Stella Gemmell - The City - The Immortal Throne

Stella Gemmell - The City / The Immortal Throne

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 over 30 of his books - the Drenai Series, the Rigante Series, the Jon Shannow books and the rest of the miscellaneoue ones, and have lots of them on the shelves. The only ones that remain to read are his final 3 books on Troy, which were written with the help of his wife Stella. In fact, the third of the Troy books Troy: Fall of Kings was completed and published (2008) after his death by Stella..

The City

I was very excited to see a new book The City by Stella Gemmell in Dymocks bookshop in January 2016. Published in 2013, it is her first solo publish and is big (just on 700 pages) and multi layered.

It took me all of 4 days to finish, such was my enthusiasm for the multi layered and complex story line. And I am pleased to say that I had no idea how it was all going to end until the last few pages. This is normally the case with a David Gemmell book - they keep you on the edge of your seat right till the end. This was no different. 

It was a multi layered read with many different yet central characters, all eventually being drawn together for the final 100 pages. Overall feeling - fantastic, riveting, different, nearly a 10 out of 10.

A brief synopsis:

The City is ancient and vast and has been waging almost constant war for centuries. At its heart resides the emperor. Few have ever seen him. Those who have remember a man in his prime - and yet he should be very old. Some speculate that he is no longer human, others wonder if indeed he ever truly was. And a few have come to a desperate conclusion: that the only way to halt the emperor's unslakebale thirst for war is to end his unnaturally long life.

From the crumbling catacombs beneath The City where the poor struggle to stay alive to the blood-soaked fields of battle where so few heroes survive, these rebels emerge. Their hopes rest on one man. A man who was once the emperor's foremost general - a revered soldier who could lead an uprising and iliberate a city, a man who was betrayed, imprisoned, tortured and is now believed to be dead.

The exciting news is that the story continues with a new 2016 book The Immortal Throne. Now I must read that one!

The Immortal Throne

The sequel, The Immortal Throne, was published on June 24th, 2015. I bought it in late 2017 and finally got around to reading it in early 2018. It was just as big (732) pages and just as multi layered.

First to the synopsis:

The dreaded emperor is dead. The successor to the throne is his nemesis, Archange. Many hope her reign will usher in a new era of freedom and stability. Soon however, word arises of a massive army gathering in the shadows of the north. They are eager to lay waste to the City and annihilate anyone—man, woman, or child—within it. 

Yet just as the swords clang in fields wet with the blood of warriors, family feuds, ancient rivalries, and political battles rage on within the cold stone walls of the City. A hero must rise up and restore the peace before anything left to fight for is consumed by the madness. 

Unfortunately, it was too long ago that I read The City so I had forgotten some of the finer details of the characters and how they all fit together. What I should have done was stopped right there and re-read The City. But I did not, and it all eventually came back to me and I was able to enjoy another wonderful read. What I did do as soon as I finished was go back and do that re-read of The City. And it was well worth it.

The books are much more complex than David Gemmel's books. And you do find out at the end just where the Seraphim have come from!

Another 10/10 read!

I recommend you buy both books together and read them one after the other, in quick succession.


I hope that Stella cones out with another book soon. This series has now reached a suitable end point. What will be next for her?