3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Seething Seesaw, January 22, 2009
"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.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Okay read, but I like the old ones better, January 16, 2011
Being almost a couple of years since I read last Giantslayer and I finally found some time to return to the series. While the book is interesting, I must say that I like William King's Gotrek and Felix better. My biggest complaints are that there is too much angsting and the fight scenes are not as fun as before.
In the old book Gotrek testing the edge of his axe with his thumb and bleeding a drop of blood is a sure of sign of brutal beatdown. Now it is just inconclusive brawl that don't seem to go any where. I guess Long is trying to provide a sense of tension by giving Gotrek more formidable opponent. But Gotrek no longer feel like the force of nature he was before.
Also, I find myself being really irritated by Felix. It seem like he is actually regressing from a hardened adventurer to a hormone driven teenager. Felix have 20 plus years of experience fighting the most dangerous things Warhammer have to offer but for the majority of the book he barely held his own against his opponents. In the past he fought and killed chaos, beastmen and skaven without problem but here, he spend more of his time either off balanced or scrambling out of the way. What happen to the master swordsman? And why is he taking crap from everyone from his brother to some blackmailing pirate. The guy should be about 40 and given his background should have more backbone in him. If Long is going for a more retrospective Felix, he overshot and got a moping one instead.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gortrek and Felix # 10, October 9, 2008
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.
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