Gary Kloster joins the illustrious ranks of Black Library authors who have written about Gotrek Gurnisson in Age of Sigmar with The Perfect Assassin, a tale that focuses not on the surly Slayer but on his companion, the aelf Maleneth. The unlikely pair find themselves in the city of Losten in grim Ulgu, but while Gotrek happily drinks a tavern dry of beer, Maleneth relieves her boredom in bloodier fashion. When she’s tasked by one of the city’s nobles with finding and killing a mysterious assassin stalking the streets, at first she’s barely interested, until a sighting of the assassin’s unusual powers piques her curiosity.
Kloster does a great job of capturing Maleneth’s voice, touching upon her frustration with the role she’s fallen into with Gotrek but focusing more on the arrogance and sheer menace that she exudes. It’s a welcome reminder of both her considerable capabilities and her natural, somewhat malicious sensibilities, and while Gotrek is present in places, he’s there in the background as a reason for her being in Losten, and a burden for her to rail against. It’s fun to explore this small but interesting corner of Ulgu, along the way considering what drew Gotrek to this particular place, but more than anything this is simply a welcome opportunity to spend some time with Maleneth on her own, and it proves to be a satisfying little story in its own right
See also: the main Age of Sigmar reviews page on Track of Words.
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