I am a long-time Gotrek and Felix fan. I have the second generation of miniature for them where Gotrek is holding a troll head in his hand. Read most but not all of the books. When the original Realmslayer audio drama came out I listened to it twice and was a bit put-off by Gotrek's portrayal and his new companion lacking the down to earth qualities Felix had. Regardless I have now listened to the second audio drama, "Realmslayer: Blood of the Old World" and feel it is quite a bit better, especially having a resolution that pays homage to the old series. There seems to be a theme going through the new series, and this story in particular about the power and control of gods. Whether the character's actions are their own choices, or if they are lead or forced by a greater power. While these aren't the plucky and unlucky two mercenaries I liked reading about before, I'm excited to read and listen to more stories about Gotrek. I bought his newest model depicting his AOS appearance, the physical book Ghoulslayer, and am looking forward to playing him and his rememberer in Total War Warhammer 2. ... ... Spoiler Also Seraphon are in the book and a Skink talks to Gotrek in Common with a really deep voice for a skink and takes time to hiss every two sentences or so.
Having recently finished the first proper Novel of Gotrek since returning in Age of Sigmar form, I decided to update this forum thread with my opinions. I came away from Ghoulslayer a bit less pleased than the second Realmslayer Audio Drama, but I feel preference will largely be decided between whichever media a person consumed first, and whether they like books over audio drama. First off, there is a short story that takes place before Ghoulslayer that introduces a second sidekick (in the form of Trachos the Stormcast Eternal) to Gotrek for this particular story. I haven't read the short story, but it is The Neverspike A Gotrek Gurnisson Story. Recommended that you start with that. I'm unsure where the book lands in the timeline as we have changed authors and start from a fairly default point of Gotrek drinking and wanting to fight those who have wronged him. I'd probably place this after the two audio dramas based on some character motivations, but it depends on where the stories go from here. I feel the questionable timeline issue is more of a problem here than Gotrek and Felix stories because we retread some ground that character arcs have already touched on. Removing the ties to previous stories, this is still a fun action romp that picks up later in the book. Enemy of the day are Ghouls and the Flesh Eater Courts in general. If you want some possible ideas for the army or want to read a story about them, they and their personalities get time to shine. Trachos seems an interesting character in spite of my general dislike of Stormcast and what they mean for humanity in a Lex Luthor vs Superman kinda way. Maleneth the aelf khaine worshiper stays pretty stable in terms of characterization but I feel she isn't as valuable of a viewpoint as Felix was in the old days. The book is primarily set in a particular Amethyst Princedom if I have my AOS right. Basically an area in the realm of Shyish populated by men who don't follow Nagash. More details shared in the spoilers section. Spoiler The princedom featured in the book is an interesting place that shows how out there Age of Sigmar can get with magic I'm not familiar with elsewhere. The people here worship their ancestors and place thousands of their souls in cocoon-like structures to preserve their knowledge and power, along with keeping the souls away from Nagash. Gotrek is becoming more of a god figure over time in these stories and I'm interested to know where it will end up. Personally now that we've taken the steps thus far into Age of Sigmar and changed the dwarf this much, I'd be content with him becoming a proper deity or someone on that level. Authors have already provided Gotrek with an animal magnetism that draws people to follow him, and who could blame you for worshiping this seemingly unkillable mountain of a dwarf who will stop at nothing?