The problem with Gotrek...

[Mike]

So I've recently finished reading some of the more recent Gotrek novels where he arrives in the Age of Sigmar universe. I have some Thoughts (with a capital T).

Has anyone else read them? What did you think of them?

I ask, as I find myself especially torn... I really enjoyed the Gotrek and Felix series in the old Warhammer universe. However, we have a weird situation now where characters from the old world are being transported into the new universe, and I'm not sure if it is a good idea.

Ok, so I get the reason why they have done this. In many ways, Gotrek represents 'us' as readers. Like Gotrek, we are lost and confused in this new narrative world order, where all the things we know and love no longer exist and we have to muddle our way through the new order of things. In some ways this works quite well as an introduction to Age of Sigmar, as Gotrek shares our same reservations, and we learn about he AoS universe as he does. In this way, he's a great narrative tool for introducing AoS to existing old world fans. However, there is a lot of inconsistency. Not least in the fact that GW have had just so many different writers working on Gotrek now that I don't feel like the books have the 'soul' that they had in the Bill King days, or even in the books that followed King. In a way, you could say that GW have kind of 'sold out' with Gotrek. It's not so much about the story, but rather, making use of an existing familiar IP within the universe that fans will recognise, and using it to draw older players into the new setting.

I'm also very interested to know what you all think of Gotrek and Malenith.

[For those of you who have read it, please try and avoid spoilers!]

[Aasa Timonen]

I have read every Gotrek story there is, and I have been enjoying the Mortal Realms excursion quite bit. It's pretty clear Gotrek is indeed something of an negative audience avatar, representing in some ways the "grognard" who hate everything about Age of Sigmar, and lot of the books are about showing off the world, different factions and peoples kinda despite of him, and naturally he also grows to care as he goes, even while scoffing and being all Gotrek about it. Which I feel was kinda the point of the old books too, Gotrek & Felix travel the Old World and Gotrek commits mild mass murder of any given faction that's titled in the book. Transmedia acting as window to the storyworld and looking at different aspects of through the lens of axe-based violence. In that sense, Orcslayer and Gitslayer don't differ from each other that much. What I think has happened is that GW is just better at vertical integration of their transmedia, and realizing that people actually read the books based on armies they like (she said, bitterly, as there are no Hedonites books out there).

One thing newer Gotrek books got going on for them is that there are more women characters with actual agendas, personalities, and something to do besides having occasional sex with Felix.

Also Maleneth's solo novel is really good, Evan Dicken is doing amazing job in AOS side of BL right now with her and Tahlia Vedra series.