David Gemmell

[cussedness]

I've been out of the loop for years, and I just started reading David Gemmell's Drenai series. I love it. I'll bet that most of you out there have read them. Thoughts?

Janrae Frank
I have no skeletons in my closet, they are all hanging from the yardarm.

Once there were three brothers, Brandrahoon the vampire, Isranon called the Dawnhand, speaker to spirits, and Waejonan the Accursed, first of sa?necari. Isranon defied his brothers and was destroyed, his descendants forced into the darkness.

Blood Rites
www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm (http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm)
website
www.janraefrank.com (http://www.janraefrank.com)
Darkzone
www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ (http://www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ )

[Bill Ward]

Its good stuff, sometimes uneven. I liked Legend better than the next two Drenai, and I really liked some of his singles like Knights of Dark Reknown and Dark Moon. Everything I've read by him has been a good, enjoyable adventure, and sometimes more.

billwardwriter.com</font> (http://www.billwardwriter.com)

[che2000]

Been a big fan of David Gemell since I first read Legend about fifteen years ago (good God, that long!). The Jon Shannow novels are great fun too.

[peadarog]

I agree. A month after reading a Gemmell novel, I can't distinguish it from any of the others I've read, but I always enjoy them at the time and I'm sad he's gone now. The only one that really stands out for me is Legend (as mentioned above). I read it when I was 15 and have never forgotten the amazing feelings I had while reading it.

Peadar O Guilin

Available now:
'Twig' From Adventures of Sword and Sorcery #7
'The Bag' in Reckless abandon
'The Mourning Trees' in Black Gate #5
'Fairy Fort' in A Walk on the Darkside
'Hair' in www.feralfiction.com
'Hurdy-Gurdy' in Dark Arts
Coming Soon:
'The Drain' in Weird Tales
'Where Beauty Lies in Wait' in Black Gate

The Inferior (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Inferior-Peadar-%C3%93-Guil%C3%ADn/dp/0385610955/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/203-1140499-2203934?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184592225&sr=8-1) from David Fickling Books. Coming 6 September 2007.

[tchernabyelo]

I was never a great fan of the Jon Shannow/Sipstrassi stories, but his Drenai work (in particular Legend and The King Beyond The Gate) are excellent, and still stand up to re-reading a good 20 years after I first picked them up.

Brian Dolton

Yi Qin stories:
"The Box Of Beautiful Things" - IGMS#3
"The Man Who Was Never Afraid" - Abyss and Apex #20
"Where No Wind Blows" - Staffs &amp; Starships #2 (forthcoming)
"What The Sea Refuses" - Black Gate (forthcoming)
"At Blue Crane Falls" - Abyss and Apex (forthcoming)

Other Land Of Wind And Ghosts stories:
"The Dragon Path" - Fictitious Force (forthcoming)
"Three Out Of Four" - Sorcerous Signals (forthcoming)

Stories in other settings:

"The Unicorn Hunter" - OG's Speculative Fiction #8

"When Winter Came" - ASIM#32 (forthcoming)

[cussedness]

I'm almost finished reading Waylander. At this point my favorite is still Legend. Druss is a hard act to follow.

Janrae Frank
I have no skeletons in my closet, they are all hanging from the yardarm.

Once there were three brothers, Brandrahoon the vampire, Isranon called the Dawnhand, speaker to spirits, and Waejonan the Accursed, first of sa?necari. Isranon defied his brothers and was destroyed, his descendants forced into the darkness.

Blood Rites
www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm (http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm)
website
www.janraefrank.com (http://www.janraefrank.com)
Darkzone
www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ (http://www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ )

[Bill Ward]

There are some later Drenai 'prequal' (i think) books that have Druss in them--haven't read them though.

billwardwriter.com</font> (http://www.billwardwriter.com)

[che2000]

Druss appears in a few other novels - most notably the First Chronicles of Druss the Legend and The Legend of Deathwalker (although those are arguably a series of linked novellas rather than actual novels), and he's there as a supporting character in White Wolf and The Swords of Night and Day.








"It's Doctor Evil, I didn't spend six years in Evil Medical School to be called "mister," thank you very much."

[Bill Ward]

Is he as Drussilicious as in Legend?

billwardwriter.com</font> (http://www.billwardwriter.com)

[David-debeer]

I came to Gemmel via Waylander, which is probably why I do prefer the Waylander and White Wolf novels in his Drenai series. I also liked the Rigante series a lot, some of the most enjoyable work he's done, IMO.

I'll second the Knights of Dark Renonwn recc above.

www.livejournal.com/users/david-de-beer (http://www.livejournal.com/users/david-de-beer)
www.david-de-beer.blogspot.com (http://www.david-de-beer.blogspot.com)
http://www.librarything.com/catalog/david-de-beer

[cussedness]

So far, I have read Legend, King beyond the Gate, Quest for Lost heroes, Waylander, In the Realm of the Wolf, Winter Warriors, and the First Chronicles of Druss the legend. I went to amazon today and ordered more of them. I don't know if it is true or not, but I recently stumbled on a comment that claimed that there are more books by Gemmell were available in the UK than in the US and I am wondering how I would find out whether there are titles I can't get in the US.

Waylander is my favorite character at this point. Gemmell's ability to define a character is a few strokes of the literary brush is incredible.

Janrae Frank
I have no skeletons in my closet, they are all hanging from the yardarm.

Once there were three brothers, Brandrahoon the vampire, Isranon called the Dawnhand, speaker to spirits, and Waejonan the Accursed, first of sa?necari. Isranon defied his brothers and was destroyed, his descendants forced into the darkness.

Blood Rites
www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm (http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm)
website
www.janraefrank.com (http://www.janraefrank.com)
Darkzone
www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ (http://www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ )

[wez]

I have all DG's books, and love them all. Agreeing with others comments, Legend is a classic, but can reccommend the two books based on Alexander, Dark Prince and Lion of Macedon, as exceptional reads. Also, his last three based around events at Troy are inspired. Sadly, he died whilst writing he third volume so his wife had to finish off the book from the notes he left behind. She did a superb job of it. I am pretty sure all his work is available in the US. I have all his books so if you think some titles are not available I can find out for you.





All the best,





Wez

[cussedness]

I appreciate that Wes. I want to read everything of his that I can get my hands on.

Janrae Frank
I have no skeletons in my closet, they are all hanging from the yardarm.

Once there were three brothers, Brandrahoon the vampire, Isranon called the Dawnhand, speaker to spirits, and Waejonan the Accursed, first of sa?necari. Isranon defied his brothers and was destroyed, his descendants forced into the darkness.

Blood Rites
www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm (http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm)
website
www.janraefrank.com (http://www.janraefrank.com)
Darkzone
www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ (http://www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ )

[wez]

Right, here we go. And it is a long list!
[quote]
[quote]Troy series
[quote]Lord of the Silver Bow
[quote]Shield of Thunder
[quote]Fall of Kings
[quote]
[quote]Drenai books
[quote]Legend
[quote]King Beyond the Gate
[quote]Waylander
[quote]Quest for Lost Heroes
[quote]Waylander 2: In the Realm of the Wolf
[quote]The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend
[quote]The Legend of Deathwalker
[quote]Winter Warriors
[quote]Hero in the Shadows
[quote]White Wolf
[quote]The Swords of Night and Day
[quote]
[quote]Jon Shannow Books
[quote]Wolf in Shadow
[quote]The Last Guardian
[quote]Bloodstone
[quote]
[quote]Stone of Power books
[quote]Ghost King
[quote]Last Sword of Power
[quote]Lion of Macedon
[quote]Dark Prince
[quote]
[quote]Hawk Queen books
[quote]Ironhands Daughter
[quote]The Hawk Eterna;l
[quote]
[quote]Rigante books
[quote]Sword in the Storm
[quote]Midnight Falcon
[quote]Ravenheart
[quote]Stormrider
[quote]
[quote]Individual Titles
[quote]Knights of Dark Reknown
[quote]Morning Star
[quote]Dark Moon
[quote]Echoes of the Great Song
[quote]
[quote]Anthologies
[quote]Drenai Tales vol 1
[quote]Drenai Tales vol 2
[quote]Drenai Tales vol 3
[quote]
[quote]Phew! I think that is the lot. Hapy reading. /emoticons/smile.gif
[quote]
[quote]Wez

cussedness said...
I appreciate that Wes. I want to read everything of his that I can get my hands on.




Auther of Reluctant Heroes

[che2000]

He also wrote a gangland thriller called White Knight, Black Swan under the pen name of Ross Harding. I've never read it, but it had a somewhat limited print run by all accounts and copies have been known to change hands for very large sums of money (Amazon UK has a single copy priced at ?800).








"It's Doctor Evil, I didn't spend six years in Evil Medical School to be called "mister," thank you very much."

[Jeff Stehman]

cussedness said...
I'm almost finished reading Waylander. At this point my favorite is still Legend. Druss is a hard act to follow.
I prefer Legend to Waylander, but I think the second and third Waylander books are better than both. Waylander makes a good pseudo-aristocrat.

--Jeff Stehman

[Jaqhama]

King Beyond the Gate was my favorite Gemmell novel.
Tanaka Khan, Annais and Decardo were such great characters.

You can read some of mystories here:
Skulkers. Jack be nimble, Jack be quick. RAT's. La Carcajou. Jet Bike Boogie...at www.pulpanddagger.com (http://www.pulpanddagger.com)
Swamp Story. Down South. Florida Haze.Wild Justice...
at www.bikernet.com (http://www.bikernet.com)(Plus many of my motorcycle related articles.)
The Covert OP. Chick Prick...at www.milstory.com (http://www.milstory.com)

[cussedness]

Tenaka Khan is incredible. Great character. Picking and choosing a favorite character is actually quite hard. I find myself fluctuating back and forth at times. Thanks for the list, Wes.

Janrae Frank
I have no skeletons in my closet, they are all hanging from the yardarm.

Once there were three brothers, Brandrahoon the vampire, Isranon called the Dawnhand, speaker to spirits, and Waejonan the Accursed, first of sa?necari. Isranon defied his brothers and was destroyed, his descendants forced into the darkness.

Blood Rites
www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm (http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm)
website
www.janraefrank.com (http://www.janraefrank.com)
Darkzone
www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ (http://www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ )

[wez]

Glad I could be of help. I'd forgotten about the Ross Carrol book. I have never read it, and even though a big Gemmell fan, would not pay ?800 ($1600?) for a copy.





For me, Permenion is a great character. He isfrom the Alexander books, Dark Prince and Lion of Macedon. Obiously Druss and Jon Shannow stack in there as well. /emoticons/smile.gif




cussedness said...
Tenaka Khan is incredible. Great character. Picking and choosing a favorite character is actually quite hard. I find myself fluctuating back and forth at times. Thanks for the list, Wes.




Auther of Reluctant Heroes

[cussedness]

I can't imagine paying that much for a book.

Janrae Frank
I have no skeletons in my closet, they are all hanging from the yardarm.

Once there were three brothers, Brandrahoon the vampire, Isranon called the Dawnhand, speaker to spirits, and Waejonan the Accursed, first of sa?necari. Isranon defied his brothers and was destroyed, his descendants forced into the darkness.

Blood Rites
www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm (http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm)
website
www.janraefrank.com (http://www.janraefrank.com)
Darkzone
www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ (http://www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ )

[Steven the Git]

Parmenion was a real person, although Gemmell admits in the start of Lion of Macedon that he took the historical figure and made him his own.
No idea whether he was half Macedon, half Sparta though.

I read Legend when I was 9 or 10.
We got a computer game for the Spectrum called Legend and the book came with it.
The game wasn't bad at all, for its time.
One half was going through the story, as Rek, recruiting as could.
The other was fighting the siege.

My dad told me to read the book, saying I'd love it, and for once he was right.
Bowman was a good character in Legend, as was Orrin, going from standard buffon to a warrior.
The two farmers were a great touch too.

The Knights of Dark Reknown is probably my favourite. When I first read it I kept getting all excited as people talked about suddenly turned up. Plus the twists and turns were great, you couldn't pick the knights if you tried.

[cussedness]

Hi, Steven. I'm glad you finally got here. Thanks for introducing me to the works of Gemmell.

Janrae Frank
I have no skeletons in my closet, they are all hanging from the yardarm.

Once there were three brothers, Brandrahoon the vampire, Isranon called the Dawnhand, speaker to spirits, and Waejonan the Accursed, first of sa?necari. Isranon defied his brothers and was destroyed, his descendants forced into the darkness.

Blood Rites
www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm (http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm)
website
www.janraefrank.com (http://www.janraefrank.com)
Darkzone
www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ (http://www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ )

[Steven the Git]

A pretty good birthday present in the end. /emoticons/lol.gif /emoticons/cool.gif

Love these smileys by the way. Could play for hours. /emoticons/nono.gif

[Kainja]

'The Swords of Night and Day' by Gemmell knocked my socks off. One of the best fantasy works I've ever read.

Charles Gramlich
http://charlesgramlich.blogspot.com/

[Steven the Git]

Dark Moon is perhaps the mst unusual for me.
Classic tale of a great evil sweeping into a land, but with main characters that don't fit the standard brackets.
Quite liked those bad guys though.

[cussedness]

I have not gotten to those yet. I still have two books in the Drenai series to read. White Wolf and Deathwalker.

Janrae Frank
I have no skeletons in my closet, they are all hanging from the yardarm.

Once there were three brothers, Brandrahoon the vampire, Isranon called the Dawnhand, speaker to spirits, and Waejonan the Accursed, first of sa?necari. Isranon defied his brothers and was destroyed, his descendants forced into the darkness.

Blood Rites
www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm (http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm)
website
www.janraefrank.com (http://www.janraefrank.com)
Darkzone
www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ (http://www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ )

[Kainja]

'the Swords of Night and Day' was perhaps the best fantasy book I've read in the last ten years.

Charles Gramlich
http://charlesgramlich.blogspot.com/

[cussedness]

I just ordered that one. I am looking forward to reading it. What makes you like it so much, Charles?

Janrae Frank
I have no skeletons in my closet, they are all hanging from the yardarm.

Once there were three brothers, Brandrahoon the vampire, Isranon called the Dawnhand, speaker to spirits, and Waejonan the Accursed, first of sa?necari. Isranon defied his brothers and was destroyed, his descendants forced into the darkness.

Blood Rites
www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm (http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm)
website
www.janraefrank.com (http://www.janraefrank.com)
Darkzone
www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ (http://www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ )

[von Darkmoor]

It's a darn fine book with an awesome character or two - but that's a mighty strong statement! Mayhaps one of the best heroic fantasies, but nothing like GRRM's A Game of Thrones or Erikson's Deadhouse Gates, Memories of Ice, Midnight Tides . . .

On a character basis Gemmell's one of the best ever, but storywise and overall impact I'll take Erikson hands down.


~~~~~~~~~~
Jason M. Waltz
Fantasy Acquisitions Editor Staffs &amp; Starships Magazine (http://www.sheerspeculation.com/about_staffs_and_starships)
Anthology Editor Flashing Swords (http://flashingswords.sfreader.com/titlepage.asp)
~~~~~~~~~~
Ever waltz with the Devil? Visit von Darkmoor's thoughts (http://vondarkmoor.blogspot.com/) to find out (and read a review or two).
~~~~~~~~~~
Critical Eye of the Dragon Avatar courtesy of crystalwizard (http://www.artwanted.com/artist.cfm?ArtID=20112&amp;SetBG=Yes)

[cussedness]

I have not read Erikson, but I have read GRRM's series. Excellent and intense.

Janrae Frank
I have no skeletons in my closet, they are all hanging from the yardarm.

Once there were three brothers, Brandrahoon the vampire, Isranon called the Dawnhand, speaker to spirits, and Waejonan the Accursed, first of sa?necari. Isranon defied his brothers and was destroyed, his descendants forced into the darkness.

Blood Rites
www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm (http://www.fictionwise.com/ebooks/eBook29989.htm)
website
www.janraefrank.com (http://www.janraefrank.com)
Darkzone
www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ (http://www.janraefrank.com/Vanilla.1.0.1/ )

[Kainja]

Sorry I didn't see the follow up question until now. The strongest thing about 'The Swords of Night and Day' was the characters. There were so many fascinating characters in the book and we got to learn a lot about their backgrounds without any sacrifice in action. I haven't read Erikson but I personally didn't find GRRM's series as compelling. I should definetely try Erikson, though.

Charles Gramlich
http://charlesgramlich.blogspot.com/

[Steven the Git]

For me Gemmell was great with characters. Often you would read because you gave a damn, and a lot more, about the people you followed.
He taught me that heroes and villians don't have to be 100% one or the other, yet can still be heroes and villians.

?Hello, I am William Burton, Head of Recruitment and Integration for the Agency for Peaceful Regulation and Definitive Cooperation of Extraordinary Existence.?

spinetinglers.co.uk Bakemono will not stop!