Gotrek & Felix: The Second Omnibus [Paperback]

Amazing stories in the vein of the original Conan stories, it reads like pulp adventures from the 20's. Fast paced, lots of action, heroes of dubious legality but honor and courage. Villains that are fleshed out but truly evil.

Nothing fancy here, just good, old-fashioned sword and sorcery (with a heavy emphasis on the sword). If you enjoyed the first Gotrek & Felix anthology, you'll enjoy this continuation of their adventures. I love these books!

The difference between an OK story and a Page Turner is Momentum, and this Omnibus starts to lose it as the story progresses.

Story:
This omnibus contains 3 full length novels entitled: Dragon Slayer, Beast Slayer, and Vampire Slayer. This Omnibus continues the adventures of a pair of warriors as they battle their way through the Warhammer Universe. In order to get the most out of this book, you should really read the first Omnibus because it introduces the characters and conflicts.

All three stories are intertwined like a true trilogy and rivalries, friendships, and relationships, continue from book to book. I really enjoyed reading about Gotrek and Felix as they traveled the world on their death quest in the First Omnibus. The characters grew, became more powerful, and faced greater challenges. In this Omnibus, it seems like they reached their MAX Levels halfway through the book. They stopped growing. They became one dimensional. They didn't face tougher challenges. They didn't get any new battle scars or wounds. No new loot. No moments of enlightenment. The battles and dialogue started to feel a little bit like they were Cut and Pasted. The suspense dwindled away as the stories became predictable and the conflicts lost their rewards and consequences.

World:
All of the stories take place in the Warhammer Universe. The world is a blend between Lord of the Rings and Germany when it was under the rule of the Holy Roman Empire. It's Gritty High Fantasy in a state of perpetual war and turmoil. This book focuses on the Hearty Dwarves, Chaos Spawned Beastmen, A HUGE Dragon, and a legion of undead.

Characters:
Despite the fact that Gotrek has committed a serious crime, he is noble and lusts for the battle that will give him a glorious death. Felix owes Gotrek his life and accompanies him on his quest to die. Because Felix has spent so much of his life behind books, the travels across the world are new and exciting to him. The reader experiences Kislev, Praag, and (Tran)Sylvania through the eyes of Felix. In addition to the deadly duo, this omnibus features an array of other heroes and villains. The duo is joined by a wizard named Max, a few new Slayers, Ulrika, a warrior woman from the harsh border province of Kislev. The new characters are fun, but none of them have any lasting impact on Gotrek and Felix.

Writing Style:
In this Omnibus, the stories become formulaic, where the heroes wander around and face a huge climactic battle at the end. Unfortunately, it seems like all of these novels have some pacing issues. Parts drag on and the climatic battles are all over too swiftly. In exciting page turners, the story arcs build up to a conflict and an exciting resolution. At the end of the battle, the heroes should get something for their trouble: Gold, New Weapons, Love, a Heroic Death... In this Omnibus it seems like the heroes survive a conflict, just to enter another one.

Romance Fail:
Felix gets a girlfriend in this trilogy... sorta. It is the strangest relationship that I've ever seen in a novel. It begins... doesn't go anywhere... then lingers around... and dissipates into nothing. It is original, but it doesn't build to anything. It's just kind of there... sorta... but not really... and they don't talk about it... they just look at each other kinda funny... like kids at a Junior High Dance... Because of this, one of the major story arcs loses steam. It was a chance for Felix to grow as a character.

Action:
As you may have guessed, this book is loaded with cover to cover action. There are massive battles, skirmishes, castle sieges, brawls, duels, more battles, deadly magic, beastmen, armies, undead, an airship, an ancient dragon, and even more battles. The action in the battles is well written. Spells are cast, blades hack and slash, and many die. But the spoils and perils of war from the first omnibus are lacking in this one. The main characters don't grow or sustain permanent injuries as a result of the battles, so they lose their impact. By the end of the omnibus, it feels like they're going through the motions.

The Main Difference Between Omnibus 1 and Omnibus 2:
Omnibus 1
Gotrek fights a horde of enemies, loses an eye, and gains a powerful magic axe!

Omnibus 2
Gotrek fights a horde of enemies.

Maturity: Teens
There are loads of fantasy violence and gore and non-descript sexual situations. (Basically the lights go out and a couple wakes up happy the next morning.)

Overall: 7.5
For $10 you get 3 full novels. The first story, Dragon Slayer is the best, but the next two start to feel flat. Still, if you love reading High Adventure Stories in a Medieval Fantasy Universe, this is a great bargain. If character development isn't really important to you, these are fun books to read.

If you enjoyed this, definitely pick up Robert E. Howard's Conan the Barbarian Stories or the Savage Sword of Conan Comics. You will probably also like the Drizzt books by R.A. Salvatore. And if you like Epic Heroes, definitely pick up Legend by David Gemmell. If you like Fun and Entertaining fantasy, you should read Lankhmar by Fritz Leiber.

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