Gotrek Gurnisson once again faces off against one of his oldest foes…

Greywater Fastness – an industrial canker in the heart of Ghyran. Foundries and metalworks pump soot and fire endlessly into the skies of the Realm of Life. Dusty streets hide peril at every turn, and attacks by the Dreadwood Sylvaneth hamper the city’s relentless encroachment.

Gotrek Gurnisson barges into Greywater Fastness seeking answers as to why his Fyreslayer rune is mysteriously waning. But finding them in the stronghold’s clogged and blackened arteries may prove far more difficult than first thought, and with skaven warlocks building something deep underground – something that will cement their place in skavendom forever – Gotrek begins to wonder if he might instead find that which has eluded him these past ages – his doom.

In Verminslayer, David Guymer returns to writing Gotrek Gurnisson. Still wandering the Mortal Realms, the slayer is newly companion-less, and finds himself in an industrial city threatened by the evil machinations of the always-bizarre, incomprehensibly-competent Skaven. I enjoyed this.

At the start of this novel, Gotrek seems to be at a loose end, working on a sewer patrol team in the Greywater Fastness — a perfectly-Warhammer-type of city: it’s big, over-the-top, fantastical, a little steampunk-y, and probably a bit of a nightmare to live in. As is his wont, he spends his days drinking, drowning his psychic pain in whatever alcohol he can find (usually beer that is not up to his standards, but will do). The slayer is only roused out of his malaise when he has an enemy to fight. And, as it happens, that enemy is one he has been fighting for centuries: the Skaven.

The novel is fast-paced, action-packed, and the Skaven are perfectly petty, paranoid, violent, and monstrous. Their plan in this novel was particularly diabolical, executed in the chaotic way that one might expect. As I read the final few paragraphs, I couldn’t help but wonder what the story would have been, had they been successful…

I have been reading, and re-reading, the (mis)adventures of Gotrek Gurnisson since the 1990s. From the early short stories by William King, all the way through the other novels and stories by a handful of other authors. He’s easily one of the best Warhammer characters created, and he’ll always have a special place on my bookshelf. Any new story or novel featuring him will be of interest. In Verminslayer, I was very pleased to find that Guymer has managed to evoke some of the feel and action of Skavenslayer, the first full-length novel to feature Gotrek and his Old World companion, Felix Jaeger (who did not survive into the Age of Sigmar) — something I particularly enjoyed and welcomed. Guymer’s prose is excellent thoughtout, and his familiarity with and affection for the main character comes through nicely. (The author wrote Gotrek’s two End Times novels, both of which are excellent and highly recommended.)

As I continue to try to buy-in to the Age of Sigmar setting (I do sometimes think I’m a little too familiar with the Old World, while also not being enough of a Warhammer fan to have easily accepted all the changes), Gotrek’s adventures have proven to be very useful and helpful entries into the setting. As a transplant from the old setting, he is often amused, baffled, and frustrated by the changes he sees around him. (More so in the earlier stories, but Gotrek-as-guide remains, to an extent, even this far into the series.) Many of these impressions I share with him. I’m still not entirely sure what I think of the setting, even this many years into it, but I enjoyed Verminslayer.

Verminslayer will undoubtedly please fans of the Gotrek series, especially the books set in the Age of Sigmar. Readers will also most likely find his new companion interesting (and offering something different from previous ones). The novel does a great job of offering plenty of the new, while also evoking some of the feel of classic Warhammer fiction.

*

David Guymer’s Verminslayer is out now, published by Black Library in North America and in the UK.

Also on CR: Reviews of Kinslayer, Slayer, and Realmslayer

Follow the Author: Goodreads, BlueSky
Review copy received from publisher