Xathrodox86 reviews: "Slayer of the Storm God" by Nathan Long

Gotrek & Felix - the most infamous, Old World duo. They are the posterboys of Warhammer Fantasy and, soon, the Age of Sigmar.

My adventure with the fantasy franchise created by Games Workshop began with these two heroes. Back in 2007 I've bought two omnibuses in a London bookstore and... well here I am, more than a decade later. Still a huge and avid fan of Warhammer Fantasy, albeit a one that also recognizes its many flaws. That said, without the Slayer and his human companion I would probably never have picked up the WFRP books, never installed games such as "Shadow of the Horned Rat" and "Dark Omen" on my PC, not to mention "Vermintide." It is to Gotrek and Felix that I should owe my passion as a RPG enthusiast and gamer.

When it comes to their adventures, I've only read the books by William King and Nathan Long. I'm not familiar with any of their later exploits and quests. Thart said, there are two stories, concerning our restless heroes, made in audio format - "Slayer of the Storm God" by Nathan Long and "Curse of the Everliving" by David Guymer. Today I'll be looking at the first one. Is it any good? Is it worth picking up?

Read the review and you shall find out!

"Slayer of the Storm God" takes place in the great port city of Marineburg, right after the ending of "Elfslayer" (also penned by Mr. Long). Gotrek and Felix are searching for some incriminating papers, concerning the young(?) poet's father, who, as it turned out, was smuggling forbidden tomes. Rumagging through the house of a man, who was blackmailing Felix's father, they've found the papers and a hefty ammount of loot, including a strange bracelet. Later in a tavern, an old sailor approaches them and asks for the price of said bracelet, being interested in buying it. Gotrek, faithful to his nature, tells the man that it's not for sale. A bar brawl follows quickly and our heroes are thrown deep into a conspiracy, perpetrated by the cult of Stromfels, the Shark God of the Deeps, the Lord of Storms.

The action is very nicely paced and, well, there's a lot of it, crammed into 73 minutes of high quality audio recording. From the fight at the tavern to a vicious and brutal duel in the duo's rented room to, finally, a grand finale in the marshes, surrounding Marienburg. The combat is brutal, visceral and nicely shows the differences between Gotrek and his human remembrancer. Where Felix is a fine swordsman and duelist, Gurnisson is a wrecking ball of a fighter, plowing through his enemies with brute strength and murderous intent. The combat sections are certainly some of the strongest points of this audio drama.

The same can't be said about the voice work. Now don't get me wrong - for most part the actors are making a stellar job. However the goddamn background sound, coupled with a certain important character's voice effects, make a big portion of this book rather hard to listen. It's not a big deal, but I've finished "Slayer of the Storm God" three times, and every single one of them, I had no fucking idea what said character was saying.

The ending was also kinda strange. Without spoiling too much of the plot, I can't fathom why a bunch of Marienburgers, who are normally in a much better financial position than your average Old World citizen, would decide to effectively become living sacrifices for not-Cthulhu. What, because their city will be free of storms for a single year? Well, they won't care either way, since they won't be alive to enjoy the nice weather! Yeah, the ending... didn't really made much sense. Sorry.

All in all this audio is a very solid postion in the Black Library offer and one of the only few audiobooks (unfortunately), ever produced for the Warhammer Fantasy franchise. I recommend it to anyone who likes a good, short and entertaining story about a Slayer and his poet pal, fighting monsters, grabbing loot and saving people from not-Cthulhu monsters. Despite a few flaws here and there, it was ultimately a very fun and engaging tale, set in the grim and perilous Old World.

You can't go wrong with these two fellas!

Until next time!

Xathrodox86