I have been an avid reader of David Gemmell's fantasy novels since first introduced to them by my nephew Eric in Darwin many years ago. I can now say that I have read nearly all of his books - the Drenai Series, the Rigante Series, the Jon Shannow books and the rest of the miscellaneous ones, and have lots of them on the shelves.
In fact, whenever I see one of his books in a second hand shop, I but it for the hone library, even it is one I have read before
Here are a few from over my recent years of reading.
Dark Moon
I bought this one at Savers in May 2021 and read it for yet another time. As usual, Gemmell never fails to produce. Here's the premise:
The peaceful Eldarin were the last of three ancient races. The mystical Oltor, healers and poets, had fallen before the dread power of the cruel and sadistic Daroth. Yet in one awesome night the invincible Daroth had vanished from the face of the earth. Gone were their cities, their armies, their terror. The Great Northern Desert was their only legacy. Not a trace remained for a thousand years...
The War of the Pearl had raged for seven years and the armies of the four Duchies were exhausted and weary of bloodshed. But the foremost of the Dukes, Sirano of Romark, possessed the Eldarin Pearl and was determined to unravel its secrets.
Then on one unforgettable day a dark moon rose above the Great Northern Desert, and a black tidal wave swept across the land. In moments the desert had vanished beneath lush fields and forests and a great city could be seen glittering in the morning sunlight.
From this city re-emerged the blood-hungry Daroth, powerful and immortal, immune to spear and sword. They had only one desire: to rid the world of humankind for ever. Now the fate of the human race rests on the talents of three heroes: Karis, warrior-woman and strategist; Tarantio, the deadliest swordsman of the age; and Duvodas the Healer, who will learn a terrible truth.
The Troy Series
The 3 Troy books are
Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow Troy (2005)
Shield of Thunder (Sept 2006), postumous publication
Fall of Kings (2007), completed by his wife Stella and postumously co-published
Troy: Lord of the Silver Bow Troy
I was in the city with my wife last week (October 2018) when I came across Book 1 of the Troy Series (Lord Of The Silver Bow) by David Gemmell. It was the small Corgi paperback version, released in 2006. I immediately purchased it for the very inexpensive price of $14.99 and started to read it. I soon realised I had read it previously, checked the David Gemmell section of my library, and found I had the large sized 2005 edition of the book. What the hell, read it again!
The first book introduces all the main characters in the Troy saga - Helikaon (Aeneas), Priam, Anchises, Hektor, Agamemnon and Ulysses, to name a few. The book is perhaps the most complex of all his books, perhaps because it was written late in his life when he was writing at the peak of his powers. His re-imagining of the Greek classics is wonderful. He paints Aeneas, Ulysses, Priam, Agememnon, Paris, Helen and Hektor as living people, yet portays them very differently to the Greek classics The Iliad and The Odyssey and The Aeneid, written later (and yes, I have actually read them all). And he introduces additional characters in Argurios, Zidantas and Attalus - all adding to the rich flavour of the book.
It's not often that you see a book given 6 stars in a 5 star review. That says something for it!
Indeed, he lives up to his title at the King of Heroic Fantasy. A wonderfully enjoyable read, even if it was the second time around!
I had been meaning since then to read the second and third books but never managed to find them in the bookshops and did not get around to ordering copies online. But when I took out a Scribd subscription in 2021, I was very excited to see all 3 books in their library. So I immediately prioritised my reading and devoured the second and third books.
It's not often that you see a book given 6 stars in a 5 star review. That says something for it!
Indeed, he lives up to his title at the King of Heroic Fantasy. A wonderfully enjoyable read, even if it was the second time around!
As an aside, the Guardian lists the 10 Greek Classics that everyone should read: https://www.independent.co.uk/student/student-life/books/10-ancient-classics-every-student-should-read-sophocles-homer-the-odyssey-aristotle-plato-a7541491.html.
I had been meaning since then to read the second and third books but never managed to find them in the bookshops and did not get around to ordering copies online. But when I took out a Scribd subscription in 2021, I was very excited to see all 3 books in their library. So I immediately prioritised my reading and devoured the second and third books.
Shield of Thunder
First the synopsis:
The war of Troy is looming, and all the kings of the Great Green are gathering, friends and enemies, each with their own dark plans of conquest and plunder.
Into this maelstrom of treachery and deceit come three travellers; Piria, a runaway priestess nursing a terrible secret, Kalliades, a warrior with a legendary sword, and Banokles who will carve his own legend in the battles to come.
'Shield Of Thunder' takes the reader back into the glories and tragedies of Bronze Age Greece, reuniting the characters from 'Lord Of The Silver Bow'; the dread Helikaon and his great love, the fiery Andromache, the mighty Hektor and the fabled storyteller, Odysseus.
The story starts with the new characters of Kalliades and Banokles, and they quickly rise from minor characters to ones who will play a central part of the second and third books. It's a wonderful retelling of the Troy myth but quite different from the "official" tale. Ok, we know Troy is going to fall, but what else might happen?
It ends with a wonderful picture painted and with the stage set for a huge final scene. You just have to admit that Gemmell is a wonderful story teller. He makes the bronze age come to life as no one else can.
Fall of Kings
First the synopsis:
Darkness falls on the Great Green, and the Ancient World is fiercely divided.
On the killing fields outside the golden city of Troy, forces loyal to the Mykene Kingmass. Among them is Odysseus fabled storyteller and reluctant ally to the Mykene, who knows that he must soon face his former friends in deadly combat.
Within the city, the Trojan king waits. Ailing and bitter, his hope is pinned on two heroes: his favourite son Hektor, and the dread Helikaon who will wreak terrible vengeance for the death of his wife at Mykene hands.
War has been declared.
As enemies, who are also kinsmen, are filled with bloodlust, they know that many of them will die, and that some will become heroes: heroes who will live for ever in a story that will echo down the centuries.
Goodreads reviewer Anish Kohli gave it 5 stars with the following comments:
After a long while, years actually, and almost a huge number of books later, I have finished a series that has me at a total loss for words.
It has been such a ride. So many ups and downs. So many deaths. So much love. Such love. Such ferocious love, the one that threatens to destroy everything if shattered. Friendship. Respect. So many emotions I have no words to say it all.
Just that I am low right now that this series has ended. I’ve only felt this a couple of times before. And this feeling, the end of a journey, THIS feeling, the despair and happiness mixed in right amounts is the reason I have been and will always be a SERIES reader. I need that connection with my characters and 1 book is not sufficient.
I could not say it any better. Definitely a 5 star series for me, with all 3 books getting you more and more involved and less likely to put the book down. Wonderful stuff as only Gemmell can write.
Tim
1 February 2022
Winter Warriors
Again, a bargain price for a David Gemmell book - $2 at Savers in Brunswick. You can't beat value like that.
Published in 1997, this is the eighth entry in the Drenai series. It is also the second of three stories that feature in the anthology Drenai Tales Volume Three. The story is set several decades after Gemmell's earlier title, Quest for Lost Heroes and introduces an entirely new set of characters - Bison the giant, Kebra the bowman, and the great swordsman Nogusta.
Like all Gemmell's books, it's well written, engaging (I could not put it down), with dynamic characters and a plotline that keeps you guessing. I read it in 3 days - as usual, it completely took my attention till I had finished. Coming in around 300 pages, there is so much going on, with parallel story lines that all come together for a most satisfying end.
As always for Gemmell, 10 out of 10.
White Wolf and The King Beyond The Gate
January 2020
I was visiting R.M.C. Stamps, my favourite second hand book shop in Moonee Pondshttp://www.robertcornwell.com.au/) in early January and thought it impossible to go past a sale that promised $2 per book. You guessed it - I bought another 2 David Gemmel books. Now I have read them both before but that does not matter, as they are always worth a second read and always worth a place in my ever-growing home library.
White Wolf is a 2003 novel and was the penultimate Drenai Series novel, falling between The Legend of Deathwalker and Legend in terms of chronology.
The King Beyond the Gate was published in 1985. It was the second book published by Gemmell, after Legend, published a year earlier. The book is set in the same fictional world as Legend, that of the Drenai, but is not a sequel in the usual sense as the events of the two books take place around a century apart. Thus the main protagonists of Legend are long since dead and play little part in The King Beyond the Gate, other than passing mentions. This set a precedent for the entire Drenai series, in which very few characters appear in more than one novel, the gaps between novels sometimes running to centuries, giving a more epic, historical flavour to the series.
What can I say - I whipped through them both in less than a week, putting other tasks aside as I savoured them once again.
Like all David Gemmell novels, 10/10!
Echoes of the Great Song
The Rigante Series - Sword in the Storm and Midnight Falcoln
April 2019 - Ok, I can't go for too long without re-reading a David Gemmell book or two. I have just finished re-reading the first two books in the wonderful Rigante Series, namely Sword in the Storm and Midnight Falcon. I have them both on the bookshelf (along with lots of others of his books).
David Gemmell – Waylander II: In The Realm Of The Wolf
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January 2020
I was visiting R.M.C. Stamps, my favourite second hand book shop in Moonee Pondshttp://www.robertcornwell.com.au/) in early January and thought it impossible to go past a sale that promised $2 per book. You guessed it - I bought another 2 David Gemmel books. Now I have read them both before but that does not matter, as they are always worth a second read and always worth a place in my ever-growing home library.
White Wolf is a 2003 novel and was the penultimate Drenai Series novel, falling between The Legend of Deathwalker and Legend in terms of chronology.
The King Beyond the Gate was published in 1985. It was the second book published by Gemmell, after Legend, published a year earlier. The book is set in the same fictional world as Legend, that of the Drenai, but is not a sequel in the usual sense as the events of the two books take place around a century apart. Thus the main protagonists of Legend are long since dead and play little part in The King Beyond the Gate, other than passing mentions. This set a precedent for the entire Drenai series, in which very few characters appear in more than one novel, the gaps between novels sometimes running to centuries, giving a more epic, historical flavour to the series.
What can I say - I whipped through them both in less than a week, putting other tasks aside as I savoured them once again.
Like all David Gemmell novels, 10/10!
Echoes of the Great Song
October 2019
I was in the Brotherhood of St Laurence Op Shop in Moonee Ponds recently with the grandkids when I came across this 1997 David Gemmell classic for the wonderful price of $2. Now you can't go past that sort of bargain.
I had read it before but quite a few years ago so I got to it and started at page 1. Like all DG books, it was an addictive read and I sacrificed lots of other things for a few days while I devoured it once again.
First the premise:
The Avatars are immortal and live like kings–even though the empire is dying. Their immortality is guaranteed by magic crystals whose influence is now waning, overwhelmed by the sheer power of a great flood and a sudden ice age. But when two moons appear in the sky, and the ruthless armies of the Crystal Queen swarm across the land bringing devastation and terror, the Avatars unite with their subjects to protect their universe.
It has the usual fare of larger than life heroes/heroines whose fates would cross and who would each play a vital part in saving the world and weaving a new legend. In this book, Gemmell shows that he is as adept at standalone novels as he is at series. His imagination is unsurpassed. It is a fast paced book yet still takes nearly 350 pages to tell the story and reach its unexpected finale.
This book is different to any others he wrote but just as enjoyable. The one thing I can never do is choose my favourite DG book. They are all my favourites - I have never come across a bad one that failed to inspire me to read.
As usual, 10 out of 10.
The Rigante Series - Sword in the Storm and Midnight Falcoln
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April 2019 - Ok, I can't go for too long without re-reading a David Gemmell book or two. I have just finished re-reading the first two books in the wonderful Rigante Series, namely Sword in the Storm and Midnight Falcon. I have them both on the bookshelf (along with lots of others of his books).
Sword in the Storm introduces readers to the young Rigante Connavar, born of the storm that slew his father. A story of struggle and heroism and good choice and bad choices, of friends and enemies and the mystical forces that protect and guides the Rigante. It is a classic tale of undying love, heroic courage and ultimate sacrifice that is breathtakingly beautiful and uniquely imaginative.
Midnight Falcon takes up the story 20 years later. Connavar is the king and Dane his illegitimate son. Born of treachery, Bane grows up an outcast in his own land, feared by his fellow highlanders, and denied by the father whose unmistakable mark he bears - the eyes of Connavar, one tawny brown, the other emerald green. Hounded from the country of his birth, Bane finds acceptance across the seas, only to have it stripped away in an instant by death.
The first book is superb and the second book is just as good, continuing the story and developing it in unexpected ways.
The third and fourth books in the series (Ravenheart and Stormrider) must be re-read soon.
David Gemmell – Waylander II: In The Realm Of The Wolf
I was at a loose end a few weeks ago and decided to re-read a David Gemmell book, almost at random. With David Gemmell, it doesn't really matter which one you choose as they are all fantastic. This was the second of the three Waylander books and it is an exciting read from the first page to the last.
What a huge loss when Gemmell died in 2006, four days short of his 58th birthday. The blurb for this particular one reads as follows:
Enter the extraordinary, action-filled world that became Legend--
as the exciting Drenai adventure continues to unfold . . .
A mighty warrior and a feared assassin among the Drenai, Waylander the Slayer is now a man hunted by his own people--with a fortune in gold offered as grim reward for his murder. But this is only one of many evils closing in on Waylander and his daughter, Miriel, the beautiful and deadly Battle Queen of Kar-Barzac.
For, once separated, father and daughter face certain death as the sorcerers and demons, soldiers and shamans of three empires summon their blackest, most destructive powers in an effort to annihilate these two most gifted Drenai warriors.
Even a mediocre book by Gemmell beats just about all the rest and this is no exception. Do yourself a favour and get it from your local library to read.
Tim
March 2016
