Skavenslayer (A Gotrek & Felix novel) [Mass Market Paperback]

William King (Author)

Book Description

Series: Warhammer Novels | Publication Date: May 1, 2003

Set in the mighty city of Nuln, Gotrek and Felix are back in Skavenslayer, the second novel in this epic saga. Seeking to undermine the very fabric of the Empire with their arcane warp-sorcery, the skaven, twisted Chaos rat-men, are at large in the reeking sewers beneath the city. Led by Grey Seer Thanquol, the servants of the Horned Rat are determined to overthrow this bastion of humanity. Against such forces, what possible threat can just two hard-bitten adventurers pose?

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Fantastic scenarios.' Daily Telegraph 'The King of high adventure.' Starlog 'He presents an action-packed life of fantasy axe-swinging' SFX --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

William King was born in Stranraer, Scotland, in 1959. His short stories have appeared in 'The Year's Best SF', 'Zenth', 'White Dwarf' and 'Interzone'. He is also the author of the other three Gotrek & Felic novels: 'Skavenslayer', 'Daemonslayer' and 'Dragonslayer', and two volumes chronicling the adventures of a Space Marine warrior, Ragnar: 'Space Wolf' and 'Ragnar's Claw' all available on Amazon. He has travelled extensively throughout Europe and Asia, but he currently lives in Prague, where he is hard at work finishing the fifth Gotrek & Felix adventure, 'Beastslayer'!

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Games Workshop (May 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671783858
• ISBN-13: 978-0671783853
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,408,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hack and Slash as it should be, September 6, 2000

By 

will molinar - See all my reviews

This review is from: Skavenslayer (A Gotrek & Felix novel) (Mass Market Paperback)

Gotrek and Felix rock, it's that simple. While Trollslayer was more of an anthology, Skavenslayer winds tighter and closer to an actual novel. Each chapter builds on the previous one, they must be read in order for the whole book to make sense. Not quite as strongly related as Daemonslayer chapters are, but Skavenslayer is a nice bridge between the first and third books in this series, as Daemonslayer is a full-out novel.

I found the Skaven very funny and likeable. They are kind of like stupid pets with an evil, simple intelligence. They do things they aren't suppose to, but it is hard to fault them b/c of their stupidity. I almost found myself cheering for them instead of Gotrek and Felix.

But Gotrek is invincible, and Felix gets tougher as the story continues. I really liked the relationship between him and his brother. It gives some depth to his character. I am tempted to say this is the best of the series, but the final battle of Deamonslayer with the Bloodthirster is simply beyond amazing, so Skavenslayer is second best, but still a great read.

Modern fantasy should be more like this. Like the old Robert E. Howard Conan stuff. Instead of lame, drawn out crap like Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn. Boring!!! It's D&D character developement verses Diablo's hack and slash, kill everything in sight. I'll take the latter everyday of the week and twice on Sunday.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Second in the series..., October 10, 2001

By 

Ash1138 "www.myspace.com/ash1138" (Centennial, CO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Skavenslayer (A Gotrek & Felix novel) (Mass Market Paperback)

*** 1/2 Stars

What started over a decade ago in a magazine devoted to the roleplaying and tabletop games by Games Workshop called Warhammer, now sees a surprising resurgence of life after all these years since Games Workshop closed their book publishing division, GW Books. Though the magazine lives on, the great stories from arguably the best fantasy world since Tolkein created Middle Earth (I actually think the world of Warhammer better). Sadly GW has seemingly abandoned even their flagship roleplaying game (and my favorite roleplaying game of all time) and all the world detail that went along with it.

But this is a review about a the second book in a series that is 10 years overdue. While Trollslayer (the first book) was only a collection of short stories (reprinted from the early magazine/anthology days), this one flows much more like a novel in it's own right. I will point out however, that the first chapter is actually a short story published years ago.

This is both a good thing and a bad thing. Good because it's nicer to read a book with more continuity, yet bad because the stories of Felix and Gotrek worked so well in the short story format. Not that I'm complaining; I've waited over 10 years for a Felix and Gotrek novel and now I have one.

I've rated this book less than I did for Trollslayer, but it's not bad. Above all, William King's writing style and characterization will keep you flipping pages even when story doesn't live up to it's potential. There are many great points to the book, and William gets to really develop the Skaven (ratmen) far beyond what he did long ago in the short story Skavenslayer.

The fun points are watching Felix and Gotrek repeatedly thwart the bumbling machinations of the Skaven, ultimately leading up the the stories climax where the Skaven assault one of the largest human cities in the world (right where our heroes happen to be). As fun as all this is, I was just a bit dissapointed at how the book focused so much on the Skaven and their plots.

One of the great things about the short stories was how you [the reader] got to explore so much of the Warhammer world through the eyes of these two wouldbe heroes. Trollslayer [the book] takes you on a wild ride starting from the first exploits of our heroes to thwart a chaos cultic ritual, to saving a border town from goblin wolfriders, to the deep underground of an ancient dwarven fortress in search of lost treasure only to find something truely horrific. And these only the first three stories of the book. Skavenslayer offers Skaven, then more Skaven, then even more Skaven.

The book is good, though not as dynamic as the first. If you liked Trollslayer, by all means get this book. I can't get enough of Felix and Gotrek.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, June 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Skavenslayer (A Gotrek & Felix novel) (Mass Market Paperback)

Being a true warhammer fan, i had quite a lot of experiance with the warhammer world before i read this, i therefore found it an enjoyable and exciting read. Newcomers to the hobby, or indeed fans of the more futuristic versions of warhammer, will not find this as fun as i did. People may find the idea of giant rat men etc. a bit stupid, which may be hard to grasp. Gotrek still fights with supernatural strength and speed, while felix as usual, hangs back from the main fighting and picks on single enemies, but the book offers a few suprises, as felix sometimes gets the best and hardist kills. The book always has a suspicious mood after you find out about the massive skaven army massing around the city, and keeps you reading. William king, the author has perfectly captured the trechurous ways of the skaven, the utter brutality of gotrek and the knight in shining armour quality that felix has. He's even put some romance in the story, as felix get's laid (again) throughout the book. This book focuses more on felix than in trollslayer, and this is much needed in preparation for the next in series, daemonslayer, as felix is also given a tougher look in skavenslayer, as a bouncer in the toughest bar in the huge city. Overall, i enjoyed this book, and would reccommend it to fans of warhammer, but 40k fans, keep clear of this.