The Synopsis:
BRIAN BLESSED is Gotrek.
The Good:
Everything!
The Bad:
Nope.
The Verdict:
BUY IT!
Verdict: 999.999.999 out of 10
Okay, really this time.
This is an audio drama which has long deserved a review for a while. It's one of two major releases with a recognizable UK actor in the lead role, and this was the major attention grabber of the two. It was first, it featured a famous Warhammer Fantasy character emerging in the Age of Sigmar setting, then featured both a writer familiar with the subject matter and an actor beloved by most of the Warhammer fandom. Fanboying aside, there were many reasons to play keen attention to this one and reasons for hype to surround it. Does it live up to that? Yes and no, but that does depend on what you're looking for.
The Synopsis:
The Unbak Lodge is under siege. Carrying an arsenal of potent weapons and guarded by a multitude of fyreslayers, it has stood against the endless tide of enemies for countless sieges and gathered fragments of their fallen god. Yet when the Skaven gather beyond its gates in an innumerable horde, it might finally be too many for the stalwart rune warriors to overcome. Yet along with the Skaven comes a mysterious Duardin scarred by battle and speaking of things past. Possessing a power beyond even their warriors, battlesmith Broddur begins to wonder if there is far more to this drunken renegade than meets the eye...
The Good:
Let's start with the obvious: The cast. Even without focusing upon the stunt casting at work here, Realmslayer benefits from a very experienced and very talented group of actors in its roles. Many of these are returning individuals who brought other characters to life, such as Penelope Rawlins from Heart of the Conqueror, John Banks from too many stories to count, and David Seddon from a multitude of tales across the Big Finish Doctor Who range. Warhammer has typically benefitted from a very talented range of people in the past, but here it really shines through, as they help to give a great deal of life to a multitude of fairly minor roles within the story. This is especially true of Seddon's Broddur and Rawlins' Maleneth, the former of who serves as an essential straight man within the tale, the latter who provides an unexpected role within the story.
BLESSED himself is giving the energy that you would expect of his performance, but it does actually fit Gotrek. While he is as entertaining and bombastic as ever, the choice of BRIAN BLESSED turned a few heads as someone who didn't quite fit the normally quiet, angry and stoic figure of a Slayer. However, Blessed plays the role like someone who was given a new lease on life free from his past sins, but has some degree of weariness of what he finds nevertheless. It's an odd but quite engaging mix of who he once was with what he has become. It only works to improve Gotrek's character as he quickly realises how many "rules" of the Old World have changed, from the treatment of necromancers to even the realms' view of Khainite elves.
The story itself also follows a much grander scale than you typically find in most audio works from Black Library. Many of these, especially audio dramas, tend to be contained to a single location and focus upon a few key areas in order to keep the story going. Given their shorter length, the fact that this is usually a good move to keep tales engaging, and the narrative focused. However, Realmslayer is instead divided up into a multitude of short tales across various areas of several realms, meaning that you end up seeing areas from the Realm of Fire, continent-sized cities which are under Sigmar's control and those which are held in Nagash's grip. You never quite know what the story will throw at you yet, but its nature as a journey keeps giving it new life.
The fact that the story keeps moving around also means that there is a sense of an epic story at work. By that, I do not mean in the more colloquial or video game sense, but that of an ancient tale worthy of memory, with grand heroes and figures at play. It's an odyssey more than anything else, and there are so many grand and amazing moments thrown at you at various points that it is hard to keep track of them. However, it helps to show just what Age of Sigmar can offer in contrast to Warhammer Fantasy, and just what its more fantastical Conan or Spelljammer elements can offer in contrast to the Witcher comparable Old World.
However, props definitely have to be given to the directorial and sound team behind this. David Guymer is in top form here, as his dialogue and character moments shine through. This is the sort of thing that I usually point to in contrast to his work on the Iron Hands as to what he is great at. Nevertheless, his typical descriptions and prose which builds up atmosphere tends to suffer somewhat without a narrator constantly at work. As such, it needed a talented voice director and sound effects team to assist in translating the story to this medium. Thankfully it ended up with both.
The sound effects of the tale work brilliantly along with a score to convey the sheer scale of certain events. From gargantuan beasts rising up from the depths to quiet areas of solitude reserved for ghosts of the world lost, it never loses a sense of atmosphere or immensity, and the score helps to further impress this detail upon the listener. Even when the characters themselves need to convey detail, it never feels out of place or at odds with the rest of the tale. Instead, it fits in near perfectly to the situation, with deliveries which match the characters excellently. It's honestly one of the extremely few audio dramas outside of Big Finish or Heavy Entertainment which has ever managed to convey this naturally.
Finally, the ending makes it clear that this is not a one and done. There is a much, much bigger story to tell involving Gotrek, and this is simply the start of it. With the Bone Desert - one of a few short novellas which seriously deserves a review - continuing his tale, this is merely a fantastic start to something greater.
The Bad:
In spite of many positive points, there are a good few noteworthy problems with Realmslayer as a story. One of them sadly lies in the format in which this story is told, which only half works. On the one hand, as cited above, it benefits the scale of the story on an audio drama's budget. On the downside, however, it doesn't quite work due to the individual segments it is divided up into.
Trollslayer, just to make an obvious comparison, was a series of short stories loosely linked by an ongoing journey. Realmslayer, unfortunately, doesn't quite follow this example. It has individual threats, locations, and situations which need to be resolved as part of that story, but it follows certain themes much more closely. Many core ideas established in one carry over to the other, but they lack the beats and pacing of a more episodic tv series with an arc. Combined with the lack of a primary villain or running established idea which becomes a core focus in the finale, it lacks the payoff needed to make this effective. We do get an antagonist who serves as a primary villain, but he lacks the presence to pull off his role as a greater foe. As such, it's caught between the best and worst of worlds in terms of its broader story. It's also why this review ended up being of the audio drama as a whole rather than individual story pieces.
Another problem lies in how Realmslayer all too quickly brings up ideas but lacks resolutions to them. Exploring this in full would, unfortunately, require a multitude of spoilers to cover fully. However, many of the side characters keep being implied to serve a larger purpose but never fully comes into play. The big one lies with the likes of Maleneth and Jordain, both of who carry far, far greater implications within the story due to their role and impact on Gotrek. What we get is certainly an excellent start but, just as soon as it really gets going, their role ends rather abruptly. This is irritating as it feels as if the audio drama is touching upon ideas and acknowledging them, but never truly pauses long enough to explore them in full.
Atop of the character problems, there is also the fact of how more than a few listeners will have trouble keeping up with what is going on. This audio drama requires listeners to be familiar with both the final two Gotrek and Felix books and have a general understanding of Fyreslayer culture when going into this one. There is very little in the way of an introduction at any point and, while that assists in showing how Gotrek is an outsider here, it can leave people easily baffled. It's a sad contrast to Gotrek and Felix's primary appeal of being a gateway into the Warhammer Fantasy world, and it does limit the story's audience.
The Verdict:
Realmslayer certainly has notable shortcomings, but many of them are due to the audience it was intended for. This was very much a "for the fans" entry due to Gotrek's mass appeal and the rapid start which requires the listener to have a good grasp of Age of Sigmar lore. Furthermore, the format of multiple stories was both an advantage and detriment, and how effective it was will be down to the individual given how this is treated as an ongoing series rather than loose-linked episodes.
Still, with great dialogue, an excellent ensemble of voice actors, brilliant sound effects and a surprisingly large number of curveballs, it's a very entertaining saga to follow. If you have yet to jump into the Age of Sigmar, definitely pick up a few short stories or read something like Eight Lamentations: Spear of Shadows first. Otherwise, definitely make the time to add this to your library.
Verdict: 7.7 out of 10
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