So we finally reach the Skaven part of the End Times and I must admit, given what we experienced in the last book, I went into this with a world of dread. Skaven are my race of choice so after the mass killings of many great characters from many races, one has to wonder what the Skaven would loose. Well for starters we lost the Seerlord Kritislik, but given he wasn't well liked by most Skaven players, seeing him killed by The Great Horned Rat himself was most enjoyable. Indeed, this is the entire start of the novel, with the Shadow Council of Thirteen (the Verminlords Council of Thirteen) watching the events and making their plans. This is actually a great thing as we finally get a description of what part of the Horned Rats realm is like and his connection to the Chaos Gods (he's basically a lesser God, teased and ignored as insignificant by the main four, yet he's risen to a point where he may have the power to challenge them).
From here we have the Grey Seers banned from the Council, the Seers blaming Thanquol and Thanquol seeking safety with Clan Skryre. We later learn he was helping them try to launch a rocket to destroy the Chaos Moon, but we must assume it failed. From this point it goes into a long part focusing on Queen Headtaker. Much like the book 'The Curse of Khaine', this book does use them as references for plots and characters. Unlike 'The Curse of Khaine' there isn't any flashbacks (thank the Horned Rat for that). At this point the book focuses on the Skaven characters of Queek Headtaker and Grey Seer Kranskritt, both whom have Verminlords telling them what to do (though Queek hates it). It also tells of Skarsnik and King Belegar and what would become of them, but not before a number of great fights take place. We even get an appearance by that famous Ogre Golgfag Maneater and his mercenary army. Sadly, this is the End Times and things must be killed off. And by the end of the second act we see the King and the Dwarfs of the Eight Peaks finally killed off. On a more sadder note, we also see Gobbla killed off (I admit, I was more saddened by the loss of the Squig then the stupid and stubborned Dwarfs).
The final part brings back Thanquol, who's attempts to aid the Skaven in taking Nuln (Again - See the book Gotrek and Felix: Skavenslayer to see his first attempt) and once again is blamed for their failed attempt. Hidden away from those that blame him, he attempts a second time (Again - see book Doom of Thanquol) to summon a Verminlord, succeeding in summoning Screech Verminking, greatest of all Verminlords and from that point Thanquol follows him here and there through out the remaining part learning and following their schemes. Meanwhile Queek, Kranskritt and now Ikit Claw join the Skaven forces assaulting Karaz-a-Karak and the High King (I'll refer to him as the High King, saves saying Thorgrim Grudgebearer all the time). The first assault fails when during a fight between one of the great Verminlords and the High King, the High King is wounded, then his throne is infused with the power of the Lore of Metal and uses his power to defeat the Verminlord. After that retreat, the Skaven try again, this time the wounded King tries the tactic of assaulting the assaulting army. Things look bad until the famous Bugman and his rangers arrive along with Slayer King (former King since Karak Kadrin was destroyed) and his Slayers, except the Slayer King is now infused with the Lore of Fire. The High King and Queek finally duel, but in the end Queek falls thanks to Dwarf Gouger being destroyed by the Axe of Grimnir. It also looks like Ikit Claw is killed, but we later learn from the Verminlords he survived. However, the powerful rune Azamar is broken, symbolizing the doom of the Dwarfs.
We learn that the Lizardmen have been crushed (which will definitely tick off many of their players whom would think that their own Skaven killing God Sotek would have given them some chance), but that Clan Pestilens was nearly destroyed in doing so. With Clan Mors crushed and the surface Skaven retreating, we find Thanquol observing the thoughts of the High King thanks to the Verminking's scrying orb, seeing into the thoughts of the High King. Indeed, the plans of the Verminlords lead to this moment when Deathmaster Snitch sneaks in behind him and with new forges warpstone weapons, kills the High King and takes his head. Verminking says that the head will be given to Thanquol so he can claim the vacant seat on the Council of Thirteen and that thanks to casting the summoning runes within the Dwarf city, clan Eshins best will attack, opening the cities defences as lesser Clans wipe out the Dwarfs there and take the credit over the failed greater ones. Of course, Thanquol has learned much from the Verminking and now has aspirations to rule the Shadow Council of Thirteen in the future.
Must say, given the dread felt when I began, it wasn't as bad as I'd thought. Thanquol has done well, Ikit Claw still lives and Clan Pestilens has little power left. My only gripes was the undignified leaving of Skarsnik (and Gobbla's tragic death - I really do like squigs) and so many Dwarfs killed. I mean, Bugman's words at the end were ment to keep Dwarf players hopes alive and them boom! King dead and all in city killed. Seemed a bit harsh to me. I really liked that they kept much of the previously established lore from the previous books in and I would often remember parts of those books when reading. New readers may not see it that way, but I don't think reading those books was necessary to understand what was going on (and it left no plot holes in that regards). Would have liked to have seen more Thanquol in the middle of the book (like what did happen with that planned rocket and why were the Seers needing the moon intacted) and did feel Queek's death was rather rushed. Still much better then the last End Times novel. It does mention that the Skaven have allied themselves with Chaos, but in true fashion it's just buying time until it's ready for betrayal. Not much in the way of Nagash either, nor does it tell us what became of the Lore of Metal after the rune was broken and the power left. I'm also displeased by just how quickly Lizardmen were discarded. Having versed them with Skaven, they are no pushover, plus they have lots of stuff to crush Skaven. These are a few things that annoyed me, more so since those 9th Edition rumours.
Still, I can't fault the book on an unpopular business decision of a company, only what is written within it. That said, I enjoyed it. The Skaven bits felt like Skaven, the Dwarf bits felt like Dwarfs and even Skarsnik felt the same as in his book. Overall an enjoyable read and didn't find myself getting annoyed like in that last book (seriously, I did not like The Curse of Khaine one bit).
Good-Good, you see-see how great-grand mighty Skavendom has become. Not even so-called high and mighty bearded-things could stop themselves from dying to Skaven blades. Fool-meat thought they could win, now most merciful Thanquol will lead Skaven to rule all things, as was promised by the Great Horned Rat himself. Not even High King Grumblebum could save himself from doom. Hehe....Grumblebum...that's a good one.
~Grey Seer Skratchnsniff
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