David Gemmell (1948–2006)
Author of Legend
About the Author
Disambiguation Notice:
(ger) Pseudonym: Ross Harding
Image credit: from Lifeinlegacy.com
Series
Works by David Gemmell
Drenai Tales, Vol 3: The Legend of Deathwalker / Winter Warriors / Hero in the Shadows (2002) 25 copies
Drenai Tales, Vol 2: Quest for Lost Heroes / Waylander II - In the Realm of the Wolf / The First Chronicles of Druss… (2002) 24 copies
Legend aka Against the Horde; Waylander; Hero in the Shadows; Winter Warriors; The Legend of Deathwalker; Chronicles of… (1995) 9 copies
Le Lion de Macédoine, tomes 1 à 4 : L'Enfant maudit - La Mort des nations - Le Prince noir - L'Esprit du chaos… (2003) 8 copies
Le Lion de Macédoine - L'Intégrale 2 copies
The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend[1ST CHRON OF DRUSS THE LEGEND][Mass Market Paperback] 1 copy
Hajnalcsillag 1 copy
Kétes hírű lovagok 1 copy
Király a kaun túlról 1 copy
Az örökkévaló Sólyom 1 copy
Ironhangs daughter 1 copy
Gemmell, complete works 1 copy
Drenai 6 Book Set: Legend, The King Beyond the Gate, Quest for Lost Heroes, In the Realm of the Wolf, The Legend of… (2013) 1 copy
The Lost Crown 1 copy
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Gemmell, David Andrew
- Other names
- Harding, Ross
- Birthdate
- 1948-08-01
- Date of death
- 2006-07-28
- Burial location
- Udimore, East Sussex, England
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- London, England, UK
- Place of death
- Udimore, East Sussex, England, UK
- Cause of death
- Coronary artery disease
- Places of residence
- Hastings, Sussex, England, UK
- Occupations
- journalist
- Relationships
- Gemmell, Stella (wife)
- Organizations
- Hastings Writers' Group
Members
Reviews
DNF at like 72%
Fun world, interesting magic, but a super plain plot.
Also the book is just overtly sexiest. I can’t comprehend someone thinking that every females character arc ending in boosting up the main character at their own detriment was good writing…
Fun world, interesting magic, but a super plain plot.
Also the book is just overtly sexiest. I can’t comprehend someone thinking that every females character arc ending in boosting up the main character at their own detriment was good writing…
I kept hearing how good and seminal this book was, but also kept putting it aside in my Tbr list because i feared it would feel dated. And it's true. It is a great book and it does feel really dated.
Tells of the political maneuvering and warfare tactics of ancient Greek, though the eyes of one of its finest generals. The first half of the book builds the protagonist, then jumps ahead to introduce a second protagonist in the latter half. Both halves together really just set the stage for the second book in the series "Dark Prince". The adventures and relationships individually are fine, and the material is well researched, but the whole tome reads more as positioning for things to come.
Lists
Awards
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Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 90
- Members
- 27,221
- Popularity
- #757
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 294
- ISBNs
- 706
- Languages
- 15
- Favorited
- 108
- Touchstones
- 194
The character I liked best was Odysseus who is interestingly portrayed as a larger than life raconteur - the various iconic stories of the Odyssey are tall tales he invented - although with a lethal edge underneath the bonhomie. I also liked Andromache, who is a crack shot with the more powerful Phyrgian bow, having spent a few years as a priestess of Thera before her sister died, and who is sent to Troy to marry Hektor in her place. She is the only one with the guts to stand up to Priam. But both characters play a relatively minor part.
The story veers around a lot, taking up some characters which the reader might be justified in thinking would be a main part of the story and then dropping them. For example, it starts with Gershom, shipwrecked at sea, but although his real identity is later revealed, he remains a bit part in the story so it's an odd choice to spend so much time in his viewpoint early on. Another character is deftly sketched but is soon horribly killed off, and it seems was only there to act as a catalyst for Helikaon, the main male character, to go off the rails and commit an atrocity to avenge him. Similarly, a bedfellow of Helikaon (for some reason the alternative name for Aeneas) appears early on in the book but is then dropped because she lives in Kypros which is not the setting for the rest of the novel.
The author developed the Mediterranean culture quite well, though with the focus always on the warlike aspects. I wasn't convinced by the side references to Ancient Egypt though: if the version of Troy is the one that fell in 1300 BC (I consulted the Wikipedia article after finishing the novel), since the later ones showed gradual decline and no indication of a prestigious ruling class etc, the Prince Rameses mentioned must be Rameses II otherwise known as Rameses the Great. Despite the references to killing slaves to bury them with Egyptian Kings, that practice had ceased centuries before, and the workmen who built the royal tombs were respected craftspeople who had their own village which has been excavated. Similarly, Ancient Egypt granted more legal and social freedoms to women than most other Middle Eastern countries of the period so I found the references in Gershom's backstory to be anachronistic.
The title is a bit odd: I think it stems from a child mistaking Helikaon for Apollo early on. At some point, he is called that but I can't remember if he ever fires a bow and the title almost fits Andromache, who does something heroic using her bow, much better.
For me this was a slow read: I would read a chapter then set it aside to read something else. It took me a lot longer to get through than any other book during the period and left me with no desire to read the rest of the trilogy. So for all these reasons, for me this was only an OK 2 stars.… (more)