Reviewed by Demonslayer
Summary
“The loathsome ratmen” is a review of the Skaven race, written from the perspective of an Empire scholar. It describes the biological nature of the Skaven, from which their psychology, form of warfare, and society is explained. It also boasts several ideas as to what the origin of these ratmen and their warpstone is. In general, it is a call to arms by the author, to purge the entire world of the Skaven.
Opinion on quality
In general, opinions of this book are divided at best. I thoroughly enjoyed it, as did a friend of mine. However, so far I’ve also heard to far less positive opinions about the book.
In my opinion the book gives an excellent description of the Skaven. I first read the Skaven army book, which left me with lots of questions. These were all answered by “the loathsome ratmen”. The whole book gives the feel of an actual scientific study, performed by a medieval scientist.
Which leads me to one of the flaws in his book. The “evidence” in this book, though normally based on reliable reports of the Skaven, is sometimes drawn from religious texts. A scientist would never use religious texts as a source of evidence.
Conclusion
Despite the little flaw mentioned above, I think this book is actually very good. Of course you’ll be needing at least a basic interest in the Skaven and their ways to enjoy this, but if you have that interest, I’d say read it.