Filed Under: Hobby
Left to Right: Rittak, Nitch, Zikkit, Krittatok and Tik-Tik.
Just painted up Zikkit’s Tunnelpack from Warhammer Underworlds: Embergard. They’re the first Skaven I’ve painted in about 7 years, the last being the original Skaven Underworlds warband, Spiteclaw’s Swarm. Since then I’ve evolved a lot as a painter and gained access to new materials, like Contrast paints.
Read more...Filed Under: Personal
You can find an article I wrote in the latest edition (issue 150!) of Scottish Left Review. It’s also available for free on the magazine’s website here.
Cailean bugged me to write about the union for years and finally I had the time, motivation and freedom to actually do so. I’m glad I got around to it because I put my heart into it and, thankfully, people seem to like it.
I beat the anti-capitalist drum a bit at the end. Sorry, sorry, sorry. I was trying to write for the audience.
Filed Under: Personal
It’s been a strange few months.
Unemployment is both crushing and freeing. Crushing, because of the financial health bar ticking down in the background. Freeing, because I can almost do whatever the hell I want with my days. In many ways, both good and bad, it rather suits me.
I have a job sort-of lined up, now. At least, I’ve been given an offer, and accepted it – but I’ve yet to be given a contract to sign and a concrete start date, which is frustrating and anxiety-inducing. It feels like it could all turn out to be a mirage, and I’ll have held off on looking for other opportunities (even short-term ones) for nothing. And I will chastise myself for ever having got my hopes up.
If I do get it after all I’ll be over the moon, and not just because my bank balance will stop free-falling. It’s a great opportunity to work in my specialisation on something cool, with (it seems so far) nice people. That’s all I ever hope for from a job, really.
In amongst this interminable, horrible waiting I’m fortunate to be doing plenty of nice things:
Therefore in spite of the lingering bitterness, things are, for now, not terrible.
They’re quite okay, actually.
Filed Under: Reading
Not just a rehash of Skavenslayer.
In 1999’s Skavenslayer, Gotrek Gurnisson and his human companion Felix worked as “sewer-jacks” in the Imperial city of Nuln, renowned for its artillery school and gunpowder might. There, beneath the city, they uncovered a Skaven plot and, over the course of a series of adventures, foiled it.
In Verminslayer, Gotrek Gurnisson finds himself among the “under-jacks” of the Sigmarite city of Greywater Fastness, known for its steampunky technology and industrial power. Beneath the city he finds a new human companion, uncovers a Skaven plot and, over the course of a series of adventures, foils it.
The similarities are deliberate, of course. While I can’t deny I’m disappointed in Black Library’s reluctance to do anything surprising at all with Gotrek, the nostalgia this novel is steeped in is effective on me, and sometimes it’s alright to re-tell good old tales. They wouldn’t be good old tales, after all, if they weren’t worth borrowing from.
Overall, Verminslayer is a perfectly perfunctory fantasy romp through one of the setting’s silliest cities. The new companion character is likeable (if a bit mundane compared to Maleneth), the twin Skaven antagonists are great fun, and Jonathan Keeble’s audiobook narration is, as ever, brilliant. All his finest rat-man voices come out to speak-play. At the end all I can say is yes-yes and, very much so, more-more.
Filed Under: Personal
In November and December I delivered a few speeches to members, supporters and the general public.
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