With much of my contemporary reading in service to writing reviews, audiobooks are my chance to “play catch-up” on the older catalogue of Black Library books. What you will find in this occasional feature is neither a full, formal book review nor a simple blurb, but rather something comfortably in between: impressions.
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You might be surprised to learn that today’s book, Daemonslayer, isn’t just the third novel in William King’s Gotrek & Felix series, but also the first original novel.
Wait, what?
In the publishing industry, a “fix-up” novel is one that is assembled from pre-existing short stories. When the Black Library editors offered Dan Abnett the opportunity to do a Gaunt’s Ghosts book following the positive reception his short stories had garnered, their suggestion was that make a fix-up from them. Abnett refused, writing First & Only as an original novel- but then returned to the fix-up idea for the second book, Ghostmaker.
Trollslayer- King’s first Gotrek & Felix novel- was similarly stitched together from previously-released short stories. For the second, Skavenslayer, he instead took a hybrid approach. Skaven’s Claw, a novella-length story that had been serialized in White Dwarf, and wrote an original novel around it.
When the time came to pen the third, however, King started from a clean slate. Daemonslayer is wholly original, and as a result it hits differently than the previous books. The first two had an episodic feel, while Daemonslayer’s narrative drives forward through the entire story.
The Story
The adventure begins when Gotrek is summoned to the abode of Borek Forkbeard. Forkbeard and Gotrek had been part of an ill-fated expedition to the Chaos Wastes many years before, seeking the legendary dwarf fortress city of Karag Dum.
That expedition had failed, but Forkbeard has a new card to play as he gets some of the original trek’s survivors back together. The frozen North has, if anything, only expanded in the intervening years, but rather than trek across it Forkbeard plans to go over it instead.
Enter Malakai Makaisson, a dwarf Slayer and mechanical genius. Sure his first invention, the ironclad ship Unsinkable, ended up beneath the waves with most of its crew. And his next project, a mighty airship named the Undestructible, exploded in mid-flight. But dwarfs are nothing if not persistent, and Makaisson’s sure that he’ll be third-time lucky with the fortified zeppelin Spirit of Grungni.
That’s good enough for Gotrek, with the ever-reluctant Felix finding himself unable to refuse. After a stock-up in Kislev, the expedition enters the Chaos Wastes- and what they find there is unlike anything they could have ever expected.
The Voice
I’m not sure what I could say about Jonathan Keeble that I haven’t already, but he continues to deliver here. His Gotrek and Felix are iconic performances, while Daemonslayer expands the cast of series regulars with new characters we’ll continue to see in subsequent stories. Of particular note is Gotrek’s fellow Slayer, Snorri Nosebiter, whose dimwittedness Keeble plays to comic perfection.
Keeble manages to make every voice different and distinct, showing tremendous range. From the various dwarfs to humans right through to our old friend Thanquol the Grey Seer (and Lurk, his hapless lackey), this feels less like narration and more like theatre.
Bits n’ Pieces (Spoilers)
It’s not written as a comedy, but there’s plenty of levity and humor to be found in the intersection of King’s prose and Keeble’s voice. Audiobook just might be the format I’d recommend for anyone getting into Gotrek & Felix, it’s some of the very best entertainment the Black Library offers.
The pacing of the book feels very different, due to the more continuous and less episodic nature of the story (as I’d discussed earlier). King’s pacing is superb here, building up a genuine sense of momentum and adventure that the format affords him rather than having to build around smaller buildups and payoffs. The airship portion of the adventure really gets going about halfway through, and I was on the edge of my seat as they entered the Wastes.
King puts a surprising amount of care into the romances he builds for Felix, and he’s done this for three books now. “Warhammer Romance” as an imprint (like Crime and Horror) is sort of a running gag in the community, but I give King a lot of credit for weaving that in.
King doesn’t leave this book on a cliffhanger, but he does leave it at a place where the next book (Dragonslayer) can pick right up and continue with. Daemonslayer doesn’t fully “reset” the narrative like his earlier stories do; clearly, King left some room to work with for the next installment. This gave the story a bit more of an epic feel at the end that I appreciated.
Given the change in narrative format, I’m really looking forward to returning. I know eventually the formula wears thin, but for now King is just hitting his stride.
Hands down best book series I’ve read!
I’ve been curious about this series so it’s good to know it’s worth a read. I might start with this one.