Druss the legend

Unpossible

Hey there has anyone ever read any of David Gemmells novels? I discovered him this summer when i read his latest book "White Wolf", i then went on to read four more of his books in about five weeks. I think he is a fantastic author.


anybody else have opinions on his works?

TheSonOfBattles

I read a few of his books there a few months back, and enjoyed most of them. I think his best works the Waylander trilogy. It has the best ending character wise i've seen in any book ever. It made me sad, but at the same time, I was extremely happy for the character. Also good is the first Jeruselum Man book, bloodstone. The other two go downhill, and he tries to end it well, but it doesn't come across quite as good. They're still worth reading for closure on the character though.

Thanx 4 The Fish

Druss and Waylander would be my two favourite characters. Shame that they never got together in a book, would love to see either the two of them fighting with, or against each other.

Unpossible

Didnt durss meet him in the first chronicles of druss? I thought he was the guy that met druss and helped him free the female slaves at the radiers camp, but his wife wasn't there.


I've read: Legend, White Wolf, First chronicles of Druss, Ravenheart & Stormrider.

Druss & Skillgannon are my favourites, hope to read Deathwalker & waylander soon

DeVore

Yes, excellent books, particularly Druss the Legend, still a favourite of mine.

DeV.

Slosh

Lion of Macedon...

Accept no substitutes...

LoLth

Actually King beyond the gate was one of my favourites. But i always found Gemmell's endings to be a bit crap. sort of build up, build up, build up.. oh it's over. That was nice and handy.

Good reads to pass the time though.

ur-lord

Ive read most of his books and am the proud owner of signed copy of waylander

Q_Elexra

Unfortunatly 'Legend' is in my half-read list. A while back I was in a period of read a bit, getting bored and picking up another book. But since I've just polished off the latest McCaffery and Pratchett books I've been reading I think I'll finish it. (Untill I get my hands on a copy of 'Mastersinger: Harper of Pern')

Unpossible

well i read waylander, was good but i prefer druss or the dammed can't wait for that next book to come out

Vokes

Is White Wolf as good as/better/worse then his earlier stuff?
And is it out on paperback yet?

Dakeyras

Druss is an excellent character, and i love all Gemmells books, even though the same themes tend to pop up i have found all the books thouroughly enjoyable. I found white wolf as good as most of his other work, but i have to say that his best recent book has to be Ravenheart. Very moving end of that book. But read them all is all i can say. Druss and waylander never met as they lived at completely different times altogether but it would have been an interesting fight to say the least.

I remeber a gemmell group i was part off doing a sort of competition where all Gemmells characters fought to the death, and everyone voted on each fight and of course Druss did in fact come out on top if i remember correctly. Though there was some tough canvasing for Decado and Bane and Mr Gemmell himself even voted in some of the earlier rounds.

And has anyone checked out the graphic novels of legend and wolf in shadow? well worth a look and they seem to pop up on ebay every so often.

Unpossible

Ravenheart. Very moving end of that book

do you mean the end of the ravenheart book, or the end of the sage which ends in stormrider?

Druss and waylander never met as they lived at completely different times altogether

yes after reading the books i now know that they didnt, i had thought shadak (sp) in the chronicles of druss was waylander

Is White Wolf as good as/better/worse then his earlier stuff?

I think it was always in paperback, i havent seen it in hard back & yes its very good

Dakeyras

Originally posted by Unpossible
do you mean the end of the ravenheart book, or the end of the sage which ends in stormrider?

The end of ravenheart itself, stormrider could never reach the level of intensity at the end of ravenheart, though i enjoyed both books immensely.

And most Gemmell books tend to come out in trade paperback (those big paperbacks) and you tend to have to order or have a look out for the hardbacks.

Gemmell did a book signing and 3/4 quarter hour talk when stormrider came out over in Easons which was excellent though i didnt hear of one for white wolf which was disappointing but it could have happened and i may have missed it, ah well.

Thorbar

I read Legend when I was young and really loved it. I'd since lost the book and forgotten who the author was (something I'm constantly doing). After a quick search google I made the connection that Gremmell wrote Legend. Thanks for bringing this up, looking forward to reading some more of his works.

Vokes

Ravenheart. Very moving end of that book

Definitely, its up there with Waylander 3. Jaim Grymauch was a fantastic character, one of Gemmel's best. I'd love to see him in a spin-off novel. Anyone else agree?

I think it was always in paperback, i havent seen it in hard back & yes its very good

I stopped by the bookshop this morning, they had it only in hardback, not on papaerback yet

Dakeyras

Originally posted by SofaKing
Jaim Grymauch was a fantastic character, one of Gemmel's best. I'd love to see him in a spin-off novel. Anyone else agree?

I dont know, i think Grymauch was such an excellent character in ravenheart that any spin-off might actually detract from the character.

The book that i'd love to see him write would be about the war of the twins. Which would take place after the end of quest for lost heroes. I asked the man himself about it when he was here and he said its the one question that he gets asked everywhere he goes (i think he was getting a bit tired of answering it to be honest) but he just said he didnt actually know whether he was going to write that story or not. So we'll just have to wait and see.

Vokes

I did notice though, that Gemmell has a new novel coming out in March/April - The Swords of Night and Day.

Is this a sequel to White Wolf? Is it even a Drenai novel?

Dakeyras

The swords of night and day is sort of a sequel to white wolf in that it is set after it but rather than try and explain here do be the blurb (spoilered for those who like surprises):

Even in death, Skilgannon the Damned's name lives on. Now, as an ancient evil threatens the Drenai heartlands, he returns.

A thousand years after they fell in battle, two heroes -- Druss and Skilgannon -- are revered throughout the war-torn lands of the Drenai where men and women live in abject fear of the Joinings, abominable meldings of man and beast, and of their mistress the dark sorceress known as the Eternal. None can stave off these ruthless foes. But what if the soul of a hero could be called back from the void, his bones housed again in flesh? An ancient prophecy foretold that Skilgannon would return in his people's darkest hour. To most, this is a foolish hope, but not so to Landis Kan. For years Kan searched for the tomb of Skilgannon the Damned. And at last, he found it, gathered up the bones and performed the mystic ritual.

But the reborn hero is an enigma; a young man whose warrior skills are blunted and whose memories are fragmented. This Skilgannon is a man out of time, marooned in a world as strange to him as a dream, remote from all he knew and loved. Or nearly all. Before bringing Skilgannon back, Landis Kan had experimented with other bones in the hero's tomb. That ritual resulted in a surly giant who possessed astounding strength, but no memories. To Kan, he is a dangerous failure. To Skilgannon, this giant represents their last hope.

As the ageless evil of the Eternal threatens to drown the Drenai lands in blood, two legendary heroes rise again.

My 2 cents: Gemmell had always said that he had one more Druss novel in him though he had said he didnt think hed ever write it, but this seems to be it, cant wait for it.

Art_Wolf

Ohh - going have to put some money away for The swords of night and day!