was funny at times.

[Callum Shephard · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you ever stop to look at the Gotrek and Felix series in detail, you'll notice a sharp divide between William King's departure and its return with Orcslayer. Along with the obvious difference of having a new author, many elements of the series were altered to try and make it far more in-line with the current Warhammer Fantasy setting. Along with a timeline update bringing the stories into the era of the End Times, just after the last Chaos incursion into the Empire, the series lost many of its more lighthearted elements. While rarely shying away from bloodshed, sorrow or the grim nature of the setting, the series was noted for having more upbeat moments than many tales of a similar nature. Rather than being set in a doomed world, the original series seemed more akin to heroes fighting against overwhelming odds but still stood a chance of walking away victorious. In almost every respect The Serpent Queen is a return to the classic style of these tales, both for better and worse.

Set during the duo's travels away from the Empire between Giantslayer and Orcslayer, the two end up in the steaming jungles of Lustria. Upon being separated thanks to an attack by undead corsairs, they soon find themselves caught in the midst a war between factions vying for power. Not the servants of the Old Ones, but the undying lords of distant lands bound forever to their ancient duties. Just what deal was Gotrek forced to broker between the dynasties of old, and just how far will they be forced to go in order to repay it?

Despite the lack of Ulrika, Max or Snorri, from the very start it is clearly channeling the style of old stories. Starting with Gotrek and Felix just arriving at their next location for this book, the gallows and humourous elements are present in force. While the violence, threat and undead minions are there from very early on, there's a clear willingness to make jokes about Gotrek's death seeking nature or the nature of their certain foes. It gives it far more variation than other books and this willingness to actually laugh at itself makes the book feel more lifelike. Given its setting and style, the series was never going to win any awards for being a literacy classic, so this helps to build up a sense of goodwill and familiarity from the reader.

What helps to make this work is that the characters themselves play into this extremely well, even those newly introduced. While we do have certain straight man characters akin to Felix, these have their own blend of humour or attitudes which can be played off of for the occasional joke quite easily while the rest of the time serving as a serious individual. This allows it the same balance the old series had, maintaining the ability to instantly flip between moments of surprising drama and humour at the drop of a hat without it ever feeling misplaced. While not directly replicating King's writing style, Josh Reynolds has managed to nail the best qualities of the old series.

There is also a willingness to only go so far with certain ideas and the presentation of old civilisations. While the books have repeatedly visited multiple arcane societies, the strongholds of mages and lost cities, they make the point of never becoming completely caught up in them. The reader is shown just enough to satisfy any questions they might have and leave the door open for possible future exploration, but the focus is still upon an adventuring quest. Given how the Khemri are presented here, the novel could have easily become bogged down explaining too much of them, but by using their arrogance and Felix's nature as the viewpoint character it manages to avoid these problems. This said, while it does make fun of certain internal squabbles, the writing here is fairly respectful of their capabilities and even the joke characters are shown to have a degree of competence.

The actual quest itself does manage to visit a surprisingly varied number of locations throughout Lustria. As great a setting as a jungle might be, it can often prove surprisingly limiting and without too many features to work with. Much like a desert, if treated in the wrong way it can come across as featureless and generally samey, but here the journey visits enough varying locations to keep the plot moving. It stays with each one long enough to make them interesting but never for so long that the story doesn't feel as if it's lost momentum. This is especially helpful to the battle sequences, as Reynolds does seem to focus upon environmental descriptions and larger details rather than individual sword swings in battles, so it means the action is often strong. Even if there is a fight taking place which isn't to your tastes, this is soon sorted out by the time they move onto somewhere else.

The only two notable problems, besides seeming a little insubstantial in terms of dramatic impact at times, come from elements of the old series. The Serpent Queen is taking the best elements of the old books, but it also brought with it a few failings as well.

The relationship between Felix and Gotrek in particular seems to have regressed back several omnibuses, and there's a distinct lack of real trust between the two. While they do cite they have been together for some time, the way the dwarf acts towards Felix is far more directly condescending than usual, as if there is no degree of respect between them. While this was present in the earlier books, it rapidly diminished over time and was more or less gone by the time of Daemonslayer. The same goes for Felix's fighting prowess which seems to have been taken down several notches, and his overall experience has been dialed back a good decade. Overall, out of all the characters he is easily the one to come off worst here.

The other problem is the villains. William King's books were notably hit or miss for their antagonists, and even the Macharius series and Space Wolf books suffered from this curse. Even those which did feature solid antagonists often had them distanced from the heroes or oddly disconnected from events. This is unfortunately true here, and while Reynolds does try to give them some dimension with internal struggles, relationships and ambitions, it really doesn't amount to much. There's very little to really be said about them one way or the other, and despite the effort being spent to build them up they ultimately have little presence beyond killing people.

These are the only minor issues however though, and for the rest of it the book proves to be entertaining from start to finish. It's more fun escapism than hard hitting literature, but that's what the Gotrek and Felix books have always done best above all else. Between decent action, entertaining characters and writing by an author who knows when to have the novel make fun of itself, it's well worth a read by anyone irritated by the current direction of the series. Just don't expect to see Gotrek slaying anything bigger than a dragon this time around.

[Paulo "paper books only" · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars. Around 74%.

This is another book set in the warhammer world universe that served no purpose - and what I mean by that is that all fear that may exist (When will Gotrek fall) was removed. Allow me to explain. Gotrek started with some books written by William King and then it follows up with Nathan Long. The Last one published by Nathan Long was Zombieslayer. Then there was a hiatus of 4 years until Road of Skulls, City of the Damned & Serpent Queen afterwards comes the last books set in the warhammer world Kinslayer & Slayer.

The ones without Slayer in the title are set inbetween the novels (Giantslayer & OrcSlayer). What happened on those years? That's where Road of skulls, City of the Damned & Serpent Queen enter so we already know they are "alive". so that part is removed. They can't change the time continuum as well. They can't really get a new sword or a new scar because that would not e exist on OrcSlayer.

That's why I think some of the appeal of the novels are not there.

Alas, this one they travel to the Tomb Kings slayer as they are thrown into a civil war of some sorts between the vampires and the undead tomb kings. We know there is some great animosity between them (go read Nagash series by Nathan Long) and we are into the story. IT's a cat and chase travel, plenty of situations to kill undead and some neat ways for Gotrek to die (Which we know he doesn't). I really like the interaction of Gotrek & Felix with the Tomb Kings as they formed an alliance of some sort,

It's a nice book, my main issue was what I've told before. Josh Reynolds is a great writer and it shows as I think if you have said this was written by Nathan Long I would not have doubt it.

[Adrian Dumitru · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good! Gives a good insight into the tombs and the vampires factions and all the caracters are credible and i like them even the vampire brothers .
Gotrek is more like i his own self :)

[Tomáš Šváb · Rating 5 out of 5]

vykoupení po pekle jménem Město Zatracených

[Enrique · Rating 4 out of 5]

It has been quite a long time since I read something from this duo.
A great book, really entertaining, simple and straightforward story, as with almost any book of the saga. Gotrek and Felix heading or bumping into some big deal with huge chances of death, and of course they are in, or at least Gotrek and Felix just had to tag along.
I find that these books are to be enjoyed. True that it may be sometime until I pickup the next as is not easy to just read them one after another, or at least for me.

With so many changes in the writer it was a little bit confusing and tiring due to changes in styles and writing, maybe due to this all the references to past adventures are just so brief. Even when not a 100% continuation, with so many adventures this pair had not such a big issue...

We get to read regarding some other part of the world we hadn't touched yet, the land of the dead.
I wasn't a big fan of the no life army due to the limited customization of their army's miniatures but this had greatly surprised me and want to find out more about the history and the different type of warriors of this army.
Also, what would be the link between vampires and undead, would like to check Warhammer lore to find out more.

[Keith Caram · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a side quest that turned into a fetch quest.
Did we learn a lot about the Tomb Kings? Sure! I haven't experienced them in any of my other Warhammer Fantasy readings so it was a nice primer on what this faction is all about.
Were there some memorable characters? You bet! Antar was another solid entry in the list of great comedic characters of the series. Felix and I both developed a little crush on Zabbai the Amazonian zombie warrior lady.
However we didn't learn anything new about the titular Duo, their pasts or their relationships. Road of Skulls at least gave a little information about some events in Gotrek's past that we hadn't previously been aware of. This book tho? It had NUTHIN for people who've invested in the series' overarching story.
I'd recommend reading this toward the beginning of the series before things get rolling, because as a post-Zombieslayer novel this oozes "we're trying to draw out the sales of our best selling novel series" from GW.
It's fun and funny, and Joshua Reynolds is definitely a talented writer who understands how to write the Duo, but this novel not peak Gotrek and Felix.
Read it because it's not Gotrek and Felix, but go fast because it's filler.

[Jonathan Baughman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A return to better form for Reynold's second entry into Gotrek and Felix. Think he might actually have a handle on the characters now It covers their adventures in the Southlands, Warhammer's equivalent of Africa, and the conflict between the "dry dead", the Nehekharan Tomb Kings, and their vampire arch-nemeses. Specifically, G&F go on a quest to recover a sword that once wounded Khalida, the titular Serpent Queen, to prevent her blood from being used in a ritual to bind her. They're accompanied by a loudmouthed braggart of a Tomb Prince, who is utterly oblivious (or at least pretends to be) to his own ridiculousness, and the herald of Khalida. The herald has a strange romantic side plot with Felix that is never fully explored and feels like it's a missed opportunity, but it's an odd choice to include anyway given that she's a skeleton wrapped in linen.

Along the way they encounter evil vampires, including a vampire poet which was nice since it gave a chance to explore Felix's literary side, ghouls, evil necromancers, and undead constructs enough to fill out an army list. I especially liked the frequent allusions to past adventures that never got a story; it gave a sense of depth that G&F had been together a very long time, and reinforced the episodic nature of their books.

[Christopher · Rating 1 out of 5]

Gotrek & Felix: The Serpent Queen could’ve been an excellent 150 page swashbuckler set in the lands outside the Empire but at a bloated 400 pages+, it is worn down with endlessly dreary descriptive passages, exposition beyond the necessaries of plot and character, and too much time spent away from our heroes— passages that all read as just filler, draining the book of energy and momentum.

[Thom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actually one of my very favourites of Felix and Gotrek so far, Josh Reynolds’ writing has certainly grown on me. The Tomb Kings are a really interesting group, and there was a lot of genuine chemistry between the central duo and the various undead side characters. It felt like it had more humour, too, but it worked pretty well in my opinion.

[Phillip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good

Antar the magnificent son approves of this work and demands you read it barbarian!

Really though it you like warhammer and have read the other gotrek books then you'll like this one

[Juan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very nice return to form after the tremendous disappointment that was City of the Damned .

[Kenneth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gotrek and Felix has to fulfil a task by a Queen.

[D.R. Hurley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read, as always. Looking forward to the next one.

[Travis Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of the best in the series, but it is good to see they are killing mummys and vampires in this one.

[Matthew Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine Gotrek & Felix adventure, made extra special by managing with great skill to make two different types of fantasy Undead very distinct.

[Alex Galbraith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Distinctly lacking in humour compared to most of the other books in the series so far. Bordering on a boring / depressing read!

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not a bad book as a filler

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah Gotrek and Felix the best dwarf non-dwarf duo since Gimli and legolas. Some people might justly remark that perhaps the adventures off these two heroes have gone too far. They fought uncountable numbers of monsters and adversaries, Gotrek killed a dragon, a demon a giant an ogre with his bare hands and you might say that perhaps it has become dull and predictable. On some level these people are right, you don't really expect them to die anymore not after all they have been through. But the story has gone way beyond the simple dwarf seeking his doom and a man writing it down story from the first adventure. Gotrek and felix present you glimpses into the many places and worlds that make up warhammer and that is how this book partially get's its score from. It takes us to the court of queen Khalida, the beloved of asp the tomb queen. A story featuring the tomb kings is rare and one involving the south lands even more so. So on location gotrek and felix score!

secondly it is a great adventure story and always reminds me off those great heroe sagas of old like hercules and his 12 tasks that were deemed impossible. On the other hand it reminds me of don quichot. The story of the old knight looking for glory and death on the battlefield and his trusted compagnion who looks after him even if he is supposed to be an aid. as with gotrek and felix where it is the aid who tells the story not the outdated hero seeking for glory and doom. Finally both stories have this tragicomic feeling;

So let people talk, if you are looking for some honest self aware pulp litarature and an old style adventure, pick up a copy!

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book! I really enjoyed Josh Reynolds' take on these characters. Reading a Gotrek and Felix book always has me pining for the old Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay game. And it was super fun getting to see a unique look at the Tomb Kings and Khalida specifically as... not really all that evil. I was never all that familiar with that faction, but i had always sortof assumed that undead are always the bad guys. But apparently not so much.

Looking forward to the last two books by David Guymer, which may finally see Gotrek the Slayer, killed at last. (well... the world blows up, so... something happens anyway)

[Pierre Armel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really really wanted to like this book. I had read a few of Gotrek & Felix adventures years ago and enjoyed it. But this time, it did not work out for me. Writing was fine but everything took too long to happen. And at some point, the Felix-gets-into-trouble-but Gotrek-shows-up-at-the-last-second-to-save-him Formula is too much. It probably would have made a good novella. I speed read the last four chapters to escape the book.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gotrek and Felix wander into a long standing war between Undead powers. Much action and sympathetic characterization ensues. Like the rest of the series, this episode of the pair's adventures is highly entertaining escapist fare.

[Michael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yeah...this books sucks. It's boring. I liked the original four or five in this series, but since the original author stopped writing, they have become dreadful. There really isn't any good fantasy being written right now. It's depressing.

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've not enjoyed a Gotrek & Felix novel this much since Skavenslayer. An absolute joy from start to finish.

[Reader73 · Rating 4 out of 5]

After King I like Reynolds Gotrek best.