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clevermird's review
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Okay, I haven't been totally won back, but this book was better than Skavenslayer for sure.
Daemonslayer is the third book in the adventures of dwarf Trollslayer Gotrek and his chronicler, witness, and semi-reluctant human partner in crime Felix. The pair is roped into a secretive dwarf expedition that will pit them against the most terrifying of forces in the Old World - Chaos. Near-certain death is no deterrent for a Slayer, after all, especially when there's a chance to settle old grudges in the mix.
After Trollslayer's anthology structure and Skavenslayer's weird hybrid model, this book is the first proper novel in the series, and it's a net positive for the series. Skavenslayer's repetitive structure, with the same story loop followed over and over, isn't as much of a problem here, and it allows for more development of some of the side characters and concepts. The skaven take a back seat, but fans of Thanquol and Lurk will get a few entertaining scenes thrown their way as well. This wasn't a deep read, but I found it a fun, light-reading adventure story, a sort of literary potato chips.
That being said, the book still isn't perfect. The pacing is strange - it feels like more page count is dedicated to the opening bar fight than to the final "boss battle", and the ending is rushed. There are a couple of interesting characters who kind of just drop out of the narrative without really doing anything. I hope that this is setup for future books, and if so, I will retract this complaint, but for this book, it just felt like Chekov's gun never fired.
Overall, while I still wouldn't catapult this series to the "love" category, I'll be returning for Dragonslayer. It just probably won't be a very high priority.
Daemonslayer is the third book in the adventures of dwarf Trollslayer Gotrek and his chronicler, witness, and semi-reluctant human partner in crime Felix. The pair is roped into a secretive dwarf expedition that will pit them against the most terrifying of forces in the Old World - Chaos. Near-certain death is no deterrent for a Slayer, after all, especially when there's a chance to settle old grudges in the mix.
After Trollslayer's anthology structure and Skavenslayer's weird hybrid model, this book is the first proper novel in the series, and it's a net positive for the series. Skavenslayer's repetitive structure, with the same story loop followed over and over, isn't as much of a problem here, and it allows for more development of some of the side characters and concepts. The skaven take a back seat, but fans of Thanquol and Lurk will get a few entertaining scenes thrown their way as well. This wasn't a deep read, but I found it a fun, light-reading adventure story, a sort of literary potato chips.
That being said, the book still isn't perfect. The pacing is strange - it feels like more page count is dedicated to the opening bar fight than to the final "boss battle", and the ending is rushed. There are a couple of interesting characters who kind of just drop out of the narrative without really doing anything. I hope that this is setup for future books, and if so, I will retract this complaint, but for this book, it just felt like Chekov's gun never fired.
Overall, while I still wouldn't catapult this series to the "love" category, I'll be returning for Dragonslayer. It just probably won't be a very high priority.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Blood
Moderate: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Alcohol
Minor: Excrement
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