|
Orcslayer (Warhammer: Gotrek and Felix) | 
 enlarge | Author: Nathan Long
Publisher: Black Library
Category: Book
List Price: £6.99
Buy New: £2.22
You Save: £4.77 (68%)
New (18) Used (7) from £2.22
Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 23166
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 416
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 3.9 x 1.2
ISBN: 1844163911
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.6
EAN: 9781844163915
ASIN: 1844163911
Publication Date: October 2, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: New book. WE USE PRIORITY AIRMAIL ONLY for books from the USA. UK & European delivery is 7-10 days. Over 2,000,000 books sold to Amazon customers
| |
| Similar Items:
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 4.5 stars June 20, 2008
Detra Fitch (USA)
10 out of 11 found this review helpful
Gotrek and Felix arrive back to the southern coast of the Old World to discover that the orcs are running rampant. The Empire's armies, including their dwarf allies, are far north fighting off a major Chaos invasion. Gotrek wants nothing more than to quickly journey to the north and find a worthy doom. However, his one-time friend, Prince Hamnir, insists Gotrek help him reclaim his hold from the greenskins who have overrun it. Gotrek refuses to help the hateful dwarf prince until Hamnir blackmails him into it by calling upon an ancient pledge.
Gotrek and Felix travel to the Diamondsmith Clan's hold expecting the task to be simple. After all, it is only orcs. But these orcs are different. These orcs are organized, well disciplined, and clever. Magic must be involved somehow, because the rune upon Gotrek's axe glows faintly. Finding a way into the hold is all but impossible, but once accomplished, our heroic duo find a more horrific situation before them.
***** Author Nathan Long has done a very good job keeping the characters by fellow-author William King towing their normal line. Other than a slight difference in writing style, and you have to be looking for it or you may miss it, the characters seem the same as always. (Outstanding job there, Mr. Long!) By the end of this adventure, Gotrek's soul carries an even greater weight. So does Felix's, for that matter. It actually makes Gotrek seem more mortal. I have an even deeper respect for both our heroes since I have finished the novel too. This mean the author made the two main characters even more believable to me; that takes a lot of talent for an author to accomplish. Superb! *****
Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.
 Orcslayer May 30, 2008
N. Green (London, UK)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
It's always going to be difficult when a new author picks up the torch from the original one, and far more so when the series in question is a cult-classic, famed for its character, wit and scenario, straight from the mind of Bill King. I've been reading and re-reading King's Slayer series since he published the anthology that was Trollslayer almost ten years ago, and have finally plucked up the courage to read the new work in the series, from the pen of Nathan Long. I'm glad I did.
Without giving too much away, much of the story unfolds in a way classic to the series, with our two intrepid heroes heading up a small gang on a presumed suicide mission. For better or worse, though, Orcslayer is a deeper experience than much of King's work, with the story cloaked with a sci-fi (for want of a better phrase) undertone that reaches its psuedo-horror conclusion in a startling manner.
Although the writing style is his own, Long shows a great respect for the seven books past, referencing every major character in them, as well as half the minor ones. His portrayals of Gotrek and Felix, thankfully, remain largely unchanged, Felix keeps his sardonic wit, and Gotrek his gruff exterior - although the latter's character is a more respectful and open being than before.
If, like I did, you loved King's novels, then I utterly recommend Orcslayer. It's akin to King's bleaker entires in the series, but largely retains the aforementioned wit and character. Approach it with an open mind and you may well discover that Long is a worthy successor to a series which was too good to end on Giantslayer.
Seriously, the worst thing about it are occasional quips like "slow-poke", "quarter century", and "you've just graduated from squigslayer to trollslayer", which made me read the rest of the chapter with an American accent in my head.
 Promising opening, but... December 14, 2007
Thomas Murch (The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
William King was, to my surprise as I first read Trollslayer, a good writer - the Slayer series was, I felt, amongst the finest of fantasy stories I had ever read, containing characters that were genuinely interesting... and an airship. Sadly, Orcslayer has neither of these - the new author simply isn't in King's league, and this story failed to grip me in the way previous stories had.
Picture, if you will, two metaphorical towers: one an amusing incident in the first chapter, the other a similarly amusing piece at the very end of the novel. In between these lie wide, barren plains, inhospitable to all life. Trudging from one tower to another basically summarises how I felt while reading Orcslayer. While I would count William King as a fine writer of fantasy, Nathan Long lacks his skill: decent characters are rendered somewhat bland and the plots are lacking in lustre, leaving me with the overall impression that the Slayer series has fallen over and badly twisted its ankle. A dedicated fan might find themselves loving it, but shall find little given in return: no interesting minor characters, no mind-provoking moments or emotional attachments. If you do like it, you will probably like Manslayer too, but myself? I'm hoping for the return of the King.
Gotrek & Felix take on the greenskins December 11, 2007
T. R. Alexander (East Anglia, UK)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is the eighth book in the Gotrek and Felix series and the first by Nathan Long but unfortunately he cannot live up to the standard set by the previous author William King. In `Orcslayer' Gotrek and Felix must help a dwarf prince reclaim his ancestral hold from the orcs but not everything is as it seems.
The Gotrek & Felix books have been some of the more enjoyable novels that I read from the Warhammer world but unfortunately `Orcslayer' doesn't quite live up to its predecessors. This is not to say that this is a bad book, indeed if it hadn't been a Gotrek & Felix book I would probably have given it four stars, it is just that Nathan Long doesn't seem to have the style and understanding of the characters that William King had. Added to this `Orcslayer' suffers from some poor dialog in places, some rather uninteresting subplots and a tendency to overemphasize the setting somewhat. Overall although not as terrible as some people have said `Orcslayer' is something of a letdown for the Black Library's flagship fantasy series.
 Just doesn't get it April 18, 2007
F. Marrufo (Scotland)
12 out of 16 found this review helpful
Gotrek doesn't get tired. He doesn't slow down. He doesn't get hurt. He doesn't suffer from a hangover. He doesn't limp, or moan, or yell or yipe. The most you'll get out of Gotrek is a grunt and a growl. The rule is: if Gotrek's body is still physically capable of moving, then no pain or exhaustion will halt or even slow that process down. Pain and exhaustion are human concerns; and Gotrek isn't human, he's not even really a dwarf anymore. Pain, doubt, weakness and exhaustion are all things Felix is allowed to feel. Indeed, it is the very contrast of characters that makes Gotrek all the more unbelievable and Felix all the more realistic. Nathan Long just doesn't get this, he tries to turn him into a wounded soldier who grits his teeth and keeps on moving when in reality Gotrek wouldn't even have to grit.
But it's not just Gotrek's physical attributes Nathan Long doesn't get, more importantly, he misses Gotrek's character completely as well. Gotrek doesn't give compliments, even back handed ones. He doesn't offer comfort. He's not a nice guy, by any account. He's as immovable and unflinching in character as he is in form. Again, this was always Felix's area; he was the one who changed, matured, and developed as the series progressed. Ironically (despite being set some 15 years after Giantslayer) no character development seems to have taken place in Felix, only Gotrek radically alters.
What Games Workshop have done is taken a first rate novelist from Scotland (Bill King) and replaced him with a second rate screenwriter from Hollywood and, not surprisingly, it just doesn't work. Even as a stand alone book about George and Frank this book wouldn't have hit the mark: often during the reading I found myself rearranging clumsily written sentences in my head just so they wouldn't be such an eyesore.
Lets hope Bill King takes up the mantle again and put things right.
|
|
|
www.pcprotech.co.uk | |
