More Skaven Stories!

THANQUOL'S DOOM by C.L. Werner is a brilliant way to tie together the storylines from the previous two novels.You have Jeremias Scrivner, the human sorcerer from the first novel, and Lord Tlaco, the mage-priest Slann from the second novel, planning a combined effort to "fix the Great Math" by getting rid of a "miscalculation" by the name of Grey Seer Thanquol.

Thanquol, always involved in some Skaven controversy, is forced into yet another political conspiracy between clans, the inventive Skyre clan and the muscle clan Mors, by Seerlord Kritislisk, which includes a war with the Dwarves of Karak Angkul. Everything goes wrong for the Grey Seer. Everything. I had no way of predicting what was going to happen from one chapter to the next.

The POV switches between the skavens and the dwarves, but this time the alternating narration worked much better than in Temple of the Serpent because both views were describing the same point in the timeline. When you leave the Skavens' perspective to read the Dwarves' perspective, you are returned almost to the exact moment you leave the Skavens' POV, so you are never left to wonder what happened to either group while you were reading about the other.

Despite his obvious negative traits, Werner has done an excellent job developing Thanquol as the ultimate antagonistic character. I haven't enjoyed a bad guy this much, since Darth Vader. Thanquol's Doom provides a lot of insight into the Grey Seer's twisted way of thinking, as well as showing how powerful he has become since the first two novels. Unfortunately, Thanquol has been so preoccupied with the intrigue of Skavendom, he completely overlooks how many other races perceive him as a very dangerous threat.

This was definitely my favorite of the three Thanquol & Boneripper adventures. Even the rat-ogre bodyguard has changed over the course of the series!


While I've reread the first three novels more than once, this is the first time I've read the short story, MIND-STEALER. Classic Thanquol over-thinking, thanks to his inflated opinion of himself, but I still love this character! This time, the Grey Seer attacks a human caravan, triggering a battle between villagers and outsiders, only to find himself fighting a powerful witch.

The ending is a bit of a surprise, and little abrupt. I'm wondering if this story might be referenced in The Black Plague trilogy...

As always,
AstraDaemon