The fourth entry of the Gotrek and Felix series is one that was a rather good read. As per usual, Gotrek was still the lovable slayer and Felix was just kind of there. The first of the tales, Elfslayer, is probably the best out of the collection. The action was fantastic, the tension was extremely enthralling, and there were actual consequences to the action of the characters. It felt like there was a proper end goal for the narrative, and some very captivating minor characters.
Shamanslayer was one that also was well done, the threat of the beastmen incredibly thrilling, and the minor characters still managing to be captivating. Not to mention the lead into the third story was very well done.
Zombieslayer is the weakest of the three in my opinion. The threat of the necromancer isn't exactly... threatening, especially after the massive battle at the end of Shamanslayer. It just kind of falls flat, but the threat of other humans sabotaging our main cast is still an interesting read. Kat and Felix's relationship feels a bit more natural than it was in Shamanslayer, mostly due to the fact there was enough room to focus on it within the town. Honestly, this is probably the most natural romance of Felix, as his obsession with Ulrika makes it far more of an interesting read.
My criticisms mostly lie in how the humans are portrayed, as they just feel useless in the narrative. I'm not expecting the humans to be on par with the humans from Warhammer 40k, since its 40k, but humans are just the worst race to be in this world. I mean, they just get utterly annihilated within the verse and just don't stand a chance against the other races. I mean its Warhammer, and that is kind of the whole point, so that kind of makes my point mute. With Felix it kind of makes sense (somewhat), since he joined reluctantly, in order to uphold his oath to Gotrek; but he doesn't feel like the main character. Even when we follow Felix's thought process, he just doesn't feel like the 'main guy'; he feels like a really focused on background character. Even with what happens with the skaven, he doesn't exactly keep going with that revenge plotline; it is just a plotline that happens, and then its over as soon as it began.
Again, it makes sense since he is an observer of Gotrek, but it doesn't feel right to have him as the main character. I was fine with Felix attracting woman, because he is in good shape for being forty, but it feels forced at times. With Kat it makes sense due to her experience with Felix, and with Claudia it was all for the sake of shallow sex; it annoys me because of his personality. Felix lacks chemistry with his interests, they don't feel natural. Like there's something missing, like all they could form is the most basic form of surface level attraction. That's really the problem: lack of a connection with our main character. Closest realistic relationship is just Kat, and even that one feels forced.
Speaking of which, Felix and Gotrek's friendship isn't the greatest in the world honestly. I love Gotrek, but he lacks a lot of chemistry with Felix. Yes, Felix is reluctantly with him, but at the same time he is still going on with this out of the care for his 'friend'. Issue there is that the two 'friends', don't feel like friends. The chemistry is there, but it really isn't. We are told their friendship rather than shown it; which saddens me a lot since Gotrek is just a blast. More of the dwarves and less of the humans; hell, I'll take the skaven over the humans, they have a lot more chemistry with each other than every single one of Felix's relationships.
A good read, but not without it's faults. I will not discuss the side-stories, as the titles alone spoil everything.