Absolutely loved most of this book.
Enjoyed learning about Druss as a youth. For someone who was reasonably social as an old man in Legend, he sure started off as a grumpy young man. The opposite of myself who gets grumpier as I get older.
Right from the get go, Druss is epic and larger than life. Accepts a warrior's code to always do what is right and then sticks to it with full confidence in his own abilities: Just do what is right, rather than what is tactically smart for the situation.

It lost it's final star in my rating for the watered down Book 4 - which was only 45 pages compared to the previous three "Books" (or subsections) which were 100 pages each.
This was the part dealing with his stand at Skeln, which is a major part of his legend. I felt this needed much more attention paid to it: probably could have been made into another book in it's own right (which I then would have been super-critical as it would have been very similar in plot to Legend...) Sorry Mr Gemmell, damned if you do, damned if you don't.

I think I'd prefer the Skeln encounter to have been either just a couple of pages epilogue as has been done in previous books, or fleshed out into 100 pages like the other sections of the chronicles.
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A look back at earlier days of one of Gemmell's best heroes, Druss the Legend. After reading Legend, I really enjoyed the chance to learn more about Druss. ( )

The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend was a novel I picked up almost at random from a second hand bookshop, knowing nothing at all about the rest of the series which it is part of. It was only later that I found out that this was a prequel to the first book, Legend. The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend explores how the Druss became the hero he is. So not a bad place to begin then, I guesses?

The book is an easy read and is driven forward by the main protagonist going on a quest, interspersed with non-stop bloody, well written action and some philosophical meanderings on what is means to:
:: be true to who you really are and your values,
:: be in love,
:: to harbour a burning desire for revenge, and
:: be cursed with the “gift” of being able to see into the future.

Of course, as with any good quest, the journey changes not only the course of Druss’ life but also Druss himself. The other perhaps less obvious topic which is covered in the book concerns appearances: Druss appears to be a huge well-built brute when in reality he is an introverted, loyal and in some ways a gentle and highly principled person. Other themes explored include honour, loyalty and redemption. Because of this he is admired and ultimately develops the status of Legend.

The initial chapters of the book come across as a series of barriers which once overcome lead to another set of obstacles. However, these are essential to the development of the character as someone who does not give up on what he believes in, who would be willing to take setbacks in his stride and persevere towards a goal or a desired endpoint.

Druss sees the world as good or bad, right or wrong, black or white with no shades in between. His adherence to the ‘Warrior’s Code’ (below) suggests that while not all fights will necessarily result in victory it’s important to at least know that you tried your best to fight for what is right.

Never violate a woman, nor harm a child. Do not lie, cheat or steal. These things are for lesser men. Protect the weak against the evil strong. And never allow thoughts of gain to lead you into the pursuit of evil. Never back away from an enemy. Either fight or surrender. It is not enough to say I will not be evil. Evil must be fought wherever it is found.

Adherence to this Code also allows a contrast to develop with a conflicted evil side of his character, a side which is enhanced and strengthened because of the evil which resides in and permeates from his battle axe.

Also interesting is the way the bard Sieben creates stories around the exploits of Druss. It is these which people remember and all go towards creating a legend and promoting him as a hero.

So in summary, a book which shows that our journey through life changes us, the importance of having a clear set of values by which to benchmark yourself against and how adherence to these generates respect from others.
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How far would you go for love? Would you travel across distant lands? Would you destroy all barriers in your way? Or would you just believe that there's more fish in the sea and start over?
'The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend' is a prequel to the novel 'Legend' - the first book in the Drenai series - even though it's book number six in the Drenai series. It's the story of Druss who fails to stop the love of his life being kidnapped by slavers and thus starts his journey of heroism with his only goal being to rescue his wife Rowena. The journey itself crosses many lands and years and the story was no doubt written that way in order to show that no amount of time or distance will stop Druss from rescuing the woman he loves.
From the brief synopsis you would be forgiven for thinking that this is a straight forward, heroic, love story but it's a tad more complicated than that. You see Rowena is sold to Michanek...a man she ends up falling in love with. Now before you yell for the wench to be stoned to death for such heinosity I should inform you that she loses her memory and so has no recollection of Druss. As such Druss is fighting his way through lands and wars to rescue a woman who no longer knows who he is. It's all a tad bit sad really. In fact, in many ways this is a rather sad story on many levels. Druss, a noble and heroic figure, becomes consumed by Snaga, his war axe, which happens to be possessed by a blood lusting demon and so as well as fighting the bad guys he's always fighting the beast within and trying not to let evil consume him. Another major character in the story goes from hero to maniacal villain and thus from friend to foe in relation to Druss. Unfortunately, Druss doesn't care as he is consumed by the desire to find Rowena and will kill anyone in his way including his old friends. And that sets the tone of the book as there are no definitive roles for the characters with the majority of them being good or evil depending on loyalties and circumstance.
You would never know from the cover of the book that this is the sixth installment of a series. The reason for that is because this novel can easily be read as a stand alone novel and no knowledge of the previous books is required. As it's also a prequel to the first book in the series, this in essence, makes it the first book in the series even though it's officially the sixth which is somewhat confusing but not really confusing at all!
The author of the book, David Gemmell, doesn't always work to a set formula regarding the conclusion of his novels. Some end on a high note while others can be melancholy and that kind of reflects the characters he writes as he often makes them very human in their ways and likely to change from happy to sad, from villain to hero, just as we change ourselves in every day life. As such, if you are reading a Gemmell novel for the first time, don't always expect a happy ending...which, ironically, is what the woman at the massage parlor told me the other day!
The novel is separated into four parts each of which deal with a different period in the journey of Druss in rescuing Rowena. It works well apart from the fourth and final part where the first page delivers the reader a synopsis of what has happened between the third and fourth part. The first three parts flow on from one another with no explanation needed but the synopsis on the first page of the fourth made me feel a little cheated. It was as if there were parts of the story that Gemmell never had time to write and so it was all summarized in one easy page. That aside I had no other issues with this novel and is, once again, another fine novel from one of the greatest historical fantasy writers of all time. ( )

Druss has been the central protagonist in two novels and a short story. His heroic character and abilities are the result of an epic quest to reunite himself with his stolen wife in his youth. The First Chronicles transforms this background explained in those first books in to a full novel. For those readers who have read the initial books will already know the basics, but Gemmell adds new plotlines to engage the reader in to a book which seemingly would offer no surprises. As the story develops the characterisations are excellent and Gemmell creates scenes which are emotionally charged. As usual, the action scenes are remarkably written, and there are enough twists to ensure the generic story never becomes dull. Although the book is well conceived the final chapter is somewhat disappointing if you have read the first volume of Drenai Tales, since it is simply the 10,000 word short story from that compendium tacked on to the end. For new Druss readers this is no issue, and it provides the closure to the story. Overall, a great book, somewhat unoriginal but full of the strong characters which make Gemmell a joy to read. ( )