Knights of Dark Renown

A fun and easy-to-read fantasy adventure story. My main disappointment with Knights of Dark Renown is that it threatened to be something more, something special: author David Gemmell creates this great scenario of a so-called 'Coward Knight' which is never fully utilised. This knight, Manannan, fled when the other eight knights of his legendary Order entered a portal into a hellish magical plain to battle the demons there. The eight never returned, and now, years later, his past is coming back to haunt him.

It's a compelling idea, but Knights of Dark Renown doesn't exploit it. We have little on Manannan's guilt and even less on how the world perceives this apparent 'coward' as he tries to make his way in the world with that stain on his show more character. Early chapters hint at it, but the story never mines the drama, angst or pathos of it, and the novel becomes a pretty standard good-vs-evil story with magic and swordfights and the other conventional fantasy trappings. Manannan is relegated to becoming the Ishmael of his own story, as Gemmell weaves a (passably interesting) tale of a rebellion brewing against an evil King. Even here, one of the more compelling secondary characters, the reluctant Robin Hood-like commoner Llaw Gyffes, becomes a peripheral figure by the end.

Ultimately, the one-volume Knights of Dark Renown – a rarity in a genre known for its huge tomes and multi-volume epic storylines – doesn't have the bandwidth for the story it wants to tell. The plot-driven story of the rebellion (complete with world-building) cannot be told satisfactorily in 400 pages, let alone allowing space to explore Manannan's angst and redemption, or the character arcs of others like Llaw Gyffes (there are also numerous other characters who could make a reasonable claim to more page time). In the final chapters, all the tantalising threads have been hastily wrapped up, the early promise and originality snuffed out. The perfunctory epilogue has a "Poochie went back to his home planet" vibe and is scant reward for the reader. But it's not solely about the ending: an earlier chapter after Manannan faces his fears and enters the hell-portal devotes a mere couple of sentences to how he battled through the ranks of demons before winning clear and returning to continue the plot. Knights of Dark Renown is a perfectly fine fantasy adventure – an inspiration for the Elder Scrolls video game Oblivion – but becomes rushed and conventional where it threatened to become remarkably original. The book is a creditable one but there is a pang in knowing the story of the Coward Knight could have been so much more. show less

ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

It's been six years since the legendary Knights of the Gabala rode through a gate to hell in order to fight the evil that threatened the realm. They haven't been heard from since. But they are desperately needed now because the King, once a noble man, has begun rounding up the nomad population in Holocaust style. People who oppose his actions are named traitors and the King's new henchmen are very strong and very .... undead. The king's new policies have alienated a lot of people — mostly peasants. Can they band together and defeat this evil? Are there men and women who will rise up and lead this motley group?

Knights of Dark Renown is a deep and engaging multi-layered heroic fantasy. Not one of show more those that's got a cover sporting a big muscle-man with a sword in one hand and a buxom bikini-clad babe in the other. Gemmell's characters are not stereotyped heroes and villains; They're complex and three-dimensional. Some of his heroes — both men and women — are so flawed that they don't see themselves as noble at all (and even the reader isn't sure that they really are). In David Gemmell's world, all men (and women) have the potential to be both heroes and villains — even at the same moment in time.

Gemmell covers a lot of psychological ground in Knights of Dark Renown. There are themes of love and betrayal, guilt and forgiveness, consequences of behavior, atonement and redemption, courage and cowardice. I was listening on audiobook and found myself often having to pause the recording so I could think for a while.

This book is dark and many of the so-called heroes end up dead. But even through all of the darkness, pain, and death, there are many uplifting “heroic” moments, such as when the coward does a courageous deed (and, as Gemmell said in an interview, only a coward can truly be courageous), or when the man who had done wrong all his life decides to end well.

I heard Gemmell speak of a fan who told him of a heroic deed he had done after reading one of Gemmell's books, and I believe it. Though Gemmell shows us that good people can do evil things, he give us hope by showing us that we are capable also of great deeds — even if we've never done one before. It's this sort of inspiration that separates David Gemmell's fantasy from that of some of the writers in this genre who, striving to be different, give us darkness and leave us there. There's plenty of darkness in David Gemmell's work but, thankfully, he doesn't leave us wallowing in it.
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Knights of Dark Renown - David Gemmell ****

This is one of those books that has Gemmell doing what he does best, a fantasy novel set in a different yet similar world to our own, one we can can recognise from history but with enough magic and mayhem to transport us into a whole new experience. Much of the plot is mingled with our own Arthurian legends and myths, but Knights of Dark Renown is as much a coming of age novel as heroic fantasy. We follow a young boy named Lug who possesses a number of strong powers, but he does not yet know how to control them or even their extent. One night he witnesses the Knights of the Gabala passing through a magic portal in order to protect the kingdom. The Knights never returned from this fateful show more mission, but one remained behind. Now branded a coward he travels the lands looking for redemption. Couple these two pathways with that of the wizard Maerlyn, who is able to breath life into his almost robotic creations, and you have an action packed 400 pages.

A new evil appears, with mass genocide of all citizens of nomadic descent taking place. Can the King be defeated and what part will Lug play? What happened to the missing Knights and how will their destiny play a part? We meet numerous colourful characters from wizards to warriors, and something I love about Gemmell is that we never really know who is next to get bumped off. He certainly doesn't get attached to his creations.

A really brilliant stand alone book from Gemmell, and one that I can easily recommend. I was tempted to award 5 stars, and although it came close I just thought there was something a little missing. show less

This is Gemmell's first novel, but contrary to the series information, this is not a Drenai book. It is set in a different world, with different nations and nationalities. It has nothing in common with Legend, Waylander or the other Drenai books. As Gemmell's first novel, you can see where he is trying to develop his own style and world. There's a lot of borrowing from our world and our mythology here - a city called Furbolg, characters named Mannanan and Morrigan, etc. This is fairly standard Gemmell formula - there are noble heroes, peasant heroes, warrior women and a similar complement of evildoers. Nothing fancy, but still good fantasy reading.

I disagree with the user that this is not one of Gemmell's greatest book. While is not my favourite book of him, it is probably my second-favourite of this author. This story has incredible power and is one of the greatest books I ever read (even if I still like "Echoes of the Great Song" by the same author even better). The epilogue actually is a part of the "magic" which lets the story feel "more real". I don't care that he reused mythology character names. Not the only time he did something like that (see Troy Trilogy, which also is one of his greatest books). Anywaysm what I think makes this story really powerful is that it has believable, "human"-showed heroes, with all their weaknesses and strengths. The personalities of these show more heroes feel real. It is not the typical "standard fantasy heroes". show less

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: I guess the publisher sees the author's name as the selling point of the book as it takes up almost a quarter of the front cover. The character on the cover, which turned out to be a sorcerer by the name of Ruad, reminded me of Tiny Tim and I couldn't help but wonder if he was tiptoeing through the tulips. The perspective of the artwork seemed a tad bit off to me as those knights on the horses appear too big and would be absolutely huge next to the sorcerer if the perspective was kept and they were moved next to him. Golden wolves, hmmm. Actually, going a bit beyond a first impression the scene shown on the cover doesn't appear in the book and at no point does the sorcerer keep the wolves on leashes. In fact the show more wolves only appear in a few minor scenes and their pride of place on the cover is misleading in relation to what you would expect to be reading.

MAIN COURSE: As with all Gemmell novels this is a well written and well told story. The story revolves around 'The Knights of the Gabala' who enter an evil dimension and don't come back. One of the nights, Manannan, is too scared to enter and stays behind. When the lands are besieged by evil he travels into the evil dimension to seek help from, and bring back, his fellow knights only to find they have already returned and are responsible for the evil sweeping the land.
Although a tale of magic and heroics this book goes a little further than most Gemmell novels and we find the evil knights have actually become vampires. Yes, vampires. They're very basic vampires in that they need blood to survive but no other traits are apparent as they go out in sunlight, can't fly, don't have an aversion to garlic etc. Even though Gemmell is a very skilled writer and he made the vampire aspect work it was still a step too far in my opinion as I'm not looking for a vampire fix in a medieval novel.
Even though the book is only 320pages the type font is small and the words are cramped on the pages which makes this a very long read and if printed like a standard paperback it would no doubt run well over 500pages.
Even with its length the ending seemed to take place very quickly. In fact, it appeared more spliced than rushed and had me wondering if it had been edited that way due to constraints as Gemmell's flow wasn't as apparent during the final chapter.

THE VERDICT: As usual Gemmell puts forth a tale of magic and love and heroics which revolves around flawed characters. Not one of his greatest novels but his writing never falls short and it is an enjoyable read. show less

An excellent and vivid story, the only problem with which is its length; I wanted more!