A Couple of ‘Gotrek’ Tales from the Black Library…
I’m not sure how this week is going to pan out on the blog, lets see what happens… After a couple of months out, I’m back at work (albeit on half days for the next couple of weeks) and my head needs to be all about getting back up to speed etc. I’ve been enjoying my blogging though and I don’t want to let that slide so… You probably won’t see as many books read, maybe more short stories and comics will creep back in? I don’t know; like I said, lets see what happens next ;o)
It feels like a while since anything ‘Age of Sigmar’ has featured here, it has definitely been a while since I read any ‘Gotrek’ so I thought I’d kick off the week by combining the two and having a quick look at a couple of tales that have been lurking on my Kindle App for a little while. And both of them are from solid contributors to this particular branch of the ‘Age of Sigmar’ setting, can’t go wrong with that… Can you?
Lets see...
‘One, Untended’ – David Guymer (Black Library)
Page Count: 29 Pages
When a child goes missing from Hammerhal Ghyra, Gotrek Gurnisson, recovering from an epic drinking binge (and some nasty poisoning) volunteers to enter the nearby catacombs and find him – especially since his mother claims he was taken by a ghost. Venturing into the darkness with his reluctant aelven companion Maleneth. But even the vaunted Stormcast Eternals were unable to cleanse this labyrinth of the taint that infects it, and what awaits the adventurers below will test them to their limits.
It’s a very specific category but if there was ever an award for ‘Best literary depiction of a character having their soul torn from their body by a wraith’… Actually, I’m going to call it now, I’m awarding it to David Guymer for his work in ‘One, Untended’. That passage was stunning :o)
As for the rest of it, ‘One, Untended’ is a more than solid tale of a subterranean ‘dungeon crawl’ which starts off as Gotrek working off some food poisoning and ends as a lot more. Nice use of misdirection from Guymer, the final confrontation wasn’t what I expected, and that’s what you need from a ‘Gotrek’ tale these days, something that raises the plot beyond the pitfalls of a ‘Gotrek fights until he meets the Final Boss, proceeds to fight Final Boss’ affair. Maybe it’s a little too straightforward (although what ‘dungeon crawl’ style adventure isn’t?) but there was a lot of fun to be had with ‘One, Untended’ while I was in the thick of it.
‘The Neverspike’ – Darius Hinks (Black Library)
Page Count: 21 Pages
Trachos, a Lord-Ordinator of the Celestial Vindicators, journeys back to his brethren, tortured by the horrors he has experienced in the underworlds of Shyish – and by his own failings. A voice in his head berates him… and he's sure it's not his own. A chance encounter with fellow travellers – an aelf agent of the Order of the Azyr, and a strange duardin who calls himself Gotrek – give Trachos new purpose – and a chance to gain what he seeks. As he leads the pair to the sinister Neverspike, he plans to be rid of them. But around such a being as Gotrek Gurnisson, plans have a habit of going wrong…
Not a bad way to spend half an hour but not my favourite tale, of Darius Hinks’, either… Without going into too much detail (spoilers and all that), Trachos needs a little more about him in order to be able to carry the story effectively. I’m guessing that Hinks had word count constraints but even so, there were some questions raised here that I don’t think ‘The Neverspike’ planned for.
But then we meet Gotrek and he’s just doing what he does best, always moving forwards and leaving a trail of dead monsters behind him. That’s what I stayed for and Hinks clearly knows what he is doing with this character, keeping to the basics of that but also making it very entertaining.
Half and half then but there was enough about ‘The Neverspike’ to make it a quick, fun read.
It feels like a while since anything ‘Age of Sigmar’ has featured here, it has definitely been a while since I read any ‘Gotrek’ so I thought I’d kick off the week by combining the two and having a quick look at a couple of tales that have been lurking on my Kindle App for a little while. And both of them are from solid contributors to this particular branch of the ‘Age of Sigmar’ setting, can’t go wrong with that… Can you?
Lets see...
Page Count: 29 Pages
When a child goes missing from Hammerhal Ghyra, Gotrek Gurnisson, recovering from an epic drinking binge (and some nasty poisoning) volunteers to enter the nearby catacombs and find him – especially since his mother claims he was taken by a ghost. Venturing into the darkness with his reluctant aelven companion Maleneth. But even the vaunted Stormcast Eternals were unable to cleanse this labyrinth of the taint that infects it, and what awaits the adventurers below will test them to their limits.
It’s a very specific category but if there was ever an award for ‘Best literary depiction of a character having their soul torn from their body by a wraith’… Actually, I’m going to call it now, I’m awarding it to David Guymer for his work in ‘One, Untended’. That passage was stunning :o)
As for the rest of it, ‘One, Untended’ is a more than solid tale of a subterranean ‘dungeon crawl’ which starts off as Gotrek working off some food poisoning and ends as a lot more. Nice use of misdirection from Guymer, the final confrontation wasn’t what I expected, and that’s what you need from a ‘Gotrek’ tale these days, something that raises the plot beyond the pitfalls of a ‘Gotrek fights until he meets the Final Boss, proceeds to fight Final Boss’ affair. Maybe it’s a little too straightforward (although what ‘dungeon crawl’ style adventure isn’t?) but there was a lot of fun to be had with ‘One, Untended’ while I was in the thick of it.
‘The Neverspike’ – Darius Hinks (Black Library)
Page Count: 21 Pages
Trachos, a Lord-Ordinator of the Celestial Vindicators, journeys back to his brethren, tortured by the horrors he has experienced in the underworlds of Shyish – and by his own failings. A voice in his head berates him… and he's sure it's not his own. A chance encounter with fellow travellers – an aelf agent of the Order of the Azyr, and a strange duardin who calls himself Gotrek – give Trachos new purpose – and a chance to gain what he seeks. As he leads the pair to the sinister Neverspike, he plans to be rid of them. But around such a being as Gotrek Gurnisson, plans have a habit of going wrong…
Not a bad way to spend half an hour but not my favourite tale, of Darius Hinks’, either… Without going into too much detail (spoilers and all that), Trachos needs a little more about him in order to be able to carry the story effectively. I’m guessing that Hinks had word count constraints but even so, there were some questions raised here that I don’t think ‘The Neverspike’ planned for.
But then we meet Gotrek and he’s just doing what he does best, always moving forwards and leaving a trail of dead monsters behind him. That’s what I stayed for and Hinks clearly knows what he is doing with this character, keeping to the basics of that but also making it very entertaining.
Half and half then but there was enough about ‘The Neverspike’ to make it a quick, fun read.
Good luck getting back into work. Hope you do ok.
ReplyDeleteThanks :o) It wasn't a bad first day back, the only problem is that they're stopping the 'on-call' function so my take home pay is in trouble, that's a problem for later though.
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