(Warhammer)

Black Library, 2000

Gotrek, the berserker dwarf, and Felix, his human traveling companion, return in the second volume of the ongoing Trollslayer series from Warhammer and William King. This time around, the duo stays put in the city of Nuln as Choatic forces of Skaven - intelligent, giant bipedal rats - plot to overthrow the city.

Skavenslayer is an episodic novel, featuring six stories, all dealing with the duo's battles against the rat-men. The stories build to a crescendo in the final tale, though each can stand alone for its own reading.

The collection starts off fairly strong. The opening imagery of Gotrek and Felix working the sewer patrol is as vivid as it is humorous. Gotrek's presence is more prominent than we will find in the following tales. We are introduced to the main Skaven villain, the sorcerer Grey Seer Thanquol. Gotrek and Felix must battle against the rat-men. And—as if often the case with Chaos in the world of Warhammer—they must also expose and battle the corruption of human officials.

After their first encounter with the Skaven, Gotrek and Felix find new employment above the sewers as bouncers at a rowdy tavern. Thanqoul dispatches his best rat-men to eliminate Gotrek and Felix - he fears the battle talents of the dwarf will jeopardize any more Skaven action. This tale featured some well described fighting at its climax.

Twice defeated by Gotrek, Felix and happenstance, Thanqoul decides discretion is a better point of rodent valor. But a rogue clan of engineering Skaven (reminding us that the world of Warhammer has Renaissance elements of machinery and gunpowder) plan to raid the Nuln College of Engineering, without Thanquol's blessing. The idea of a fantasy world with modern machinery is interesting but here the Skaven come off about as well as Wile E. Coyote and his ACME catalog - and the story slides into cartoonish elements.

The next clan of rogue Skaven prepare their attack - to unleash plague and disease upon the unsuspecting citizens of Nuln. Some of this was funny, but the graphic descriptions of phlegm and other nasty bits in the rat-men's brew left me feeling like I was dealing with boys on a playground trying to out-gross each other.

The Skaven plan to unleash giant rats to decimate the grain and food stores of the city. Luckily for the human population, the Skaven in-fighting gives warning to Gotrek and Felix to halt the plan. This story was rather straightforward, again with Gotrek and Felix saving the city in the nick of time.

Thanquol at last launches his own final attack - with troops raiding the city and his own unit of Skaven teleporting directly into the Countess' palace. This was a fun romp but again, the humor level approached silly.

If you don't mind alot of humor and tongue-in-cheek, you might still enjoy this novel for what it is. As someone who prefers sword-and-sorcery, this just didn't work for me. I still intend to read this series through - I just hope the next book doesn't feel quite so juvenile and I hope it features more Gotrek.