The character of Jaim Grymauch might at first seem familiar to a fan of David Gemmell's previous works, but there is a subtlety to his characterization, he is truly alive. This is true for many of the characters found within, Gemmell has made his cast real in this Rigante book. ( )

Ravenheart is ostensibly the third book of the Rigante saga (The Sword in the Storm, Midnight Falcon, Ravenheart, Stormrider), although given the way the history is woven throughout the books, Ravenheart could easily be read on its own merits.

As someone who is a craven fan of David Gemmell in all his humours, I cannot explain the glorious thrill of reading a book where he gets every aspect right – the pace, the detail, the characters, every thread of plot – and still takes every opportunity to have large men with swords batter the hell out of each other. That this doesn’t get old is testament to sheer force of storytelling.

The Rigante tribe are reduced to small townships and ‘Black Rigante’ rebels under oppressive Varlish law and rule… banned from carrying swords, muskets, owning businesses or horses more than fifteen hands high, they are the despised underclass and it is this thread that gives the book its richness, its adversaries and injustices to be fought, and its moments of triumph and sadness.

The character of Ravenheart is held apart from young warriors in other Gemmell tales by the expertly drawn journey of character and spirit… with room to play, Gemmell’s characters take on more depth and become more than mighty sword-wielding heroes (although much fun is to be had with those, too). The same goes for other principle characters in this book; they are all alive within their own stories, and engaged in one another’s.

I have yet to read the concluding book in the Rigante saga, but Ravenheart raised the bar, and I will now be holding it to high standards. ( )

More of the same from Gemmell. Perhaps because it is near Christmas I got to thinking about his thesis that people can create magic in the world and remove it more easily. I think that this is ringing true for me right now, we are capable of great things but seem to choose the easy course too often. ( )

http://www.sfreader.com/read_review.a... ( )