Trollslayer

On a friend’s recommendation, I got into Gotrek and Felix fantasy series from Warhammer universe, written by William King. The universe was created for tabletop and online games.

The Trollslayer is the first book in the series. It takes place in the world resembling medieval times with towns, castles, and villages. Multiple races exist, including dwarfs and elves – once powerful but now in decline. Other races include humans, Skaven (rat people), Orcs, Goblins, and the Undead. The main conflict is between forces of Order and Chaos.

The book was originally written as a collection of short stories published in magazines. It follows Gotrek Gurnisson, a dwarf trollslayer seeking heroic death, and Felix Jaeger, a human poet and fencer that is bound by an oath to follow Gotrek and record his fate.

The storytelling is fast-paced and action-heavy, with characters getting into troubles quickly. The book consists of the following chapters:

• Geheimnisnacht (Night of Secrets)
• Wolf Riders
• The Dark Beneath the World
• The Mark of Slaanesh
• Blood and Darkness
• The Mutant Master
• Ulric’s Children

It briefly covers, in retrospect, how Gotrek and Felix met and ended up with the oath. Chaos forces appear early on, mostly mutants, priests, evil sorcerers, and undead creatures. In Wolf Riders, Felix’s love, Kirsten, and the cursed von Diehl family attempt to flee to the Borderlands. However, Kirsten is killed in the final fight.

The Dark Beneath the World takes us to the ruined city of Karak Eight Peaks. There, they join forces with a Templar of the Fiery Heart seeking for the lost sword Karaghul. While exploring tunnels under the city, they discover a Great Tomb and the sword in it. A huge mutant troll appears, killing the templars. Felix, with great luck, sets the troll on fire, allowing Gotrek to finally kill it. The sword Karaghul stays in possession of Felix until he can return it to the templars.

Remaining chapters build on the clashes with forces of Chaos. In Blood and Darkness, they face Justine, a Chaos champion leading horde of mutants. In The Mutant Master, they fight the sorcerer Albericht Kruger. In Ulric’s Children, they battle werewolves under Count Hrothgar.

I read the book in Czech. It was a quick and easy read – nothing very profound, but enjoyable and relaxing.