Elfslayer (Gotrek and Felix) (Mass Market Paperback)

by Nathan Long (Author)
Key Phrases: celestial order, old skaven, druchii ship, Nathan Long, Herr Jaeger, Captain Oberhoff (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Dwarf Trollslayer Gotrek and his human companion Felix Jaeger, Warhammer’s most famous pair of heroes, head off to a new adventure facing the terrifying dark elves in the latest novel of this best-selling fantasy series.

About the Author
Nathan Long has worked as a screenwriter for fifteen years, during which time he has had three movies made and a handful of live-action and animated TV episodes produced. He has written four novels, and several award-winning short stories. He lives in Hollywood.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Games Workshop (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1844165752
• ISBN-13: 978-1844165759
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #171,302 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gortrek and Felix # 10, October 9, 2008

By	Detra Fitch (USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Felix Jaeger has been the companion of Slayer Gotrek Gurnisson for most of his adult life. During that time Felix has battled alongside the dwarf to defeat trolls, dragons, skaven, daemons, orcs, and so much more. Gotrek was never more happy than while in battle, hoping for the glorious death in which Felix has promised to write up and publish for all to know. The pair had traveled a great distance to battle evil, only to learn that they were too late. Since then, Gotrek seems to have done what Felix thought was not possible. Gotrek has given up. All the dwarf did now was drink horrid-flavored, weak beer and mope.

The pair travels to Marienburg to fulfill the death wish of Felix's father. Felix is to retrieve a letter from Hans Euler, a blackmailer. While doing so, the pair runs into their old companion, the wizard Max Schreiber. Max and a beautiful seeress, Claudia Pallenberger, have been sent to investigate evil portents off the north coast of the Empire. Gotrek agrees to join them even though it meant sharing a ship with a high born elf and his men. This begins the duo's most dangerous adventure to date. In the Sea of Claws they must battle dark elves, skaven, and an ancient weapon that the druchii will use to cause earthquakes, tidal waves, raise valleys and lower mountains into the sea bed, utterly destroying their elvish cousins in Ulthuan and all humans.

***** Author Nathan Long has done a terrific job since he took over the series a few books back. The only difference I have really noticed is that Felix has become way too nice. Here is a book you CAN judge by its cover. The story is as wild and adventurous as the book's cover suggests. Dark elves, sea dragons, black magic...the works! Highly recommended reading! *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Wow...this was bad, October 12, 2008

By	Corran D'Arcey "Warhammer/Fantasy Expert" (PA) - See all my reviews

Am I crazy? The other two reviewers thought that Elfslayer was really good. I thought it was really bad. Long had a great premise (elfslayer = the slaying of elves) but he just didn't deliver. Since Long took over the Gotrek and Felix series, the books have been slowly getting worse. The long, drawn-out storylines, the static villains (for the love of Grimnir, how much longer will wee have to read about Thanquol?) and the boring quests (not to mention the book just decided to end with no clear conclusion!)make this a read for only die-hard G and F fans. Honestly, I thought that Elfslayer would be the final book. It's not that I don't like reading about the Old World's most famous duo, I just don't like the direction that Long is taking with my favourite characters. Orcslayer was really good, Manslayer was good but not great, and Elfslayer was...wrong. You honestly could have put any dwarf/human companions in the story and it would have still worked. And why didn't Max like Felix with Claudia? Was it because of Ulrika? This book mashed plotlines together and created questions that weren't really answered. If Long writes more than two more Gotrek and Felix novels, I will take the Slayer's Oath MYSELF!

5.0 out of 5 stars Seething Seesaw , January 22, 2009

By	Keith W. Harvey "Poet and Author of Petroglyphs" (Dallas, Texas USA) - See all my reviews

"Elfslayer" opens in Felix Jaeger's father's Altdorf mansion. After twenty years, Felix and Gotrek have returned to their starting point chronicled in William King's short story, "Geheimnisnacht."

Jaeger's father has a mission for his errant son. The old man is being blackmailed by a Marienburg pirate named Hans Euler and he wants his son to retrieve the incriminating papers. Felix balks at the assignment but he finally agrees to help his father. Meanwhile, Gotrek is down in the dumps, literally, drinking himself into a torpor. As we know from the previous novel "Manslayer," Gotrek missed the evil invasion of Archaon and his chance to face a daemon.

Long quickly alerts us that this novel will be a return to old haunts and a reunion with missing friends, allies, and enemies. It is also a novel replete with Longian themes--drowning, shipwrecks, imprisonment, feckless women, jealousy, bravery, and deception.

Before Felix and Gotrek leave Altdorf, they are attacked by unknown assailants. We soon learn that an old enemy has decided to seek revenge. With the assault, Gotrek begins to awaken from his stupor and the action begins. The two travel to Marienburg pursued by assassins to meet Euler. Feliz discovers another enemy in Euler and the plot, as they say, thickens. Before Felix can resolve the problem with Euler, old allies arrive. The wizard Max Schreiber, accompanied by a sorceress and an Elf, offer Gotrek the opportunity to face his glorious end. Felix is torn between serving his father or honoring his oath to Gotrek to be present at his death. He, of course, chooses to stand with Gotrek and they set set off on a quest to save the Empire with Schreiber.

The relic they seek is also being sought by Dark Elves. The action then turns to the sea. From this point, Long engages in what I can only call a melange of Jules Verne steampunk and Sabatini swordplay. He brilliantly describes an underwater city, the Black Ark of the Dark Elves, and the horrors of Dark Elf magic and ritual.

Long has concocted a nightmarish stew of villains and seamlessly presented them to us in a Sabatini-like thriller. He is one of the best writers at the Black Library and I challenge you to find a clunky sentence in the 412 pages of the novel. He ties up all of the plot threads nicely by the end but, of course, he leaves enough plot hanging that we anticipate and yearn for the next chapter of the novel.

Without giving too much away, Long convincingly presents dwarves, skaven, and dark elves. Additionally, never before have we seen a black ark described in such sinister detail.

As you might guess I highly recommend the novel. Not only is it an exciting book but I would postulate that it takes the Gotrek franchise in a new direction. Although Long is a student of William King he is refining King's themes and characters. This observation brings me to the explanation of my title for this review.

The figure in the carpet, as Henry James would say, in this novel is the seesaw. When Felix is up, Gotrek is down and when Gotrek is up, Felix is down, literally. The only time Gotrek is animated is when the likelihood of death and mayhem is near; Felix appreciates the tranquil moments, which in a Gotrek & Felix novel, are very brief indeed. However, Gotrek is the dark submerged animator of the series. It is his strength and resolve that drives the action. Long is aware of this and he consciously builds on it and structures the plot around the "humors" of the two characters in a clear and convincing way.

Finally, if you like this novel, I would suggest Gav Thorpe's "Malekith," Graham McNeill's "Defenders of Ulthuan," William King's "Trollslayer" and "Skavenslayer," and Long's Blackheart Trilogy.

I might also add, that the novels of Sabatini--"Captain Blood" in particular--might also interest you.