A Gotrek & Felix short story
When Gotrek and Felix agree to help an impoverished nobleman reclaim his birthright, they are thrown into a battle for survival against a creature from their darkest nightmares.
Previously printed in the Black Library Weekender 2012 Saturday Anthology, Berthold’s Beard is a quick tale featuring the Dwarf Slayer and his human companion. It’s quite fun, too, indicating once again that the Gotrek & Felix franchise remains in safe hands.
A new voice in adventure sword & sorcery, finally gets a UK release
The Crescent Moon Kingdoms, home to djenn and ghuls, holy warriors and heretics, are at the boiling point of a power struggle between the iron-fisted Khalif and the mysterious master thief known as the Falcon Prince. In the midst of this brewing rebellion a series of brutal supernatural murders strikes at the heart of the Kingdoms. It is up to a handful of heroes to learn the truth behind these killings.
Doctor Adoulla Makhslood, “the last real ghul hunter in the great city of Dhamsawaat,” just wants a quiet cup of tea. Three score and more years old, he has grown weary of hunting monsters and saving lives, and is more than ready to retire from his dangerous and demanding vocation. But when an old flame’s family is murdered, Adoulla is drawn back to the hunter’s path.
Raseed bas Raseed, Adoulla’s young assistant, is a hidebound holy warrior whose prowess is matched only by his piety. But even as Raseed’s sword is tested by ghuls and manjackals, his soul is tested when he and Adoulla cross paths with the tribeswoman Zamia.
Zamia Badawi, Protector of the Band, has been gifted with the near-mythical power of the lion-shape, but shunned by her people for daring to take up a man’s title. She lives only to avenge her father’s death. Until she learns that Adoulla and his allies also hunt her father’s killer. Until she meets Raseed.
When they learn that the murders and the Falcon Prince’s brewing revolution are connected, the companions must race against time—and struggle against their own misgivings—to save the life of a vicious despot. In so doing they discover a plot for the Throne of the Crescent Moon that threatens to turn Dhamsawaat, and the world itself, into a blood-soaked ruin.
I’ve already written a review of Ahmed’s Throne of the Crescent Moon, so I won’t reproduce the whole thing here again. But, I thought I’d offer a compressed version of my earlier review, picking up on a couple of important things (in my opinion) – mainly Ahmed’s style and the world. I didn’t find the novel perfect (as is often the case with me, the issues lay in some pacing anomalies). Overall, though, this is a very strong debut novel, set in an interesting world populated by three-dimensional characters.
Writer: Jim Zub | Artist: Andrew Huerta | Colors: Ross Campbell
Valeros can rely on only his sword arm and his friends, the mysterious and beautiful sorcerer Seoni and silver tongued quick-witted elven rogue Merisiel, but nothing can prepare him for the dangers that lurk ahead. The scattered and chaotic goblin tribes of Varisia are changing, growing in power and unifying in ways no one has ever seen before. At the heart of this strange evolution is an ancient evil looking to establish itself anew.
I know Jim Zub from his work on Skullkickers (review of volume one, soon), and I got recently had the opportunity to read the first three issues of Pathfinder. What I found was a story clearly written by someone with an abiding, deep love for classic sword-and-sorcery. It’s bloody, action-packed, a little daft, and a hell of a lot of fun.
The Third Omnibus, the Conclusion and the greatest revelations of Riyria…
The New Empire intends to mark its victory over the Nationalists with a bloody celebration. On the high holiday of Wintertide, the Witch of Melengar will be burned and the Heir of Novron executed. On that same day the Empress faces a forced marriage, with a fatal accident soon follow. The New Empire is confident in the totality of its triumph but there’s just one problem — Royce and Hadrian have finally found the Heir of Novron and they have their own holiday plans.
It’s almost exactly a year since I read Rise of Empire, the second omnibus in Sullivan’s excellent Riyria Revelations series. I don’t really know why I waited so long to finish this series – save perhaps, as a result of general book ADHD and an apparent unconscious hesitance when it comes to finishing any series. Nevertheless, now that I have read this third omnibus edition, I can say that Sullivan has written a great series – one that will forever be on my shelf, and one I have no doubt I will re-read. This is a lot of fun.
A bumper crop of Gotrek & Felix short stories
In many ways, my interest in fantasy began with Gotrek and Felix – the short snippets you used to find in the Warhammer Armies books and White Dwarf magazine were great fun. Then I discovered the oft-mentioned-on-this-blog early Warhammer anthologies: Ignorant Armies (1989), Wolf Riders (1989) and Red Thirst (1990). Ever since then, I have tried to read everything Gotrek & Felix related. I’ve not done badly, reading all of the main series’ novels, but with the release of the Gotrek & Felix Anthology, I realised that there were actually quite a few other short stories I’d missed – I haven’t really been keeping up-to-date with the Warhammer anthologies. Thanks to Black Library’s extremely-well-managed move into eBooks, I was able to read them all, and bring you this bumper-review. While it did end up feeling just a tad overwhelming to get through all fifteen of these short stories in basically one go, it was nevertheless great fun to spend more time with these characters.
If you’re not familiar with Gotrek & Felix, or Warhammer in general, then this is a series you must read. It’s a great introduction to the setting, and is written with style and humour, and not a little bit of carnage.
Reviewed Herein: Gotrek & Felix Anthology (Various), Red Snow (Nathan Long), Charnel Congress (Josh Reynolds), The Oberwald Ripper (Laurie Goulding), Slayer of the Storm God (Nathan Long)
The start of a great new Sword & Sorcery series
Kill a demon.
Steal the treasure.
Retire to a life of luxury.
Sounds easy when you put it like that.
Unfortunately for Egil and Nix, when the demon they kill has friends in high places, retirement is not an option.
File Under: Fantasy [ Derring Don’t | Hammer Time | Family Affair | Hell Spawn ]
Before reading this novel, I was only familiar with Kemp’s Star Wars fiction, and so was very much looking forward to reading what he could accomplish in this genre. Luckily, the novel exceeded my high expectations. It is a dark, action-packed adventure sure to appeal to fans of sword and sorcery. I really enjoyed this.
John Fultz and Seven Princes, his debut fantasy, were all over the Orbit Books blog a few weeks ago (articles, wallpapers, and the like). Naturally, this publicity push made me even more curious about the novel. So, as I am wont to do, I got in touch with the author and asked if he’d be interested in an interview. Luckily, he was, so here we go…
A comic one-shot by internationally bestselling author of The Painted Man & The Desert Spear
Artist: Walter Geovani
When an unfortunate encounter with a demon deprives her of her trademark chainmail bikini, Sonja is forced to don a familiar blue fur tunic for the remainder of this adventure.
When I was a kid, I remember seeing and loving the movie Red Sonja, with Brigitte Nielsen in the title role (boy did I have quite the crush on her…). When I heard that Peter Brett had written a one-shot issue of the Red Sonja comic, I started hunting for it. Only yesterday was I finally able to find a copy (at Midtown Comics in New York), and the wait was certainly worth it.
