I just finished reading a second Blood Bowl novel, better than the first. The lousy editing has gone, it’s easier to keep track of who’s who because the author murders 11 members of the 16 person team in the first chapter, and the rest go to Albion for a series of ever-worsening puns and jumbled up names (the evil Bavid Deckem, the commentator Mon Jotson, etc).
There’s a good subplot about demonic diseases (spread through orgies, which is more adult than I had been expecting) and there’s a lot more drunkenness. There’s slightly less violence on the page (although what there is seems to be more lethal) which means it’s not so bad that it’s underwritten.
I still think the plot has a few too many twists for its own good – is this guy bad? No, he’s good. No, he’s bad, no, oh, yes, he is bad… Edgar, a new character, is introduced as a grumpy antagonist who immediately becomes a good friend, so although tonally it’s more of a piece, charsctrrisatis still thin at best, inconsistent at worst. There’s an attempt to build a cliffhanger in at the end, but it involves a dreading family secret we still know nothing about, so it’s a bit harder to care for now we’re two books in.
There’s still two books to go. I’m reading them slower because I’m also playing Blood Bowl on my Xbox (ah, the synergies!) but I might get to it this week.
Or celebrate my wedding anniversary. One or the other.